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PayPal vs Wise Business

This page is about receiving money from clients, not sending it to family. On that side the two sit at opposite ends of the calculator: PayPal is usually the most expensive route and Wise usually the cheapest.

By Biel Vazquez · Rates verified

Short answer

Wise is about 27 times cheaper on a $5,000.00 payment from a US client into a euro account: $14.50 against $387.50. PayPal is the choice only when the person paying will not use anything else.

Why the two are so far apart

PayPal stacks three charges on a cross-border payment: a percentage plus a fixed fee, a surcharge because the payer is abroad, and a conversion markup of 3% for European accounts (4% for US ones) applied to what is left. On the US example those are $145.35, $99.50 and $142.65.

Wise skips the first two because the client pays local account details by bank transfer, and it converts at the mid-market rate with an explicit fee: 0.29% from dollars to euros, 0.33% from pounds. The whole cost is that one line.

Even with no currency to convert, PayPal is not cheap: a €1,000.00 payment from Germany to Spain costs €29.35. With Wise, a euro transfer between two euro accounts costs nothing in this model.

PayPal's case is convenience and reach. A consumer who has never heard of you will press a PayPal button; the same person may not set up a bank transfer. For a business client paying a real invoice, that argument mostly disappears.

What each one takes from a $5,000.00 payment

PaymentPayPalWise BusinessCheaper
US client → US business$5,000.00 invoice$174.993.5%$0.000%Wise Business
US client → Spanish business$5,000.00 invoice$387.507.75%$14.500.29%Wise Business
US client → UK business$5,000.00 invoice$387.467.75%$16.500.33%Wise Business
German client → US business€5,000.00 invoice€439.998.8%€23.500.47%Wise Business

All four fee layers included. PayPal is cheaper in 0 of 4 payments, Wise Business in 4. Try your own route on the map.

Choose PayPal if…

  • The payer is a consumer who only trusts or only has PayPal.
  • It is a small one-off payment where the fee matters less than getting paid.
  • A marketplace or platform you sell on only pays out through PayPal.

Choose Wise Business if…

  • Your clients are businesses paying invoices.
  • The amounts are in the hundreds or thousands, where PayPal's percentages add up.
  • You want to see the conversion fee before you convert, not discover it afterwards.
Open a Wise Business account

How each one is priced, layer by layer (account in the EEA)

Fee layerPayPalWise Business
Card or receiving fee2.9% + 0.35none (bank transfer)
Cross-border surcharge1.29% UK · 1.99% internationalnone
Currency conversion3%0.28%–0.49%
Payout to bankfreefree

Sources: PayPal · Wise Business. Fixed amounts in the account currency.

Questions

Is Wise cheaper than PayPal for receiving international payments?

Almost always. On a $5,000.00 payment from the US into a euro account, Wise costs $14.50 and PayPal $387.50. From the UK into a euro account: £16.50 against £353.55.

What about sending money abroad?

This site models receiving business payments, not personal transfers. The same logic usually holds, because the biggest difference is the conversion: Wise publishes a fee on top of the mid-market rate, PayPal builds a 3–4% markup into its rate. Check both quotes for your exact amount before sending.

Can a client pay me with PayPal and I withdraw to Wise?

You can withdraw a PayPal balance to a bank account, including a Wise account, but PayPal's fees on receiving the payment have already been taken by then. Withdrawing in the same currency avoids a second conversion at PayPal's rate.

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