PayPal vs Revolut UK 2026: Fees, Features & Which to Choose

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PayPal and Revolut are two of the most recognised payment brands in the UK, but they serve different purposes. PayPal is a veteran online payments platform best known for checkout buttons, buyer-funded transactions, and broad consumer trust built over two decades. Revolut is a financial super-app that added business payment processing to its banking and multi-currency services. PayPal suits online retailers and freelancers who want instant consumer recognition at checkout. Revolut suits businesses that already use its banking tools and want a joined-up view of spending, invoicing, and card acceptance in one app.

PayPal vs Revolut: Fee Comparison

What is PayPal?

PayPal is a US-founded online payments platform launched in 1998 and now used by more than 430 million account holders worldwide. In the UK, it operates as an FCA-authorised e-money institution. Businesses use PayPal to accept card payments and PayPal wallet payments online, via invoices, and through Pay by Link. Its checkout button is one of the most trusted symbols in UK e-commerce, which is why conversion rates tend to be higher when PayPal is offered alongside card-only options.

PayPal charges 1.99% per transaction for standard UK and European personal Visa and Mastercard payments processed online, rising to 3.99% for transactions funded by international cards or PayPal Credit in some configurations. There are no monthly fees for the core account, but advanced features such as Zettle (its card terminal arm) and Braintree (its developer-focused gateway) carry their own fee structures. You can read the full breakdown on our PayPal review page.

What is Revolut?

Revolut was founded in London in 2015 and began as a multi-currency travel card. It has since grown into a full financial platform for consumers and businesses, covering bank accounts, expense management, payroll, and card payment acceptance. Revolut Business holds an FCA e-money authorisation in the UK (FRN 900562) and a full banking licence granted by the Bank of Lithuania, which covers its European operations. The business product is particularly strong for companies that deal in multiple currencies, since it offers interbank exchange rates with no markup on most plans during weekday trading hours.

Revolut Business payment processing sits inside its broader business account. The Basic plan is free and includes card payment acceptance at 0.8% + 2p per transaction, though that rate applies to a monthly free allowance before higher fees kick in. Higher-tier plans (Grow at £25/month, Scale at £79/month) include larger free transaction allowances and lower per-transaction rates above the threshold. For more detail, see our full Revolut Business review.

PayPal vs Revolut: Features Compared

Payment Methods Accepted

PayPal accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and payments directly from PayPal wallets, PayPal Credit, and Pay Later. That last group matters: PayPal Credit and Pay in 3 are widely used by UK consumers, and offering them at checkout costs the merchant nothing extra in setup. Revolut accepts Visa and Mastercard online and in person but does not offer a native buy-now-pay-later product for merchants. Both providers support Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Hardware and In-Person Payments

Revolut has a clear advantage here. Its Revolut Reader costs £49 plus VAT and accepts contactless, chip-and-PIN, and mobile wallet payments. It connects via Bluetooth and pairs with the Revolut Business app. PayPal's in-person story in the UK is less straightforward. PayPal Zettle card readers are sold separately and operate under the Zettle brand, which PayPal acquired in 2018. A Zettle Reader 2 costs £29 plus VAT, making it cheaper than the Revolut Reader, but the Zettle business is being wound down into PayPal's broader product and some merchants report confusion about which app and dashboard to use.

Integrations

PayPal integrates natively with virtually every major e-commerce platform: Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCommerce, Magento, and dozens more. Its Braintree gateway gives developers a full SDK for custom checkout flows. Revolut integrations are growing but are narrower. Revolut connects with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Xero, and its open API allows custom builds, but it does not yet match PayPal's breadth of plug-and-play platform support.

International Support

Both providers support international payments, but they do it differently. PayPal operates in over 200 markets and supports 25 currencies, making it useful for cross-border e-commerce. However, PayPal's currency conversion fee is 3 4% above the base exchange rate, which adds up quickly. Revolut converts at interbank exchange rates on weekdays with no markup (within plan limits), which is significantly cheaper for businesses that regularly receive or send foreign currency. A business converting £5,000 per month in USD to GBP could save £150 £200 per month with Revolut over PayPal on conversion fees alone.

Fraud Tools and Security

PayPal's fraud detection is mature and includes Seller Protection, which covers eligible transactions against unauthorised payment claims and item-not-received disputes. The protection is meaningful, but PayPal's chargeback and dispute process is often cited by merchants as slow and frustrating, with decisions sometimes taking 30 or more days. Revolut uses real-time transaction monitoring and 3D Secure authentication on online card payments. Its fraud tooling is solid but lacks the decades of consumer dispute data that PayPal has built up.

