Squarespace Payment Fees: Stripe vs. PayPal vs. Squarespace Payments

On this page 7 sections

1. Squarespace Payment Processing Fees: The Two Layers on Every Order
2. Squarespace Payments vs. Stripe vs. PayPal: Rates and Payout Speed
3. When Upgrading Your Squarespace Plan Pays for Itself
4. Worked Examples: $25, $75 and $250 Average Orders
5. Wallets, Afterpay and Other Add-On Payment Costs
6. Signs Your Store Has Outgrown Squarespace Payments
7. Next Steps: Find Your True Cost per Order

Key takeaways

• Every Squarespace order can carry two separate costs: your plan's transaction fee (if your plan has one) and your processor's rate.
• Fixed per-transaction fees cost small orders the most, while percentage-based plan fees cost large orders the most.
• A plan upgrade that removes the transaction fee pays for itself once monthly sales pass a break-even point you can work out in one line.
• Wallets, PayPal-branded methods, buy now, pay later and cross-border sales may each be priced differently, so check every method you enable.

Squarespace payment processing fees are easy to underestimate because they come from two places. Your Squarespace plan may take a transaction fee on each sale. Your payment processor, whether Squarespace Payments, Stripe or PayPal, then charges its own rate on the same order. This guide explains how the two layers stack and how to calculate your true cost per order. It also covers how to decide whether a plan upgrade or a different processor makes sense, and the signs your store needs a different setup.

Squarespace, Stripe and PayPal change their pricing from time to time, and rates can vary by plan, country and payment method. The numbers in this article are illustrative only. Confirm current terms on each provider's pricing page before you make a decision.

Squarespace Payment Processing Fees: The Two Layers on Every Order

Think of each order as paying two separate bills.

Layer 1: The plan transaction fee. Depending on which Squarespace plan you're on, Squarespace may charge a percentage of each sale on top of your subscription. Higher-tier commerce plans have generally reduced or removed this fee in exchange for a higher monthly price. This fee goes to Squarespace, not to your processor.

Layer 2: The processor rate. Whoever moves the money charges for it. That's Squarespace Payments, Stripe or PayPal. Online card pricing from these providers is usually a flat percentage plus a fixed per-transaction amount. Different payment methods, international cards and currency conversion can cost more.

Your real cost per order is both layers added together:

Total fee per order = (order amount × plan fee %) + (order amount × processor %) + processor fixed fee

Before you run your own numbers, check three things in your account:

• Your plan's current transaction fee, including whether it's zero on your tier.
• What the percentage applies to. Find out whether it's the product subtotal or the full total including shipping and tax.
• Your processor's rate for each method you accept. Standard cards, wallets, PayPal balance, buy now, pay later and international cards may all be priced differently.

Squarespace Payments vs. Stripe vs. PayPal: Rates and Payout Speed

All three options can take card payments on a Squarespace store, but they differ in more than price. The table below compares them qualitatively. Confirm specifics in each provider's current documentation.

Squarespace Payments vs. Stripe

The main tradeoff is simplicity versus control. Squarespace Payments keeps everything in one dashboard and one support relationship. Stripe adds a separate account but gives you more reporting and more tuning of fraud settings. If you use Stripe, our guide to Stripe Radar rules for small stores walks through settings worth reviewing.

Squarespace PayPal Fees

Many stores add PayPal alongside a card processor rather than instead of one. Some shoppers prefer to check out with their PayPal account. The cost of PayPal depends on how the customer pays. A PayPal checkout, Venmo, Pay Later or a card processed through PayPal can each carry a different rate, and cross-border payments usually add more. The plan transaction fee applies to these orders as well. If you rely on PayPal for disputes, review what your store must do to qualify for PayPal Seller Protection.

Payout Speed Has a Price Too

Standard payouts are usually free but slower. Instant or same-day options generally add a percentage fee. If you use them routinely, count that as a third cost layer. Our article on whether faster payouts for online stores are worth the fee covers how to decide.

When Upgrading Your Squarespace Plan Pays for Itself

If your current plan charges a transaction fee and a higher plan removes it, the upgrade becomes worth it at a predictable sales level.

Break-even monthly sales = extra monthly plan cost ÷ transaction fee % you would eliminate

Illustrative example: Suppose the higher plan costs $20 more per month and removes a 2% transaction fee. Then $20 ÷ 0.02 = $1,000 in monthly sales. Below $1,000 a month, the cheaper plan costs less overall. Above it, the upgrade saves money on every additional sale.

