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Personal Finance · head to head

Mint vs PayPal

Mint logo

Mint

Personal Finance

All your money in one app

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PayPal logo

PayPal

Personal Finance

The simpler, safer way to pay and get paid

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mint has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Mint service transitioned to Credit Karma platform; standalone Mint features migrated elsewhere; PayPal currency conversion on international purchases and sends carries a 4.00 percent fee, and 3.00 percent in other conversion scenarios
  • They diverge on capability: Mint covers Expense tracking, PayPal covers Payment processing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mint and PayPal actually diverge.

Attributes where Mint and PayPal differ
AttributeMintPayPal
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelfreeusage-based
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android, Api
Founded20061998

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Personal Finance).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Mint

  • Expense tracking
  • Budgets
  • Bill tracking
  • Credit score monitoring
  • Financial insights
  • Bank connections
  • Bank-level encryption
  • Verisign secured

Only in PayPal

  • Payment processing
  • PayPal Checkout
  • Invoicing
  • Business debit card
  • Working capital loans
  • Shopify
  • WooCommerce
  • BigCommerce

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Ios support
  • Android support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Mint

  • Legacy free budget tracking for users with supported bank connectionsnot PayPal
  • Users transitioning to Credit Karma for continued money management featuresnot PayPal

PayPal

  • Paying online merchants without sharing card detailsnot Mint
  • Sending money to friends and family domestically and internationallynot Mint
  • Holding balances in multiple currencies for cross border purchasesnot Mint

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Mint

  • Service transitioned to Credit Karma platform; standalone Mint features migrated elsewhere
  • Bank connections supported for only 17,000 financial institutions; many regional or international banks not supported

PayPal

  • Currency conversion on international purchases and sends carries a 4.00 percent fee, and 3.00 percent in other conversion scenarios
  • Instant transfer to a bank or debit card costs 1.75 percent of the amount, with a minimum of 0.25 USD and a maximum of 25.00 USD
  • International personal transactions carry a 5.00 percent fee regardless of payment method, with a minimum of 0.99 USD and a maximum of 4.99 USD
  • Sending domestic personal payments funded by a credit card costs 2.90 percent plus a fixed fee of 0.49 USD
  • Instant transfers are capped at 25,000.00 USD per transaction

Pricing, plan by plan

Mint

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Mint review.

PayPal

$29/month
  • Standard$2.99/transaction
    • Card payments
    • PayPal checkout
    • Invoice payments

Which should you pick?

Choose Mint if

  • You need expense tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want budgets.
Mint review

Choose PayPal if

  • You need payment processing.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want paypal checkout.
PayPal review

Questions people ask

Is Mint or PayPal better?
Neither clearly leads. Mint starts at Free and PayPal at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mint or PayPal?
Mint has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mint and $29/month for PayPal.
Does Mint or PayPal run on more platforms?
Mint runs on Web, iOS, Android. PayPal runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Mint for free?
Yes. Mint has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PayPal starts at $29/month.
What is Mint best used for?
Mint is most often used for legacy free budget tracking for users with supported bank connections, users transitioning to credit karma for continued money management features. Of those, legacy free budget tracking for users with supported bank connections and users transitioning to credit karma for continued money management features are not what PayPal is typically brought in for.
What can Mint do that PayPal cannot?
Mint covers Expense tracking, Budgets, Bill tracking, Credit score monitoring. PayPal covers Payment processing, PayPal Checkout, Invoicing, Business debit card. Both handle Web support, Ios support, Android support.
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