Customer Support

This is a weakness for both providers. PayPal's business support is primarily handled via live chat and email, with phone support reserved for higher-value accounts. Response times vary widely and merchant reviews on Trustpilot frequently mention delayed responses to dispute queries. Revolut Business offers in-app chat support, with priority support available on Grow and Scale plans. The quality is generally rated as faster than PayPal for routine queries, but complex issues can still take several days to resolve.

Pros and Cons

PayPal Pros and Cons

Pros

• Extremely high consumer trust and recognition more than 30 million UK consumers have a PayPal account
• No monthly fee on the standard account, making it low risk for low-volume businesses
• Built-in Pay Later and PayPal Credit options increase checkout conversion at no extra merchant cost
• Native integrations with nearly every UK e-commerce platform
• Seller Protection covers eligible transactions against fraudulent claims and chargebacks

Cons

• Currency conversion fees of 3 4% above base rate make it expensive for cross-border sales
• Account freezes and fund holds are a well-documented problem, particularly for new or rapidly growing businesses
• Customer support quality is inconsistent and disputes can take over a month to resolve
• In-person payment proposition via Zettle is separate from the main PayPal dashboard, creating a fragmented experience

Revolut Pros and Cons

Pros

• Interbank exchange rates on most weekday currency conversions no hidden FX markup within plan limits
• Business banking, expense cards, payroll, and payment acceptance all in one account
• Revolut Reader available for £49 plus VAT a straightforward in-person card acceptance option
• Instant settlement to your Revolut business account, versus one to three days for PayPal to an external bank
• Open API and growing platform integrations for custom payment flows

Cons

• Revolut is not a fully licensed UK bank customer funds are safeguarded rather than FSCS-protected up to £85,000
• Transaction fee allowances on the free Basic plan are limited, and costs rise sharply if you exceed them
• No native buy-now-pay-later product for merchants, unlike PayPal's Pay in 3
• Brand recognition at checkout is far lower than PayPal, which may reduce conversion for consumer-facing online stores

Which is Better For...?

Small Online Retailers

PayPal is the stronger choice for small online shops selling to UK consumers. The PayPal checkout button is trusted and familiar, which reduces cart abandonment. At low monthly volumes say under £5,000 per month the 1.99% flat rate and zero monthly fee are straightforward to budget for. Revolut's lower transaction rate only becomes compelling once you factor in a monthly plan fee, so the savings are less obvious at small volumes.

Businesses With High International Sales

Revolut wins clearly here. Its interbank FX rates mean a business turning over £20,000 per month in non-sterling sales could save £600 or more per month compared with PayPal's 3 4% conversion surcharge. If a significant portion of your revenue comes from overseas customers paying in euros, US dollars, or other currencies, Revolut's multi-currency account structure is worth the monthly plan fee many times over.

Hospitality and Retail Businesses Taking Face-to-Face Payments

Neither provider is the ideal primary solution for busy in-person environments. Revolut Reader is functional but lacks the reliability and feature depth of dedicated card machines from providers like Dojo or SumUp. PayPal Zettle is competent but operated under a separate brand with a separate dashboard. For a café or shop taking hundreds of transactions per day, a dedicated merchant services provider will almost certainly offer better rates and better hardware support than either PayPal or Revolut.

Freelancers and Sole Traders

PayPal is often the fastest starting point for freelancers a free account, a Pay by Link, and an invoice tool cover most needs with no setup costs. Revolut's free Basic plan is a genuine alternative, especially if you already use Revolut personally and want your business finances in the same ecosystem. Revolut's invoicing tool is clean and the multi-currency capability is useful for freelancers with overseas clients.

Our Verdict

PayPal and Revolut are not direct competitors in the way that, say, Stripe and PayPal are. They overlap in online payment acceptance but approach the problem from different starting points. PayPal's strength is consumer trust and e-commerce breadth. Revolut's strength is financial integration and currency efficiency. Choosing between them depends on what problem you are actually trying to solve.

If you run an online store and want the highest-converting checkout experience with no monthly commitment, PayPal is hard to beat. If you are a trading business dealing regularly in foreign currencies, or you want your payments, expenses, and business banking in one place, Revolut offers genuine value that PayPal cannot match. Many businesses use both: PayPal as a checkout option for UK consumers and Revolut for FX management and team expense cards.

Before committing to either, it is worth checking whether a dedicated payment processor could offer you lower per-transaction rates than either provider at your volume. Compare Card Fees is a free, independent advisory service that has helped UK businesses find better card payment deals since 2012. Use our free comparison tool to see how PayPal and Revolut stack up against other UK providers at your specific monthly volume.