WooCommerce Payment Gateway Comparison: Fees & Best Picks

A WooCommerce payment gateway comparison comes down to three numbers: the percentage fee, the fixed per-transaction fee, and any extra charges like currency conversion or disputes. For most US stores, WooPayments and Stripe land near 2.9% + 30¢, PayPal runs higher, and Square suits stores that also sell in person.

WooCommerce itself is free software, so it doesn't take a cut. The gateway does. That's why gateway fees are the biggest recurring cost most owners never audit. On $20,000 a month in sales, a 0.5-point difference is $100 a month, or $1,200 a year.

Below you'll find the fee tables, a head-to-head on Stripe vs PayPal, a look at WooPayments and Square, coverage of Amazon Pay, Authorize.net and buy-now-pay-later options, and a simple way to pick based on your volume. Fees change, so confirm each rate on the provider's own pricing page before you commit.

WooCommerce Payment Gateway Fees at a Glance

Standard US card rates for the main gateways cluster between 2.6% and 3.5% plus a fixed fee of 30¢ or 49¢. The table below shows typical published US rates; your actual rate depends on country, volume, and card type.

Gateway	Typical online card fee (US)	Monthly fee	Best for
WooPayments	2.9% + 30¢ (higher for international cards)	$0	Simple setup inside WooCommerce
Stripe (plugin)	2.9% + 30¢	$0	Flexibility, wallets, many countries
PayPal Checkout	3.49% + 49¢ for standard checkout	$0	Buyer trust, PayPal balance users
Square	2.9% + 30¢ online	$0	Stores with a physical location
Amazon Pay	Around 2.9% + 30¢ for US sales	$0	Shoppers with Amazon accounts
Authorize.net	2.9% + 30¢ plus gateway fee	$25	Merchants with existing accounts

Treat these as starting points. Check the live numbers on Stripe's pricing page, PayPal's merchant fee pages, and Square's site.

The fees that don't show up in the headline rate

The headline percentage is only part of your WooCommerce payment gateway cost. Watch for these:

• International card surcharges: Stripe's published US pricing adds 1.5% for international cards, and PayPal adds a cross-border percentage too. Confirm the current figure on each pricing page.
• Currency conversion: Stripe publishes an additional 1% for conversion, and PayPal's spread is typically higher at around 3–4% over the base exchange rate. Both can change, so verify before pricing in multiple currencies.
• Chargeback fees: Stripe charges a flat dispute fee per case (check its pricing page for the current amount), whether you win or lose.
• Payout holds: PayPal can hold funds on new accounts or after a sales spike, which costs you cash flow rather than fees.
• Extension fees: some third-party gateways charge $50–$200 a year for the WooCommerce plugin, based on the prices listed in the WooCommerce extension marketplace.

WooCommerce Stripe vs PayPal: Which Costs Less?

Stripe is usually cheaper than PayPal on standard checkout, by about 0.6 points plus 19¢ per order in the US. PayPal wins on shopper familiarity. Most stores do best offering both and letting customers choose.

Run the math on a $60 order. Stripe at 2.9% + 30¢ costs $2.04. PayPal at 3.49% + 49¢ costs $2.58. That's 54¢ per order. Over 500 orders a month, you'd pay about $270 more for PayPal if every shopper chose it.

But fees aren't the whole story. Many shoppers click PayPal because they don't want to type a card number, and that can lift conversion. Here's a worked example: a store with 10,000 monthly visitors and a 2% checkout rate makes 200 orders. If a PayPal button lifts that to 2.2%, you gain 20 orders. At a $60 average order and a 40% gross margin, that's about $480 in extra gross profit, which dwarfs the roughly $11 in added PayPal fees on those 20 orders. This is an illustrative scenario, not merchant data, so test it against your own numbers. We covered the details in our guide to Shopify Payments vs PayPal, and the same logic applies on WooCommerce.

When Stripe is the better primary gateway

• You sell internationally and want local payment methods like iDEAL or Bancontact.
• You want Apple Pay and Google Pay with minimal setup.
• You need subscriptions or detailed control over disputes and fraud rules.

When PayPal earns its higher fee

• Your customers are older or less comfortable entering card details.
• You sell to first-time buyers who don't know your brand yet.
• You want Pay Later options that raise average order value.

If you're adding it for the first time, our walkthrough on how to add PayPal to your online store covers the setup and the pitfalls.

WooPayments Fees vs Square on WooCommerce

WooPayments is the official WooCommerce gateway, built on Stripe's infrastructure, with no monthly fee and a standard US rate of 2.9% + 30¢. Square charges the same headline online rate but fits best when you also sell in person.

WooPayments fees and trade-offs

WooPayments fees are straightforward: a flat percentage plus a fixed fee, with extra charges for international cards and currency conversion. Its main appeal is that payments, payouts, and disputes live inside your WooCommerce dashboard, so you don't juggle a second login.

The trade-off is availability. WooPayments supports a limited list of countries, and you can't run it alongside certain other gateways in every setup. If you're outside its supported regions, the Stripe plugin is the usual fallback. Check the official WooCommerce site for the current country list and rates.

