What will PayPal keep, and what will you get?
Enter what the buyer pays, or what you want to receive. See every PayPal fee on it, with international and conversion fees, the same payment on Stripe, and what a month of payments costs.
Checked by the BaseAcross team.
PayPal for a US business
- PayPal Checkout
- 3.49%+ $0.49 a payment
- Buyer abroad
- +1.5%International fee
- On $100 from abroad
- $5.48You receive $94.52
- Same on Stripe
- $4.70International card
What does PayPal take from this payment?
Nothing is saved or sent. Change anything and the figures update.
You receive
94.52 USD
PayPal keeps 5.48 USD, or 5.48% of the 100.00 USD the buyer pays.
Where the fees go
- 3.49% transaction fee
- 3.49 USD
- Fixed fee per payment
- 0.49 USD
- 1.5% international fee
- 1.50 USD
- PayPal's total
- 5.48 USD
At 20 a month, that's 109.60 USD a month and 1,315.20 USD a year in fees.
The same payment on Stripe
Stripe in the US charges 2.9% + 30¢ on a card, and 1.5% more for an international card: 4.70 USD, or 4.7%. That's 0.78 USD less than PayPal on this payment.
Worth knowing
- A dispute costs 15 USD, and a card chargeback 20 USD, on top of the refund if you lose.
- The standard transfer to your bank is free when no currency is converted.
- A new seller's first payments can be held for up to 21 days, often released sooner.
Every PayPal fee for a US business account
From PayPal's US business fees page, last updated 2026-10-01. Fixed fees are for payments received in US dollars.
| Payment type | Rate | Fixed fee | Buyer abroad |
|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal Checkout | 3.49% | 0.49 USD | +1.5% |
| Card through PayPal | 2.99% | 0.49 USD | +1.5% |
| Advanced card payments | 2.89% | 0.29 USD | +1.5% |
| Goods and services payment | 2.99% | None | +1.5% |
| Pay Later | 4.99% | 0.49 USD | +1.5% |
| Invoice paid by bank (ACH) | 1%, capped at 10 USD | None | No international fee |
| QR code | 2.29% | 0.49 USD | +1.5% |
| Micropayments | 4.99% | 0.09 USD | +1.5% |
International: 1.5% more. On a commercial or invoice payment from a buyer outside the US, on top of the domestic rate. A US customer paying by bank (ACH) pays no international fee.
Currency conversion: a 3% spread. PayPal converts at its own rate, 3% from the base rate, when you receive or withdraw in another currency. Keeping dollars avoids it.
Withdrawing: free, or 1.5% to be instant. The standard transfer to a linked US bank account or card is free when nothing is converted. Instant transfer costs 1.5%, at least $0.50.
Disputes: 15 USD, chargebacks 20 USD. Charged on a dispute through PayPal, or a chargeback from the buyer's card issuer, as well as any refund.
PayPal's fixed fee in every currency
The fee per payment depends on the currency you receive it in.
| Currency | Commercial | Micropayments | Advanced card |
|---|---|---|---|
| US dollar (USD) | 0.49 USD | 0.09 USD | 0.29 USD |
| Euro (EUR) | 0.39 EUR | 0.07 EUR | 0.19 EUR |
| UK pound sterling (GBP) | 0.39 GBP | 0.07 GBP | 0.19 GBP |
| Canadian dollar (CAD) | 0.59 CAD | 0.11 CAD | 0.39 CAD |
| Australian dollar (AUD) | 0.59 AUD | 0.12 AUD | 0.39 AUD |
| New Zealand dollar (NZD) | 0.69 NZD | 0.13 NZD | 0.49 NZD |
| Singapore dollar (SGD) | 0.69 SGD | 0.12 SGD | 0.49 SGD |
| Hong Kong dollar (HKD) | 3.79 HKD | 0.7 HKD | 2.29 HKD |
| Japanese yen (JPY) | 49 JPY | 9 JPY | 29 JPY |
| Swiss franc (CHF) | 0.49 CHF | 0.08 CHF | 0.29 CHF |
| Swedish krona (SEK) | 4.09 SEK | 0.76 SEK | 2.4 SEK |
| Norwegian krone (NOK) | 3.9 NOK | 0.77 NOK | 2.3 NOK |
| Danish krone (DKK) | 2.9 DKK | 0.56 DKK | 1.7 DKK |
| Polish zloty (PLN) | 1.89 PLN | 0.34 PLN | 1.09 PLN |
| Czech koruna (CZK) | 9 CZK | 1.9 CZK | 5 CZK |
| Hungarian forint (HUF) | 149 HUF | 29 HUF | 89 HUF |
| Israeli new shekel (ILS) | 1.6 ILS | 0.3 ILS | 0.9 ILS |
| Mexican peso (MXN) | 9 MXN | 1.79 MXN | 5 MXN |
| Brazilian real (BRL) | 2.9 BRL | 0.5 BRL | 1.7 BRL |
| Malaysian ringgit (MYR) | 2 MYR | 0.4 MYR | 1.2 MYR |
| Philippine peso (PHP) | 25 PHP | 4.4 PHP | 15 PHP |
| Thai baht (THB) | 15 THB | 2.9 THB | 9 THB |
| New Taiwan dollar (TWD) | 14 TWD | 3 TWD | 8 TWD |
| Russian ruble (RUB) | 39 RUB | 6.9 RUB | 23 RUB |
Rates from PayPal's US business fees page and Stripe's pricing page. Both change their rates from time to time; the date at the top is when we last read them.
Questions about PayPal fees.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
3.49% plus $0.49 on a PayPal Checkout payment in dollars, and 2.99% plus the same fixed fee on a card payment through PayPal. On $100.00 from a US buyer, PayPal keeps $3.98.
1.5% more: 4.99% plus $0.49 on PayPal Checkout. On $100.00, that's $5.48, and $8.32 if PayPal also converts it to another currency.
Divide what you want, plus the fixed fee, by one minus the percentage. To receive $100.00 from a buyer abroad through PayPal Checkout, ask for $105.77. The calculator above does it for any payment type.
On a card payment, usually. Stripe in the US charges 2.9% + 30¢, plus 1.5% for an international card: $4.70 on $100.00 from abroad, against PayPal Checkout's $5.48.
It depends on the currency received: 0.39 EUR, 0.39 GBP, 0.59 CAD and 0.59 AUD, for example. The full list is in the table on this page.
Not for a standard transfer to a linked US bank account with no currency conversion. An instant transfer costs 1.5%, with a $0.50 minimum.
These are the rates for a US PayPal Business account, which a US company opens. A PayPal account in another country pays that country's rates.
Want US rates? Get a US company.
A US LLC opens a US PayPal Business account and a Stripe account. You see the whole order, state fee included, before anything is charged.
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