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The Best PayPal Alternatives For Business In 2024

The following alternatives to PayPal offer business features that stack up well against those of PayPal – and typically charge less for payment processing.

    Jason Vissers
  • Last updated onUpdated

  • Chris Motola
  • REVIEWED BY

    Chris Motola

    Expert Contributor

Our content reflects the editorial opinions of our experts. While our site makes money through referral partnerships, we only partner with companies that meet our standards for quality, as outlined in our independent rating and scoring system.

With its ever-popular digital wallet, PayPal has long been a household name among consumers. However, as we detail in our PayPal review, it’s also a major eCommerce force and one of the best credit card processors around, offering merchants an easy way to accept credit and debit cards without a full-service merchant account.

However, PayPal doesn’t fit every business’s needs. Whether it’s the high $0.49 per-transaction fee — the highest such fee charged by any processor with flat-rate pricing — or the account instability that comes with payment service providers (PSPs) like PayPal and Square, there are many reasons why you might be drawn to this list of our highest-rated PayPal competitors.

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  • Offers payment processing, industry-specific POS, & eCommerce websites
  • Starts at $0/month & 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: Yes
  • Offers payment processing, industry-specific POS, & eCommerce websites
  • Starts at $0/month & 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: Yes

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  • Offers payment processing, POS, & eCommerce websites
  • Starts at $5/month ($29/month for eCommerce) & 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: Yes
  • Offers payment processing, POS, & eCommerce websites
  • Starts at $5/month ($29/month for eCommerce) & 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: Yes

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  • Offers payment processing & a POS
  • $0/month & 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: Yes
  • Offers payment processing & a POS
  • $0/month & 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: Yes

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  • Offers payment processing, a POS, & eCommerce websites
  • $0/month; starts at interchange + 0.50% + $0.25 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: No
  • Offers payment processing, a POS, & eCommerce websites
  • $0/month; starts at interchange + 0.50% + $0.25 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: No

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  • Offers payment processing & a POS
  • $0-$199 monthly fee; 3.5% + $0.30 or interchange + 0.30% + $0.15 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: No
  • Offers payment processing & a POS
  • $0-$199 monthly fee; 3.5% + $0.30 or interchange + 0.30% + $0.15 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: No

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  • Offers payment processing & a POS
  • Pricing varies by card network & payment method
  • Instant signup: No
  • Offers payment processing & a POS
  • Pricing varies by card network & payment method
  • Instant signup: No

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  • Offers payment processing, a POS, & nonprofit fundraising services
  • $15/month & interchange + 0.20% + $0.11 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: No
  • Offers payment processing, a POS, & nonprofit fundraising services
  • $15/month & interchange + 0.20% + $0.11 per online transaction
  • Instant signup: No

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  • Offers payment processing to high-risk & low-risk merchants
  • No publicly disclosed pricing
  • Instant signup: No
  • Offers payment processing to high-risk & low-risk merchants
  • No publicly disclosed pricing
  • Instant signup: No

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  • Offers payment processing with Amazon checkout buttons
  • $0/month & 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (in the US)
  • Instant signup: Yes
  • Offers payment processing with Amazon checkout buttons
  • $0/month & 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (in the US)
  • Instant signup: Yes

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Table of Contents

The 9 Top PayPal Competitors For Payment Processing

These best alternatives to PayPal offer credit/debit card processing along with transparent pricing, processing of alternative payment methods like eChecks or ACH transfers, contactless payment methods, and online invoicing. Month-to-month billing and excellent customer support are also preferred.

How The Best PayPal Competitors Compare

Monthly Fee Online Rate In-Person Rate Instant Signup?
Square Starts at $0 2.9% + $0.30 2.6% + $0.10
Shopify Payments Starts at $5 2.5-2.9% + $0.30 2.4-2.6% + $0.10
Stripe $0 2.9% + $0.30 2.7% + $0.05
Helcim $0 Starts at interchange + 0.50% + $0.25 Starts at interchange + 0.40% + $0.08
CDGcommerce Starts at $0 Starts at 3.50% + $0.30 Starts at 2.9% + $0.30
Adyen $0 Varies Varies
Dharma $15 Interchange + 0.20% + $0.11 Interchange + 0.15% + $0.08
PaymentCloud Varies Varies Varies
Amazon Pay $0 2.9% + $0.30 No in-person processing

Square: Best Overall PayPal Alternative

Total Rating 4.8
Fees & Rates5.0

Products & Services4.7

Contract4.3

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service4.9

User Reviews4.9



Get a free card swiper from Square at no cost when you create a free account. Claim your card reader.

