Softwr

Personal Finance · head to head

PayPal vs QuickBooks

PayPal logo

PayPal

Personal Finance

The simpler, safer way to pay and get paid

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
QuickBooks logo

QuickBooks

Accounting

Smart, simple online accounting software for small business

From
$30/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: PayPal currency conversion on international purchases and sends carries a 4.00 percent fee, and 3.00 percent in other conversion scenarios; QuickBooks chart of Accounts is capped on every QuickBooks Online tier except Advanced; Simple Start, Essentials and Plus all have a limited entry count
  • They diverge on capability: PayPal covers PayPal Checkout, QuickBooks covers Income & expense tracking.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PayPal and QuickBooks actually diverge.

Attributes where PayPal and QuickBooks differ
AttributePayPalQuickBooks
Starting price$29/month$30/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
CategoryPersonal FinanceAccounting
Founded19981983

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android, Api), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 PayPal

  • PayPal Checkout
  • Business debit card
  • Working capital loans
  • WooCommerce
  • BigCommerce
  • Buyer/Seller protection
  • Web support
  • Ios support

Only in QuickBooks

  • Income & expense tracking
  • Financial reporting
  • Tax preparation
  • Bank reconciliation
  • Bill management
  • Mobile apps
  • PayPal
  • Square

Both cover

  • Payment processing
  • Invoicing
  • Shopify
  • PCI DSS

What people use each for

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

PayPal

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

QuickBooks

  • Bookkeepingnot PayPal
  • Invoicingnot PayPal
  • Expense trackingnot PayPal
  • Financial reportingnot PayPal
  • Tax preparationnot PayPal

Where each one falls short

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

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

QuickBooks

  • Chart of Accounts is capped on every QuickBooks Online tier except Advanced; Simple Start, Essentials and Plus all have a limited entry count
  • Even the top Advanced tier caps bulk invoice uploads at 1,000 transaction lines per batch
  • Payroll is a separate paid add-on billed per employee per month (USD 6 to 10 depending on plan) on top of the base subscription

Pricing, plan by plan

PayPal

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

QuickBooks

$30/month
  • Simple Start$30/month
    • Income & expense tracking
    • Invoice & payments
    • Tax deductions
  • Essentials$60/month
    • Everything in Simple Start
    • Bill management
    • Time tracking
  • Plus$90/month
    • Everything in Essentials
    • Inventory tracking
    • Project profitability
  • Advanced$200/month
    • Everything in Plus
    • Dedicated account team
    • 25 users

Which should you pick?

Choose PayPal if

  • You need paypal checkout.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want business debit card.
PayPal review

Choose QuickBooks if

  • You need income & expense tracking.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want financial reporting.
QuickBooks review

Questions people ask

Is PayPal or QuickBooks better?
Neither clearly leads. PayPal starts at $29/month and QuickBooks at $30/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, PayPal or QuickBooks?
PayPal starts at $29/month and QuickBooks at $30/month.
Does PayPal or QuickBooks run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Ios, Android, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is PayPal best used for?
PayPal is most often used 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. Of those, paying online merchants without sharing card details and sending money to friends and family domestically and internationally are not what QuickBooks is typically brought in for.
What can PayPal do that QuickBooks cannot?
PayPal covers PayPal Checkout, Business debit card, Working capital loans, WooCommerce. QuickBooks covers Income & expense tracking, Financial reporting, Tax preparation, Bank reconciliation. Both handle Payment processing, Invoicing, Shopify, PCI DSS.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

PayPal: Does PayPal charge fees and when do they apply?

PayPal states that fees apply when converting currency and sending money to accounts in another country. Specific fee amounts are not disclosed on the homepage but are referenced in their published fee schedule.

Source
PayPal: Is there a subscription cost to use PayPal's basic services?

No subscription fees are mentioned on the homepage. PayPal operates on a transaction-based fee structure for money transfers and payments rather than recurring charges.

Source
PayPal: Are there restrictions on when I can use buyer protection?

PayPal offers buyer protection for eligible purchases, but coverage limitations exist. A user agreement sets the specific conditions for protection eligibility.

Source
PayPal: What payment methods can I link to PayPal?

PayPal's digital wallet allows storage of multiple payment methods and can be used for secure money transfers, payment requests, and checkout at major retailers.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on PayPal

More on QuickBooks

Keep looking

Other head to heads