MilooshBest PayPal Payments alternatives
PayPal Payments is PayPal's business/merchant payment-processing offering — PayPal Checkout, Payment Links, invoicing, in-person card/QR payments, and a virtual terminal for accepting money online and in person. It is billed per transaction with no monthly platform fee, and merchants can reach PayPal's own reported base of up to 400 million active accounts as potential customers. This is distinct from the PayPal consumer wallet app.
About PayPal Payments
PayPal Payments is PayPal's business/merchant payment-processing offering — PayPal Checkout, Payment Links, invoicing, in-person card/QR payments, and a virtual terminal for accepting money online and in person. It is billed per transaction with no monthly platform fee, and merchants can reach PayPal's own reported base of up to 400 million active accounts as potential customers. This is distinct from the PayPal consumer wallet app. Businesses of any size — from solopreneurs to large enterprises — that want to accept online and in-person payments without a monthly account fee, paying transaction fees only when they actually get paid.
- PayPal Checkout for online payment acceptance (PayPal, Venmo, cards, Pay Later, digital wallets)
- Payment Links and QR codes to accept payment without a website
- Online invoicing with instant payment collection and automatic reminders
- In-person acceptance via card-present terminals, QR codes, and Tap to Pay
- Virtual Terminal for phone/mail-order card payments
- Fastlane by PayPal: passwordless, autofilled guest checkout
- Built-in Seller Protection on eligible transactions and PCI-compliant encrypted payment processing
- PayPal Business mobile app (iOS/Android) for invoicing, refunds, and account activity
Top alternatives
See how the top PayPal Payments alternatives compare on use case fit and core strengths.
Stripe
A payments and financial-infrastructure API for accepting payments and managing billing/subscriptions.
Best for
Businesses that want deep developer/API control over checkout and billing rather than a hosted, brand-forward checkout experience.
Adyen
An enterprise fintech platform offering payments, payouts, and financial products on a single API.
Best for
Larger enterprises and platforms needing global scale, in-person plus online payments, and consolidated financial operations.
Pricing
Free plan: no
PayPal Checkout
USD 2.99% + $0.49 / per transaction
Standard PayPal/card checkout button rate.
Expanded Checkout (cards)
USD 2.89% + $0.29 / per transaction
Card fields embedded directly on the merchant's own checkout page.
PayPal/Venmo payments
USD 3.49% + $0.49 / per transaction
Paying with a PayPal or Venmo balance/account via Expanded Checkout.
Pay Later
USD 4.99% + $0.49 / per transaction
Buy-now-pay-later option offered at checkout.
In-person (card present/QR)
USD 2.29% + $0.09 / per transaction
Card-present and QR code payments; Tap to Pay starts at the same 2.29% card-present rate.
In-person (card keyed in)
USD 3.49% + $0.09 / per transaction
Manually keyed-in card payments.
Invoicing
USD 2.99% + $0.49 / per transaction
Card payment on a PayPal invoice; PayPal/Venmo invoice payments are 3.49% + $0.49.
Virtual Terminal
USD 3.39% + $0.29 / per transaction
Phone/mail-order card payments entered by the merchant.
Enterprise: contact sales for custom pricing.
How to choose
Before switching to PayPal Payments, weigh it against its listed alternatives: Stripe (Businesses that want deep developer/API control over checkout and billing rather than a hosted, brand-forward checkout experience); Adyen (Larger enterprises and platforms needing global scale, in-person plus online payments, and consolidated financial operations). Compare each against the workflow you actually run today — integrations, customization, and the effort required to migrate your existing data usually matter more than headline features. Confirm it runs on the platforms you need (Web, iOS, Android) before switching.
If PayPal Payments's feature set above doesn't cover what you need, one of the alternatives compared here — Stripe, Adyen — may be a closer fit.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to PayPal Payments?
Based on core features and use case fit, the strongest PayPal Payments alternatives are Stripe and Adyen. See the comparison above for what each one does best.
How do I migrate from PayPal Payments to a different tool?
Most teams start by exporting their existing PayPal Payments data, then importing it into the new tool while running both in parallel until the switch is complete.
Do PayPal Payments alternatives integrate with the tools my team already uses?
Integration support varies by tool — check each alternative's own integrations before switching workflows that depend on them.
What platforms does PayPal Payments run on?
PayPal Payments is available on Web, iOS and Android, per its official site.
Sources
The facts on this page come from PayPal Payments's own official site, accessed September 5, 2026. See our Sources Policy for how we handle sourcing.
Head-to-head
PayPal Payments comparisons
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