PayPal Invoice Fee Calculator

A PayPal invoice does not have one universal processing fee. For a United States merchant account, the amount deducted depends on how the customer pays, whether the payment is domestic or international, and the currency received. PayFeeCalc uses those selections to estimate the fee, the net payout, or the minimum invoice total needed to receive a target amount.

This page focuses on PayPal’s published US invoicing transaction rates. The calculator below uses the same source-backed PayFeeCalc engine as the main calculator; it is not a second or separate tool. It does not create or send an invoice, access your PayPal account, or predict currency-conversion charges.

Last reviewed: August 28, 2026. PayPal’s US merchant fee page displayed a last-updated date of July 15, 2026 when reviewed.

Calculate your PayPal invoice fee

The calculator starts with a US invoice paid through PayPal, Venmo, or Guest Checkout and with Amount to request selected. Use that mode when you know the net amount you want to receive. Switch to Fee from a payment when you already know the invoice total and want to estimate what will remain after the fee.

Important: the reverse result is a mathematical estimate of the gross invoice amount needed to leave a chosen net amount. It is not a recommendation or permission to describe the difference as a “PayPal fee,” add a surcharge, or pass processing costs to the customer. Check PayPal’s current terms, payment-network rules, and the law that applies to the sale before changing a customer’s price.

How much does PayPal charge a US merchant for an invoice?

PayPal says creating and sending a standard invoice is included with an account. A transaction fee is charged when the customer pays the invoice. The payment route determines which published rate applies, so the final fee cannot be identified from the invoice total alone.

For a US merchant receiving a domestic invoice payment in USD, PayPal’s published rates at the review date were:

These examples use USD. The fixed fee for the first three routes depends on the currency received; $0.49 is the published USD fixed fee. The ACH route does not add that fixed fee and is described by PayPal for eligible US bank payments.

The labels can look similar but are not interchangeable. A customer who does not sign in to PayPal may pay through PayPal Guest Checkout, which PayPal lists with the 3.49% invoice route, or through an eligible standard card or wallet route listed at 2.99%. Select the classification shown for the actual transaction rather than guessing from the card funding source alone.

For an international US invoicing transaction, PayPal’s published table adds 1.50% to the applicable domestic invoice rate. The current PayFeeCalc preset treats Pay by Bank as a domestic USD route; confirm that the option is available for the customer in your PayPal account.

Source: PayPal US Merchant Fees. PayPal’s US Invoicing page also lists the supported payment choices and invoice pricing.

How to use the invoice fee calculator

1. Choose a calculation mode. Select Fee from a payment to estimate the deduction from a known invoice total. Select Amount to request to work backward from the amount you want to receive.
2. Enter the amount. Enter the gross invoice payment in forward mode or your desired net payout in reverse mode. Do not type a currency symbol in the amount field.
3. Confirm the merchant market. Keep United States selected for the invoice rates documented on this page. These rates apply to the receiving US business account—not to every invoice denominated in USD.
4. Select the payment route. Match the way the customer actually pays: PayPal, Venmo or Guest Checkout; a standard card or supported wallet; Pay Later; or an eligible US bank payment.
5. Select the sender location. A sender outside the merchant’s domestic market can trigger an international percentage add-on.
6. Select the received currency. This controls the applicable fixed fee and number of decimal places. It does not convert the amount.
7. Review the breakdown. PayFeeCalc shows the percentage charge, international add-on, fixed fee or supported cap, estimated total fee, and net amount. It also displays the official rate source and effective date.

For a detailed explanation of every control, see how the PayPal fee calculator works.

Invoice total versus target amount to receive

Forward calculation: you know the invoice total

If the customer will pay a known gross amount, the basic estimate is:

Estimated fee = rounded percentage charge + applicable fixed fee

Estimated amount received = invoice payment − estimated fee

For a $100 domestic US invoice paid through PayPal at 3.49% + $0.49, the estimated fee is $3.98 and the estimated amount received is $96.02.

Reverse calculation: you know the net amount you need

If you need to receive exactly $100 after the estimated fee, adding $3.98 to the invoice is not enough. The percentage is charged on the larger amount requested, so the fee must be recalculated on that gross value.

For a percentage-plus-fixed-fee route, the starting formula is:

Gross request ≈ (target net + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − total percentage rate)

PayFeeCalc then checks the result in the smallest unit of the selected currency and finds the minimum gross amount that leaves at least the target after rounding and any supported cap.

These are calculator estimates based on the public domestic US rates and USD fixed fee reviewed on August 28, 2026. The ACH cap becomes important on larger payments: once 1% reaches $10, the published fee stops increasing under that rate. PayFeeCalc applies the cap automatically.

You can also follow the worked examples in our guide to calculating PayPal fees manually.

