See how much PayPal takes from an invoice or payment, what you’ll receive, and how much to bill so the full amount reaches you. Works for PayPal business accounts in the US, UK, Germany, Canada and Australia.
Rates checked against PayPal’s merchant fee pages · October 2026
Based on PayPal’s commercial rates for United States (checked October 2026). The currency conversion spread is built into the exchange rate, so it’s shown here as an approximate extra cost.
Pick a mode. “I charge a client” shows the fee on a payment; “I want to receive” works out what to invoice.
Enter the amount in your PayPal account’s currency.
Choose your country and how the client pays. In the US, an invoice paid by card costs less than one paid from a PayPal account.
Set where your client is and whether PayPal converts the currency. Cross-border payments and conversions both add to the cost.
PayPal charges sellers a percentage of each payment plus a fixed fee that depends on the currency you receive. For a US business account, payments through PayPal Checkout and PayPal invoices cost 3.49% + $0.49. When a client pays your invoice with a debit or credit card instead, the rate is 2.99% + $0.49.
PayPal fee = payment amount × percentage rate + fixed fee
The fixed $0.49 matters most on small payments. Here’s what a US seller keeps when a client pays an invoice from their PayPal account:
Invoice amount
PayPal fee
You receive
Effective rate
$10
$0.84
$9.16
8.40%
$50
$2.24
$47.76
4.48%
$100
$3.98
$96.02
3.98%
$500
$17.94
$482.06
3.59%
$1,000
$35.39
$964.61
3.54%
$2,500
$87.74
$2,412.26
3.51%
Getting paid by a client in another country costs more. A US account pays an extra 1.5% on cross-border payments, so a $1,000 invoice from abroad costs $50.39 instead of $35.39.
If PayPal also has to convert currencies, it builds a spread into the exchange rate: 4% for US and Canadian accounts, 3% in the UK, Germany and Australia. It doesn’t appear as a separate line, but on that same $1,000 payment it can bring the total cost to around $90.
Each PayPal account is priced in its home country, and the extra charge for international payments depends on where the client is. These are PayPal’s standard rates for receiving business payments:
PayPal account
Domestic payments
International extra
Currency conversion
United States
3.49% + $0.49 (2.99% + $0.49 by card)
+1.5%
4%
United Kingdom
2.9% + 30p
+1.29% (EEA), +1.99% (other)
3%
Germany
2.99% + €0.39 (invoices: 2.49% + €0.35)
+0% (EEA), +1.29% (UK), +1.99% (other)
3%
Canada
2.9% + CA$0.30
+0.8% (US), +1% (other)
4%
Australia
2.9% + A$0.30
+1%
3%
Rates vary between EU countries and change from time to time, so check the merchant fees page on your country’s PayPal site before you quote a price to a client.
To end up with an exact amount, divide instead of adding a percentage on top. Adding 3.49% falls short, because PayPal also takes its cut of the extra:
Amount to invoice = (amount you want + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage rate)
For example, to receive $1,000 from a US client paying with PayPal, invoice (1,000 + 0.49) ÷ 0.9651 ≈ $1,036.67. PayPal keeps $36.67 and you get exactly $1,000. Choose “I want to receive” in the calculator to do this for any amount.
Can you add PayPal fees to an invoice?
It depends on where you and your client are. In the UK and the EU, surcharges on consumer payments are banned, and other countries have their own rules. A simpler route is to price the fee into your rates, or offer a cheaper way to pay large invoices. This isn’t legal advice, so check the rules that apply to you.
For a US freelancer, a $1,000 invoice paid from a PayPal account costs $35.39 in fees, the same invoice paid by card through PayPal costs $30.39, and a card payment through Stripe costs $29.30. PayPal’s strength is familiarity: many clients already have an account and can pay in a couple of clicks. Stripe is usually cheaper for card payments. Compare the two with our Stripe fee calculator.
Let clients pay by card. In the US, an invoice paid by card costs 2.99% + $0.49 instead of 3.49% + $0.49.
Invoice in your own currency. When the money arrives in the currency you hold, you avoid PayPal’s 3–4% conversion spread.
Use standard transfers. Moving money to your bank is free in the US; instant transfers cost 1.5%, with a $0.50 minimum.
Offer bank transfer for big projects. On a $5,000 invoice, PayPal’s fee is $175.49.
Send fewer, larger invoices. The fixed fee is charged on every payment, so bundling small jobs into one invoice saves money.
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