If you freelance and take card payments, you usually end up choosing between Stripe and PayPal. On price, the answer is clear in almost every case. But price is not everything, and there are situations where PayPal is still the better choice.
The numbers
An account in Spain, four typical freelance payments, at each provider's published rates:
| Payment | Stripe | PayPal | PayPal costs more by |
|---|---|---|---|
| German client, €1,000 | €15.25 (1.52%) | €29.35 (2.94%) | €14.10 |
| UK client, £1,500 | £66.99 (4.47%) | £106.30 (7.09%) | £39.31 |
| US client, $2,000 | $101.98 (5.1%) | $155.21 (7.76%) | $53.22 |
| US freelancer, US client, $1,000 | $29.30 (2.93%) | $35.39 (3.54%) | $6.09 |
Stripe is cheaper in all four cases. The gap is small with clients in your own region and grows fast with clients outside it, especially when the currency has to be converted: with the US client, PayPal costs you $53.22 more on a single invoice.
- Card fee
- Cross-border
- Conversion
- Payout
Why PayPal comes out more expensive
All three layers at once: a higher base rate, a bigger international surcharge and, above all, a conversion markup of 3% on European accounts against 2% at Stripe. Because the markup is applied after the other fees, the differences stack. I break it down in the PayPal fees guide.
What the table does not show
- Client trust. A client who does not know you will pay through PayPal sooner than type their card into an unfamiliar link. On a new client's first job, that can be worth more than the fee difference.
- Disputes. PayPal tends to protect the buyer. For services, where proving delivery is hard, that works against you. Both can charge a dispute fee.
- Invoices and payment links. Both let you send invoices with a pay button. Stripe may add a small percentage for its invoicing product depending on the plan; check its pricing page.
- Payment methods. Stripe takes cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and in some countries PayPal as a method within the same checkout.
What I would do
- Stripe as the default for card payments.
- PayPal only when the client asks for it, or for the first payment from someone who does not know you.
- For recurring clients, neither: a bank transfer to an account with local details. For the US client in the table, Wise would cost $5.80. I explain it in how to get paid by US clients.
The full comparison with more scenarios is on Stripe vs PayPal, and your own case in the calculator.
Every figure in this guide is calculated from the providers' public pricing pages, with the same function as the calculator. See the methodology for what the model includes and leaves out.