PayPal vs Square fees
Both will take a card from someone who is standing in front of you or reading an invoice, and they price those two situations very differently.
On a $50.00 sale, Square leaves you $0.29 more — 0.58% of what the buyer paid. Over 100 sales like this one that is $29.00.
| Buyer pays | item + shipping | $50.00 |
Commercial transaction rate | 3.49% of $50.00 | −$1.75 |
Fixed fee | $0.49 flat | −$0.49 |
| Total fees | −$2.24 | |
| Reaches your account | $47.76 | |
| Buyer pays | item + shipping | $50.00 |
Online / invoice rate | 3.3% of $50.00 | −$1.65 |
Per-transaction fee | $0.30 flat | −$0.30 |
| Total fees | −$1.95 | |
| Reaches your account | $48.05 | |
Which is actually cheaper?
At default settings, there is no crossover price. Square keeps you more at every price from $1 to $20,000, so unlike most comparisons this one is not a question of order size. Articles that answer it with a single worked example happen to be right here — but only for the setup they assumed, which is the part they do not say.
Nothing in the schedules reverses it
Every option either platform publishes was tried against a $50.00 sale, one at a time. None of them put PayPal ahead. That is a stronger statement than a worked example, and it is the reason to trust this one.
- PayPal: PayPal InvoicingSquare+$0.29
- PayPal: MicropaymentsSquare+$0.64
- Square: In person (tap, dip, swipe)Square+$0.79
- Square: Online via payments APISquare+$0.49
- Square: PlusSquare+$0.49
- Square: PremiumSquare+$0.49
What this comparison deliberately will not answer
International buyer: PayPal publishes a surcharge for this and Square does not publish one that could be sourced. Comparing them here would make Square look cheaper on the strength of a gap in its own documentation, so no winner is declared. Check Square’s current terms directly if this applies to you.
Payout currency differs: PayPal publishes a surcharge for this and Square does not publish one that could be sourced. Comparing them here would make Square look cheaper on the strength of a gap in its own documentation, so no winner is declared. Check Square’s current terms directly if this applies to you.
Cheaper is not the same as better
This page prices a transaction. It cannot price the thing that usually matters more: the feature set, the payout timing, the dispute handling and the checkout your customers will actually complete. A platform that takes more and sells more of your stock is the better platform, and no arithmetic here can tell you whether that is the case for you.
So treat the figures as one input. Saufee states what each one charges; where to sell is your call.
What this calculator does not cover
- PayPal publishes a lower rate for Advanced Credit and Debit Card payments than for PayPal Checkout. This calculator uses the PayPal Checkout rate, which is the one most sellers are actually on.
- The fixed fee shown is the one for receiving US dollars. Receiving another currency changes it.
What this calculator does not cover
- Square Plus and Premium carry their own subscription costs, which vary by the business type you sign up under, so they are not added here.
- Manually keyed and card-on-file rates differ from the channels above.
Other comparisons
These calculators are free, and they stay free
There is no account, no email wall and nothing for sale here, which is deliberate — it is what lets the site publish what platforms actually charge and link to where each rate came from. Re-reading ten fee schedules every week is the unglamorous part, and it is what keeps the numbers worth trusting. If that saved you a bad listing decision, you are welcome to put a little toward the domain and the hosting. If it did not, please do not.
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