Why the fee shown on a paid invoice can differ

The invoice itself is only the request for payment. The fee is affected by the transaction PayPal ultimately records. Check these details when comparing an estimate with your account statement:

• Payment route: PayPal, Venmo, Guest Checkout, cards, supported wallets, Pay Later, and eligible bank payments can use different rates.
• Merchant market: the rates on this page are for a receiving US merchant account. An invoice denominated in USD does not automatically use US pricing.
• Sender location: an international sender can add a cross-border percentage.
• Currency received: a fixed fee can vary by currency.
• Currency conversion: conversion rates or spreads are separate from the transaction fee and are not estimated here.
• Account terms: negotiated pricing, optional plans, promotions, charity or micropayment eligibility, and product-specific agreements can replace a public standard rate.
• Transaction events: refunds, disputes, chargebacks, holds, reserves, taxes, or other account charges are not included in the payment estimate.

If your PayPal account shows a custom rate, open Have a custom merchant rate? in the calculator and enter the total percentage and fixed fee from your agreement. A custom entry is supplied by you and is not checked against PayPal’s public rate table.

International invoice fees and currency conversion are different

An international transaction add-on depends on the relationship between the sender’s market and the receiving merchant’s market. Currency conversion concerns changing one currency into another. Either, both, or neither can occur on a payment.

For example, a US merchant can receive USD from a customer outside the US and incur an international transaction add-on without a USD-to-foreign-currency conversion. Conversely, a domestic customer can pay an invoice that requires conversion. PayFeeCalc estimates supported transaction-rate additions, but it does not fetch live exchange rates or estimate PayPal’s conversion spread.

Read the separate guide to PayPal fees on international transactions before quoting a cross-border customer.

Frequently asked questions

Does PayPal charge a fee to create or send an invoice?

PayPal states that creating and sending invoices is included with an account. The relevant transaction fee is charged when the customer pays. Optional subscription services or other products can have separate charges and are not included in this calculator.

Does every PayPal invoice use 3.49% + a fixed fee?

No. That is the reviewed US domestic rate for an invoice paid through PayPal Checkout, Pay with Venmo, or PayPal Guest Checkout. Standard cards and supported wallets, Pay Later, and eligible Pay by Bank payments have different published US invoice rates.

Can a customer pay a PayPal invoice without a PayPal account?

PayPal says a customer does not need a PayPal account to pay an eligible invoice. The choices shown to that customer can vary by merchant setup, location, currency, device, eligibility, and the invoice itself.

Which rate should I choose for a card payment?

Use the classification shown for the completed transaction. PayPal lists Guest Checkout with its PayPal/Venmo invoice route, while it lists standard credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and other supported third-party wallets separately. A card funding source alone does not reliably identify the route.

What is the US PayPal invoice fee for an international customer?

The reviewed US table adds 1.50% to the applicable domestic invoicing rate for an international invoicing transaction. A currency-conversion cost can be separate and is not included in the calculator.

How does the Pay by Bank fee cap work?

For an eligible US Pay by Bank invoice payment, PayPal lists 1% capped at $10 per transaction. A $500 payment therefore has an estimated $5 fee, while a $2,000 payment reaches the $10 cap instead of producing a $20 fee. Eligibility and availability still depend on PayPal.

Who pays the PayPal invoice fee?

The processing fee is normally reflected in the amount credited to the receiving merchant for the transaction. Reverse mode only estimates a gross amount that could leave a target net payout; it does not turn the difference into an authorised customer fee. Whether a seller may adjust a price or add a customer-facing charge is a separate contractual and legal question. Check PayPal’s current terms, card-network rules, and the law that applies to the sale before passing a cost to a customer.

Can I use the calculator to set an invoice total?

Yes. Select Amount to request, enter the target net amount, and match the market, payment route, sender location, and received currency. Treat the result as an estimate because the customer may choose a different payment route and PayPal may apply account-specific terms.

Does PayFeeCalc store my invoice amount?

No. The amount is calculated in your browser by the calculator and is not sent to WordPress, stored in the website database, saved in a cookie or browser storage, or placed in the page URL. Read the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for information about ordinary website requests and contact messages.

Rate sources, review date, and limitations

This page uses public information from PayPal’s official US Merchant Fees and US Invoicing pages. The calculator displays its rate source and effective date with each supported result.

PayFeeCalc is an independent estimator and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by PayPal. Results are not quotes or guarantees. Confirm the final fee in your PayPal account or applicable account agreement before issuing a price-sensitive invoice.

If a public rate, route label, or example appears to need correction, please contact PayFeeCalc and include the merchant market, payment route, received currency, and official source you believe should be reviewed.

Estimate your next invoice

Return to the calculator above, select the payment route you expect the customer to use, and choose Amount to request if you need a specific net payout. If the route may change, compare each eligible option before setting the invoice total.

Calculate a PayPal invoice fee