Last updated on December 3rd, 2024 at 02:11 pm
We’re covering 15 of the best PayPal alternatives today, so stay tuned! Whether you’re sending money between friends and family or seeking an alternative to business payments, we’ve got you covered.
In this session, we will look at both personal and business apps. We will also look at several payment providers you can use if you’re sick of PayPal or just searching for alternatives.
Initially, we’ll talk about personal payments between family and friends. After that, we’ll discuss specific payment processing providers for businesses and people who run e-commerce websites.
Some providers allow you to combine personal and business accounts with them. So we’ll review all that as well.
1. Zelle
The top spot on the list belongs to Zelle. Zelle is only available if your bank offers it. So it is primarily a personal transaction tool designed primarily for personal transactions between friends and family, maybe co-workers dinner with friends, etc.
Zelle is available via banking apps. In some cases, if you use Chase Zelle, they have a partnership. Zellee also has a partnership with a lot of different banks out there as well. You will have to check with your bank, but I will say that it’s a really fast service and there are no fees charged.
If I were to talk about the specific Payment Processing fees for some of the other business providers, I would leave those out, since they vary quite a bit for different payment processors, whereas Zelle does not charge you anything for just friends and family payments.
It is critical to note, however, that buyer protection does not exist. Consequently, if you’re doing business transactions, you may want to consider other providers than Sell since Zelle is built for personal transactions only.
However, from my experience using Zelle, I like it quite a bit because there are no fees for personal transactions and it’s also super fast. It’s instant because it’s a direct bank-to-bank transfer and there are no fees.
If your bank offers Zelle as a payment provider, it is perfect for personal transactions like sending money between family and friends. One of the downsides of Zelle is that not every bank has it available.
In recent years, more and more banks have adopted Zelle’s model of transferring money between different banks, even if you use different banks.
As an alternative to PayPal, that’s another good option for people just looking for a personal payment transfer to transfer money between friends and family.
2. Cash App
The cash app comes in at nber two on the list. It should not be surprising that the cash app makes this list because it offers quite a lot when it comes to business and personal transactions.
Besides just sending money to friends, you can also buy stocks and Bitcoins on the cash app, so they all offer that as well. The transfer of money is free, but you do need to invest and stuff like that if you have no interest in supporting those activities.
A cash app can also be used to send and receive money. Therefore, it’s a very popular app within the app ecospace. If you’re looking for an easy way to transfer money, a cash app could be an excellent option.
They also offer exclusive discounts, have a cash app pay, and a cash card similar to Venmo, which we’ll discuss below. Also, they provide things like banking and stuff like that, so if you’re looking for more than just transferring money, they do offer things like stocks and bitcoin.
As far as money goes, you can do a lot with the Cash app for everything money-related. It’s awesome that they offer so many money services, so you can send and receive money with the Cash App as well.
3. Venmo
Thirdly, we have Venmo. Venmo can be used for personal and business transactions. I should mention that Venmo is owned by PayPal, so if you’re trying to avoid PayPal for whatever reason, or if you simply don’t like the company, then don’t use Venmo because they are owned by PayPal.
Venmo differs from PayPal, but I find it simpler and easier to use personally. Although Venmo is now owned by PayPal, you can still send and receive money, both personally and professionally.
The payments will be tracked and there is a small fee for all business transactions. There will be fees, and those fees often change over time. I won’t outline the specifics because they do change quite frequently, especially when it comes to fees for different payment processors, particularly when it comes to business transactions.
In my opinion, Venmo is an excellent way to send and receive money and pay people. Thousands of people use Venmo. In comparison to Zelle, it’s very popular again, so you have to download a separate app.
Cash App and Venmo are both fairly similar as far as how they work. I think Venmo is the easiest way to send and receive money, even just sending and receiving money. Especially if someone’s bank doesn’t offer Zelle or doesn’t have Zelle set up with their bank, Venmo can be a good alternative. This is because you don’t need a certain bank to use Venmo.
It’s pretty easy to sign up for Venmo and use it, and it’s been around for quite some time. Again, it’s owned by PayPal, but I find that it’s quite a bit easier to use. Besides debit cards, they also offer a credit card that gives you cash back.
As you can see, they offer a variety of credit cards. If you know, they offer cryptocurrency on Venmo, which pretty much everyone does nowadays, but yeah, and yes, they still have the Venmo debit card.
