Payment fee calculator.
Enter a transaction amount and your monthly volume to see processing fees and net payout across Stripe, PayPal, Square, Checkout.com, Paystack, and more — side by side. Every rate is editable, so you can model your own negotiated pricing.
Free and open-source under AGPLv3 — self-host today, or talk to us about cloud.
| Processor | Rate | Fee / txn | Net / txn | Effective % | Net / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripebest payout | % +$ | $1.75 | $48.25 | 3.50% | $48,250.00 |
| Square | % +$ | $1.75 | $48.25 | 3.50% | $48,250.00 |
| Braintree | % +$ | $1.75 | $48.25 | 3.50% | $48,250.00 |
| Checkout.comcustom / negotiated | % +$ | $1.75 | $48.25 | 3.50% | $48,250.00 |
| Paystackregion-specific | % +$ | $1.95 | $48.05 | 3.90% | $48,050.00 |
| PayPal | % +$ | $2.24 | $47.77 | 4.47% | $47,765.00 |
Rates are editable defaults, not quotes — confirm current pricing with each processor.
How payment processing fees work.
Most processors charge a percentage of each transaction plus a small fixed fee — for example 2.9% + $0.30. The fixed fee makes small transactions disproportionately expensive: on a $5 charge, a $0.30 fee is 6% on its own. That's why the effective rate you actually pay almost always differs from the headline percentage, and why the cheapest processor depends on your average transaction size.
One processor is rarely cheapest everywhere.
Acceptance rates and fees vary by card type, country, and currency, so the processor with the best payout for a US card may not win for a Nigerian or European one. GetPaidHQ is built for exactly this: a processor-agnostic adapter interface lets you route each charge to the best processor by region or customer — and fail over when one declines — instead of sending everything through a single gateway.
Payment fee calculator — FAQ.
- How is the processing fee calculated?
- Fee per transaction = (amount × percentage rate) + fixed fee. The calculator applies that to your transaction amount, then multiplies by your monthly volume to show monthly fees and net payout. The effective rate is the total fee as a percentage of the transaction.
- Are these the exact rates my processor charges?
- No — they are editable published defaults, not quotes. Real rates vary by region, volume, card type, and negotiation. Replace any rate with your own to get an accurate comparison.
- Why does the cheapest processor change?
- Because of the fixed fee. A lower percentage with a higher fixed fee can be cheaper on large transactions but more expensive on small ones, so the best payout depends on your average transaction size.
- Can I route across several processors instead of picking one?
- Yes — that is what GetPaidHQ does. It connects multiple processors behind one adapter interface and routes each charge by region, by customer, or for failover, so you are not locked to a single gateway’s pricing or acceptance.
Route every charge to the best processor.
GetPaidHQ is open-source, self-hostable billing and orchestration. Run it free, or talk to us about managed Cloud.
Free and open-source under AGPLv3 — self-host today, or talk to us about cloud.