# PayPal Fees in 2026: The Full Rate Card, and the $26.67 Line That Changes Your Plan

**By Justin McKelvey** · Published September 22, 2026 · Updated September 22, 2026 · 7 min read

> PayPal's US online rate is 3.49% + $0.49 through Checkout, 2.99% + $0.49 for cards, 2.29% in person through Zettle, and +1.50% international. There is also a separate micropayments plan at 4.99% + $0.09 that is cheaper on every sale under $26.67, and PayPal will not move you onto it.

**Category:** Payments
**Tags:** Buyer's Guide, Payments
**Canonical URL:** https://superdupr.com/blog/paypal-fees

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## What PayPal charges in 2026

**PayPal's headline US rate for selling online is 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction through PayPal Checkout, Guest Checkout or Venmo, and 2.99% + $0.49 if the buyer pays by card through Standard Credit and Debit Card Payments. In person through PayPal Zettle it is 2.29%, QR code payments are 2.29% + $0.09, and international sales add 1.50%. There is also a separate micropayments plan at 4.99% + $0.09, which sounds worse and is cheaper on every sale under $26.67.** That last line is the one nobody publishes, and if your average order is small it is worth more than everything else on this page.

Sourcing note: every rate here is from paypal.com's own US merchant fee page, read September 22, 2026, which carries the line "Last Updated: September 1, 2026." Nothing is estimated and nothing is quoted from a comparison site.

## The rates, in one table

| How the money arrives | US rate |
| --- | --- |
| PayPal Checkout, Guest Checkout, Venmo | 3.49% + $0.49 |
| Standard Credit and Debit Card Payments (domestic) | 2.99% + $0.49 |
| Pay Later options | 4.99% + $0.49 |
| QR code transactions | 2.29% + $0.09 |
| PayPal Zettle, card present | 2.29% |
| Invoicing, domestic | 2.99% or 3.49% + $0.49 depending on how it is funded |
| Micropayments, domestic | 4.99% + $0.09 |
| PayPal Card Payment Services, Advanced | 2.19% + fixed fee |
| Charity transactions | 1.99% or 2.89% |
| PayPal Payouts, sending | 2.00% |
| International sales | Add 1.50% to the domestic rate |
| Currency conversion | A 3.00% or 4.00% spread on top of the base exchange rate |

Two things in that table cost people money quietly. The international surcharge is 1.50% *added to* the domestic rate, so a European customer paying through Checkout is 4.99% + $0.49, not 3.49%. And currency conversion is a separate 3% to 4% spread layered on top of that, which means a converted international sale can land near 8% all in before you have done anything wrong.

## The micropayments crossover at $26.67

PayPal sells two pricing plans for the same online sale and lets you choose. The standard plan is 3.49% + $0.49. The micropayments plan is 4.99% + $0.09. Higher percentage, far lower fixed fee.

Set them equal and solve. The percentage difference is 1.50%, the fixed-fee difference is $0.40, so the two plans cost exactly the same at $0.40 ÷ 0.015, which is **$26.67**.

| Sale | Standard (3.49% + $0.49) | Micropayments (4.99% + $0.09) | Cheaper |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $5.00 | $0.66 (13.3%) | $0.34 (6.8%) | Micropayments, by half |
| $15.00 | $1.01 (6.8%) | $0.84 (5.6%) | Micropayments |
| $26.67 | $1.42 (5.3%) | $1.42 (5.3%) | Identical |
| $50.00 | $2.24 (4.5%) | $2.59 (5.2%) | Standard |
| $200.00 | $7.47 (3.7%) | $10.07 (5.0%) | Standard, by a lot |

If you sell digital downloads, tips, single-issue content, small parts, or anything else that averages under about $25 a sale, you are very likely on the wrong plan right now. PayPal does not move you automatically and does not prompt you. You ask for micropayments pricing on the account, and the sensible move is a second business account for the small stuff if your catalogue straddles the line.

## Why small sales cost so much more than the sticker rate

The percentage is not the fee. The percentage plus a fixed charge is the fee, and on a small sale the fixed charge is most of it. At the standard 3.49% + $0.49, a $5 sale pays 13.3% and a $200 sale pays 3.7%. Same rate card, nearly four times the effective cost.

This is also where PayPal and Stripe genuinely differ, and it is not the headline percentage. PayPal's fixed fee is $0.49; Stripe's is $0.30, per the rates in our [Stripe fees](/blog/stripe-fees) breakdown. On a $5 sale that gap alone is the difference between 13.3% and 8.9%. On a $500 sale it is a rounding error. **Fixed fees decide small-ticket businesses; percentages decide large-ticket ones.** If your average order is under $30, compare the fixed fees first and the percentages second, which is the opposite of how every comparison chart is laid out.

