PayPal Fee Calculator — Fees, Net Amount and What to Invoice

How to use the PayPal fee calculator

1. Choose where Your PayPal account is: United States or India.
2. Under I want to know, choose What I get from a payment or What to ask for.
3. Enter the Amount and the Currency received.
4. US accounts: pick the Payment type and tick The buyer is outside the US for international payments. India accounts: tick Convert to rupees to include PayPal’s conversion margin.
5. Read the fee, the net amount and the effective rate. The table below repeats the sums for common payment sizes, with the amount to ask for in the last column.

What it does and when to use it

PayPal charges the person receiving a commercial payment, not the person paying. The fee is a percentage plus a small fixed charge, so it hurts most on small payments: on $10 the fixed $0.49 alone is almost 5%.

The calculator answers two everyday questions:

• “How much will I actually get?” when a client or buyer sends you money.
• “How much should I invoice?” when you need a set amount to arrive, such as a fixed project fee or a deposit.

It is handy for freelancers billing clients abroad, small online shops taking PayPal at checkout and anyone comparing PayPal with card processing. To compare with a card processor, try the Stripe fee calculator. To set a fair rate before the fee comes off, start with the freelance hourly rate calculator.

How it works

PayPal’s fee = amount × percentage rate + fixed fee for the currency received, rounded to the cent.

What you receive = amount − fee.

What to ask for = (amount you want + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage rate). The calculator then rounds up to the cent and checks that the payment still covers your target after PayPal rounds its fee, so you never come up a cent short.

The US commercial rates published on 1 October 2026:

The fixed fee depends on the currency you receive. For a US account it is $0.49, £0.39, €0.39, CA$0.59 or A$0.59, and ¥49 for yen. QR code payments use a smaller fixed fee, for example $0.09.

For accounts registered in India, PayPal publishes a single rate for payments from abroad: 4.40% plus a fixed fee ($0.30, £0.20, €0.35, ₹3.00 and others). The India page does not list a domestic rate. When you convert the balance to rupees, PayPal’s exchange rate includes a 3.0% margin above its base rate. The calculator applies that 3.0% to the amount left after fees, so treat the converted figure as an estimate.

Worked examples

A $100 US payment through PayPal Checkout. 3.49% of $100 = $3.49, plus $0.49 = $3.98. You receive $96.02.

The same payment from a buyer abroad. 3.49% + 1.50% = 4.99%, so the fee is $4.99 + $0.49 = $5.48.

Invoicing so that $500 arrives. ($500 + $0.49) ÷ (1 − 0.0349) = $518.59. PayPal’s fee on $518.59 is $18.59, leaving exactly $500.00. Ask for $518.59.

A UK customer paying £100 by card to a US account. The card rate is 2.99% plus the £0.39 fixed fee for pounds: £3.38.

A freelancer in India paid $500 by a US client. Fee: 4.40% of $500 + $0.30 = $22.30, leaving $477.70. PayPal’s 3.0% conversion margin on that is about $14.33, so roughly $463.37 worth of rupees reaches the bank, before any bank charges.

Which PayPal payment type costs least?

On the same $100 US payment the fee depends on how the money is sent. PayPal Checkout costs $3.98 (3.49% + $0.49). A standard card payment through PayPal costs $3.48 (2.99% + $0.49). A goods and services payment costs $2.99, because it has no fixed fee. A QR code payment costs $2.38 (2.29% + $0.09). Pay Later costs the most, at $5.48. You cannot always choose how customers pay, but if you invoice regular clients, it is worth knowing the gap. Run each option in the calculator with your own amounts.

Limits and tips

• Commercial payments only. Payments to friends and family, micropayment pricing, chargeback and dispute fees, and withdrawals are not included.
• Currency conversion for US accounts is not modelled; check PayPal’s page if you convert balances.
• Rates change. Tick Use my own fee rates to type the rate from your PayPal statement or a negotiated merchant rate.
• Invoices: the invoice generator lets you put the gross amount on a clean invoice once you know it.
• Volume matters. If many small payments come in, the fixed fee adds up. Compare the effective rate column for $10 and $1,000 payments to see the difference.

This page explains PayPal’s published fees; it is not financial, legal or tax advice.