PayPal vs Wise Calculator — Cheapest Way to Get Paid Internationally
Compare the real cost of receiving an international payment through PayPal vs Wise — including the currency-conversion markup most people miss.
Last reviewed 2026-10-19. Rates change — verify against the official sources linked below before relying on these figures.
What this is based on
- PayPal commercial payment: ~3.49% + $0.49, plus a ~4% currency-conversion markup when converting — the dominant cost.
- Wise: ~0.65% + $0.40 typical corridor fee, mid-market exchange rate. Same-currency Wise payouts cost more than shown if you skip the multi-currency account.
- Both figures are approximations — PayPal's markup varies by currency pair and Wise's by corridor.
The conversion markup is where the money goes
On the rate card PayPal's ~3.5% and Wise's ~0.65% already differ, but the gap explodes when a currency conversion is involved. PayPal converts at roughly 4% over the mid-market rate; Wise converts at mid-market with the fee shown separately. On a $1,000 international payment with conversion, PayPal takes roughly $75 vs Wise's ~$7 — a tenfold difference.
This is the single largest avoidable cost in freelance cross-border payments, and it's invisible because PayPal shows 'no conversion fee' — the markup lives inside the exchange rate itself.
Same currency changes the picture
If the payment arrives and stays in the same currency (a USD client paying your USD balance), PayPal's ~3.5% is still ~5× Wise's ~0.65% — but without the FX markup the absolute gap shrinks. Wise's real dominance is in the conversion path, which is why its multi-currency account (receive USD/EUR/GBP into local bank details, convert when you choose) is the standard freelancer stack.
When PayPal still makes sense
PayPal wins when the client insists on paying that way (many companies simply won't onboard Wise), when you need instant checkout integration, or for tiny payments where Wise's fixed fee matters more than the percentage. The rational setup for freelancers: offer Wise/bank transfer as the default, PayPal as the fallback for clients who require it — and price the ~7% PayPal cost into the invoice if you can.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Wise cheaper than PayPal for international payments?
- Dramatically — roughly 0.65% vs ~7.5% total when currency conversion is involved, because PayPal embeds ~4% in its exchange rate on top of its processing fee.
- How does PayPal charge for currency conversion?
- Not as a line item — PayPal applies an exchange rate ~4% worse than mid-market. A $1,000 USD→EUR payment loses ~$40 to the rate itself.
- Can I receive USD into Wise?
- Yes — a Wise account gives you local bank details (USD, EUR, GBP and more), so clients pay a domestic transfer and you convert at mid-market when you want.
- Wise vs PayPal for freelancers — which should I offer?
- Wise/bank transfer as the default (you keep ~7% more per invoice), PayPal as the fallback for clients who won't use anything else.
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