Stripe and PayPal fee calculator

How the fee calculator works

Pick Stripe or PayPal, enter the amount your client will pay, and say whether the card or payer is international and whether a currency conversion is involved. The calculator shows the fee, what lands in your account, and the effective percentage you paid. The second panel answers the opposite question: how much to charge so that you receive an exact amount after fees.

The default rates are the standard US rates published on each provider's own pricing page, and the date we checked them is shown next to the calculator. Both providers price differently in different countries, and many accounts are on custom pricing. Every rate field is editable, so you can type in the figures from your own dashboard or contract and the results update immediately.

The default rates, and where they come from

We copied these figures from the providers' US pricing pages on 4 November 2026:

• Stripe (stripe.com/pricing): 2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge on a domestic card, plus 1.5% for international cards, plus 1% if currency conversion is required.
• PayPal (paypal.com/us/business/paypal-business-fees, last updated 1 October 2026): PayPal Checkout at 3.49% plus a fixed fee of 0.49 USD, plus 1.50% for international commercial transactions. PayPal lists a 3.00% currency conversion spread for most conversions, and 4.00% for some send-money cases.

PayPal's conversion charge is a spread built into the exchange rate rather than a separate line. This calculator approximates it as a percentage of the amount, which is close enough for pricing decisions but will not match a statement to the cent. Stripe's and PayPal's fixed fees also depend on the currency you are paid in. The defaults are the USD figures, so change the fixed fee if you are paid in another currency.

The formulas

The last line is the one people get wrong. Adding 2.9% to $1,000 gives $1,029, but Stripe takes 2.9% of the larger amount plus 30¢, so you would receive $998.86. Dividing by (1 − 2.9%) is what makes the percentage come out of the right base. The calculator rounds the result up to the cent, then checks it, so the net is never a cent short.

Worked example

A freelancer in the US invoices a client in Germany for $2,000. The client pays by card, and the freelancer's account settles in USD, so no conversion is needed on Stripe's side.

The same $2,000 through PayPal Checkout with an international payer costs 3.49% + 1.50% + $0.49 = $100.29, leaving $1,899.71. Whether you pass that on, absorb it or offer a cheaper bank-transfer option is a pricing decision. The calculator just makes the cost visible before you send the invoice.

Common mistakes with payment fees

1. Grossing up by adding the percentage instead of dividing by (1 − percentage). You will be short every time.
2. Forgetting the international surcharge. Freelancers with clients abroad often pay 4–5% in total, not 2.9%.
3. Ignoring conversion. If a client pays in euros and your account settles in dollars, a conversion fee or spread applies on top.
4. Adding a card surcharge without checking the rules. Surcharging is restricted or banned in some countries and US states, and card networks have their own rules. Building the fee into your price is usually simpler.
5. Assuming refunds return the fee. Policies vary by provider and change over time, so check your provider's current refund terms.

Payment terms and methods are a big part of getting paid on time. Our guide to getting paid as a freelancer compares bank transfer, cards and payment links. The multi-currency invoice template shows how to state the currency and who pays conversion costs.

Card payments inside COLO

With COLO invoicing and payments , clients pay an invoice by card from their client portal. COLO does not add its own fee on top of the payment processor's. Standard processor fees, the ones this calculator estimates, still apply. COLO finance then shows what has cleared and what is outstanding across all your clients.