There is a lot that goes into creating an eCommerce store. And not all of it is exciting. Sometimes it becomes daunting to choose an eCommerce platform, logistical or technical solution when the choices are unlimited. One of the most crucial choices for creating an online store is choosing a payment gateway for your store to ensure a smooth and secure checkout process. You all must have heard of the famous Stripe vs PayPal for WooCommerce debate, but the choice becomes all the more difficult when you are provided with the 2 best options.
Let’s take this debate further and try to analyze both payment gateways: PayPal vs Stripe under different categories to find out which one is better so we can make a well-informed decision.
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Stripe vs PayPal: Pros and Cons
It always comes down to these two payment gateways when you have to decide the best option for your store. Before we dive into the detailed comparison, let’s have a basic overview of PayPal and Stripe for WooCommerce.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most popular payment gateways available and is used by 60% of the market. It enables you to accept payments online and in-person and offers a safe and secure platform, thus improving your customer’s shopping experience. Besides a payment processor, PayPal provides multiple integrations and plugins to elevate your store and further simplify the checkout process. Other features included are digital wallets, loans, etc.
Pros
- User-friendly and easy to set up.
- Available locally and globally.
- Flat and fixed transaction rates.
- Can be integrated with Point of Sale systems.
- Multiple customer support types are available such as live chat, call, email, etc.
- PCI Compliance.
Cons
- It has a higher chargeback fee.
- It redirects customers to another page when filling in payment info.
- Migration of data is not possible.
Learn everything about PayPal – Benefits, Features, and Extensions
Stripe
In terms of popularity, Stripe comes pretty close to PayPal. It might not be known by everyone, but it’s steadily making a name for itself and thus being compared to one of the best payment gateways out there. Stripe’s products enable you to offer online payment, in person, for subscription-based businesses, and much more. It also provides a safe and secure platform for you to run your business on and beats fraud effectively.
Pros
- Flat and fixed rates.
- PCI Compliant.
- Customers are not redirected to another page during checkout.
- Easy to use and set up.
- 24/7 customer support is available in the form of live chat, call, and email.
- Lower chargeback fees than PayPal.
- Customer data can be migrated.
Cons
- Support quality is inconsistent
- Not available globally.
- Takes longer to process payments.
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PayPal vs Stripe — Detailed Comparison
Multiple key features are necessary for a payment gateway to provide a smooth payment processing experience. Let’s discuss these features in detail to get a clearer picture of PayPal vs Stripe for WooCommerce.
1. Ease of Use
Stripe and PayPal are both easy-to-use beginner-friendly WooCommerce payment gateways. They have made the payment process easy for both the merchants and the customers. But depending on the technical requirements, opinions can change.
Stripe is considered easier for customers rather than merchants. Even though Stripe can be set up by using a free plugin and setting the basic features. For added functionality, developer-level knowledge is required. But keep in mind that Stripe is more customizable than PayPal, so it depends if you are suitable with PayPal as it is.
On the other hand, PayPal offers ease in all terms. From setting up to processing payments, it’s all pretty straightforward. PayPal requires minimum customization and is hassle-free if you want to make changes.
Stripe vs PayPal for WooCommerce in terms of ease, who takes the lead? PayPal. It is easy for beginners and requires less input and hassle in setting up and configuring.
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2. Transaction Fees
The biggest motivator for choosing a winner when given two choices is the cost, or in this case, transaction fee charges. You can find their pricing plans in detail on their websites easily, and trust me, they offer many. But let’s take a look at the pricing provided in the basic package of both payment gateways for a side-by-side comparison.
Stripe Fees
Integrated transaction fees: 2.9% + 30¢
In-person transaction fees: 2.7% + 5¢
ACH Direct debit: 0.8% · $5.00 cap
PayPal Fees
Integrated transaction fees: 2.9% + 30¢
In-person transaction fees: 2.7% + fixed fee
So you see, in terms of pricing, both are the same. Moreover, both do not charge any monthly fees, monthly minimum, or starting fees. Although the differences become prominent depending on the plan you choose and once you exceed a certain sales threshold. Thus, it’s a tie for this round.