Pros

  • Predictable flat-rate pricing
  • All-in-one payments system
  • Variety of POS apps, invoicing, and developer tools

Cons

  • Account stability issues inherent to all payment service providers
  • Not available to most high-risk industries
  • Businesses processing over $10K/month can usually save money with another processor

square payments

Why We Chose Square As The Best Overall PayPal Alternative

Being an all-in-one provider of payment processing, eCommerce tools, and POS systems, Square is PayPal's closest competitor and the subject of many Square vs PayPal debates.

Businesses looking for a PayPal alternative that closely approximates PayPal's range of services have a great option in Square. In fact, Square offers a greater range of POS features and options (both free and paid) than PayPal.

Square also offers POS and online store integrations, a virtual terminal, a card info storage vault, invoicing, and even a consumer wallet (Cash App). Furthermore, Square has APIs and monthly add-on services, including employee management, payroll, and appointment booking.

It's no mistake that we gave Square an outstanding 4.8/5 overall score. It's not perfect and it's not for everyone, but for businesses in the market for a PayPal-like merchant services package, Square is our favorite PayPal alternative. The company's feature suite, transparent pricing, and quality customer service suit a wide variety of business types.

Square Features

We’ve given Square a strong 4.7/5 rating in the Products And Services category for a reason.

Square’s appeal for small businesses is that it does nearly everything PayPal does — often for less money — while also offering services PayPal doesn’t have, like industry-specific POS systems and CBD sales. Whether you’re a mobile seller just looking to process the occasional credit card payment, a restaurant owner, or an omnichannel merchant, Square has you covered.

Another point in Square’s favor is that while PayPal is known for its extensive eCommerce capabilities, it does not offer its own eCommerce website builder. Square does offer an in-house online store, with both a free version (with a free Square domain + Square ads) and a paid version (with a custom domain, no ads, and advanced functionality) available.

Square Pricing

We gave Square a stellar 5-star rating in the Pricing category for its complete transparency and supreme small business-friendliness.

What makes Square such an extraordinary value is the number of features you can get for no cost whatsoever, including basic POS features, a magstripe credit card reader, and a virtual terminal (which PayPal charges $30/month for).

What’s more, most Square Online sellers will pay less for payment processing than they would with PayPal. For in-person payments, PayPal is a bit cheaper than Square, however.

  • Monthly Fee: $0 for most services, advanced services start at $29/month
  • Transaction Rates: 2.6% + $0.10 per in-person transaction, 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • No setup or application fees

Square Hardware Pricing

  • Square Reader for magstripe: First one is free — $10 for each subsequent device
  • Square Reader for contactless and chip (pictured above): $59 for the 2nd generation reader, $49 for the 1st generation reader
  • Square Terminal: $299 or $27/month for 12 months
  • Square Register: $799 or $39/month for 24 months

What To Watch Out For

We love the fact that, as with PayPal, Square’s services are offered on a month-to-month basis with no early termination fees or monthly minimums. However, be aware that Square (again, like PayPal) can ensure an easy signup process by aggregating accounts rather than giving every user a unique merchant account.

This means that while you’ll be approved for an account nearly instantly, you’ll also face a higher risk of a funding hold or account termination than you would with a full merchant account. Most users won’t encounter this, but you should still do what you can to avoid account holds and terminations.

Additionally, while Square’s processing rates are ideal for new and/or smaller businesses, once you’re processing upwards of $10K/month, you’re likely to save money with a merchant account provider that offers interchange-plus pricing (or discounted flat-rate pricing). Our Square vs merchant account comparison goes into further detail on this.

When To Use Square

  • You're looking for an all-in-one payment processing + POS package with instant signup (like PayPal) but which also offers an online store builder, a free virtual terminal, a free magstripe card reader, and industry-specific POS packages (unlike PayPal)

Get Started With Square

Read our in-depth review

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Shopify: Best For Large eCommerce Businesses

Shopify


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Pros

  • Predictable flat-rate pricing
  • Using Shopify Payments is advantageous for Shopify sellers
  • Numerous eCommerce features + over 2,000 integrations

Cons

  • Account stability issues inherent to all payment service providers
  • Monthly account fees for all service plans
  • Does not offer interchange-plus pricing to high-volume sellers

Shopify dashboard setup

Why We Chose Shopify Payments For Large eCommerce Businesses

Having started as an eCommerce platform, Shopify's ecosystem has grown to include the Shopify POS system and payment processing in the form of Shopify Payments. We believe Shopify Payments to be a very strong PayPal alternative, particularly for high-volume eCommerce operations. It's why we gave Shopify Payments a 4.6/5 overall score.

Larger businesses will appreciate the fact that Shopify's higher-tier subscriptions feature discounted processing rates, allowing them to save money over PayPal. These plans sport significant monthly fees, but for high-volume sellers, the math works out in their favor.

Bear in mind that even those using Shopify's most basic plans will likely save on online processing over PayPal, though smaller merchants won't like the fact that unlike with PayPal, every Shopify plan includes a monthly fee. However, if you need a virtual terminal, you'll be paying a monthly fee with PayPal anyway.