## The fees that are not on the rate card

- **Chargebacks.** PayPal charges a $20.00 chargeback fee on card transactions. That is on top of losing the sale and the goods. The arithmetic on when fighting one is worth it is in [what is a chargeback](/blog/what-is-a-chargeback), and the answer is more often "no" than owners expect.
- **Refunds.** When you refund a sale the percentage comes back to you but the fixed fee does not. A refunded $20 order still cost you $0.49.
- **Instant transfers.** Moving your balance to your bank instantly costs 1.5% with a minimum, where the standard transfer is free and takes days. Businesses running tight on cash pay this one repeatedly without noticing it accumulate.
- **Currency conversion.** The 3% to 4% spread above, applied whenever PayPal converts rather than you.
- **Account holds.** Not a fee, but the most expensive line item PayPal has. A sudden spike in volume or ticket size can put a reserve on your funds. The prevention is the same as everywhere else in payments and is covered in [what is a merchant account](/blog/what-is-a-merchant-account): tell your provider before the promotion, not after.

## How PayPal compares once you run your own numbers

The honest summary is that PayPal is rarely the cheapest processor on paper and frequently the right one anyway, because a meaningful share of buyers will complete a PayPal checkout and abandon a card form. A 3.49% fee on a sale you would not otherwise have made beats a 2.9% fee on nothing.

What you should not do is guess. Take last month's transaction export, work out your true average ticket, and apply the three numbers: standard, micropayments, and whatever your card processor actually charges. Most owners doing this for the first time find one of two things, and they are opposite problems. Either their average ticket is small enough that they have been overpaying on fixed fees for years, or it is large enough that the percentage is the whole game and the fixed fee never mattered. The head-to-head with the obvious alternative is in [Stripe vs PayPal](/blog/stripe-vs-paypal), and the full cross-processor rate card sits in [merchant services fees](/blog/merchant-services-fees).

## The owner's version

PayPal's US online rate is 3.49% + $0.49, and the single most valuable thing on this page is that there is a second plan at 4.99% + $0.09 that is cheaper on every sale under $26.67. Go and look at your average order value this week. If it starts with a 1 or a 2, you have a pricing plan to change, and it will take one support conversation.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What are PayPal's fees for business in 2026?

For US merchants, PayPal charges 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction through PayPal Checkout, Guest Checkout or Venmo, and 2.99% + $0.49 when the buyer pays by card through Standard Credit and Debit Card Payments. Pay Later options are 4.99% + $0.49, QR code transactions are 2.29% + $0.09, and PayPal Zettle card-present sales are 2.29%. International sales add 1.50% on top of the domestic rate, and if PayPal converts the currency there is a further 3% to 4% spread. All figures are from PayPal's own US merchant fee page, read September 22, 2026, which is marked Last Updated September 1, 2026.

### What is PayPal's micropayments rate and when is it cheaper?

PayPal's domestic micropayments plan is 4.99% + $0.09, against the standard 3.49% + $0.49. The percentage is 1.50% higher and the fixed fee is $0.40 lower, so the two plans cost exactly the same at $0.40 divided by 0.015, which is $26.67. Below that, micropayments is cheaper; above it, standard is. On a $5 sale it is $0.34 instead of $0.66, roughly half. On a $200 sale it is $10.07 instead of $7.47, which is a lot worse. PayPal does not switch you automatically or prompt you, so if your average order is under about $25 you have to ask.

### Why is PayPal taking so much from small payments?

Because the fixed fee is most of the cost on a small sale and the percentage barely matters. At the standard 3.49% + $0.49, a $5 sale pays $0.66, which is 13.3%, while a $200 sale pays 3.7%. Same rate card, nearly four times the effective rate. This is also the real difference between PayPal and Stripe for small-ticket businesses: PayPal's fixed fee is $0.49 and Stripe's is $0.30, so the same $5 sale is 13.3% on one and 8.9% on the other. If your average order is under $30, compare fixed fees first and percentages second.

### Does PayPal charge a fee for refunds and chargebacks?

Both, and they work differently. On a refund, PayPal returns the percentage but keeps the fixed fee, so a refunded $20 order still cost you $0.49. On a chargeback, PayPal charges a $20.00 fee on card transactions, on top of losing the sale and whatever you shipped. Because that fee applies regardless of outcome, fighting a small chargeback frequently costs more than it recovers, which is the same arithmetic that applies on every processor.

### What PayPal fees are not on the rate card?

Four worth knowing. Instant Transfer of your balance to your bank costs 1.50% with a $0.50 minimum, where the standard transfer is free and takes days, and businesses running tight on cash pay it repeatedly. Currency conversion carries a 3% to 4% spread whenever PayPal converts instead of you. The international surcharge of 1.50% is added to the domestic rate, so a European Checkout sale is 4.99% + $0.49 and not 3.49%. And account holds are not a fee at all but are the most expensive thing PayPal can do to you: a sudden spike in volume or average ticket can put a reserve on your funds.

### Is PayPal more expensive than Stripe?

On the headline online rate, usually yes: 3.49% + $0.49 through Checkout against Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30. But that comparison only settles the question if the sale happens either way, and it often does not. A share of buyers will complete a PayPal checkout and abandon a card form, and a 3.49% fee on a sale you would not otherwise have made beats a 2.9% fee on nothing. The way to decide is to export last month's transactions, compute your true average ticket, and apply all three numbers: PayPal standard, PayPal micropayments, and your card processor's rate.


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*Originally published at [https://superdupr.com/blog/paypal-fees](https://superdupr.com/blog/paypal-fees) by SuperDupr.*