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3. Customer Support
Customer support is very crucial to provide your customers with the best service. And this is another defining factor in the Stripe vs PayPal for WooCommerce debate.
Stripe offers multiple forms of customer support, such as Support forums, knowledgebase, live chat support, phone support, social media, developer documentation, and much more. Moreover, Stripe recently enabled 24/7 live call and chat support, which PayPal lacks and is a big point in its favor.
PayPal offers customer support in the form of a help center, email support, community forum, live chat support, phone support, and social media.
Although both provide the same options when it comes to customer service, that doesn’t mean their support is excellent. Both platforms are not consistent in this regard and need improvement. But since Stripe has 24/7 live support, it takes the lead on this one.
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4. Point of Sale
If your business also has a retail store, then syncing your online and offline orders through a POS system is the best way to manage inventory, orders, and customers without any hassle. Although both Stripe and PayPal are not ideal choices for a POS system, they do provide basic features to get the job done.
The Stripe terminal is equipped with advanced hardware management, pre-certified card readers, and robust developer tools. Although this is not all pre-made and developer-level knowledge is required to set up POS software, but on the bright side, you can customize a POS system according to your requirements.
With PayPal Zettle, you can offer your customers contact-less payment options and much more with your mobile card readers. It is easy to set up, all you have to do is purchase the machinery, download the app for free, and add in the account info and you are good to go. For functions like inventory management, you need to pay a monthly fee of $39-49/mo.
PayPal vs Stripe for WooCommerce in terms of POS? The choice depends on your needs, if you want to customize your POS, then Stripe, but we would go for PayPal, it’s easier, slightly cheaper, and less hassle.
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5. Security
Security is most important when it comes to payment gateways. Your business and customer information is on the line and there is no risk you can take. Luckily, both Stripe and PayPal for WooCommerce are PCI compliant and offer this feature for free.
Stripe encrypts sensitive data and communication by storing payment information in a separate hosting environment. Stripe also provides another security feature, called Radar. Radar helps in detecting fraud by a machine-learning algorithm and blocks hackers, viruses, etc. Other features include proxy detection, device fingerprints, historical snapshots, and insights on security performance.
PayPal monitors transactions 24/7 and does not share the full financial information of customers with sellers to protect their info. It also provides fraud protection and dispute resolution by holding on funds until the matter is resolved.
In terms of security, Stripe is the clear winner because of the extensive list of features and Radar functionality to operate your business without any worry.
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6. Customization
Customization is key when you want to scale your business or add new features and functionalities. Let’s see where Stripe and PayPal for WooCommerce stand in this regard.
Stripe offers extensive customization with powerful APIs. It also offers libraries for different coding languages and mobile platforms. Thus, you can customize the interface, create new features, and alter your software according to your business needs. Stripe also provides detailed documentation to help you along the way.
In terms of customization, PayPal is a little rigid. Although it provides documentation for customization of interface or features depending on your business level, its customizability is straightforward and limited against Stripe.
Stripe or PayPal for WooCommerce in customization? Stripe is the clear winner.
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Which One is the Best?
So who wins in the Stripe vs PayPal for WooCommerce debate? On a broad scale, both platforms are similar and offer advanced features to smooth the checkout process and payment processing operation. Moreover, large-scale businesses can use both platforms simultaneously if they can’t make a decision, but this is not recommended for small businesses. Thus, the question remains.
If we take a closer look, its no doubt that PayPal is a renowned payment gateway and customers trust it more than Stripe. But it’s limited in terms of customization. Whereas, Stripe’s customization is its selling point and it also offers superior security features.
The final choice depends on your business type, the features you want, and your requirements. We hope this article helped you make the best decision for your business.