Shopify's biggest strength remains in eCommerce. Accordingly, Shopify has a lot to offer online vendors seeking a PayPal alternative. You'll get loads of handy eCommerce features, along with strong POS capabilities and card readers for in-person sales.

Shopify Features

With countless eCommerce features, superb international sales capabilities, and an unmatched 2,000+ integrations available (more than PayPal!), Shopify is a true eCommerce juggernaut.

Shopify’s POS products are nothing to sneeze at either, and we love that Shopify doesn’t take a fixed fee from your in-person sales — just a flat percentage. This works to the benefit of sellers with small average ticket sizes.

  • Instant Signup Available: Yes
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing
    • Buy now, pay later
    • Money transfers
    • Nonprofit rates
    • Advanced customization
    • Integrations with 2,000+ software platforms
    • Easy setup
  • Additional Features:
    • POS/mPOS system
    • Online store with professional, customizable themes
    • Shop Pay checkout buttons/accelerated checkout flow
    • Advanced shipping tools
    • Analytics and reporting
    • Abandoned cart recovery
    • Facebook store
    • Order management

Shopify Pricing

Shopify Payments is Shopify’s in-house payment processor, and though you don’t have to use it with your Shopify online store, you’ll have to pay an extra 0.5-2% per transaction if you use another processor.

While you can’t use Shopify without paying a monthly fee, remember that if you go with PayPal and you want a virtual terminal — something Shopify and many other processors include for no extra charge — you’ll be paying $30/month anyway.

  • Monthly Fee: Starts at $5/month ($39/month, or $29/month when billed annually, if you want a full online store)
  • Transaction Rates: 2.4% to 2.7% per in-person transaction, 2.4% + $0.30 to 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • No application or setup fees

Shopify Hardware Pricing

shopify pos go and case

  • Shopify Tap and Chip Card Reader: $49
  • Shopify POS Go (pictured above): $299 or $74.75/month for four months
  • Shopify POS Terminal: $349 or $87.25/month for four months

What To Watch Out For

Like PayPal, Shopify’s services are offered on a month-to-month basis without long-term contracts or early termination fees. Also like PayPal, Shopify Payments is an account aggregator/third-party processor, not a full merchant account provider. This means that you’ll want to take precautions to minimize the chance of a funding hold or account termination, just as with PayPal/Square/Stripe.

We’ve also noted that selling with Shopify Payments means paying a monthly fee. With PayPal competitors like Square, Stripe, and Helcim, this isn’t the case.

When To Use Shopify Payments

  • You run a large eCommerce business and you want an online store + processing package that offers an astounding number of features and integrations
  • You already have a Shopify online store and you don't want to pay the additional 0.5-2% per-transaction fee you'll have to pay when you use a non-Shopify Payments processor

Get Started With Shopify

Read our in-depth review

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Stripe Payments: Best For Advanced Customization

Stripe Payments

Total Rating 4.7
Fees & Rates4.7

Products & Services4.5

Contract5.0

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service4.5

User Reviews4.1



Pros

  • Predictable flat-rate pricing
  • Great marketplace and subscription tools
  • Excellent developer and reporting tools

Cons

  • Account stability issues inherent to all payment service providers
  • Requires some coding skills to implement
  • Not suited to high-risk businesses

Stripe Dashboard

Why We Chose Stripe Payments For Advanced Customization

On the surface, Stripe and PayPal have a lot of similarities -- both are payment service providers that target online and in-app payments, work on a global scale, and make it possible to power marketplaces and share information so that merchants can sell on others' platforms.

However, Stripe's advantage in the Stripe vs. PayPal matchup is that Stripe is built first and foremost for developers, which is ideal if you need a custom payments solution. Stripe also offers ACH payments and greater international currency and payment method acceptance than PayPal.

We're proud to give Stripe a 4.7/5 overall score and our recommendation as the best PayPal alternative for businesses that need a fully customized payment solution.

Stripe Features

Stripe’s feature ecosystem isn’t as extensive as PayPal’s, but it has some notable advantages. Stripe accepts many more international currencies (135+) than PayPal (25) while also supporting more local payment methods used overseas, making Stripe the superior choice for international payment processing.

Combine that with Stripe’s industry-leading developer tools, and you have quite a formidable online payment processor in Stripe — one that surpasses PayPal in some important respects.

  • Instant Signup Available: Yes
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing
    • Buy now, pay later
    • Money transfers
    • Nonprofit rates
    • Advanced developer tools
    • Micropayments
  • Additional Features:
    • Stripe Terminal for POS payments
    • Invoicing
    • Billing/Subscription Management
    • Dedicated support representative with a Premium support subscription

Stripe Pricing

Smaller-ticket sellers will appreciate the fact that Stripe’s per-transaction fixed fee is the industry-standard 30 cents, which beats PayPal’s 49-cent fixed fee.

