See exactly what Stripe, PayPal, and Square take from every transaction — and how much you'd save switching processors.
For most online businesses, Stripe and Square are comparable at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. PayPal's standard rate of 3.49% + $0.49 is significantly higher for small transactions. For high-volume merchants or average orders above $500, negotiating custom rates with Stripe is possible.
Batch transactions where possible, avoid keyed-in cards (higher fraud rate = higher fee), pass surcharges to customers where legally allowed (10+ US states now permit this), use ACH/bank transfer for large B2B payments (typically 0.8% capped at $5), and always compare processors annually as rates change.
Fee savings help margin, but better positioning and demand capture can move the top line much more than processor optimization alone.
Once checkout costs are optimized, the next useful question is how to attract more qualified demand and convert it more efficiently.