Stripe vs Braintree
Last updated: September 2, 2026
Stripe
A
Stripe is a leading payment processor known for its developer-friendly API, transparent pricing, and comprehensive suite of payment solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
A-
Braintree is a full-featured, globally-capable payment gateway solution (online + mobile) backed by PayPal, offering robust APIs, developer tooling, and enterprise-class features for merchants. Primarily deals in mobile and web payment systems.
VS
Overview
These two are closer on price than the marketing suggests and further apart on scope. Braintree's published US card rate of 2.89% + $0.29 is fractionally under Stripe's 2.9% + 30c, it charges no keyed-entry surcharge, and its international surcharge is 1% against Stripe's 1.5%. But Braintree is an online-only processor owned by PayPal: its whole reason to exist is putting PayPal and Venmo in the same checkout as cards, and its US rate card publishes no card-present rate at all. Stripe publishes a full in-person rate and sells its own readers, cannot accept PayPal or Venmo for US merchants, and surrounds the processor with a product line — Billing, Tax, Radar, Connect, Issuing, Terminal — that Braintree does not attempt.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Braintree is marginally cheaper on the headline online card rate: 2.89% + $0.29 against Stripe's 2.9% + 30c, and it charges no separate keyed-entry surcharge where Stripe adds 0.5%.
- ✓Stripe cannot accept PayPal or Venmo for US merchants — PayPal is available only to businesses in Europe and the UK, and Venmo is not a Stripe payment method at all.
- ✓Stripe is the only one of the two with a published card-present business: 2.7% + 5c on Terminal, with readers from $59 to $329.
- ✓Braintree is cheaper on cross-border: 1% for a card issued outside the US against Stripe's 1.5%, with both adding 1% for currency conversion.
- ✓Both charge $15 per chargeback, but Stripe adds a second $15 to respond to one — refunded only if you win.
Stripe
Stripe is for businesses that want one vendor for the whole money problem — online and in-person payments, subscriptions, sales tax, fraud, marketplace payouts, card issuing — and whose customers pay with cards and wallets rather than PayPal balances.
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
Braintree is for online-only US merchants whose conversion depends on PayPal and Venmo sitting next to cards in one integration, and who want a slightly lower card rate, no keyed surcharge and a cheaper cross-border markup.
Overall Winner
🏆 Winner
Stripe
Aexpert grade
Runner-up
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
Why?
Stripe wins for most businesses, but not on price — Braintree beats it on nearly every published rate line, and by enough on cross-border and keyed transactions to matter to some merchants. Stripe wins on scope. It is the only one of the two that can take a card in person, at a published 2.7% + 5c with readers it sells you directly, and it surrounds the processor with subscriptions, sales tax, fraud, marketplace payouts and card issuing so that growth does not mean adding vendors. Braintree's advantage is narrow and real: it is the way to put PayPal and Venmo in a US checkout alongside cards through one integration, and Stripe simply cannot do that — its own documentation limits PayPal to European and UK merchants and does not list Venmo at all. If PayPal and Venmo drive your conversion, that single row outweighs everything above it and Braintree is the correct answer.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Online card pricing
| Feature | Stripe | Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard domestic card rate | 2.9% + 30c | 2.89% + $0.29 Winner |
| Both are the published US standard rate for cards and third-party digital wallets. The gap is roughly one cent and one hundredth of a percent per transaction, so it decides nothing on its own. | ||
| Manually keyed cards | +0.5% on top of the standard rate | No separate keyed surcharge on the published rate card Winner |
| Card issued outside the US | +1.5% | +1% Winner |
| Currency conversion | +1% | +1% |
| Identical. Both apply it on top of the international-card surcharge, so a converted foreign-card sale carries both. | ||
| ACH direct debit | 0.8%, capped at $5.00 | 0.75%, capped at $5.00 Winner |
| Braintree also publishes a same-day ACH option at 1.5% + $0.10, and charges $5.00 for a return and $5.00 for an unauthorised dispute. | ||
| Chargeback cost | $15 received, plus $15 to respond — the response fee is returned only if you win | $15.00 per chargeback Winner |
| Stripe's optional Smart Disputes service costs a further 30% of the disputed amount on disputes it wins for you. Braintree sells Chargeback Protection from 0.4% per transaction. | ||
Standard domestic card rate
Stripe
2.9% + 30c
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
2.89% + $0.29
Winner
Both are the published US standard rate for cards and third-party digital wallets. The gap is roughly one cent and one hundredth of a percent per transaction, so it decides nothing on its own.