  • Monthly Fee: None
  • Transaction Rates: 2.7% + $0.05 per in-person transaction, 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • No setup or application fees

International sellers will be happy to note that Stripe’s cross-border transaction fee (1%) beats that of PayPal (1.5%), as does Stripe’s currency conversion fee (1.5% vs. PayPal’s 3-4%).

Stripe Hardware Pricing

stripe reader m2

  • Stripe Reader M2 (pictured above): $59
  • BBPOS WisePOS E: $249
  • Stripe Reader S700: $349 (not currently in stock)

What To Watch Out For

Unlike PayPal, Stripe is a developer-focused payment processor, so you’ll likely need some tech expertise on your staff to make it work.

Also, Stripe (like PayPal and Square) is an aggregator/payment service provider and not a full merchant account provider, with all the benefits and drawbacks that entails.

Additionally, Stripe’s flat-rate pricing, while convenient for smaller businesses, gets less competitive as your sales volume rises. However, large businesses — and companies with unique business models — can get a custom pricing package that includes interchange-plus pricing and volume discounts if they contact a Stripe representative.

When To Use Stripe

  • Your business needs a higher degree of customization than PayPal can provide (and you have developer expertise on your team)

Get Started With Stripe Payments

Read our in-depth review

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Helcim: Best For International Businesses

Total Rating 4.9
Fees & Rates5.0

Products & Services4.4

Contract5.0

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service4.8

User Reviews4.5



Pros

  • Interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fees
  • Accepts international payments
  • Excellent customer support

Cons

  • Not suited for very low-volume businesses
  • Does not accept high-risk businesses
  • US and Canadian merchants only

Helcim Smart Terminal

Why We Chose Helcim For International Businesses

With an outstanding 4.9/5 Merchant Maverick score, Helcim is one of our favorite providers of full merchant accounts. It's one of the few such providers that does not charge a monthly fee -- normally, a lack of monthly fees is the exclusive domain of third-party processors like PayPal.

Helcim also offers a strong lineup of features for both online and retail businesses, and is exceptional in the field of international payment acceptance.

If you want the stability of a full merchant account -- something PayPal can't offer -- Helcim is one of the best options available. At the same time, Helcim offers the easy accessibility of a PayPal-like service, which sets it apart from most traditional merchant account providers.

Helcim Features

Far from being a bare-bones vendor of merchant accounts, Helcim’s feature lineup is quite robust and has a lot to offer, both in terms of eCommerce and in-person sales. Helcim’s international payment acceptance is particularly strong, as you will receive funds in your own currency without requiring currency conversion.

What’s more, the Helcim Card Reader is a notably versatile device that can function both as a mobile card reader and as a countertop terminal.

  • Instant Signup Available: No
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing
    • Money transfers
    • International sales capabilities
    • Customized card payments with the Helcim API
    • Mobile processing with the Helcim Payments app
    • Online food ordering
  • Additional Features:
    • Online store builder with hosted payment pages
    • Proprietary POS app that works from any device
    • Developer tools
    • New touchscreen terminal device that runs the POS app natively
    • A virtual terminal

Helcim Pricing

Like many of our favorite merchant account providers, Helcim offers interchange-plus pricing, which tends to be the most merchant-friendly pricing system, even if it requires more explanation than flat-rate pricing.

Helcim is also one of the few merchant account providers anywhere to offer its services without any monthly fees. Put it all together, and it’s easy to see why we gave Helcim a perfect 5/5 category rating for its pricing.

  • Monthly Fee: None
  • Transaction Rates: Interchange + 0.15% + $0.15 to interchange + 0.50% + $0.25 per online /keyed transaction, interchange + 0.15% + $0.06 to interchange + 0.40% + $0.08 per in-person transaction
  • No setup or application fees

Helcim’s rates scale with your processing volume — the more you take in, the less you pay per transaction and the more you save over a processor with flat-rate pricing.

Helcim Hardware Pricing

  • Helcim Card Reader: $99
  • Helcim Smart Terminal (pictured above): $329 or five monthly payments of $68

What To Watch Out For

Helcim’s pricing is great for a wide variety of business types, but for very new or small businesses, processors like PayPal or Square may be more cost-effective.

