Top 8 Best PayPal Alternatives for eCommerce Stores – Compared (2024)

Are you tired of PayPal’s costly fees, marked-up currency exchange rate, and frustrating withdrawal wait times? Well, you’re not alone.

Fortunately, PayPal isn’t the only online payment system out there – and it certainly isn’t the best. Dozens of PayPal alternatives might be a much better fit for your business.

In this post, we’ll share and review what we think are the best PayPal alternatives on the market to help you make the right choice for your needs. 

Let’s get started!

The Problems With PayPal

First, let’s talk about the problems with PayPal and why you might want to consider an alternative payment system. Here are the main drawbacks of using PayPal to send and receive payments.

Transaction fees

There are often hefty transaction fees involved when you use PayPal for business. The cost of commercial transaction fees varies on several factors, including the country you/your recipient are in but can be as high as 2-3% of the monies sent/received plus a fixed fee. 

International transfer fees 

It gets even more expensive if you’re sending or receiving money across borders. There’s usually an additional percentage-based fee (up to 2%) in addition to the standard commercial transaction fee.

Marked-up exchange rate 

If you thought those fees were enough, we’re not done yet. If you’re receiving money in a different currency, you’ll also contend with PayPal’s marked-up exchange rate, which can take a big chunk of your income.

Limited seller protection

Some PayPal users aren’t satisfied with PayPal’s seller protection policy as, in some cases, you may only receive limited or partial protection.

Withdrawal Delays & On-Hold Payments

If you’re a new eBay seller/PayPal user with limited transaction history, it’s common for PayPal to put any money you receive in up to 21 days. This is to make it easier to resolve any issues that may arise and better protect the buyer, but it sure is frustrating to be denied access to your funds for weeks.

Withdrawals can also be slow and can take up to five working days to appear in your bank account. For some people, those timescales are unacceptable.

Account freezes

Some PayPal users have reported having their accounts frozen for months without warning. For example, this business owner on Reddit says having his account frozen with no explanation for six months with over $70,000 locked away in his account. 

While concerning, it’s worth noting that this is usually based on unusual account activity and probably doesn’t happen often (plus, to a certain extent, you can prepare for them). In this specific case, the PayPal user noted that the account freeze happened following a big product launch and a surge in sales, which likely triggered fraud prevention to lock his account.

Of course, PayPal also does lots of things well, but it’s by no means perfect. Why settle when there are so many other payment processing options out there?

8 Best Alternatives to PayPal

And on that note, let’s look at some of those options. Here are our top eight favorite PayPal alternatives. 

01. Wise (formerly TransferWise)

Best for: freelancers, digital nomads, international businesses, and anyone who regularly sends or receives currencies in different currencies.

Wise is our number one recommendation for anyone with a high volume of international transactions. It’s a much more economical choice than PayPal for cross-currency conversions, and it can save you a great deal of money on reduced fees and exchange rates.

The whole idea of Wise is to make international money transfers fairer, cheaper, and simpler. They make sure that when you send or receive money in another currency, you can convert it at the ‘real’ mid-market exchange rate. There are no mark-ups or hidden fees to worry about.

The reason they can offer a fair exchange is that no money ever actually crosses borders. It works like this: you send $100 USD to your friend in Europe. Your $100 is deposited into the Wise American bank account. They then apply the mid-market exchange rate and send your friend the correct amount in EUR from the Wise European bank account.

Because they do it this way, international transfers can be completed much more quickly than is typical with high street banks. You can send or convert money across currencies in seconds.

Moreover, you can order a Wise Card debit card or Wise Travel Money Card to simplify your traveling experience.

Pros:

• Real exchange rate.
• Operates in 160 countries in 40 currencies.
• Transparency.
• User friendly.
• Low fees.

Cons:

• Limited support.
• Less well-known. 

Wise Fees/Charges

Opening a Wise account and receiving money in most currencies is free.

There may be variable fees for sending/converting money and ATM withdrawals, but these are as low as possible.

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02. Stripe

Best for: Internet businesses and eCommerce stores.

Stripe is a complete payment processing software solution that’s been designed specifically for Internet businesses. Compared to PayPal, it aims to improve the experience by offering more customizable, advanced development tools.  

Stripe prides itself on being a ‘developer-friendly’ software provider. For instance, you can build a low-code checkout solution, including features like custom branding, subscription upsells, or automatic tax collection.

Pros:

• Powerful and highly customizable.
• Scalable.
• Fast and simple integration.
• No monthly fees.

Cons:

• Similar transaction fees to PayPal.
• Additional fees for international transactions.

Stripe Fees/Charges

2.9% + $0.30 transaction fees per card charge. Additional fees for international transactions. Custom pricing packages with volume discounts are also available.

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03. Payoneer

Best for: Freelancers, businesses, and marketplaces.

Payoneer is another solid PayPal alternative, and its target customers include freelancers, businesses, and marketplaces. It’s easy to set up and use, has a simple pricing structure, and offers excellent customer support. 

