On a $300 card payment, Stripe's published online rate costs $9.00 and PayPal's standard checkout rate costs $10.96, a gap of under $2. The fee table is not where the decision gets made. It gets made by how your customers want to pay, and by how long your money sits before you can spend it.
Every rate and policy below is as published on each company's own site, October 2026. Third-party comparison pages from early 2025 are still ranking, and they quote some numbers that have since moved.
The fees as published, and what they cost on $300
| Payment type | Published rate | Cost on $300 |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe, domestic card online | 2.9% + 30 cents | $9.00 |
| Stripe, ACH direct debit | 0.8%, capped at $5 | $2.40 |
| PayPal Checkout (standard) | 3.49% + 49 cents | $10.96 |
| PayPal Advanced credit and debit card payments | 2.89% + 29 cents | $8.96 |
| PayPal invoice paid with Checkout | 3.49% + 49 cents | $10.96 |
| PayPal QR code payment | 2.29% + 9 cents | $6.96 |
PayPal lists several rates because the rate depends on how the customer pays. If they click a PayPal button and use their PayPal account, you pay the Checkout rate. If they type a card number into card fields on your page through PayPal's Advanced card processing, you pay the lower one. That second rate is within a few cents of Stripe's, which is why a comparison that quotes only one PayPal number misleads.
Stripe additionally lists 1.5% for international cards and 1% when currency conversion is needed, and it charges 0.4% on invoices, capped at $2 per invoice, on top of card fees. Neither lists a monthly fee for the ordinary processing described here.
A month of retainer payments
Ines is a freelance bookkeeper with 15 clients who each pay a $300 monthly retainer by card, so $4,500 comes in each month. Here is what fees take.
- On Stripe's online rate: 15 x $9.00 = $135.00.
- On PayPal Checkout, if every client pays through the PayPal button: 15 x $10.96 = $164.40.
- On PayPal Advanced card processing, if clients type a card number: 15 x $8.96 = $134.40.
The difference between Stripe and PayPal Checkout is $29.40 a month, about $353 a year. Between Stripe and PayPal Advanced it is 60 cents. If three of Ines's clients insist on paying with their PayPal balance and twelve use cards, her blended cost is 3 x $10.96 + 12 x $9.00 = $140.88. Offering both options costs her about $5.88 more than card-only, and for that she avoids losing three clients who would not enter a card. That is a normal reason to run both.
When the money reaches your bank
Stripe's documentation lists the standard US payout at 2 business days, and Stripe typically schedules your first payout within 7 to 14 days after your first live payment, depending on industry, country and risk. Instant Payouts are listed at 1.5% with a 50-cent minimum.
PayPal works differently. Payments land in your PayPal balance first, and you then transfer money to your bank. PayPal's business fees page lists a standard transfer to a linked bank account with no fee, and its help pages describe standard transfers as typically taking one to three business days. Instant transfer is listed at 1.50% with a 50-cent minimum. You can also spend the balance without moving it, which suits some freelancers who pay vendors through PayPal.
New-seller holds and reserves, in the companies' own words
This is the section most comparison pages skip, and it is the one that bites newer businesses. PayPal's help pages say new sellers can have initial payments held for up to 21 days, and that holds can also follow unusual selling patterns or a run of disputes. PayPal also describes account reserves, giving a rolling reserve of 5% held for 60 days as an example. Stripe's support pages describe a 7 to 14 day wait for the first payout, say it cannot be waived, and describe reserves and payout delays for accounts that look risky.
Apply that to Ines. Her first month of retainers, $4,500, is billed on October 1. On Stripe she should expect the first payout between about October 8 and October 15 plus the two business days to her bank. On PayPal, a new-seller hold could run to October 22 before she can transfer, plus the one to three days of the transfer. Neither is a promise, since each company decides based on your account. The practical advice is the same: do not let your rent depend on the first payment from a brand-new account.
Disputes side by side
A dispute is a customer asking their bank or the processor to take a payment back. It is the part of this comparison you will hope never to read, and it is the part that costs the most per event. What follows is from Stripe's dispute documentation and fee page and from PayPal's fee page and Seller Protection page, as published October 2026.
| Stripe | PayPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | $15 for each dispute received. A separate countered fee applies if you contest, and it is returned if you win. The received fee is not returned. | $15 standard dispute fee and $20 per chargeback, on the fees page. |
| Time to respond | Usually 7 to 21 days, depending on the card network. If you do not respond in time you lose automatically. | Within the timeframe PayPal sets on your case. Read the deadline on the case itself. |
| How you respond | One evidence submission in the dashboard. You cannot edit it or add files afterward. | Through the Resolution Center, with proof of delivery or completion for eligible transactions. |
| Who decides | The cardholder's bank, which can take up to 3 months. | PayPal, or the card issuer for chargebacks. |
| Protection program | Stripe describes how to respond. It does not promise a result. | Seller Protection covers item-not-received and unauthorized-payment claims on eligible transactions. Its page lists exclusions, including chargebacks filed directly with a card issuer and significantly-not-as-described claims. |
Put numbers on it. A client disputes a $300 retainer. If you lose, you are out the $300 plus $15, which is $315, or 5% on top of the lost payment. If you win, you get the $300 back but on Stripe you still do not get the original $15 fee back. Either way, the evidence decides it. Keep the signed agreement, the dated proof of work, and the email thread where the client approved. Stripe's page also warns that banks will not click links or listen to audio, so put everything in a document. Our piece on whose Stripe account the money lands in covers the ownership side if an agency built your checkout.
Match the processor to the job in front of you
- You want card payments on your own site and money in your own bank on a clear schedule. That is the job Stripe's checkout and payout schedule describes.
- Your customers ask to pay with PayPal or a PayPal balance. Offer a PayPal button next to your card form, and expect the higher Checkout rate on those payments.
- You are paid in large amounts by businesses. Look at bank transfers. Stripe's ACH rate capped at $5 is the line that matters on a $3,000 payment.
- You are brand new. Open either account before you need it, take a small real payment, and see how long it takes to reach your bank.
Sites built in Rocketship take payments through Stripe, using Stripe Connect, so the money goes to your own Stripe account and not to ours. The reasoning behind that is in the website is not the product, and the admin cost of doing it by hand is in the four hours nobody invoices for. Rocketship's Builder plan, which covers the site or app only, is explained in the $12 Builder plan. For a different pair, see Stripe vs Square for a small business, and for the setup steps see how to accept payments on your website.
Getting paid is where a sale actually turns into money. Rocketship finds the buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and every monthly plan starts with a 7-day free trial, card required.