If you’re using Venmo for cards as well, you’ll know that it’s primarily designed for paying friends, but they do have a business option for accepting Venmo payments.
It is also quite popular to use Venmo because you can leave comments and things like that, you can split payments as well, so in general, Venmo is a great way to send money between friends and family or even for business.
4. Wise (Formally Transferwise)
Next up on our list is wise, also known as transferwise. This is wise, so it is best for international transfers. Because it can transfer between multiple currencies.
As an alternative to PayPal, Transferwise could be an excellent option if you are looking for international transfers. Depending on what you are looking for, you might find a bit cheaper fees.
The whole thing is very similar as far as using cards and stuff like that and sending money. You can convert USD to Euro.
In terms of exchange rates, they’re a bit cheaper than traditional rates. so if you’re planning international transactions, Wise or Transferwise can be a wise choice. Also, they offer both personal and business services, so you can use them either way.
5. Stripe
This next part of this list is more focused on business payments, and really the majority of the rest of this list is about them. Zelle, Cash, Venmo, Transferwise, etc., are the most popular apps for transferring money between personal apps.
You can also use transferwise internationally. Business payments are more important now. Stripe is the top choice for business transactions outside of PayPal. It is easy to accept credit cards and other payments like Apple Pay if you want to.
Nowadays, credit cards are among the most popular forms of payment. With Stripe, you can build out that financial infrastructure on your website, app, or whatever platform you are using. Stripe has a lot of integrations.
The integrations are Instagram, Salesforce, Amazon, Slack, Shopify, and Google Lift. So as you can see, you can use payments to get invoices. They also offer easy APIs for payment processing.
No matter what platform you use, they have a ton of different integrations. They’ll work with e-commerce online stores, physical retail, and subscription payments via websites, no matter what platform you’re using.
There are lots of Stripe integrations with different platforms and online platforms. This makes it very easy to accept payments, send payouts, and manage your business online for getting payments.
So Stripe deserves a top spot on this list for business transactions and transferring money within your business, as well as accepting payments.
6. WePay
Next up on our list is WePay. WePay is a bit newer, but it’s owned by JP Morgan. You know JPMorgan Chase & Co. WePay is good for business transactions again if you accept credit cards, debit cards, things like that.
They also offer different payment options. As a result, you can accept things within your business regardless of what type of business you are, whether it is a government entity, sole proprietorship, or non-profit.
They provide a full suite of solutions for people who want to accept payments and process payments. Since JP Morgan owns them, you can trust them. As well as tracking your overall sales snapshot, they have a great dashboard so you can also take a look at WePay.
7. Shopify Payments
As we move on to this list, we will look at Shopify payments. Let me clarify that this applies only to the Shopify platform and the Shopify eCommerce store if you’re building your online store.
Again, I recommend Shopify for people who want to build e-commerce stores, and online stores, and sell physical and digital products online.
If you’re building a website, Shopify is an excellent option. It is an excellent idea to accept payments through Shopify payments if you are building your online store.
If you use Shopify as your online store payment processor, Shopify is the best option for you. Once again, Shopify payments are restricted to the Shopify platform, so if you use other software, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
If you use another software, you cannot use Shopify Payments. Those are some of the negatives of it. However, if you are utilizing Shopify then you know you can accept and get payments quite well using Shopify payments.
In addition, they are a highly recommended payment provider if you are part of the Shopify ecosystem.
8. QuickBooks Payments
The next payment on the list is QuickBooks payments. As with Shopify payments, you need Intuit QuickBooks to use QuickBooks payments.
Now that QuickBooks payments integrate directly with QuickBooks, it makes sense to use QuickBooks payments if you are already using QuickBooks. This is because you can accept payments from all payment providers directly through QuickBooks payments.
QuickBooks payment system allows you to accept payments via bank transfers, debit and credit Apple Pay, PayPal, or Venmo for your business.
Invoices can be sent out to people if you are a contractor or something like that. They get paid for them, which gets transferred directly into your QuickBooks account.
Accounting, bookkeeping, and other things are easier with it. So if you’re currently using QuickBooks, this could be a good option to consider again.
It’s quite niche and depends on the type of business you’re running. However, I thought I’d mention it because it is an excellent alternative to PayPal itself for invoicing. QuickBooks also has an invoicing feature built into its payment system.