When To Use Helcim

  • You want a full merchant account (which you can't get with PayPal) but you also don't want to pay a monthly fee for payment processing
  • You need a credit card processor with extensive international sales capabilities

Get Started With Helcim

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

CDGcommerce: Best For eCommerce Startups

Total Rating 4.7
Fees & Rates4.6

Products & Services5.0

Contract5.0

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service3.5

User Reviews4.9



Pros

  • Transparent pricing
  • Free payment gateway and virtual terminal
  • Excellent customer support

Cons

  • Only available to US-based merchants
  • Some high-risk businesses may not qualify
  • CDGcommerce’s flat-rate pricing isn’t the cheapest

cdgcommerce pos

Why We Chose CDGcommerce For eCommerce Startups

We're naming CDGcommerce as one of our top PayPal competitors largely due to its pricing flexibility. Merchants can choose between flat-rate, interchange-plus, and membership pricing, letting them choose the plan that fits their needs.

With CDGcommerce, you can go with flat-rate pricing when you're just starting out and switch to interchange-plus or membership pricing once your business has hit its stride. With PayPal, the process for doing this is less transparent, and even if you do qualify for interchange-plus pricing, PayPal's interchange-plus rates are higher than those of CDGcommerce.

With excellent eCommerce features, a capable POS, and month-to-month billing with no long-term contracts, CDGcommerce earns an excellent 4.7/5 overall score from us. Find out why!

CDGcommerce Features

CDGcommerce can offer exceptional account stability (even for a full merchant account provider) due to its hybrid risk structure. Essentially, CDGcommerce can override risk decisions made by the back-end processor and assume liability for an account or transaction.

Beyond that, CDGcommerce offers an excellent payments package, particularly for small to mid-sized eCommerce businesses.

  • Instant Signup Available: No
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing, including for some high-risk industries
    • Free terminal with each account (requires $79 annual maintenance fee)
    • Your choice of payment gateways — a proprietary option and several third-party choices are available
    • In-person sales through its PastePay Cloud POS system
  • Additional Features:
    • A virtual terminal
    • Recurring billing
    • Additional POS options
    • A security package

CDGcommerce Pricing

With CDGcommerce, you can start out paying no monthly fee and a flat per-transaction rate. Then, once your processing volume hits $10K/month, you can switch to interchange-plus or membership pricing, which entails a monthly fee but offers lower per-transaction rates.

  • Monthly Fee: $0 with flat-rate pricing, $19-49 with interchange-plus pricing, $49-199 with membership pricing
  • Transaction Rates: 3.50% + $0.30/interchange + 0.30% + $0.15/interchange + $0.06-0.15 per online transaction, 2.9% + $0.30/interchange + 0.25% + $0.10/interchange + $0.06-0.15 per in-person transaction (pricing shown is the flat-rate, interchange-plus, and membership rates)
  • No setup or application fees

CDGcommerce Hardware Pricing

Dejavoo Z11 terminal

  • Walker C2X card reader: $65
  • Dejavoo Z11 terminal (pictured above): Free, but you’ll pay a $79/year insurance fee
  • Vital POS equipment: Exact devices and pricing not disclosed

What To Watch Out For

We love that CDGcommerce’s pricing scales with your business, but when you’re starting out, CDGcommerce’s flat rates aren’t the lowest (though its online flat rates still beat those of PayPal in most instances). However, the lack of an annual fee with CDGcommerce’s flat-rate plan somewhat mitigates this.

When To Use CDGcommerce

  • You run an eCommerce startup and you want a payment processor that offers pricing that fits your business as it grows

Get Started With CDGcommerce

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

Adyen: Best For Large Global Businesses

Total Rating 4.1
Fees & Rates4.1

Products & Services3.7

Contract5.0

Sales & Advertising Transparency3.8

Customer Service4.2

User Reviews3.2



Pros

  • Ideal for international merchants
  • No setup, application, or monthly fees
  • Offers full merchant accounts

Cons

  • Required monthly minimum
  • Mixed customer reviews
  • Processing rates not disclosed online

adyen payment processing

Why We Chose Adyen For Large Global Businesses

Adyen can be a great choice for larger businesses seeking an alternative to PayPal's high (and sometimes confusing) processing rates.

Adyen is most similar to Stripe in its global reach and support for localized payment methods across the globe. Adyen also sports a decent list of supported partners and integrations, though many of them are tailored to enterprise-scale businesses (eBay and Microsoft are among Adyen's clients).

Adyen Features

Adyen’s features are hard to summarize as it offers different feature packages for different types of businesses. What we can say is that Adyen’s strength lies in facilitating marketplace sales, global eCommerce with an eye toward reducing fees, and omnichannel capabilities that allow you to manage your in-store, online, and in-app sales from one dashboard.

  • Instant Signup Available: No
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing
    • Buy now, pay later
    • Wire transfers
    • Omnichannel payments
    • Advanced developer tools
  • Additional Features:
    • POS integrations
    • Advanced chargeback/fraud prevention
    • Dynamic reporting

Adyen Pricing

Adyen’s pricing models are organized by global region, country, and payment type. US merchants are offered a “blend” of interchange-plus pricing and flat rates. All told, this makes it impossible to give a succinct summary of the rates you’ll pay.

