PayPal Business Account Review 2026
PayPal lets you offer lots of online payment options to customers. That comes with its own complications, though.
The bottom line:
PayPal's biggest standout feature is its brand recognition. The service supports PayPal and Venmo payments, plus a host of other online payment options. But navigating its costs can be a challenge. Surprisingly, the digital pioneer might be more useful in-person. PayPal offers some of the lowest rates around for those sales.
Software details
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.29% + $0.09
Online: 2.99% + $0.49
Monthly fee
$0
Standard; $5 Payments Advanced; $30 Payments Pro.
Pros & Cons
Pros
One of the most commonly used payment processing platforms.
Free POS software.
Low in-person processing fees.
Accepts a variety of payment types, including Venmo and PayPal.
No PCI compliance fees, long-term contracts or termination fees.
Cons
Online payment processing rates can be difficult to navigate.
Deposits may take up to 3 days.
Compare to other products
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.29% + $0.09
Online: 2.99% + $0.49
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.7% + $0.05
Online: 2.9% + $0.30
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.15
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.10
Online: 2.9% + $0.25
Need more options? Check our picks for best payment processing systems
Stripe: Better foreign currency support. You can use PayPal or Stripe for international transactions. But Stripe supports more than 135 currencies. PayPal is limited to 25 (though it covers more than 200 countries). Read our full Stripe review.
» MORE: Stripe vs. PayPal
Square: Better for employee management. Square’s scheduling and payroll tools make it a better fit for businesses with employees. PayPal doesn’t have these features. Read our full Square review.
» MORE: Square vs. PayPal
Chase Payment Solutions: Better for individual merchant accounts. On top of offering banking services, Chase Payment Solutions gives businesses their own dedicated merchant accounts. PayPal, on the other hand, uses aggregated accounts. These may experience more account freezes. Read our full Chase Payment Solutions review.
» MORE: Stripe vs. PayPal vs. Square
Full review
PayPal is a global payment processing company with 439 million business and personal users combined. It has a 44.1% market share in the worldwide online payments market, according to Capital One. Needless to say, it’s popular among both merchants and consumers.
To use PayPal, businesses must open a PayPal Business account. This gives them access to the company’s in-person and online processing solutions.
PayPal is a solid solution for a variety of small businesses. That includes service-based businesses and retailers. At 2.29% plus 9 cents, its in-person processing rates are lower than most competitors. Plus, it offers free POS software through its in-person payments solution, PayPal POS. It also has multiple online checkout options with varying degrees of customizability.
Payment processing capabilities aside, PayPal’s popularity is one of its biggest strengths. Customers are familiar with it, which typically means they trust it. And it’s available in more than 200 countries. That gives you the ability to expand your customer base outside of the U.S.
PayPal typically isn’t a good fit for larger small businesses, though. These types of operations should have a dedicated merchant account. As a payment service provider, PayPal aggregates multiple businesses’ funds into one account. Aggregated accounts have quick and easy sign-up processes. But you often experience more account instability.
Also, PayPal defaults to a flat-rate model for processing rates. This is usually less cost-effective than interchange-plus pricing for high-volume businesses. PayPal does offer interchange-plus-plus pricing, but not all merchants are eligible. Some good interchange-plus alternatives with dedicated merchant accounts include Finix and Helcim.
PayPal is best for:
✔️ Accepting alternative payment methods.
✔️ Low in-person processing.
✔️ Brand recognition.
PayPal Business overview
| Payment processing model | Flat rate. |
| Monthly fee |
Optional add-ons:
|
| Processing rates |
|
| Hardware cost |
|
| Contract length | None. |
| Customer support | Phone support every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST. Chat support from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. CST on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST on weekends. |
What's new with PayPal?
In spring 2025, PayPal launched PayPal Open. The product essentially combines PayPal’s existing business offerings into a single platform. PayPal’s offerings have historically been difficult to navigate. So this is a welcome change.
