Stripe vs. PayPal comparison: Which payment platform is best for your business (2025)?

Key takeaways

• Stripe is built for digital platforms and developers. It offers flexible APIs and the tools to create custom payment experiences.

• PayPal Open focuses on providing a unified merchant platform. It brings together payments, payouts, reconciliation, and fraud management under one roof.

• Airwallex gives global businesses a modern financial infrastructure. You get local payment acceptance, multi-currency wallets, interbank FX rates, and fast global payouts without having to stitch together multiple tools.

Choosing a payment platform is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your business, because it determines how money flows in and out, affects your cash flow and FX exposure, influences operating costs, and defines how much visibility you have over each transaction. For most companies exploring their options, Stripe and PayPal are likely to be somewhere on their list.

While both process payments, Stripe offers a developer-driven, flexible toolkit, and PayPal focuses on ready-to-use simplicity. Stripe lets you design payment flows around your product. PayPal gives you a merchant platform that combines checkout, payouts, and fraud controls in one package.

This guide compares them on pricing, payment types, ease of integration, and ideal use cases. You’ll also see why global businesses are choosing Airwallex to manage payments, currencies, and cross-border payouts in one place.

What is Stripe?

Stripe is a US-based payments company founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick and John Collison. In just over a decade, it's grown into one of the most recognized names in payments, especially among SaaS companies, marketplaces, and digital platforms.

If you have in-house developers, Stripe provides the building blocks to create a payment experience that works how you want. Its APIs let you control everything from the checkout page to recurring billing logic and marketplace payouts. That flexibility is why so many digital-first businesses choose it. You can integrate payments into your product rather than adding them as an afterthought.

What is PayPal?

PayPal has been a fixture in online payments since 1998. Today, it operates in more than 200 countries and remains one of the most trusted names for customers buying online or in person. Many businesses start with PayPal because it's quick to set up, easy to connect to eCommerce platforms, and instantly recognizable to shoppers.

A business account lets you take payments under your company name, send invoices, and set up subscriptions without touching a line of code. It's a popular choice for smaller businesses and eCommerce sellers that want to sell internationally without getting bogged down in technical setup.

PayPal has recently undergone a rebranding effort. PayPal Open is now the name for its business offering and is what we’ll be referring to in this article. It’s a unified platform that combines payments, growth tools, and business intelligence. PayPal Open was launched in the US, UK, and Germany in early 2025, with additional countries expected to follow through 2026.¹

Stripe vs. PayPal: a head-to-head comparison

Comparison table

Stripe vs. PayPal: pricing and fees comparison

Stripe fees explained

Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 for domestic card payments. International card transactions or currency conversions incur a 1% additional charge, and ACH direct debits incur a 0.8% fee (capped at $5). You won’t pay setup or monthly fees on standard accounts, but extras like advanced fraud tools, premium support, or reconciliation features increase costs, especially for high-volume cross-border payments.

PayPal fees explained

PayPal’s standard online card rate is 2.99% + $0.49, while PayPal or Venmo transactions cost 3.49% + $0.49. Expanded Checkout can lower card and Apple Pay fees to 2.89% + $0.29. International sales incur a 1.5% cross-border add-on to your card rate, as well as a currency conversion spread when PayPal performs the transaction. Additional services, such as instant bank transfers, recurring billing, and fraud tools, carry separate charges. For some use cases, these add-ons can push total processing costs above those of other providers.

Stripe vs. PayPal: features and services comparisons

Stripe provides a developer-first payments toolkit with over 100 payment methods, advanced subscription billing, and APIs for fully custom checkout flows. It supports global acquiring in 135 currencies, with additional features such as Stripe Capital and Stripe Issuing for eligible US businesses. Reporting tools are built in, and you can integrate via pre-built plugins or custom builds; however, dedicated account management typically incurs an additional cost.

PayPal supports fewer payment methods, but it offers a faster and simpler setup. Businesses can accept PayPal, cards, major wallets, and Pay Later without coding, and it works with most eCommerce platforms out of the box. Invoicing and subscriptions are included, but recurring billing is less flexible than Stripe’s API-based tools. PayPal also offers business debit cards and working capital loans, but lacks multi-currency accounts and automatically converts every cross-border sale.

Both handle PCI compliance and provide fraud monitoring. Stripe builds security into its API workflows, while PayPal emphasizes consumer-facing trust signals alongside merchant protection. Stripe’s reach is somewhat stronger in the APAC region, whereas PayPal retains strong adoption in consumer-driven eCommerce markets. The choice depends on whether you prefer a composable payments stack or a ready-made merchant platform with brand recognition.

Stripe vs. PayPal: ideal use cases

Who is Stripe best for?

Stripe suits online-first businesses that want control over how payments work inside their product. SaaS platforms, marketplaces, and global eCommerce brands use it to create tailored payment experiences, manage complex billing logic, and connect with local acquiring in multiple regions. Just be prepared to invest time in setup and maintenance.

Who is PayPal best for?

PayPal works well for US-based smaller businesses, freelancers, and eCommerce sellers that want to start accepting payments quickly. It’s particularly effective for consumer-facing sales, where the PayPal brand can boost trust and conversions. While it lacks treasury-level controls, its ease of integration makes it a good fit for early-stage ventures or side hustles selling to both domestic and international customers.

