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Personal Finance · head to head

PayPal vs Trustly

PayPal logo

PayPal

Personal Finance

The simpler, safer way to pay and get paid

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trustly logo

Trustly

APIs

Pay-by-bank payments network, majority-owned by private equity firm Nordic Capital

From
On request
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; Trustly it is majority-owned by Nordic Capital, a private equity firm, so its long-term roadmap is ultimately oriented toward an eventual sale or IPO rather than indefinite independent operation.
  • They diverge on capability: PayPal covers Payment processing, Trustly covers Pay by bank checkout.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PayPal and Trustly actually diverge.

Attributes where PayPal and Trustly differ
AttributePayPalTrustly
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, API
CategoryPersonal FinanceAPIs
Founded1998Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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

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

Only in Trustly

  • Pay by bank checkout
  • Instant refunds
  • Verified payouts
  • Multi-market bank connectivity
  • Merchant dashboard and reconciliation
  • Fraud and risk tooling

What people use each for

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

PayPal

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

Trustly

  • An e-commerce merchant wanting a lower-cost alternative or complement to card payment acceptancenot PayPal
  • A gaming or gambling operator needing verified, instant payouts to players' bank accountsnot PayPal
  • A merchant wanting instant refunds processed directly to a customer's bank account rather than card reversal delaysnot PayPal
  • A business in a market with strong open banking adoption wanting pay-by-bank as a checkout optionnot 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

Trustly

  • It is majority-owned by Nordic Capital, a private equity firm, so its long-term roadmap is ultimately oriented toward an eventual sale or IPO rather than indefinite independent operation.
  • Consumer familiarity with paying by bank transfer still lags card payments in most markets, so merchants typically see it used as a secondary option rather than a full card replacement.
  • The 1.15 to 3.15% merchant fee range is not a single published rate, so a merchant cannot know its actual cost without a sales negotiation.
  • As with all open banking-dependent payment methods, reliability depends on the consistency of the underlying banks' own APIs, which Trustly does not control.
  • Its verified payout functionality is heavily used in gaming and gambling, a sector with additional regulatory scrutiny, which is worth factoring in when evaluating vendor risk exposure by association.

Pricing, plan by plan

PayPal

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

Trustly

On request
  • Trustly$undefined/month
    • Typical merchant cost of 1.15% to 3.15% depending on volume and market
    • Exact rate negotiated per merchant, not published as a flat card

Which should you pick?

Choose PayPal if

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

Choose Trustly if

  • You need pay by bank checkout.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want instant refunds.
Trustly review

Questions people ask

Is PayPal or Trustly better?
Neither clearly leads. PayPal starts at $29/month and Trustly at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, PayPal or Trustly?
PayPal starts at $29/month and Trustly at On request.
Does PayPal or Trustly run on more platforms?
PayPal runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Trustly runs on Web, API.
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 Trustly is typically brought in for.
What can PayPal do that Trustly cannot?
PayPal covers Payment processing, PayPal Checkout, Invoicing, Business debit card. Trustly covers Pay by bank checkout, Instant refunds, Verified payouts, Multi-market bank connectivity.

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
Trustly: Who owns Trustly?

Nordic Capital, a private equity firm, holds a 51.1% majority stake; Alfven & Didrikson and BlackRock hold smaller stakes.

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
Trustly: Is Trustly going public?

It has discussed an IPO but as of its most recent comments said one remained at least a year away.

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
Trustly: What does it typically cost a merchant?

Roughly 1.15% to 3.15% of transaction value depending on volume and market, negotiated per merchant.

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
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