Stripe is a developer-first payments platform for accepting cards and local methods on your own checkout. PayPal is primarily a consumer-trusted wallet button that brings its own 400+ million account holders to your checkout. Most merchants use both.
Stripe sits behind your checkout - your branding, your form, your conversion funnel. PayPal sits in front of it - a recognized button that lets logged-in PayPal users skip card entry entirely, useful for one-tap mobile conversion and for buyers who prefer not to share card details.
The two are increasingly complementary rather than competitive: Stripe supports PayPal as a payment method, and most large checkouts present both options side by side.
Side-by-side comparison
| Attribute | Stripe | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Primary model | Card processing on your site | Consumer wallet + processing |
| Account base | Merchants only | 400+ million consumer accounts |
| Checkout UX | Embedded, customizable | Branded button, redirect or overlay |
| Fees (US, online) | 2.9% + 30¢ | 3.49% + 49¢ (PayPal Checkout) |
| Developer tooling | Industry-leading | Improving (Braintree, PayPal SDKs) |
| Local methods | 100+ via Stripe | 200+ markets via PayPal |
Merchants who want full control of the checkout experience and a broad payment-methods catalog.
Merchants who want to add a high-trust express checkout option that converts mobile and first-time buyers.
Don't pick one - present both. Stripe (or Adyen) for your primary card checkout, PayPal as an additional express option. Conversion gains typically outweigh the marginal fee difference.
Frequently asked
Does adding PayPal cannibalize card sales?+
Mostly no - A/B tests consistently show PayPal incremental, especially on mobile and for first-time buyers who don't want to type card details.
Is Braintree the same as PayPal?+
Braintree is PayPal's full-stack processor, more directly comparable to Stripe. PayPal Checkout is the consumer-wallet button. Many merchants run Braintree + PayPal together.
Sources & References
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