Cash App vs PayPal fee calculator

Guide

About the Cash App vs PayPal Fee calculator

Cash App and PayPal are two of the most popular ways for US individuals and small businesses to send and receive money — and they price receiving payments quite differently. This Cash App vs PayPal fee calculator settles which keeps you more: enter an amount and it computes both fees side by side, shows your net on each, and names the cheaper option and the exact difference.

The rates we compare

To compare like with like, we use each platform's standard commercial receiving rate: a Cash App for Business account at a flat 2.75% with no fixed fee, against PayPal Goods & Services at 2.99% plus a $0.49 fixed fee. Those are how a seller or business actually gets paid. Cash App also charges for instant deposits and credit-card-funded sends, and PayPal has separate Checkout and micropayments rates — but the comparison most people want is commercial-rate versus commercial-rate, which is the default here.

Why Cash App usually wins — and where it's closest

Cash App's flat 2.75% with no fixed fee makes it cheaper than PayPal Goods & Services on virtually every amount. On a $100 payment, Cash App takes $2.75 (leaving $97.25) while PayPal takes $3.48 (leaving $96.52) — a $0.73 difference. The advantage grows on small payments because PayPal's $0.49 fixed fee is a big share of a small sale, while Cash App has no fixed fee at all. On larger amounts the two percentages (2.75% vs 2.99%) converge, so the gap narrows in percentage terms but Cash App still edges ahead. The calculator's effective-rate line shows exactly how the difference behaves at your amount.

Where PayPal is still the better tool

Lower fees aren't everything. PayPal works internationally, integrates with nearly every online store, and offers established buyer and seller protection and dispute resolution — Cash App is US-only and built around fast, simple peer-to-peer and small-business payments. If you sell across borders, run a full e-commerce checkout, or want robust protection on higher-value transactions, PayPal's extra cost can be justified. For straightforward domestic payments where both sides use Cash App, the flat 2.75% is hard to beat.

Reverse mode for pricing and invoices

If you quote a fixed take-home amount, switch to reverse mode. Each platform grosses the payment up independently — Cash App as charge = target ÷ (1 − 2.75%), PayPal as charge = (target + $0.49) ÷ (1 − 2.99%) — and the calculator shows which needs the smaller payment to land your net. That's the figure to put on an invoice or payment request.

Accuracy and scope

Both platforms are US-only for commercial use, and their fees can change, so we keep every rate in a dated source file and stamp the page with a "fees last verified" date. These are standard published rates; eligibility, promotions, and edge cases vary, and costs such as refunds, disputes, instant cash-outs (Cash App) or credit-card funding apply on top. Using a personal account for ongoing business breaks both platforms' terms — a Cash App for Business account or a PayPal business account is the compliant route. Confirm the final number in your account before relying on it, but for a quick, honest read on which is cheaper, this side-by-side answers it in seconds.