Stripe vs PayPal vs Square: Which Has the Lowest Fees?
For a US small business, the gap between payment processors is rarely about features — it is about fees. On thousands of sales a year, a fraction of a percent is real money. So which is cheapest: Stripe, PayPal or Square? The honest answer is it depends on your average ticket size, and you can settle it in seconds with our Payment Fee Calculator.
The headline US rates
For standard online (card-not-present) payments, the published rates are close:
- Stripe — 2.9% + 30¢
- Square — 2.9% + 30¢ (online); 2.6% + 10¢ in person
- PayPal — 3.49% + 49¢ (standard checkout)
- Shopify Payments — 2.9% + 30¢
On the headline numbers, Stripe, Square and Shopify tie for online, and PayPal is the most expensive per transaction.
Why the fixed fee changes everything
Every fee has two parts: a percentage and a fixed cents charge. The fixed part is what makes small sales expensive. A 30¢ fixed fee is only 0.3% of a $100 sale — but it is 6% of a $5 sale. So the “cheapest” processor flips depending on your ticket:
- Tiny tickets ($1–$15): the lowest fixed fee wins. In-person options like Square (10¢) or Stripe card-present (5¢) pull ahead.
- Large tickets ($200+): the lowest percentage wins, and the 30¢ barely matters.
This is exactly why a generic “X is cheapest” article is misleading — plug your real numbers into the calculator instead.
In-person is cheaper than online
Card-present (chip/tap) transactions carry less fraud risk, so they cost less: Square drops to 2.6% + 10¢ and Stripe to 2.7% + 5¢ in person. If a big share of your sales can be taken in person, that alone can beat switching processors.
Beyond the rate
Fees are not the only cost. Watch for monthly gateway fees, chargeback fees, currency conversion on international cards, and payout timing. For disputes, know your chargeback reason codes before they happen.
The bottom line
There is no single cheapest processor — there is a cheapest one for your ticket size and channel. Run your average sale and your monthly volume through the Payment Fee Calculator, compare the monthly projection, and switch only if the saving is real.