PayPal and Stripe both offer real hosted merchant payment links. Choose between them by the payment methods your eligible account can offer, whether the sale is one-off or recurring, and what must happen after payment. PayPal Payment Links and Buttons should not be confused with a personal PayPal.Me profile link.
For a seller sharing offers in email, WhatsApp or social posts, either provider can collect a payment without a full online store. The harder decision is whether you also need customer-specific invoicing, automatic file delivery or ongoing client billing. Choose the complete selling workflow, then compare fees.
Compare the current products, not an old PayPal.Me stereotype
PayPal’s current Payment Links and Buttons documentation describes hosted checkout with product details, images and several payment options, including cards and wallets. Availability depends on region, eligibility and the customer’s checkout. It is inaccurate to describe every PayPal merchant link as PayPal-only or an unbranded amount-entry profile.
Stripe Payment Links also provides a hosted page with branding options and supported payment methods. Its documented link-creation flow supports one-off prices and subscription prices. Check account and payment-method eligibility for your actual market.
| Buying question | PayPal merchant payment link | Stripe Payment Link |
|---|---|---|
| Can I share a reusable offer without a store? | Yes, a hosted merchant link | Yes, a hosted checkout link |
| Are cards possible? | Supported by the current product; eligibility matters | Supported; eligibility matters |
| Can I present a product and customize checkout? | Product details, images and checkout options | Logo, colors and documented checkout settings |
| How do I handle recurring sales? | Evaluate the appropriate PayPal invoicing or subscription product separately | Use a subscription price and review Billing costs |
| Is a completed payment automatically my complete delivery workflow? | Define and verify fulfillment separately | Define and verify fulfillment separately |
| Is one provider always cheaper? | No; use the account’s applicable quote | No; use the account’s applicable quote |
This is a documentation-based decision matrix, not a benchmark from installed accounts. A payment method shown in provider documentation is not a promise that it will appear for every buyer. Avoid universal claims about wallets, currencies or guest checkout.
Use three seller cases to make the choice
| Fictional offer | First decision | Best next comparison |
|---|---|---|
| €180 workshop place sold through messages | One-time checkout with a clear event and delivery promise | Eligible methods, capacity tracking and customer confirmation |
| €28 downloadable design pack | Confirmed payment must lead to the correct protected file | Checkout plus automatic delivery and download access |
| €75 monthly client service | Obtain valid recurring authorization and define cancellation | Subscription billing, retries, invoices and customer self-service |
These are hypothetical offers, not customer results. For the workshop, a reusable provider link may be enough if capacity and attendee handling have clear owners. For the design pack, a payment confirmation or redirect alone does not prove that the buyer received the correct file. For the monthly service, repeatedly sending a one-time link does not create authorized automatic recurring collection.
Stripe documents post-payment fulfillment and tracking; PayPal documents merchant link creation and checkout configuration. Read the actual supported path rather than assuming a checkout link supplies order management, a marketplace audience or a delivery system.
If your decision is about a bill addressed to one specific customer, use the separate PayPal invoice versus payment-link guide. This comparison owns the provider choice, not that invoice-format decision.
Compare your actual provider quotes with this worksheet
Choose one country, currency, payment method and transaction type. Obtain the applicable provider percentage, fixed charge, cross-border or currency-conversion charges, and any product or refund costs. Do not combine a domestic-card rate from one country with an international-wallet rate from another.
For identical successful transactions, processing cost = number of payments × (sale amount × percentage rate + fixed fee), before separately applicable charges.
Here is a sensitivity example using fictional quotes, not advertised PayPal or Stripe prices. Assume 100 payments of €28, quote A at 2% + €0.25 and quote B at 3% + €0.10:
| Hypothetical quote | Cost per successful payment | Cost for 100 payments |
|---|---|---|
| A | €28 × 2% + €0.25 = €0.81 | €81 |
| B | €28 × 3% + €0.10 = €0.94 | €94 |
At an €8 sale instead, A costs €0.41 and B €0.34. The ranking reverses because the fixed charge matters more. Replace every rate with your account’s verified pricing before making a buying decision. No provider is assigned to either fictional quote, and the example does not predict a saving.
Use the current local PayPal merchant fee schedule and Stripe pricing if your business is in the Netherlands. Sellers elsewhere need their own country pages. Check refund, dispute, subscription and conversion costs separately.
When a selling layer is useful alongside the provider
A third-party selling layer earns its place when it solves something beyond payment processing: a reusable branded offer, file fulfillment, invoices, reminders or customer billing access. It also introduces its own plan terms and fees.
PayRequest payment links let you create and share an offer using supported connected providers. Select and verify the provider and available checkout methods; do not assume connecting two providers guarantees every method on one checkout. If the sale is a download, compare the digital-product workflow instead of relying on manual messages after each payment.
For ordinary successful payments, PayRequest’s current plans list Free at €0 with a 2% standard platform fee, capped at €25 per transaction, and Premium at €5/month with 0% standard platform fees while active. Provider fees and commission-payment exceptions are separate. Feature limits still determine the right plan.
For the fictional €28 pack, 100 ordinary payments would add €56 in Free platform fees: 100 × €28 × 2%. Premium’s platform amount would be €5/month while active, if its features and allowance fit. At this price, nine payments produce €5.04 in Free platform fees; this is a platform-fee crossover, not a total-cost calculation or promised saving. Include provider costs and the value of the delivery workflow.
Start with one representative offer. Create your account, connect an eligible provider and build the first payment link. Check what the customer is buying, which methods are actually offered and who completes delivery before sharing it widely.
Editorial note: materially refreshed on 13 October 2026 with AI writing assistance and current official product sources. The seller cases and rate worksheet are hypothetical; no live checkout test or conversion uplift is claimed.
