Your payment
Custom rate
Use this row for a negotiated rate, Square, Shopify Payments or any other processor.
What you receive
| Payment type | Rate | Fee | You receive |
|---|
Standard US rates for USD payments, as published by Stripe and PayPal (checked October 2026). Rates change and some accounts get custom pricing, so confirm on stripe.com/pricing and PayPal’s fee page.
How the fee is calculated
Card processors charge a percentage of the payment plus a fixed fee per transaction:
fee = amount × percentage + fixed fee and you receive = amount − fee
Example: a $1,000 Stripe card payment costs 1,000 × 2.9% + $0.30 = $29.30, so you receive $970.70. The same payment through PayPal Checkout costs 1,000 × 3.49% + $0.49 = $35.39, leaving $964.61.
Charging enough to receive an exact amount
Adding 2.9% to an invoice is not enough, because the fee is also charged on the extra amount. Use the I want to receive mode, which calculates:
amount to charge = (amount you want + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage)
To receive $1,000 through Stripe you need to charge (1,000 + 0.30) ÷ 0.971 = $1,030.18. Charging $1,029 would leave you with only $998.86. The result is rounded up to the next cent so you never end up a cent short.
Before you pass fees on to customers, check the rules: card networks and some US states limit card surcharges, and PayPal’s user agreement restricts surcharging in some cases. Raising your prices or adding a general “service fee” for every payment method is usually the safer option.
Costs this calculator does not include
- Currency conversion: PayPal converts with its own exchange rate, which includes a margin of roughly 3–4% above the market rate. Stripe adds 1% when it converts.
- Disputes and chargebacks: both companies charge a separate fee when a customer disputes a payment. Stripe charges $15 per dispute.
- Refunds: the processing fee is generally not given back when you refund a payment. Check each provider’s refund terms.
- Payouts: standard bank payouts are free; instant payouts to a debit card cost extra.
- Volume discounts: large businesses can negotiate lower rates. Use the custom row for your own rate.
Which is cheaper?
For US card payments, Stripe’s standard rate is lower than PayPal Checkout’s. For a $50 sale the difference is about $0.49 per order; at $1,000 it is about $6. PayPal can still be worth it: many buyers trust the PayPal button and some prefer to pay with their PayPal or Venmo balance, which can raise conversion. Many stores offer both. For small items under about $10, compare PayPal’s micropayments plan, which has a lower fixed fee but a higher percentage (it has to be activated by PayPal and then applies to all payments on that account).
To see what is left after product cost and shipping, use the E-commerce Profit Calculator or the Break-Even Calculator.