Braintree vs PayPal: Cost and Fees Calculator
Enter your volumes to compare estimated monthly costs and fees for Braintree and PayPal across the selling types both offer, using published US pricing.
Selling online (eCommerce)
Estimates combine processing fees and monthly subscriptions on the plans noted above. One-time hardware, setup, and add-ons are excluded. Rates are published or typical US pricing as of mid-2026 and may have changed.
How the Braintree vs PayPal calculator works, and how the two compare
Braintree is PayPal's developer-oriented payment gateway, offering card, wallet, and PayPal processing through one API. Braintree charges 2.59% + $0.49 per card transaction with no monthly fee, includes PayPal and Venmo acceptance, and offers interchange-plus pricing for qualifying volume. PayPal is the best-known online payments brand, which also covers in-person sales through PayPal Zettle card readers. PayPal charges 3.49% + $0.49 for standard online PayPal checkout and 2.29% + $0.09 in person via Zettle (reader $79, or $29 for your first), with no monthly fee.
How they are similar: Where they overlap: both Braintree and PayPal cover selling online, which is what this calculator compares. They also share the same commercial model: both operate as flat-rate card processing with published per-transaction fees. Neither requires a monthly subscription on the plans compared here, so your cost scales purely with sales. In both cases the bill is driven by a percentage of each sale plus any fixed per-transaction fee, which is why your average transaction size changes the effective rate as much as the headline percentage does.
How they differ: Only PayPal offers in-person card readers, so that side of the business is not part of this comparison. Braintree is the way to get Stripe-style APIs with native PayPal and Venmo built in, and its lower percentage but higher $0.49 fixed fee favors larger order values. PayPal brings the trust of its consumer brand and one of the lowest in-person rates via Zettle, but its 3.49% + $0.49 online checkout is among the most expensive standard online rates.
Assumptions used in this calculator
- Braintree is modeled on: 2.59% + $0.49 per transaction, PayPal and Venmo included, no monthly fee.
- PayPal is modeled on: 3.49% + $0.49 for standard PayPal online checkout.
- Rates are published or typical US pricing as of mid-2026 and change often; quote-based providers are modeled at representative rates. Always confirm current pricing with the provider.
- One-time hardware, setup, add-on apps, keyed-in transactions, international cards, and chargeback fees are excluded from the monthly figures.