Stripe vs PayPal vs Square — see what you actually keep per $1,000 in sales
Payment processor rates are standard published rates as of 2026. Actual rates may vary based on volume, risk assessment, and negotiated agreements. International transaction fees and currency conversion fees not included. Always confirm current rates on the processor's website.
Every card processor prices the same three layers: a percentage of volume (Stripe and Shopify 2.9%, PayPal 3.49%, Square 2.6%), a flat fee per transaction (typically $0.10–$0.49), and per-event charges for chargebacks ($15–$25 each). This tool models all of it: total = volume × % + (volume ÷ avg transaction) × fixed + chargebacks + intl surcharge + monthly fee, then ranks processors by that total so you can see the effective rate you really pay per $1,000 of sales. Because the fixed per-transaction line scales with transaction count, a high-volume store with small carts is where the biggest spread between processors appears.
At 20 transactions of $50 each, the 2.9% + $0.30 Stripe-style fee yields $29.00 + $6.00 = $35.00 — a 3.5% effective rate before chargebacks and FX.
Lena runs an online shop doing $10,000/month in 200 transactions of $50 each, with 10% of volume international and a 1% chargeback rate. She compares Stripe (2.9% + $0.30, $15 chargebacks) against Wise Business (1.4% + $0.45, no chargeback fee).
To use it: open the tool, enter your inputs, and get instant results — compare 7 payment processors side-by-side. Everything runs locally; nothing is uploaded.
FreeToolHub Payment Processor Compare is a free browser-based tool — compare 7 payment processors side-by-side. No signup, no upload; everything runs locally in your browser.
See exactly what you keep after fees: Stripe vs PayPal vs Square. Free, instant.
The Payment Processor Compare ranks nine payment processors by what they actually cost your business each month. Enter your monthly sales volume and average transaction size, and the tool prices out Stripe (2.9% plus $0.30), PayPal Goods & Services (3.49% plus $0.49), Square (2.6% plus $0.10), Wise Business (1.4% plus $0.45), Authorize.Net (2.5% plus $0.30 and a $25 monthly gateway fee), Braintree, Shopify Payments, PayPal Friends & Family, and Amex Direct. The results table sorts cheapest first, shows each processor's effective rate as a percentage of volume, and highlights the spread between the best and worst option translated into annual savings.
Small e-commerce stores and SaaS founders use it before committing to a gateway, since the cheapest processor at $10,000 a month can lose that title at $100,000. Freelancers and consultants who invoice by card discover that their average transaction size swings the fixed-fee math: a $25 average pays far more in $0.30 per-transaction charges than a $500 average. Sellers with international customers adjust the international percentage slider to see the surcharge effect. High-risk merchants — subscriptions, digital goods, travel — watch the risk labels, because PayPal Friends & Family carries no chargeback fee but also no buyer protection and violates its terms for commercial sales.
(1) Enter your monthly sales volume and average transaction amount — the sample button loads $25,000 across $85 transactions. (2) Tune two sliders: international transactions from 0 to 100 percent, and chargeback rate from 0 to 3 percent. (3) The calculator divides volume by transaction size to get your monthly transaction count, then sums five cost components for each processor: the percentage fee, the per-transaction fixed fee, expected chargeback fees, a 1.5 percent international surcharge on that share of volume, and any monthly fee. (4) Read the ranked list of total monthly costs with effective rates, the highlighted cheapest pick, and the savings panel showing yearly difference between worst and best.
The comparison covers published 2026 standard rates, but real statements can differ. Currency conversion fees are excluded, so the 1.5 percent international surcharge reflects only the cross-border markup, not the full cost of accepting foreign currency. Negotiated pricing is not modeled — Braintree's listed 1.9 percent plus $0.10 carries a note that merchants processing above $500 monthly can negotiate, and Shopify Payments adds 2 percent when a store uses a third-party gateway instead of the built-in one. Amex Direct's 3.5 percent describes direct Amex acceptance aimed at high-spend merchants. Payout times range from Wise's one day to Shopify's three to five days, which matters for cash flow. Verify current pricing on each processor's site before integrating.
Effective rate = total monthly fees ÷ total monthly volume. A processor advertising 2.9% + $0.30 actually nets you a higher percentage on small tickets ($5 coffee = 8.9% effective) and lower on large ones ($200 invoice = 3.05%) — plus monthly fees, PCI fees, and statement fees sit on top. Two quotes with identical headline rates can differ by half a point of effective rate, so this comparison prices your real ticket mix into each processor instead of trusting the brochure number.
Depends on volume and ticket profile. Flat-rate (Stripe/Square style: one rate for everything) is transparent and unbeatable below roughly $3,000-$5,000/month. Interchange-plus passes the wholesale card-network rate plus a fixed markup, which wins at higher volume — especially on debit cards and domestic consumer cards whose interchange is far below the flat rate. Below the crossover, simplicity is worth the premium; above it, the same premium is pure margin you are donating.
Every chargeback costs $15-$100 in fees even if you win the dispute, plus the lost sale. A business running 0.8% chargebacks on $30,000/month with a $25 fee bleeds $600 monthly before touching interchange — often more than the entire difference between processors. The calculator includes your chargeback rate so the comparison reflects dispute-prone reality instead of the clean-books fantasy; if your rate exceeds 1%, fixing disputes saves more than any processor switch will.
Because the headline rate is a la carte. The bill adds: a monthly account fee ($10-$30), PCI compliance fees ($50-$200/year or monthly equivalents), statement fees, next-day funding surcharges, address-verification fees, non-qualified card surcharges, and regulatory fees with creative names. Requesting a full effective-rate quote with your actual processing statement — or just using this calculator's total-cost math — exposes the gap between the quoted rate and the invoice you actually pay.
Standard online rates: Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30, PayPal charges 3.49% + $0.49, and Square charges 2.9% + $0.30. On a $10,000/month volume, PayPal costs $58 more per month than Stripe. In-person rates differ: Square is 2.6% + $0.10, making it cheapest for card-present transactions.
Yes. It includes chargeback fees ($15-$25 per dispute), international card surcharges (+1.5% for Stripe, +1.65% for PayPal), and currency conversion costs. A business processing 20% international transactions pays an effective rate of 4.4%-5.1%, which this tool calculates for your specific revenue mix.
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