Free Payment Fee Comparison
Plug in percent, fixed, and FX markup inputs for Stripe, Wise, PayPal, or any provider. See estimated net received and pressure-test vendor evaluations before procurement.
Inputs
Enter amounts and fee assumptions. Results update as you edit.
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Same-currency transfer: FX markup not applied.
Provider assumptions
Edit the example rows or add new providers to compare.
FX markup applies only when currencies differ. Providers with all zero fees are shown as needing inputs.
FX markup applies only when currencies differ. Providers with all zero fees are shown as needing inputs.
Fee modeling
Compare provider fee structures side by side to shortlist options, then confirm final pricing and terms in provider quotes.
- Fees vary by corridor, customer type, and payment method.
- FX markup is modeled as a percent of the source amount.
Fee shape decides more than the headline rate
Fee comparisons usually happen once, at signature, against a headline percentage. A headline cannot carry the shape of your own ticket distribution. A 2.9% plus $0.30 structure costs 5.9% of a $10 charge and 2.93% of a $1,000 one, so a business selling $9 add-ons pays a price that appears on no pricing page. The currency mix behaves the same way: a 1% spread is invisible on a domestic invoice and the largest single line on a cross-border one. Neither effect shows up until a quarter of statements exists, by which point the integration is built.
Put the same $2,000 cross-border payment through three shapes. At 2.9% plus $0.30 with a 2% spread, the charges are $58.30 and $40, and $1,901.70 lands. At 0.5% with the spread quoted openly at 0.65%, they are $10 and $13, and $1,977 lands. A flat $4.50 fee with the spread folded into the rate shows $1,995.50 and says nothing about what the rate did. Now send $50 through the same three: $2.75, $0.58, $4.50. The flat shape beats the first by $93.80 on the large payment and loses on the small one, and the crossover between them sits near $86.
The model prices a payment that completes. Refunds are where it drifts, because on many card structures the fee is kept when the sale is reversed. Run 100 sales of $2,000 at 2.9% plus $0.30 and the charges are $5,830; refund four of those sales and $8,000 goes back to buyers while the $233.20 of fee charged on them stays behind. Measured against the $192,000 you keep, the effective rate is 3.04% on a 2.9% headline. Chargeback fees, monthly minimums and tiered pricing that lapses at renewal each move it further, and each one is a line somebody has to find in a statement.
Every number here is one you typed
No provider rate card ships with this page. One stored planning row sits alongside the rows you fill in yourself from quotes and pricing pages.
What it assumes
- Each provider row you add takes a percentage fee, a fixed fee and an FX markup percentage from you.
- A row called Planning model joins every comparison, carrying the same 4% base assumption used elsewhere on the site, with 1% more when the currencies differ.
- Fees are deducted from the source amount to give the net received, and the rows are ordered by that figure.
- FX markup applies as a percentage of the source amount when the send and receive currencies differ.
- You can add as many rows as you want to compare. A row left at zero across all three fees waits for its figures rather than ranking.
What it leaves out
- Published provider pricing. The two starting rows are blank examples at zero.
- Mid-market conversion. The rate lookup returns 1 for a same-currency pair and nothing for any other pair, so no conversion happens inside the comparison.
- Interchange, chargeback, refund, payout and account fees.
- Volume tiers, corridor pricing and negotiated rates, which is where a real quote usually differs.
Where the numbers come from
- Provider percentage, fixed fee and FX markup
- Our own assumptionEntered by you. The page stores them in your browser and applies them without checking them against anything.
- The Planning model row
- Our own assumptionThe 4% base and 1% cross-currency figures from the fee planning calculator, held in this site rather than quoted by any provider.
- Mid-market reference rate
- Our own assumptionDeliberately absent. The lookup reports a cross-currency pair as unmodelled rather than inventing a rate.
Assumptions and sources checked 5 September 2026. Published figures move on their own schedule, so confirm anything you rely on against the authority that issues it.
How it works
- 01
Enter amount + currency
The transaction size and source currency you are modeling.
- 02
Add provider assumptions
Percent fee, fixed fee, and FX markup for each vendor.
- 03
See side-by-side net
Estimated fees and net received per provider.
- 04
Run sensitivity checks
Flex ticket sizes and markups before signing.
Related guides
Stripe vs PayPal vs Wise for Freelancers in 2026
Covers the providers the tool prompts for, with the structural differences at collection, conversion and payout that three inputs cannot express.
Read the guideHow Payment Platforms Really Price FX Markup and Exchange Rate Spread
Providers label FX inconsistently. This separates markup, spread and all-in rate so the figure you type in the FX field means something.
Read the guideHow to Get Paid in Multiple Currencies Without Forced FX
Reframes the exercise from shopping for the cheapest markup to avoiding the conversion in the first place.
Read the guideFrequently Asked Questions
How does this fee comparison work?+
What is FX markup?+
What fees are missing from this model?+
Why do results stay in the source currency?+
How do I use this in a vendor evaluation?+
Is this financial advice?+
The fee gap you just spotted is the case for Gruv
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