However, we can say that you won’t pay a monthly fee. However, Adyen requires businesses to have a minimum invoice of $120/month or 1,000 transactions/month to keep their accounts in good standing. This makes Adyen less than ideal for most small businesses and startups.

  • Monthly Fee: None
  • Transaction Rates: Blended interchange-plus and flat-rate pricing that varies by card network and payment method
  • No setup or application fees

Adyen Hardware Pricing

verifone m400

Adyen offers a wide selection of Android-based mobile credit card readers and countertop terminals, including the Verifone M400 pictured above. However, Adyen doesn’t provide any pricing information regarding hardware.

What To Watch Out For

Adyen isn’t for very small businesses, as the company requires a monthly minimum of 1,000 transactions or $120 per month in processing fees.

When To Use Adyen

  • You run a large global business and want a PayPal alternative that specializes in international eCommerce and marketplace sales

Get Started With Adyen

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

Dharma Merchant Services: Best For Nonprofits

Dharma Merchant Services

Total Rating 5.0
Fees & Rates5.0

Products & Services5.0

Contract5.0

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service4.8

User Reviews4.5



Pros

  • Interchange-plus pricing offered exclusively
  • No annual fee or monthly minimum
  • Discounted pricing for qualified nonprofit companies

Cons

  • Not recommended for businesses processing less than $10K/month
  • Only available in the US
  • $49 account closure fee

dharma merchant services

Why We Chose Dharma Merchant Services For Nonprofits

While PayPal offers some nonprofit benefits, Dharma Merchant Services goes even further in this regard. Dharma is unique in the world of full-service merchant account providers in that it donates a significant percentage of its profits to charity. Related to that, Dharma provides discounted rates for nonprofit businesses' processing fees and a number of nonprofit-oriented features.

Combine this with competitive interchange-plus rates and discounts for businesses processing more than $100K/month, and you have a processor that deserves our spectacular 5/5 overall score and your consideration as a PayPal processing alternative.

Dharma Features

Dharma’s reputation for transparency and ethics is quite an asset in itself, but its feature lineup is nothing to sneeze at, either. With full merchant accounts and an all-in-one online account access and reporting system (MX Merchant) with numerous free and paid services, Dharma has a lot to offer any business looking for a PayPal competitor, not just nonprofit businesses.

  • Instant Signup Available: No
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing
    • Nonprofit rates and services
    • Hosted donation pages
    • Buy now, pay later
    • ACH & wire transfers
    • Discounted B2B rates
  • Additional Features:
    • “Donate Now” buttons
    • POS and mPOS integrations
    • A virtual terminal
    • Merchant financing

Dharma Pricing

  • Monthly Fee: $15/month ($12/month for nonprofits)
  • Transaction Rates: Interchange + 0.15% + $0.08 per in-person transaction, int. + 0.20% + $0.11 per online transaction
  • Nonprofit Rates: Interchange + 0.10% + $0.08 per in-person transaction, int. + 0.10% + $0.11 per online transaction
  • No setup or application fees

Dharma Hardware Pricing

Dejavoo Z11 terminal

  • Dejavoo Z11 (pictured above): $295 (or $480 with PIN pad) (Exclusively for surcharging)
  • Ingenico Desk/3500: $295 (or $480 with PIN pad)
  • Ingenico Desk/5000: $369 (Exclusively for business-to-business (B2B) payments)
  • First Data FD-150: $295 (or $480 with PIN pad)
  • Verifone Engage V200c: $295 (or $480 with PIN pad)

What To Watch Out For

Just like PayPal, Dharma offers month-to-month billing. However, while there is no early termination fee, Dharma does charge an “account closure fee” of $49. That’s not too bad, considering that actual ETFs are typically between $295-$495 (the merchant account industry retains some rather unsavory practices).

When To Use Dharma Merchant Services

  • You want an all-around great merchant account provider with interchange-plus pricing and lots of included features
  • You run a nonprofit organization and you want a processor that offers discounted nonprofit rates and features like hosted donation pages

Get Started With Dharma Merchant Services

Read our in-depth review

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PaymentCloud: Best For High-Risk Businesses

Total Rating 4.1
Fees & Rates4.3

Products & Services5.0

Contract2.8

Sales & Advertising Transparency3.9

Customer Service4.2

User Reviews4.0



Exclusive Promo: PaymentCloud will give you $200 if they can't beat your current rate. Get Your Quote

Pros

  • Accepts high-risk merchants
  • No account setup fee
  • Excellent customer support

Cons

  • No publicly disclosed pricing for high-risk businesses
  • High-risk merchants may have to accept a two-year contract with an early termination fee
  • High-risk businesses may have to accept tiered pricing

PaymentCloud virtual terminal Screenshot

Why We Chose PaymentCloud For High-Risk Businesses

If your PayPal account was shut down due to high-risk business activity, you're likely going to need a specialized high-risk merchant account. One of the best such providers is PaymentCloud.

