PayPal Fee Calculator
Calculate PayPal fees — what you'll receive, or what to invoice.
How to use PayPal Fee Calculator
- Enter the payment amount — what the client will send, or what you want to net.
- Pick the direction: fee on a given payment, or reverse — what to invoice for a target payout.
- Add international/conversion surcharges if the payer is abroad — they stack on the base rate.
- Copy the number into your invoice — charging the grossed-up amount keeps the fee off your side.
What is PayPal Fee Calculator?
A PayPal fee calculator shows both sides of PayPal's cut: receive $500 through goods-and-services and the standard US commercial rate (2.99% + $0.49) takes $15.44, leaving $484.56 — and, run backwards, it tells you to invoice $515.98 if $500 is what you need to keep.
The reverse direction is the one people get wrong: adding 2.99% to your target undershoots, because the fee applies to the gross amount. The correct formula is Invoice = (Target + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − percentage) — exactly the arithmetic this calculator automates, including the international surcharges that stack on top.
About the PayPal Fee Calculator
Enter an amount and see the fee, what you'd receive, and the reverse: what to charge so the fee lands on the payer's side of your target.
The rate landscape (US, typical commercial transactions): 2.99% + $0.49 for standard goods-and-services payments, higher for some card-funded and invoice flows, plus ~1.5% for international transactions and a currency-conversion spread of 3–4% when PayPal converts — the quiet fee that often exceeds the visible one; freelancers billing cross-border save real money by invoicing in their own currency. Friends-and-family is free from bank balances but offers no protection and is prohibited for commercial use.
Rates change and vary by country and account type — treat the calculator as the arithmetic engine and check your account's current fee schedule for the exact percentages to plug in.