Manually keyed cards
Stripe
+0.5% on top of the standard rate
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
No separate keyed surcharge on the published rate card
Winner
Card issued outside the US
Stripe
+1.5%
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
+1%
Winner
Currency conversion
Stripe
+1%
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
+1%
Identical. Both apply it on top of the international-card surcharge, so a converted foreign-card sale carries both.
ACH direct debit
Stripe
0.8%, capped at $5.00
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
0.75%, capped at $5.00
Winner
Braintree also publishes a same-day ACH option at 1.5% + $0.10, and charges $5.00 for a return and $5.00 for an unauthorised dispute.
Chargeback cost
Stripe
$15 received, plus $15 to respond — the response fee is returned only if you win
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
$15.00 per chargeback
Winner
Stripe's optional Smart Disputes service costs a further 30% of the disputed amount on disputes it wins for you. Braintree sells Chargeback Protection from 0.4% per transaction.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
Consumer e-commerce brand where PayPal and Venmo drive checkout conversion
Recommended
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
This is the case Braintree exists for. Cards, PayPal and Venmo come through one integration, Venmo at a published 3.49% + $0.49. Stripe offers US merchants neither wallet, so choosing it means running a second checkout path.
SaaS or subscription business billing recurring cards
Recommended
Stripe
Stripe Billing, Invoicing, Tax and Revenue Recognition sit on the same account as payments, and Radar is included on standard pricing. Braintree's slightly lower card rate does not offset the work of assembling subscription billing and tax compliance from other vendors.
Retailer or restaurant selling both online and in person
Recommended
Stripe
Braintree publishes no card-present rate and sells no readers. Stripe Terminal charges 2.7% + 5c domestic on hardware from $59, on the same account as the online business.
US business selling heavily to overseas customers
Recommended
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
Braintree adds 1% for a card issued outside the US where Stripe adds 1.5%, and both add 1% for conversion. On a cross-border-heavy book that half point is the largest single pricing difference between the two.
Platform or marketplace paying out to third-party sellers
Recommended
Stripe
Stripe Connect handles seller onboarding, verification, split payments and payouts as a supported product, with Treasury and Issuing alongside it. Braintree's platform story is payment orchestration and global payouts rather than an embedded marketplace stack.
Registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit taking online donations
Recommended
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)
Braintree publishes a discounted charity rate of 2.19% + $0.29 for verified 501(c)(3) organisations, subject to approval. Stripe publishes no standard nonprofit discount, so a nonprofit on Stripe pays the full 2.9% + 30c unless it negotiates.
Stripe: Best for 3 use cases
Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments): Best for 3 use cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
On published rates, yes — slightly. Braintree charges 2.89% + $0.29 against Stripe's 2.9% + 30c, adds nothing for keyed cards where Stripe adds 0.5%, charges 1% for foreign-issued cards where Stripe charges 1.5%, and prices ACH at 0.75% against 0.8%. Those are real differences, but for a domestic card-only business they amount to about a cent a transaction. The cross-border and keyed-entry gaps are the ones large enough to change a decision.
Not as a US business. Stripe's own payment-method documentation lists PayPal as available only to merchants located in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, and Venmo does not appear in Stripe's payment-method support at all. If PayPal or Venmo has to be in your checkout, that is Braintree's core function — both are native, with Venmo published at 3.49% + $0.49.
Not on its published US pricing. Braintree's US fee schedule lists rates for cards and digital wallets, PayPal, Venmo and ACH, and no card-present rate at all; it sells no card readers. Merchants who need a counter should look at Stripe Terminal at 2.7% + 5c, at PayPal's own in-person products, or at a dedicated POS provider.
Both are API-first and both are usable, but Stripe's surface is larger: SDKs across more languages, prebuilt UI components, a public developer Discord, and adjacent APIs for billing, tax, identity and issuing on the same account. Braintree's documentation is solid and its drop-in UI is well established, and it has one thing Stripe does not — a single integration that renders cards, PayPal and Venmo together.
Not on its standard published US rate card, which lists per-transaction pricing only. Third-party reviews have long described a separate gateway-only arrangement at roughly $49 a month plus 10c a transaction, for merchants who bring their own merchant account, but PayPal does not publish that figure. Ask Braintree directly before assuming it applies to you.
Stripe's US default is two business days after a payment is captured, with the first payout typically 7 to 14 days after your first live transaction. Braintree disburses every weekday, with Visa and Mastercard transactions landing one to three business days after settlement and American Express taking two to eight. Braintree also warns that the date it sends money is not the date your bank posts it.
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