Prior to this, PayPal oversaw several separate business products. There were the usual options — PayPal Checkout and PayPal POS, for example — on top of standalone payment gateway products like Braintree. They still exist. But now they’re all under the same umbrella.
Where PayPal Business stands out
Payment methods
PayPal lets you give customers lots of payment options. On top of credit and debit cards, customers can pay using PayPal or Venmo. Offering PayPal as an online payment method can help increase conversion by 46%, according to a Nielsen survey that PayPal commissioned. Popular competitors, like Stripe, don’t support PayPal payments in the U.S.
The processor also supports more than a dozen digital wallets and an in-house buy now, pay later option.
Free POS software
PayPal’s free POS software includes low-stock alerts, reporting, invoicing and loyalty vouchers for customers. This can be just enough for small retailers and freelance businesses. Plus, your first card reader is just $29. And there are no long-term commitments or termination fees.
If you need employee management tools, however, we recommend a more comprehensive solution. Square and Clover could be good alternatives in this case. They also have more payroll integrations, which you’ll need if you have employees.
» MORE: Best free POS systems
Where PayPal Business falls short
Online processing rates
PayPal made its name with digital payments. And yet, its current approach with these feels unnecessarily complicated, especially compared to competitors.
PayPal’s two main online processing options are PayPal Checkout and Expanded Checkout. PayPal Checkout is easier to set up and has fewer customization options. But it’s more expensive at 2.99% plus 49 cents per transaction. That’s partially because it includes advanced fraud protection.
Expanded Checkout gives you maximum control over your business’s online checkout flow. However, using it may require developer experience. It costs 2.89% plus 29 cents per transaction. You can add advanced fraud protection for an additional 7 cents per transaction.
So, customers who want the best pricing may have to deal with more customization work (and possibly less fraud protection). Navigating these trade-offs could add friction for some business owners.
Deposit timing
Funds from card purchases can take up to three business days to land in your bank account. And the money goes to your PayPal account before it hits your bank.
Competitors like Square have standard next-day transfers to linked external accounts. PayPal’s lengthier process isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. But it’s certainly worth considering its effect on your cash flow.
What small-business owners think of PayPal
NerdWallet checked online forums like Reddit and reviews from sites like TrustPilot, G2, the App Store and Google Play to gauge how users feel about PayPal. We used an AI tool to help analyze this feedback. Here are the major trends we spotted.
👍 Brand recognition
Positive reviews mention customers’ familiarity with PayPal. This can go a long way, especially for customers who have never heard of your website before. When they see the PayPal logo, they may be quicker to trust your brand. And that can lead to more purchases.
That said, PayPal’s brand recognition comes with a tradeoff. If a customer chooses to pay using their PayPal or Venmo account, it’ll cost you 3.49% plus 49 cents. That’s significantly more expensive than your typical online credit card processing fees. For example, PayPal Expanded Checkout charges 2.89% plus 29 cents per online card transaction.
👎 Account freezes
Multiple users complain that PayPal froze their accounts. And sometimes they say it was for months at a time. This is part of the risk that comes along with using a payment services provider like PayPal.
You’ll find similar complaints for Square and Stripe. All these companies aggregate businesses’ funds into a single merchant account. That means there’s less tolerance for risk. If you accept an abnormally large transaction, for example, your account might get flagged.
You should eventually get access to your funds again. But not before you reach out to support and figure out what the issue is specifically. This takes extra time and energy. Not to mention, it can slow down your cash flow.
How we evaluated PayPal Business
NerdWallet’s writers and editors independently review payment processing companies, like PayPal, by analyzing more than 30 data points. We collected data from PayPal’s public-facing website, help articles and company representatives.
Our evaluations also take user sentiment into account. This involves looking through individual reviews and feedback on sites like Trustpilot, the App Store, Google Play and Reddit. Then, we use AI tools to help spot larger trends within those comments. Since we cannot verify each user’s individual experience, we don’t incorporate user reviews in our star ratings. For more information on how we score payment processing companies, see our full methodology.