Merchants search for “Shopify PayPal fees” because a checkout that uses PayPal, Stripe, or another processor is not just that processor’s rate. Shopify may also charge a third-party transaction fee on the order total. Shopify Payments replaces that extra Shopify fee with the Shopify Payments processing rate.
On a typical Basic-plan example — a $50 item, 2% Shopify third-party fee, and a 3.49% + $0.49 processor — the third-party path pays both the processor and Shopify. The Shopify Payments path pays only the Payments rate (for example 2.9% + $0.30). The difference is cash the merchant keeps or gives away on every order.
Rates change by country, plan, card type, and contract. This page does not publish Shopify’s live schedule. Open the Shopify fee calculator, enter the percentages from your current statements, and compare both paths on one order — including shipping, cost of goods, and a share of the monthly plan.
Refunds change the comparison again: PayPal often keeps its processing fee when the order is reversed. What a refund rate still leaves mixes completed-order profit with a full-refund outcome on both paths.
The calculator is arithmetic, not advice. It does not recommend a processor or claim a store is more profitable after switching.
Comparing plans instead of processors? When does Shopify Grow beat Basic?
Because a checkout that uses PayPal or another outside processor can pay twice: the processor's own rate, plus Shopify's third-party transaction fee on the order total. Shopify Payments replaces that extra Shopify fee with the Shopify Payments processing rate, so only one rate applies to the order.
It depends on your plan, country, card type, and contract, and this page does not publish Shopify's live schedule. The worked example uses an illustrative 2% third-party fee on a Basic plan alongside a 3.49% + $0.49 processor, against a 2.9% + $0.30 Shopify Payments rate. Enter the percentages from your own statements to see the real gap.