Personal Finance · alternatives
Alternatives to PayPal
22 personal finance tools sit alongside PayPal in this directory. Below is what separates each from PayPal on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 19
- Cheaper to start
- 4
- PayPal starts at
- $29/month
Why people look past PayPal
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the PayPal entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for PayPal carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 19 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.
There is only one tier
PayPal publishes a single plan, Standard at $2.99/transaction. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency with ease
- Can be used without paying; PayPal cannot.
- Starts $29 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than usage-based.
- 2 tiers to PayPal's 1.
Secure cryptocurrency exchange for serious traders
- Can be used without paying; PayPal cannot.
- Starts $29 a month cheaper, at Free.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than usage-based.
- 2 tiers to PayPal's 1.
Money sent in seconds
- Can be used without paying; PayPal cannot.
- Sold on a free model rather than usage-based.
- 2 tiers to PayPal's 1.
The best place to buy, sell, and pay with crypto
- Can be used without paying; PayPal cannot.
- Starts $29 a trade cheaper, at Free.
UK-licensed digital bank with FSCS-protected deposits and no foreign currency card fees
- Can be used without paying; PayPal cannot.
- Sold on a Free core current account; paid Plus and Premium tiers add features model rather than usage-based.
- 3 tiers to PayPal's 1.
Multi-currency financial app operating as a licensed bank in parts of the EU and as an e-money institution elsewhere
- Can be used without paying; PayPal cannot.
- Sold on a Free standard tier; paid plans add higher limits, insurance and perks model rather than usage-based.
- 3 tiers to PayPal's 1.
Every PayPal alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal (this page) | $29/month | Usage-based | 1 | |
| CoinbaseBuy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency with ease | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs PayPal |
| KrakenSecure cryptocurrency exchange for serious traders | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs PayPal |
| Cash AppMoney sent in seconds | Free | Free | 2 | vs PayPal |
| Crypto.comThe best place to buy, sell, and pay with crypto | Free | - | - | vs PayPal |
| Monzo | Free | Free core current account; paid Plus and Premium tiers add features | 3 | vs PayPal |
| Revolut | Free | Free standard tier; paid plans add higher limits, insurance and perks | 3 | vs PayPal |
| Affirm | Free | Free for short Pay in 4 plans; longer plans carry a disclosed APR up to roughly 36 percent, merchant pays a transaction fee | 2 | vs PayPal |
| Firefly III | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs PayPal |
| Starling Bank | Free | Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers | 2 | vs PayPal |
| IRS2Go | Free | Free government app, no payment of any kind | 1 | vs PayPal |
| Afterpay | Free | Free to shoppers with no interest on the standard plan; merchant pays a per-transaction fee, late fees apply to missed payments | 1 | vs PayPal |
| Actual Budget | Free | Open source, no licence fee; optional paid hosted sync and subscription tier | 2 | vs PayPal |
| Google Pay | Free | Free | - | vs PayPal |
| Goodbudget | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs PayPal |
| Copilot Money | Free, then $95/year | Subscription | 2 | vs PayPal |
| Investopedia Stock Simulator | Free | - | - | vs PayPal |
| Credit Karma | Free | Freemium | 1 | vs PayPal |
| Mint | Free | Free | - | vs PayPal |
| Apple Pay | Free | Free | 1 | vs PayPal |
| Strands | On request | Quote | 1 | vs PayPal |
| Lunch Money | $60/year | Pay what you want, annual, above a published minimum | 1 | vs PayPal |
| Betterment | Free | Subscription | 4 | vs PayPal |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the PayPal badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (19)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Coinbase , Free
- Kraken , Free
- Cash App , Free
- Crypto.com , Free
- Monzo , Free
- Revolut , Free
- Affirm , Free
- Firefly III , Free
Cheaper than PayPal (4)
Entry price under PayPal's $29/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Coinbase , Free
- Kraken , Free
- Crypto.com , Free
- Betterment , Free
What you would be giving up
PayPal is most often brought in for paying online merchants without sharing card details, sending money to friends and family domestically and internationally, holding balances in multiple currencies for cross border purchases. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If PayPal is broadly right and the question is cost, the PayPal pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Personal Finance category lists everything the directory holds, and best personal finance tools ranks them.
PayPal runs on web, ios, android, api. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about PayPal alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to PayPal?
- 22 other personal finance tools are listed in this directory, led by Coinbase, Kraken, Cash App, Crypto.com. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to PayPal?
- 19 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Coinbase, Kraken, Cash App, Crypto.com, Monzo.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to PayPal?
- Yes. 4 of the alternatives below start under PayPal's $29/month: Coinbase at Free, Kraken at Free, Crypto.com at Free, Betterment at Free.
- Why do people look for an alternative to PayPal?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: there is no free tier; there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from PayPal?
- PayPal is most often brought in for paying online merchants without sharing card details, sending money to friends and family domestically and internationally, holding balances in multiple currencies for cross border purchases. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to PayPal?
- None of the personal finance tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these PayPal alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Personal Finance, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare PayPal against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against PayPal covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every personal finance tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Personal Finance category, 22 tools beside PayPal. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.