9. Amazon Pay
Our next item is Amazon Pay. As you know, Amazon is a very popular place to buy products. If they already have their Amazon account information set up, they can pay for products and services on your online store using Amazon Pay.
The app is compatible with a variety of online store providers, such as Bigcommerce, Shopify, and similar e-commerce platforms. Your online store can accept Amazon pay payments for your products and services.
They can pay with Amazon Pay if they already have an Amazon account. It’s a wise idea to have as many payment options available for your business.
Amazon Pay is another convenient option to give your customers more options for shopping.
10. Authorize.Net
Next on the list is authorize.net. They have been acquired by Visa, so you can trust them as a Visa solution.
In addition to accepting credit cards, you can use authorize.net to accept different types of payments and e-checks for business in person or on the go.
You can also use authorize.net for your business if you are doing e-commerce, point of sale, mobile payments, and things like that.
Of course, you can get paid by all the major payment providers that accept authorization.net.
11. Braintree
The next step is to examine Braintree. Despite being owned by PayPal, Braintree may be able to help you if you have problems with PayPal because they actually provide you with a merchant account that can help you reduce transactional issues over time as well as problems with getting payouts.
You don’t miss out on PayPal transactions or sales if you have an e-commerce store with Braintree. So you don’t miss out on those PayPal sales, but you streamline your business processes and operations.
Having an actual merchant account gives you the ability to minimize risks and other problems, and because you get an actual merchant account, you can manage risk mitigation. You can also accept more payments, and avoid typical PayPal problems.
Braintree is worth checking out because you can get a merchant account again, so if you are interested, you can do that.
12. Square
Continuing on our list, Square is another platform that is similar to Shopify in that you have to be using that platform in order to use it.
It’s no wonder Square is so popular with brick-and-mortar businesses because you can accept payments directly through Square, whether you are in person or online, and it is one of the most popular payment options for brick-and-mortar businesses.
You know you can use Square to accept payments in your business both online and in person if you sell online or in person. Square is a good option, as I mentioned, whether it is food and beverage retail, wellness and beauty, or a large business.
Square offers all the different point of sale systems, so if you’re considering POS systems, for example, then Square could be a good option for accepting payments.
13. Payoneer
The next company on the list is Payoneer. Payoneer is used by freelancers, e-commerce companies, content creators, digital marketers, travel companies, music royalties, and many more.
It has enterprise-level integrations. Hence, if you’re a large business looking to get paid, receive accounts, pay different VAT, if you’re in the EU or UK, and request payments, then Payoneer might be an excellent choice.
They offer high-level solutions if you’re looking to scale your business long-term. These solutions allow you to handle large transfers and things like that, whether it’s managing your digital business or doing global trade.
Overall, Payoneer is another good option since it offers many Enterprise level solutions. If you’re at that level, or even if you are just getting started, then Payoneer could be a good choice.
14. 2Checkout
As we move on to the next item on this list, we have 2Checkout, also known as Verifone. Verifone and 2Checkout are really helpful for digital products and services, whether you are a software company, SAAS company, or software as a service company.
They’ll make payment for your service streamlined and easy. In the past, I have paid different companies that used 2Checkout.
It’s really simple and easy to use, especially for small businesses. However, 2Checkout Verifone is another viable option for you, especially for anyone in the digital software business, or maybe even if you work in retail.
15. BitPay
We are moving to BitPay. The service has personal and business versions. I am referring to them primarily for business transactions, but you can accept crypto in your online store as well.
Shopify is an excellent platform for accepting cryptocurrency payments. If you’re already a Shopify user, you can connect Bitpay with Shopify as well.
No matter where you sell your products, you can get paid in crypto. This is whether it’s on your website, through email, in person, or online store. The amount you earn could even be transferred out in currency such as USD or whatever you wish.
It doesn’t matter if you want to accept cryptocurrency or Bitcoin payments for your business. If you want to settle things in fiat currency, Bitcoin, or both, BitPay is your best bet.
Finally, BitPay also offers personal transactions if you want to transfer money or cryptocurrency between friends. If you want a payment processor for your business, they also offer it.
Conclusion – PayPal Alternatives for Freelancers
Although PayPal is still a great option for a lot of people, it’s one of the most commonly used online payment providers, but I understand that people would like a variety of choices whether it’s for personal or business use.
