Technology Comparison
Stripe vs PayPal for Your Online Store
Stripe and PayPal both take payments online, but they attack two different problems. Stripe is payment infrastructure: it embeds in your checkout, the customer never leaves your site and fees are predictable. PayPal is above all a network of buyers who already have accounts, and that installed base is its real advantage: some people will not complete a purchase without seeing the button. In Spain the practical decision is rarely one or the other, because Stripe processes PayPal as a payment method; what gets decided is which is the primary gateway.
Comparison
Head-to-head comparison
| Criteria | Stripe | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout experience | Embedded: the customer pays without leaving your site | Redirect or popup to PayPal |
| Fees in Spain | Around 1.5% + EUR 0.25 on EEA cards | Around 2.9% plus a fixed fee on commercial sales |
| Subscriptions | Stripe Billing: proration, trials and dunning included | Available, but with less control over the lifecycle |
| Integration quality | Excellent: SDKs, reliable webhooks and a realistic test mode | Adequate, with more legacy APIs still around |
| Buyer trust | No visible brand: trust comes from your own site | High: the brand and buyer protection are well known |
| Fund-holding risk | Low, with payouts on a predictable schedule | Higher: known for freezing balances on disputes or spikes |
Analysis
Pros and cons of each option
Decisión Guide
When to choose each option
- 01/Choose
Stripe
Choose Stripe as the main gateway if you sell subscriptions, if you have enough volume for the fee difference to matter, or if you want to control the checkout end to end. Also if you need a marketplace with split payouts: Connect has no comfortable equivalent.
- 02/Choose
PayPal
Choose PayPal if you sell to consumers who already use it and distrust entering a card on an unfamiliar site, if you need to start charging this week with no development, or if your average order is small and conversion matters more than fees.
BePand
Our recommendation
The practical answer for almost any store in Spain is Stripe as the gateway with PayPal offered inside it as one more payment method. That keeps the checkout on your own site for card payers, while anyone who only buys through PayPal finds their button. Losing a sale for not offering a method costs more than the fee difference on that sale.
Get a free consultationFAQ
Frequently asked questions about Stripe vs PayPal for Your Online Store
Can I offer both in the same store?
Yes, and it is advisable. The clean way is to integrate Stripe and enable PayPal as a method inside its checkout: one integration, one reconciliation, one dashboard. Integrating both gateways separately also works, but it doubles the work of webhooks, refunds and accounting.
Which is better for recurring payments?
Stripe, by a distance. Stripe Billing handles proration on plan changes, trial periods, price changes and automatic retries when a card fails, which is where most recurring revenue is lost. With PayPal much of that logic has to be built yourself.
What about SCA and two-factor authentication?
The European PSD2 rules require strong authentication on most card payments. Both gateways support it, but implementing it badly means declined payments with no visible explanation. With Stripe the safe route is Payment Intents and its official components, which handle the 3D Secure challenge without you orchestrating it.
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