Stripe Outpaces PayPal in Domestic Card Fees, But International Transactions Complicate Matters

Stripe has emerged as the more economical default for US small businesses taking domestic cards online, according to recent comparisons. The company's standard rate is 2.9% plus $0.30 per successful transaction, outpacing PayPal's standard credit and debit card payments at 2.99% plus $0.49.

This makes Stripe the better option for low-value orders, but its percentage gap with PayPal becomes more significant as order values rise. On a $10 sale, Stripe's fee is $0.59 compared to PayPal's standard-card fee of $0.79 or Checkout fee of $0.84.

However, international cards introduce an additional cost layer for US merchants. Stripe adds 1.5 percentage points for international transactions, while PayPal also charges this rate on commercial transactions. For a $100 international-card payment received in US dollars without currency conversion, Stripe's published international-card pricing produces a 4.4% plus $0.30 formula and a $4.70 fee.

In contrast to other platforms, neither provider returns the original processing cost after a refund under standard policies. Refunds leave behind the original fees, with Stripe retaining its standard-pricing business's original payment-processing and currency-conversion fees.