It’s great for freelancers and cross-border transactions and works similarly to Wise. You can sign up for Payoneer and request a global credit card that you can use to withdraw money from ATMs all across the world. 

Pros:

• Flat, predictable fees.
• E-checks supported.
• Payoneer Mastercard available.

Cons:

• Annual fee for Payoneer MasterCard.

Payoneer Fees/Charges

• Receiving Payoneer payments from other (Payoneer) accounts and using the Global Payment Service is free.
• 3% fee on credit card payments in all currencies.
• $1.50 fixed withdrawal fee to a bank account in the same currency. Fees up to 3% of the transaction amount when you withdraw in local currency a Payoneer balance of a different currency.
• Other variable charges.

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04. Google Pay

Best for: simplified payments on sites, in apps, and stores.

Google Pay is an app-based digital wallet payment system that integrates with your Google Account. You can hook your debit/credit cards to your Google Account to pay more quickly and efficiently on websites, apps, and in-store.

You can use Google Pay at any store that accepts tap-and-go-payments and online without entering your card details. 

By integrating Google Pay on your website, you’re simplifying the payment process for your customers and creating a better, more secure, and more streamlined customer experience. 

See our guide on How to Set Up Apple Pay on a WordPress Site.

Pros:

• Free to use.
• Easy to set up on mobile devices.
• Faster, simplified payment process.
• Create custom mobile offers.

Cons:

• Not accepted everywhere.

Google Pay Fees/Charges

The best thing about Google Pay is that it’s totally free to send and receive money for both customers and merchants. Awesome, right?

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05. Amazon Pay 

Best for: businesses that prioritize fraud protection.

Like Google Pay, Amazon Pay is another online payment gateway attached to a reputable brand, which helps with customer trust. Users just have to log into their Amazon account and can then use the payment details saved on their account to check out using a familiar interface on any website that accepts Amazon Pay.

It’s available on mobile devices and desktops, comes with Amazon’s fraud protection, and has similar transaction fees to PayPal.

Pros:

• Brand trust.
• Fraud protection.
• Faster, simplified payment process.

Cons:

• Similar fees/charges to PayPal.
• It can be difficult to integrate on your website without programming knowledge.

Amazon Pay Fees/Charges

• 2.9% + $0.30 on domestic US transactions. 
• 3.9% fee for cross-currency transactions

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06. Square 

Best for Online and offline businesses.

If you’re looking for a payment processing solution that works as well for point-of-sale transactions as it does for online sales, Square is the way to go. 

Their powerful point-of-sale (POS) tools allow you to set up in-person contactless payments quickly and easily. You can pay with major credit cards like MasterCard, Visa or Amex. Google Pay or Apple Pay are also supported. Square can also generate or print receipts, track inventory, and more.

You can also use it as you would PayPal to process online payments on your website or eCommerce store.

Pros:

• Great POS software.
• Good customer support.
• Better-integrated payment tools.
• Square Reader accepts chip & contactless payments.

Cons:

• Confusing pricing structure.
• Similar fees to PayPal.

Square Fees/Charges

Square charges different fees for different kinds of transactions, including:

• 2.6% + $0.10 for contactless in-person payments.
• 2.9% + $0.30 for eCommerce transactions using the Square eCommerce store.
• 3.5% + $0.15 for remote payments (accept credit card payments over the phone using Square Dashboard).
• 6% + $0.30 for buy now, pay later payments.

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07. Venmo

Best for: personal transfers.

Venmo is a subsidiary company of Paypal that was created to make transferring money between friends and colleagues easier. The service makes it easy to transfer to people with a Venmo account and can be used to make secure purchases online. 

Venmo fees/charges

Venmo doesn’t charge fees for basic services like sending, receiving, or withdrawing money. There are also no annual or monthly fees. 

Almost everything is free for people using their bank accounts and Venmo balance to transfer and make payments. However, sending money from your credit cards comes with a 3% fee, and instant transfers come with a 1.75% fee. There are also out-of-network fees for ATM withdrawals when using your Venmo card.

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08. Skrill

Best for: Online Gamers, Gamblers, and Traders.

Skrill is an online wallet that has been designed with online gamers and traders in mind. Like PayPal, Skrill allows users to send and receive money securely online. It also helps gamers manage their in-game purchases and account balances, never missing a game. 

You can also use Skrill to manage cryptocurrencies, and it has a buy and sell function that makes trading crypto a breeze. 

Skrill fees/charges

Signing up for a Skrill account is free, but various fees are applied to transactions. Most transfers, including international transfers, are free, but there is a fee of up to 2% for domestic transfers.

Sending money to another Skrill user has a 2.99% fee. However, receiving money from another Skriller (basic level Skrill account) is free if no currency conversion is involved.

Also, remember that you should make a transaction every six months. Otherwise, Skrill will charge you a monthly $5 service fee from your account.

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Final Thoughts

There you have it: eight excellent PayPal alternatives to improve how you send or receive money. Which one is your go-to payment system? Let us know in the comments!

If none of these PayPal alternatives fit the bill, check out our guide to the top 5 payment gateways for eCommerce for more ideas.

Good luck!