PayFeeCalc helps you estimate the fee on a supported PayPal commercial payment, the amount left after the fee, or the minimum amount to request when you need to receive a specific net amount. The calculator uses the merchant market, payment route, sender location, and received currency you select rather than applying one generic percentage to every transaction.
The current calculator covers supported commercial-payment scenarios for United States and United Kingdom merchant accounts. It provides an estimate, not a guaranteed PayPal quote, and shows the public rate source and date beside each result.
Last reviewed: August 28, 2026.
Open the PayPal Fee Calculator
Use the calculator in seven steps
1. Choose what you want to calculate
Start by selecting one of two modes:
- Fee from a payment is the forward calculation. Use it when you know the gross payment and want to estimate the PayPal fee and net amount received.
- Amount to request is the reverse calculation. Use it when you know how much you want to receive after the estimated fee and need to find the minimum gross request.
Reverse mode is especially useful before sending an invoice or payment request. Simply adding the fee from a $100 payment to a $100 target is not sufficient because the percentage fee is charged on the larger gross amount requested.
2. Enter the amount
Enter a positive number without a currency symbol. The currency is controlled by the Received currency menu. You can also select a common amount—10, 25, 50, 100, 500, or 1000—to update the calculation quickly.
In forward mode, this field is the payment amount. In reverse mode, it is the target amount you want to receive.
3. Select the merchant account market
Choose the country where the receiving PayPal business account is registered:
- United States
- United Kingdom
This is not the same as choosing a currency. A UK merchant receiving USD does not automatically use US merchant pricing, and a US merchant receiving GBP does not automatically use UK pricing. PayPal’s base rates and available payment routes depend on the receiving account’s market.
4. Choose how the payment is made
Select the option that most closely matches the actual payment route. For US merchant accounts, supported choices include PayPal Checkout, Guest Checkout or Venmo; Goods & Services; standard card payments; supported invoice payment routes; Pay Later; eligible invoice payments by bank (ACH); and other commercial transactions.
For UK merchant accounts, the current choices distinguish a PayPal wallet, Checkout or other commercial payment from an eligible card-funded payment made without a PayPal account.
The labels matter. PayPal Checkout, direct Goods & Services, a card payment, and Pay Later can use different public rates even when the payment amount is identical. If you are unsure, check the payment details in your PayPal account before selecting a route. You can also read our PayPal Goods and Services fee guide.
For a US invoice, open the dedicated PayPal invoice fee calculator. It limits the payment menu to the supported invoice routes and starts in reverse mode for planning a target net amount.
5. Select the sender location
Choose whether the sender is domestic or international relative to the receiving merchant account. For a US merchant, the calculator distinguishes a domestic US sender from an international sender. For a UK merchant, it distinguishes domestic senders, international senders in the EEA, and international senders outside the EEA.
When the selected product supports it, PayFeeCalc adds the published international percentage to the domestic commercial rate. Learn more about the difference between cross-border and conversion costs in our guide to international PayPal fees.
6. Choose the received currency
Select the currency in which the merchant receives the payment. This setting determines the currency symbol, decimal precision, and—where applicable—the fixed fee used in the estimate.
The received-currency menu does not convert one amount into another currency. PayFeeCalc does not fetch live foreign-exchange rates or estimate PayPal’s currency-conversion spread.
7. Review and copy the result
Select Calculate PayPal fee or Calculate amount to request. The result appears in the calculator with the estimated amount received or minimum amount to request, followed by a complete fee breakdown. The rate source, effective date, and rate-verification date are displayed with the result.
Use Copy result to copy a short summary containing the result, estimated fee, and rate. This can be useful when preparing a quote or invoice, but always treat the value as an estimate.
How the PayPal fee calculation works
Forward calculation: fee from a payment
Forward mode begins with the gross payment. For a standard percentage-plus-fixed-fee scenario, the logic is:
Estimated fee = rounded percentage charge + applicable fixed fee
Estimated net amount = gross payment − estimated fee
If an international surcharge applies, it is included in the percentage calculation and shown separately in the result breakdown. A product-specific cap is applied where the selected official rate includes one.
Reverse calculation: amount to request
Reverse mode begins with the desired net amount. PayFeeCalc works backward to find the smallest valid gross amount, in the selected currency’s smallest supported unit, that leaves at least the target after the estimated fee.
In practical terms, the calculator finds the minimum value for which:
Gross request − estimated fee on that gross request ≥ target net amount
This approach avoids a common reverse-calculation error: adding the fee from the target amount even though the percentage is charged on the higher amount requested.
Rounding, fixed fees, and caps
The calculator performs its money calculations in the smallest unit supported by the selected currency—for example, cents for USD and GBP, and whole units for currencies without decimal minor units. It then rounds the percentage charge and applies any fixed fee or supported fee cap.
Because PayPal can classify or round a transaction according to its own systems and account agreement, a small difference from the final account statement remains possible.
