Remember the days when banks were the only space to make deposits or transfers. Well, banks still exist and they are effective as they have always been. But, the world has now unlocked the power of digitalization. Several individuals and businesses now use online payment platforms to make fast cash transfers. The research shows that the mobile payments market is expected to reach USD 5399.6 billion by 2026 and more. Considering the increasing need for mobile payments, it is imperative to integrate payment gateways to the websites for a smooth payment process.

Today, there is no shortage of payment gateways to choose from, but the question is which one is the best? PayPal, Stripe, or Braintree? Confused, which one is the best? Well, we have your answers! In this post, we will be guiding you about these three popular payment gateways. It will help you identify the differences and make the right choice for your business.

General Overview

PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree all are popular gateways and are widely used by businesses across the globe.

The show-stealer PayPal is considered to be the most trusted payment gateway with millions of companies and e-commerce stores across the globe. This peer-to-peer gateway helps in processing the payments and simplifying the online transactions. It is also used widely to send money to friends and family securely.

Stripe is the second most popular payment gateway that comes with a comprehensive stack of features. The platform empowers businesses to build their own platforms with easy-to-use APIs and software. It covers everything that is required to complete the e-commerce experience.

Braintree is basically a sub-service of PayPal that is designed to simplify the payment process on the website or in the app. The platform ensures secure and seamless checkouts that help in reducing cart abandonment as it lets users pay the way they want to, therefore boosting the overall conversion rates.

Ease of Use - PayPal VS Stripe VS Braintree

PayPal is a user-friendly platform for both customers and businesses. The whole setup is super quick and easy. All you need to do is simply connect the bank account and verify the details. And, you are done! Not just that, the checkout process is also quite easy. Customers can send money in just one click and the money is transferred! 

From making credit card payments to checkout page functioning, Stripe helps in organizing almost every part of your financial stack. The platform is beautifully designed with excellent attention to detail given to the features. With Stripe users get tools that allow them to create a seamless customer experience. All pages are created dynamically and easily adapt to the customer’s location. It also simplifies third-party integrations by automating the invoicing process.

Braintree features a super quick and easy to set up. As soon as you integrate the system, you can start accepting payments on your site. The customized design allows businesses to design the UI as per their brand. The checkout flow of the platform is also simple, modern, and flexible thus making it work on all sorts of apps and websites.

Pricing And Features  - PayPal VS Stripe VS Braintree

PayPal is considered to be the premium industry leader, so its pricing model is expected to be a bit on the higher side. Gladly, it is free to sign up for PayPal and then they take a small amount for each transaction for every account. Using the merchant account, you can accept payments online, by email, and by phone. The best part of using PayPal is it offers excellent fraud and seller protection. It charges 2.60% + fixed fee for domestic transactions and 3.60% + fixed fee for International transactions. The PayPal payment pro is $30 per month and it's free to cancel anytime.

Stripe offers a complete integrated payment platform with a pay-as-you-go pricing feature. For international cards it charges 2.9% + $.30 and for domestic cards 1.75% + $.30. There are no monthly fees, setup fees, or any other hidden charges. With Stripe users get access to several tools that help in managing payments. From real-time reporting to making global payments, and third-party integrations, you get savvy features with Stripe.

Braintree’s pricing structure is quite similar to PayPal but it's quite cheaper if you consider the domestic transactions. For international transactions, it charges 3.9% + $.30, and for domestic transactions for 1.75% + $.30. There are no monthly fees, no minimums, and no hidden charges. At this price, you can actually build a spectacular checkout experience that allows you to manage all your payments at ease. Users get several features like - basic fraud tools, merchant account gateway, data encryption, and more.

Supported Payment Method - PayPal VS Stripe VS Braintree

PayPal being the most popular supports all sorts of credit cards including - Mastercard, Visa, and American Express. Just keep in mind that PayPal allows you to accept payments through PayPal debit or credit cards only. Not just that customers can also pay using swipe, chip, or tap with Google Pay and Apple Pay.

Just like PayPal, Stripe also supports multiple payment platforms. But, what makes it different from PayPal is it accepts payments from AliPay as well which is China’s leading payment platform. So, if you have got business in China, then it is definitely advantageous for you.

Braintree supports ACH direct debits and great integrations with popular payment methods. However, it does not support AliPay payments. It allows payments with Venmo and PayPal, which are the largest digital wallets in the world. It also allows customers to pay using Apple Pay and Google Pay, thus making the purchases easier and faster.

Which One Is The Best?

It is quite clear that PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree all offer a phenomenal range of services and benefits. In this post, we tried to highlight all three payment gateways and help you distinguish better. So, make the comparisons, understand your needs, and go ahead with the right payment gateway.

If you want to integrate payment gateways to your site or app, then drop us your requirements and our team will assist you with the details.