WooCommerce Square fees and who they suit

WooCommerce Square fees for online card payments mirror Stripe's at 2.9% + 30¢ in the US. The real draw is sync: inventory and sales between your Square point-of-sale and your WooCommerce store stay aligned. A coffee roaster with a retail counter and a web shop is the textbook fit.

If you only sell online, Square gives you little that Stripe or WooPayments doesn't, and its plugin ecosystem is smaller. Pick it for the in-person link, not the price.

Amazon Pay, Authorize.net and Klarna

Amazon Pay lets shoppers use the address and card already stored in their Amazon account. Its US rate is close to standard card pricing, and it helps most with first-time buyers who'd otherwise abandon a long form. Authorize.net adds a monthly gateway fee (around $25) on top of per-transaction charges, so it only makes sense if you already have a merchant account or need its specific fraud tools. Otherwise Stripe is cheaper to run.

Klarna and other buy-now-pay-later options charge merchants more than cards, commonly in the range of 3.5%–6% plus a fixed fee depending on region and plan. Because they're pricier, use them where they lift average order value, such as furniture, fashion or higher-ticket items, and skip them on low-margin products. Confirm current merchant rates with the provider.

The Best Payment Gateway for WooCommerce by Store Type

The best payment gateway for WooCommerce depends on your volume, location, and whether you sell offline. For most online-only US stores, Stripe or WooPayments as the primary gateway plus PayPal as a second option is the safest default.

• New store under $5,000/month: WooPayments or Stripe, plus PayPal. Keep it simple; the fee gap between options is under $50 a month.
• Growing store, $10,000–$50,000/month: Stripe with Apple Pay and Google Pay on, PayPal as secondary. Start tracking your effective rate monthly.
• International seller: Stripe for local payment methods. Compare conversion costs before you price in multiple currencies.
• Store with a physical shop: Square, so inventory and sales sync.
• High volume, $100,000+/month: Ask Stripe or your processor about custom pricing. Stripe advertises custom rates for large businesses, and on $100,000 a month, shaving 0.3 points saves $300 a month.

For a broader look beyond WooCommerce, see our roundup of the best payment gateway for a small online store.

How to compare payment plugins in WooCommerce

When you compare payment plugins in WooCommerce, run this five-step check before installing anything:

1. Pull last month's sales and order count.
2. Calculate your average order value.
3. Multiply orders by the fixed fee, then add the percentage fee on total sales.
4. Add international, conversion, and dispute costs from your history.
5. Check the plugin's update frequency and reviews, since a stale plugin is a security risk.

Small average order values punish the fixed fee. On a $15 order, 30¢ is a full 2 points on top of the percentage, so the effective rate is 4.9%. If you sell low-priced items, a gateway with a lower fixed fee matters more than a lower percentage.

PCI compliance and security

Any gateway you pick should keep card data off your server. Hosted fields and redirect checkouts, like those in Stripe, WooPayments and PayPal, keep you in the simplest PCI DSS self-assessment tier (SAQ A), as described by the PCI Security Standards Council. Gateways that collect card numbers directly on your pages raise your compliance burden. Also use HTTPS everywhere, keep plugins updated, and enable the gateway's fraud screening, such as Stripe Radar or 3D Secure, to reduce chargebacks.

The Real WooCommerce Payment Plugin Comparison: Hidden Costs

Gateway fees are only one line in your WooCommerce bill. Hosting, security patching, and plugin upkeep add up, and a payment plugin that conflicts with an update can quietly kill checkout. Any serious WooCommerce payment plugin comparison should include maintenance risk.

WooCommerce hosting typically runs $30–$100 a month, and developer retainers can reach $500–$5,000 a month for stores that need ongoing help. These are ranges we've seen across hosting and agency price lists, not guarantees. Our breakdown of WooCommerce maintenance cost shows how those numbers stack up, and the Shopify vs WooCommerce cost comparison puts gateway fees in context against a hosted platform.

Three ways to cut your gateway costs

• Turn on wallets: Apple Pay and Google Pay speed up checkout, which can recover abandoned carts without raising your rate.
• Set a minimum order: it protects you from losing margin to the fixed fee on tiny orders.
• Review quarterly: check your effective rate (total fees divided by total sales). If it's above 3.2%, something's off, usually international cards or disputes.

Common questions

Can I use more than one gateway on WooCommerce? Yes. Most stores run two, typically a card gateway and PayPal, so shoppers can pick their preference.

Does WooCommerce charge transaction fees itself? No. WooCommerce is free software; only the gateway or processor charges you.

Is WooPayments cheaper than Stripe? Not at standard US rates. Both sit near 2.9% + 30¢. WooPayments wins on convenience, Stripe on flexibility.

Choosing Your Gateway and Skipping the Plugin Juggle

Stripe or WooPayments for cards, PayPal as the backup, and Square only if you have a physical counter. That's the short answer. Check your effective rate every quarter and ask about custom pricing once you pass roughly $100,000 a month.

If you're tired of vetting plugins, patching updates, and stacking fees, there's another route. Rovela builds a complete store from a plain-language conversation, with Stripe checkout, abandoned cart recovery, and PayPal integration included in one flat subscription and no commission on sales. Existing stores can migrate in about 30 minutes, and the code is standard Next.js you can download. See Rovela's pricing or read our guide to migrating from WooCommerce to see how it works.