Example PayPal fee calculations
The examples below use the public merchant rates displayed by PayPal on 28 August 2026. PayPal’s US and UK merchant fee pages both showed a last-updated date of 15 July 2026. Rates can change, so use the live calculator and review its source before relying on an estimate.
US domestic PayPal Checkout example
For a $100.00 domestic PayPal Checkout payment to a US merchant account, the published rate is 3.49% plus a $0.49 fixed fee:
- Gross payment: $100.00
- Percentage fee: $3.49
- Fixed fee: $0.49
- Estimated total fee: $3.98
- Estimated net amount: $96.02
To receive a $100.00 net amount under the same settings, reverse mode estimates a minimum request of $104.12, including an estimated $4.12 fee. Source: PayPal US Merchant Fees.
UK domestic commercial payment example
For a £100.00 domestic commercial payment to a UK merchant account, the published rate for other commercial transactions is 2.90% plus a £0.30 fixed fee:
- Gross payment: £100.00
- Percentage fee: £2.90
- Fixed fee: £0.30
- Estimated total fee: £3.20
- Estimated net amount: £96.80
Source: PayPal UK Merchant Fees.
What your result includes
Depending on the mode and selected transaction, the result can show:
- the estimated amount received or minimum amount to request;
- the gross payment amount;
- the base percentage fee;
- a supported international add-on;
- the fixed fee for the received currency;
- the estimated total fee;
- the effective fee rate for that amount;
- the rate used;
- a note identifying the selected payment route and merchant market; and
- the official source, effective date, and rate-verification date.
The effective fee rate may be higher on a small payment because a fixed fee represents a larger share of that payment.
Using a custom merchant rate
Some merchants have negotiated, volume-based, promotional, charity, micropayment, or other account-specific pricing. If PayPal has given you a total percentage and fixed fee that differs from the public menu rate, open Have a custom merchant rate?, enable the custom option, and enter those two values.
Custom values are supplied by you. PayFeeCalc does not verify them against PayPal and does not automatically add a separate international surcharge while custom-rate mode is active. Enter the complete percentage you want the calculator to use.
International fees are not currency conversion
An international commercial surcharge and a currency-conversion cost are different charges.
- An international surcharge can apply when the sender and receiving merchant are in different PayPal markets. The calculator includes supported published add-ons for its US and UK scenarios.
- Currency conversion can occur when PayPal converts the payment or withdrawal from one currency to another. PayPal’s exchange rate or conversion spread is separate and is not included in the PayFeeCalc estimate.
Selecting EUR, GBP, USD, or another received currency changes the fixed fee and formatting where applicable; it does not perform an exchange-rate conversion. Review the conversion information PayPal displays before completing or invoicing a payment.
Sources, accuracy, and privacy
Why the actual PayPal fee may differ
PayFeeCalc is a source-backed estimator, not PayPal’s billing system. The actual amount charged can differ because of:
- account-specific or negotiated pricing;
- optional, charity, promotional, or micropayment rates;
- product eligibility or a different transaction classification;
- a different sender market or funding route;
- currency conversion;
- taxes, disputes, refunds, holds, or reserves; or
- a PayPal rate change after the displayed verification date.
The calculator does not estimate Friends and Family payments, donation pricing, refund costs, disputes, taxes, holds, reserves, or live foreign-exchange rates. PayPal’s checkout screen and account statement remain the final record of the fee charged.
How rate data is reviewed
PayFeeCalc organizes rates by merchant market, payment route, sender category, and received currency. The current public sources are PayPal US Merchant Fees and PayPal UK Merchant Fees. Each source-backed result displays its source and effective date, while the calculator header displays when the rate data was last verified.
What happens to the amount you enter
The amount calculation runs on your device. The calculator does not send or store the amount you enter and does not add it to the page URL. For the site’s broader data practices, read the Privacy Policy & Terms.
Frequently asked questions
Which PayPal markets does the calculator support?
The current source-backed rate menus support merchant accounts registered in the United States and United Kingdom. They include multiple received currencies and supported domestic or international sender categories. This does not mean that PayFeeCalc has a local merchant-rate table for every country.
Does choosing USD automatically use US fees?
No. The merchant account market and received currency are separate settings. Choose the country where the receiving business account is registered, then choose the currency it receives.
Can the calculator estimate Friends and Family fees?
No. The current calculator focuses on the commercial payment routes listed in its menus. Do not use a commercial-payment estimate as a Friends and Family quote.
Does PayFeeCalc calculate currency conversion?
No. It can select the fixed commercial fee for a supported received currency, but it does not retrieve live exchange rates or estimate PayPal’s conversion spread.
Why might two PayPal fee calculators show different answers?
They may assume different payment products, merchant markets, sender locations, fixed fees, or update dates. PayFeeCalc asks for these details and displays the selected rate and source instead of hiding them behind one “standard” percentage.
For other common questions, visit the main PayPal fee calculator FAQ.
Calculate your PayPal fee
Choose the settings that match the actual transaction and review the source displayed with the result.
PayFeeCalc is an independent estimator and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by PayPal. “PayPal” is a trademark of its respective owner.