You'll need to obtain a customized pricing quote, but merchants' feedback indicates that PaymentCloud's rates are quite reasonable, and there are no application or account setup fees.

The high-risk payment processing industry is rife with shady operators and exploitation, but PaymentCloud's reputation in the field is second to none.

PaymentCloud Features

PaymentCloud offers many of the same merchant services offered by competing merchant account vendors, but where PaymentCloud truly stands out is its advocacy for high-risk merchants during the application process and the personal guidance it offers merchants after they have an account. Few providers offer such treatment to high-risk businesses. Low-risk merchants will be well-served by PaymentCloud as well.

  • Instant Signup Available: No
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing
    • High-risk processing
  • POS integrations
  • Online store integrations
  • Mobile payments
  • Business loans

PaymentCloud Pricing

Unfortunately, PaymentCloud doesn’t disclose any pricing information for high-risk businesses. However, this is standard practice for high-risk specialists, as these companies work with multiple back-end processors by necessity — your rates will ultimately depend on which merchant account (or accounts) you get matched with.

PaymentCloud Hardware Pricing

PaymentCloud offers a wide variety of card readers, terminals, and full POS systems. The options are far too numerous to list here, but Verifone, Ingenico, Dejavoo, Poynt, PAX, and Clover devices are on offer.

Some of these devices are offered for “free”, but you’ll have to immediately ship your equipment back to PaymentCloud if you close your account. Otherwise, you’ll be charged the full cost of the machine.

What To Watch Out For

Low-risk merchants should be able to get a month-to-month arrangement with no early termination fee. On the other hand, high-risk merchants will likely have to accept a two-year contract with an ETF. However, there’s still a chance you could get a month-to-month deal, so ask to see if this is possible, and if not, see if you can get your ETF waived.

The unfortunate truth is that high-risk merchants nearly always face more onerous merchant account terms than low-risk merchants. Thankfully, PaymentCloud is the rare high-risk specialist that doesn’t take advantage of its clients.

When To Use PaymentCloud

  • Your business is considered high-risk and you want the best payment processing deal possible (PayPal doesn't accept high-risk businesses)

Get Started With PaymentCloud

Read our in-depth review

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Amazon Pay: Best For Amazon Sellers

Total Rating 4.6
Fees & Rates4.4

Products & Services4.5

Contract4.5

Sales & Advertising Transparency4.9

Customer Service4.8

User Reviews4.7



Pros

  • Month-to-month billing with no monthly fees
  • Predictable flat-rate pricing
  • Easy to integrate into your existing website

Cons

  • Amazon Pay’s processing rates will be expensive for high-volume merchants
  • Numerous complaints about poor customer service
  • No POS support

amazon pay

Why We Chose Amazon Pay For Amazon Sellers

Amazon Pay is a payment service provider that lets you easily add Amazon checkout buttons to your business's website, allowing your customers to pay you through their Amazon accounts. It also integrates with other eCommerce providers (including Shopify) and offers discounted rates to nonprofits.

If you're an Amazon seller, Amazon Pay is a natural PayPal alternative for processing your payments. We were happy to award Amazon Pay a 4.6/5 overall score.

Amazon Pay Features

Amazon Pay is a great way to ease the checkout process for your Amazon customers around the world — having fewer steps for your customers to go through in the checkout process is something that will absolutely reduce your abandoned cart rate.

Sadly, Amazon Pay offers no support for in-person sales.

  • Instant Signup Available: Yes
  • Supports The Following:
    • Payment processing
    • Nonprofit rates
    • Easy setup
    • Online store integrations

Amazon Pay Pricing

Amazon Pay’s pricing couldn’t be simpler.

  • Monthly Fee: None
  • Transaction Rates: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (in the US)
  • No setup or application fees

Amazon Pay does not sell processing hardware, as it does not support card-present sales.

What To Watch Out For

As your processing volume rises, Amazon Pay’s processing rates will likely be higher than what you can find elsewhere.

When To Use Amazon Pay

  • You're an Amazon seller and you want a well-featured online processing solution

Get Started With Amazon Pay

Read our in-depth review

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Payment Processing Rating Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching the payment processing industry since 2009. Our writers have reviewed hundreds of credit card processors, merchant account services, and mobile payment apps, evaluating each provider carefully on several different metrics.

Weighted Rating Breakdown

Fees & Rates 35%
Contract 20%
Products & Services 15%
Sales & Advertising Transparency 15%
Customer Service 10%
User Reviews 5%

When comparing different payment processing companies and applications to one another, we consider numerous data points. Our experts start by comparing credit card processing rates, the presence of additional fees, contract length, sales practices, and the presence or absence of additional features and services, like point of sale software. Each provider is judged on its own merits and how well it stacks up to industry standards; then it is weighed against the other providers on the list.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure every company or application included meets our internal standards for quality and reputation. Any list of recommended payment processors on our site might contain a mix of standard merchant accounts, third-party payment processors, mobile payment devices, and high-risk payment processors, depending on what our expert feels is the best fit for certain scenarios or business types.

