PayPal vs Wise Business fees for freelancers
What a US freelancer keeps from a domestic payment of 100, 500 and 2,000 US dollars, computed from the fees PayPal and Wise publish on their own pricing pages.
These are two different ways of being paid. A PayPal invoice lets the client pay with a PayPal balance, a card or a bank debit, and PayPal charges a percentage. Wise Business is an account, not a card processor: the client pays by bank transfer to your account details, and Wise charges nothing to receive a domestic non-wire transfer in US dollars. The comparison only helps if your client is willing to pay by bank transfer.
The short answer
A domestic US dollar bank transfer (not a wire, for example ACH) to Wise Business account details costs nothing to receive, so the whole PayPal fee is the difference: 3.98 US dollars on 100, 17.94 on 500 and 70.29 on 2,000 for an invoice paid through PayPal Checkout. If the client sends a wire or Swift payment instead, Wise charges a fixed 6.11 US dollars per payment: that is 2.13 more than PayPal Checkout on a payment of 100, but 11.83 less on 500 and 64.18 less on 2,000.
Default rates side by side
| Provider and rate | Client pays | Fee | Effective % | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal invoice paid with PayPal Checkout, 3.49% + $0.49 | $100.00 | $3.98 | 3.98% | $96.02 |
| Wise Business, domestic non-wire bank transfer, no fee to receive | $100.00 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $100.00 |
| PayPal invoice paid with PayPal Checkout, 3.49% + $0.49 | $500.00 | $17.94 | 3.59% | $482.06 |
| Wise Business, domestic non-wire bank transfer, no fee to receive | $500.00 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $500.00 |
| PayPal invoice paid with PayPal Checkout, 3.49% + $0.49 | $2,000.00 | $70.29 | 3.51% | $1,929.71 |
| Wise Business, domestic non-wire bank transfer, no fee to receive | $2,000.00 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $2,000.00 |
Source: Fees | Merchant and Business | PayPal US (www.paypal.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Fees for Getting Paid & Adding Money - Wise Business Account (wise.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
The fee depends on how the client pays
PayPal publishes different rates for the same invoice depending on the payment method the client picks, which the freelancer does not control. Its bank debit rate, Pay by Bank (ACH), is the closest PayPal equivalent of a bank transfer: 1% with the fee capped at 10.00 US dollars. Wise publishes a fixed fee for receiving a US dollar wire or Swift payment.
| Provider and rate | Client pays | Fee | Effective % | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal invoice paid by card or third-party wallet, 2.99% + $0.49 | $100.00 | $3.48 | 3.48% | $96.52 |
| PayPal invoice paid by card or third-party wallet, 2.99% + $0.49 | $500.00 | $15.44 | 3.09% | $484.56 |
| PayPal invoice paid by card or third-party wallet, 2.99% + $0.49 | $2,000.00 | $60.29 | 3.01% | $1,939.71 |
| PayPal invoice paid with Pay by Bank (ACH), 1%, fee capped at $10.00 | $100.00 | $1.00 | 1.00% | $99.00 |
| PayPal invoice paid with Pay by Bank (ACH), 1%, fee capped at $10.00 | $500.00 | $5.00 | 1.00% | $495.00 |
| PayPal invoice paid with Pay by Bank (ACH), 1%, fee capped at $10.00 | $2,000.00 | $10.00 | 0.50% | $1,990.00 |
| Wise Business, USD wire or Swift payment, $6.11 fixed | $100.00 | $6.11 | 6.11% | $93.89 |
| Wise Business, USD wire or Swift payment, $6.11 fixed | $500.00 | $6.11 | 1.22% | $493.89 |
| Wise Business, USD wire or Swift payment, $6.11 fixed | $2,000.00 | $6.11 | 0.31% | $1,993.89 |
Source: Fees | Merchant and Business | PayPal US (www.paypal.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Fees for Getting Paid & Adding Money - Wise Business Account (wise.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Costs outside the per-payment fee
- Wise Business publishes a one-time 31 US dollar set-up fee to get account details. It is paid once, not per payment, and it is not in the rows above. On a single payment of 100 it outweighs the PayPal fee; spread over many payments it does not.
- PayPal lists a standard transfer to a bank account as free when no currency conversion is involved, and an instant transfer at 1.5% with a minimum of 0.50 US dollars.
- No fixed figure was read for sending US dollars out of Wise to a US bank: Wise publishes it only as a starting percentage that varies by currency, so no payout fee is recorded here. That is a gap in what was read, not a statement that it is free.
Source: Fees | Merchant and Business | PayPal US (www.paypal.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Fees for Getting Paid & Adding Money - Wise Business Account (wise.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
What this comparison leaves out
- Payers outside the US and currency conversion, which is where many freelancers meet Wise. Both providers publish figures for them; those scenarios are part of the Pro page.
- Fees your client's bank may charge to send a transfer or a wire.
- Chargeback and dispute fees, monthly products and custom pricing for large volumes.
- Rounding: fees are rounded to the nearest cent here. A provider may round one cent differently.
Use the calculator for any other amount, or to find what to charge to keep a target amount. PayPal next to a card processor is on the PayPal vs Stripe page, and the method is on the methodology page.