PayPal Review, Pricing & Features

PayPal review for 2026 covering features, fees, business and personal pricing, pros, cons, and alternatives to the global online payments platform.

Category
Payments
Pricing
Freemium, from Free personal account (transaction fees apply for business use and certain transfers)
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
1998
Headquarters
San Jose, California, United States
Free PlanWeb AppiOSAndroidAPI

Overview

PayPal is a publicly traded online payments company that lets consumers pay online, send money to friends and family, and lets merchants accept payments on their websites and apps. It traces its roots to Confinity, founded in 1998, and has operated as an independent public company (Nasdaq: PYPL) since its 2015 spinoff from eBay.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, PayPal is one of the most widely recognized names in digital payments, with deep integration across online retailers worldwide and ownership of Venmo, a leading US peer-to-peer payment app.

Key Features

Consumers use PayPal to shop online, send peer-to-peer transfers, and split purchases with the Pay in 4 buy-now-pay-later option. A linked PayPal or Venmo card also lets users spend their balance directly.

Merchants rely on PayPal Checkout and invoicing tools for smaller businesses, while larger platforms use Braintree, PayPal's payment processing subsidiary, to accept cards and digital wallets at scale.

Pricing

Opening a personal PayPal account is free, and there is no monthly subscription fee for standard use. PayPal instead earns revenue through per-transaction fees charged to merchants, along with fees on certain transfers, currency conversion, and instant withdrawals.

Business and Braintree pricing scales with transaction volume and payment methods accepted, and larger merchants can negotiate custom rates directly with PayPal.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Extremely wide merchant and consumer adoption worldwide
  • Free to open a personal account with no monthly fee
  • Buyer and seller protection programs on eligible purchases
  • Broad product range spanning Checkout, Braintree, Venmo, invoicing, and Pay in 4
  • Recognized, trusted brand that can improve online checkout conversion

Cons

  • Transaction fees can be higher than some competitors for small businesses
  • Account holds or freezes are a recurring user complaint
  • Customer support can be slow to resolve disputes
  • Currency conversion rates include a markup over market rates

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PayPal free?

Personal accounts are free to open; PayPal earns revenue from merchant transaction fees and certain transfer or conversion fees.

Who founded PayPal?

Confinity, PayPal's predecessor, was founded in 1998 by Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Luke Nosek; it merged with X.com in 2000 and adopted the PayPal name in 2001.

Is PayPal publicly traded?

Yes, PayPal Holdings trades on Nasdaq under the ticker PYPL and has been independent since its 2015 spinoff from eBay.

What is the difference between PayPal and Payoneer?

PayPal is primarily a consumer wallet and merchant checkout brand, while Payoneer focuses on B2B cross-border payouts and marketplace seller receivables.

Does PayPal own Venmo?

Yes, Venmo is a PayPal-owned peer-to-peer payment app popular in the United States.

What is Braintree?

Braintree is PayPal's payment processing subsidiary used by larger merchants and platforms to accept card and digital wallet payments.

Where is PayPal headquartered?

PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Does PayPal offer buy now pay later?

Yes, through its Pay in 4 installment product.

Comparisons

Related Tools