For additional details about Merchant Maverick’s review and rating processes, please refer to any or all of the following methodology pages:

15

Years reviewing payment processors

100+

Providers evaluated

25

Attributes and features assessed per vendor

40+

Years combined experience


Do You Need A PayPal Alternative?

While PayPal offers a wide variety of helpful business features and can still be a cost-effective payment processing solution for some merchants, it’s not a good fit for certain business situations (and for some businesses, it’s never been an appropriate choice).

Here’s a brief rundown of the types of merchants who should consider one of the above PayPal alternatives for processing:

  • High-Risk Businesses: PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy lists numerous prohibited business activities, such as adult entertainment, CBD products, firearms, and many others. As most other payment service providers have similar policies, you’ll need to get a merchant account from a dedicated high-risk industry processing provider (though you can use Square if you sell CBD).
  • Merchants Seeking A Dedicated Merchant Account: Some merchants may be particularly susceptible to account instability with any payment service provider. These merchants stand to benefit from having a dedicated merchant account.
  • Merchants Who Have Been Terminated By PayPal: If you previously had a PayPal account that was shut down over a suspicious transaction, you may need to look elsewhere. Note that it’s sometimes possible to have your account reinstated if you can show that the closure was due to an error on PayPal’s part.
  • Merchants Who Need More Features & Integrations: Whether you need better integrations with the business software you already use, more advanced customization, or a feature set that’s better tailored to your industry, many business owners will need a PayPal alternative that offers what PayPal does not.
  • Any Merchant Who Can Get A Better Deal Elsewhere: Businesses processing upwards of $10K/month are likely to save money by going with another processor, preferably one offering interchange-plus or membership pricing. However, when looking for a payment processor, consider other factors besides cost, particularly the quality of a company’s customer support and its reputation with other merchants.

How To Find The Best PayPal Competitors

PayPal’s strength is in its sheer breadth of features and overall convenience. At the same time, its service plans and pricing are now unduly complex and expensive for a typical small business user, particularly those with small average tickets. If you’re looking for an alternative, you should know the following:

  • If you want to remove PayPal from your business life entirely, you’ll need a payment service provider or a full merchant account.
  • If you’re looking to replace some of what PayPal does with a more specialized service, check out our preferred money transfer and buy now, pay later services above.
  • No PayPal competitor is ideal in every respect. When considering a PSP or merchant account provider, you’ll want to choose an option that meets your business’s specific needs without incurring an unacceptable cost. Make a list of how PayPal is letting you down or which features you’d like to have that the company doesn’t provide.
  • Unless you’re a high-risk merchant who can’t get any other kind of merchant account, avoid any providers that require a long-term commitment. You want to have the freedom to change services when you need to without paying a huge penalty. Ten years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find merchant account providers offering month-to-month agreements, but now you have numerous quality options.

Which PayPal Competitor Is Right For My Business?

We hope this article has given you a solid overview of some of the leading payment processing alternatives to PayPal for business. Our favorite online payment processors all offer honest service, quality features, and helpful customer support.

Naturally, the best PayPal alternative for you will depend on the particulars of your business. However, Square has our general recommendation for most small business users. It’s overflowing with features, comes with a free website, and has online processing rates that are lower than PayPal’s.

If, after considering the alternatives, you decide that PayPal might be a fitting choice, our guide to setting up a PayPal business account is an invaluable resource.

FAQs About The Best PayPal Alternatives

Is there a better alternative to PayPal?

Many businesses will find Square to be a better alternative to PayPal due to lower online processing rates and a more complete point-of-sale app and hardware set. Square also offers an online store builder, and a free virtual terminal, which PayPal does not.

Does PayPal accept high-risk businesses?

No. PayPal does not accept high-risk businesses. If your business is considered high-risk, consider PaymentCloud instead. And if you’re in the CBD business, you can actually use Square.

Is Shopify better than PayPal for business?

Shopify may be better for your business than PayPal if your monthly sales volume is high, as Shopify offers plans with discounted per-transaction processing rates. Other businesses may want a built-in hosted eCommerce store builder with their payment processor. Shopify offers this, while PayPal does not.

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Jason Vissers

Jason Vissers

Expert Contributor at Merchant Maverick
Jason has been writing about small business software platforms, services, and financing since 2015. Jason’s expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Time/NextAdvisor, Home Business Magazine, CreditCards.com, GoBankingRates, TheLadders.com, and other publications. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jason Vissers
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