Best Online Payment Platform: Stripe vs PayPal vs Braintree
Here are some of the best online payment platforms for your business
We are now at a time where we could pay bills and transact online. From online shopping, ticket bookings, streaming service subscriptions, and to online appointment bookings, these things can now be paid using fast and accessible payment platforms!
Along with this disruption is also the rise of multiple online payment platforms. Each and everyone has one main goal. And that is to provide fast and secure transactions to their users.
Probably one major reason you’re here is you are looking into transitioning your business processes from traditional to online. Yeah, we get it. Manual payment is getting tiring and is old school. Now we have online payments that get done after a click. How convenient is that for us entrepreneurs, right?
Our list narrowed down the best online payment platforms into three: Stripe, Braintree, and PayPal.
This time, we’ll discuss each one, what they are, what defining features they have, and what advantages they have over the others. Additionally, is there one platform that accepts all three? Let’s find out.
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Best Online Payment Platforms: Stripe vs Braintree vs PayPal
For this comparison, we’ll be looking at four different aspects: pricing, unique features, usability, and integrations. Let’s get to it.
Stripe
Stripe is an online payment platform that does a lot of things. Aside from credit and debit card acceptance, they also accept other payment forms like AliPay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, ACH, and even Bitcoin. It’s a great option for new startup businesses.
Usability
Using Stripe makes everything easy. They have the Stripe Atlas service that makes it accessible for entrepreneurs to take their businesses online. It’s a powerful starter kit that provides its users how to get the best out of the platform.
Standout Features
Stripe is known for its API which is big for applications that use online payments. As mentioned, their Stripe Atlas service offers assistance for its users with various business operation features.
Pricing
Stripe does not charge a monthly fee to software applications for using their services. However, they charge per transaction. This transaction fee is 2.9% plus $0.30. Through this, users don’t have to maintain a monthly subscription. This becomes an advantage on a duration when one’s business is not making money.
For their international users, they charge up to 2% currency conversion pay per transaction. The Stripe Atlas service costs $500 flat but would incur additional costs for additional services.
Braintree
Braintree has a similar model to Stripe. Braintree acquired Venmo and then was bought by PayPal. eBay owns PayPal and now, Braintree has grown into a much larger platform with larger market shares. This is for enterprise customers and is mostly geared towards techies.
Usability
Braintree shares some similar features to Stripe. This includes acceptance of all major credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, and other online payment options (ACH, Bitcoin, etc). Its usability may not be for high-level users since the platform is geared towards developers.
Standout Features
Their features are targeted towards software developers and customer support. This is why they are renowned in the tech software industry. Many software developers use Braintree because its features and tools are easy to work with.
Pricing
As a neck and neck competitor, Braintree offers the same pricing as Stripe: 2.9% plus a $0.30 service charge, no monthly fees, and a $15 chargeback.
Since they are geared towards enterprises, they offer no transaction fees on the first $50k with an advertised rate of 1.9% for new businesses. Their conversion rate is cheaper at only 1%.
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PayPal
PayPal is the preferred payment method of 12% of the US market. This is the company that took online payment by storm. This is because they provide a FAST service: fast and secure transactions.
Usability
PayPal is very easy to use. For your business website, you can add a PayPal portal linked to your account for straightforward payments.
Standout Features
With just an email and password, your PayPal account is already set up. Of course, you’ll have to follow additional processes to set up your bank or credit card accounts. It’s also flexible that you can use it for personal or business transactions.
Pricing
PayPal offers three different tiers of pricing:
- First-tier: Adding a PayPal portal to your website. This has no monthly cost but charges based on monthly income volume.
- Second-tier: API integration. This comes at $30/month.
- Third-tier: For those with existing credit card processing systems but want to integrate PayPal. This is free API access with the same transaction rates as the portal.
Which one is better?
Our answer here at GigaBook is: WHY NOT USE ALL? When you sign up for a GigaBook account, you’ll enjoy seamless and secure payment transactions for your business using all three platforms.
You see, customers have their own preferences with what online payment platforms they want to use. As an entrepreneur, look at this as an opportunity to expand your services. Giving your clients only one option may lead to a loss in sales.
GigaBook has integrations for Stripe, Braintree, and PayPal!
Aside from the payment options, you can also use GigaBook to automate your business processes. Whether it’s appointment bookings, resource management, employee tracking, success tracking, project management, event reminders or more, GigaBook has all these features for you. So, not only can you automate payments, you can automate everything!
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