Beyond the basics: key differences between Stripe and PayPal

Stripe is API-first. It is designed for businesses that want to integrate payments directly into their own systems and control every aspect of the process. That flexibility appeals to SaaS platforms, marketplaces, and fintechs that need custom checkout flows, subscription billing, and marketplace payouts. The trade-off is that you typically need in-house developers to fully leverage its capabilities. Stripe users often report friction around onboarding¹⁴, account holds, and chargeback handling.¹⁵ 

PayPal is all about simplicity. You can start taking payments within minutes using checkout buttons, payment links, or basic integrations with eCommerce platforms. That simplicity works well for freelancers, small businesses, and side hustles that prioritize speed over customization. PayPal users value its brand recognition and buyer trust, but frequently raise concerns over high fees for international sales, limited transparency on currency conversion rates, and the risk of sudden fund holds.²⁰ Its closed ecosystem also creates operational limits for international trade, since you cannot receive funds into local currency accounts and every cross-border sale is automatically converted, triggering extra fees.

Ultimately, Stripe offers a toolkit for building exactly what you want, while PayPal offers a quick way to start taking payments. Which works better depends on whether you value control and flexibility, or simplicity and brand recognition.

Why Airwallex is a powerful alternative (and how we compare)

Stripe gives you deep control if you have developers on your team. PayPal offers a quick and easy way to start accepting payments. However, if you want to operate across multiple markets without having to stack different tools or watch fees eat into your margins, Airwallex offers a different solution. You can accept, hold, convert, and send money globally, all from one platform, with no trade-off between control and ease of use.

With Airwallex, you can collect payments in over 130 currencies and accept more than 160 local payment methods. You can settle like-for-like in 14 major currencies, so you avoid forced conversions and the extra charges that come with them. Open Global Accounts in 20+ currencies, collect locally in 60+ countries/regions, and access interbank FX rates, which can cut your currency conversion costs by as much as 80% compared to traditional banks. Payouts are fast, often arriving the same day or even within minutes. Whether you're taking bookings from customers in Singapore, processing sales in Europe, or paying suppliers in the US, you control the flow of funds at every step.

With Airwallex, payments are just the start. It’s a complete financial stack. You can manage FX, multi-currency wallets, card issuance, expense controls, and global payouts all within the dashboard. It integrates with your existing systems, from eCommerce platforms to accounting software, and our APIs let you create custom workflows if you want even more control. You also get dedicated account managers and flexible onboarding, so you’re not left waiting in a queue when you need help.

Consider Airwallex if you:

• Collect revenue in multiple currencies and want to cut FX costs

• Operate in several countries and need to settle payments locally

• Want to offer local payment methods without multiple integrations

• Need faster payouts and fewer delays from SWIFT

• Want to consolidate payments, FX, cards, and accounts in one platform

• Need enterprise-grade capabilities without unnecessary complexity

Final verdict: choosing the right solution for your business

Stripe and PayPal both deliver on their core promise, but in very different ways. Stripe provides the building blocks to design a payment infrastructure tailored to your business model. PayPal gives you an instantly recognizable payment option that’s quick to launch and easy to connect to popular sales channels.

When choosing between them, think about how you want payments to work for your business. Do you need the flexibility to create complex payment logic and integrate tightly with your own systems? Or do you want a familiar, ready-to-use option that customers already know and trust?

If neither feels like the right fit, there’s another option. Airwallex combines global payment acceptance, multi-currency accounts, competitive foreign exchange rates, and financial tools in one platform. You can collect, hold, convert, and send money worldwide without juggling multiple providers or watching fees erode your margins.

FAQs

What’s the main difference between Stripe and PayPal?

Stripe is designed for businesses that want to customize every aspect of the payment process, often with the assistance of developers. PayPal focuses on simplicity, offering a ready-made way to accept payments quickly with minimal setup. The right choice depends on whether you value flexibility and control, or speed and ease of use.

Is Stripe cheaper than PayPal?

It depends on how and where you take payments. Stripe’s domestic card rates are slightly lower than PayPal’s standard online card rates, but PayPal can be more expensive for international sales due to cross-border and currency conversion fees. For high-volume, multi-currency businesses, the total cost difference can be significant.

Which is easier to set up, Stripe or PayPal?

PayPal is faster to get started with. You can create a business account, add checkout buttons or links, and start taking payments within minutes. Stripe’s setup is straightforward if you use prebuilt integrations; however, creating custom payment flows typically requires developer input.

Why do businesses choose Airwallex over Stripe or PayPal?

Airwallex combines global payment acceptance with local settlement, built-in FX, cards, and multi-currency wallets. It’s built for businesses that want to manage payments, currencies, and payouts in one place, without the need for extra conversions or multiple providers.

Sources

1. https://www.paypal.com/us/campaign/paypal-open-launch

2. https://docs.stripe.com/payouts/multicurrency-settlement 

3. https://www.paypal.com/mn/legalhub/paypal/useragreement-full 

4. http://stripe.com/payments/payment-methods

5. https://www.paypal.com/us/business/accept-payments/payment-methods

6. https://docs.stripe.com/payouts/multicurrency-settlement 

7. https://www.paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/how-do-i-manage-my-currencies-with-paypal-help116

8. https://docs.stripe.com/payments/buy-now-pay-later 

9. https://developer.paypal.com/studio/checkout/pay-later/us 

10. https://docs.stripe.com/connect/cross-border-payouts

11. https://developer.paypal.com/docs/payouts/standard/payouts-web/ 

12. https://stripe.com/pricing

13. https://www.paypal.com/us/business/fees?locale.x=en_US

14. https://www.capterra.com/p/123889/Stripe/reviews/

15. https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/south-san-francisco/profile/payment-processing-services/stripe-inc-1116-437157/complaints

16. https://www.capterra.com/p/179252/PayPal-Checkout/