Reading Squarespace Commerce Plan Fees Correctly

A few details change the math:

• Annual vs. monthly billing. Squarespace has typically priced annual billing lower than month-to-month. Compare like with like.
• Seasonal volume. If you clear the break-even point only during the holidays, you may come out ahead by upgrading for peak months and reviewing the plan afterward. First check how plan changes and refunds of plan fees work.
• Features you'd use anyway. Higher tiers may include commerce tools such as abandoned cart recovery or subscriptions. If you'd pay for those features elsewhere, count that value too.
• Processing rate changes by plan. Check whether your plan tier changes your processing rate, not just the transaction fee.

Worked Examples: $25, $75 and $250 Average Orders

These examples use illustrative assumptions, not any provider's current rates:

• Processor rate: 3% + $0.30 per order
• Lower-tier plan transaction fee: 2%
• Higher-tier plan transaction fee: 0%

What the examples show:

• Small orders feel the fixed fee most. On the $25 order, the illustrative $0.30 alone is more than 1% of the sale. Stores selling stickers, prints or low-cost accessories should watch this closely.
• Large orders feel the plan fee most. On the $250 order, the illustrative plan fee is $5.00 per sale. A store selling furniture, art or equipment reaches the break-even point quickly.
• Monthly totals add up. At an illustrative 400 orders a month with a $75 average, the 2% plan fee alone would be $600 a month. That's well beyond the price difference between most plan tiers.

To run your own version, export last month's orders. Total the sales and count the transactions, then apply your actual plan fee and processor rates.

Don't Forget Refunds and Disputes

Two costs never appear in a per-order calculation. First, many processors don't return the original processing fee when you refund an order. Check each provider's current policy. Second, disputes usually carry a separate fee whether you win or lose. A clear, visible return policy cuts both. See refund policy requirements payment processors expect.

Wallets, Afterpay and Other Add-On Payment Costs

Each payment method you turn on can have its own price. Review them one at a time.

• Apple Pay and Google Pay. These wallets are generally priced like the underlying card through your processor. They can also speed up mobile checkout. Confirm with your processor that no extra fee applies.
• Buy now, pay later (such as Afterpay, where offered). BNPL providers typically charge merchants more than standard card processing because they take on the installment risk and pay you up front. The tradeoff can make sense for higher-priced items where installments help shoppers commit. On a low-margin product, it may wipe out the profit.
• PayPal-branded methods and Venmo. As noted above, these are priced separately from cards processed through Stripe or Squarespace Payments.
• International cards and currency conversion. Cross-border and conversion fees can add a meaningful amount to foreign orders. If a growing share of your sales comes from outside the U.S., price this in.

The plan transaction fee usually applies no matter which method the customer picks. A BNPL order on a lower-tier plan therefore carries the BNPL rate plus the plan fee.

For a broader look at which methods are worth offering, read which payment methods your online store should accept.

Signs Your Store Has Outgrown Squarespace Payments

Flat-rate processing built into a website builder works well for many small stores. It's predictable, quick to set up and needs little maintenance. As a store grows, these signs suggest it's time to compare options:

1. Monthly card volume is substantial and steady. At higher volumes, the gap between flat-rate pricing and interchange-plus pricing can become significant. Our guide on when an online store should switch from flat-rate to interchange-plus explains how to tell.
2. Your average order is large. High-ticket sellers pay the most in percentage-based fees and get more from negotiated pricing.
3. You sell to businesses. B2B buyers often pay with corporate cards or want to pay by bank transfer. Adding ACH can lower costs on large invoices. See adding pay-by-bank to cut online card fees.
4. Payout holds or reviews are disrupting cash flow. A dedicated merchant account with a named contact can make volume changes and seasonal spikes easier to manage.
5. You need tighter accounting or CRM connections, such as syncing to QuickBooks or Salesforce.
6. International sales are a growing share of revenue, and cross-border fees are adding up.

What Moving Beyond Built-In Processing Involves

Squarespace's checkout connects to a short list of built-in processors. A separate merchant account usually can't be plugged into an existing Squarespace store the way it can on some other platforms. Confirm current options in Squarespace's help center.

Merchants who want a dedicated merchant account and gateway often move to a platform that supports one. These include Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce. Those platforms connect through gateways such as Authorize.net and NMI. A platform move is a real project, so weigh the processing savings against migration time, theme rebuilding and SEO risk. Our guide to setting up ecommerce payment processing covers the full setup.

Next Steps: Find Your True Cost per Order

1. Pull last month's order count and total sales from Squarespace.
2. Note your plan's transaction fee and your processor's rate for each payment method.
3. Calculate your effective rate using the formula above, then run the plan-upgrade break-even.
4. Add refund, dispute and payout-speed costs.
5. If your volume or average order suggests you've outgrown flat-rate pricing, compare a dedicated setup.

MannyPay provides online payment processing and merchant accounts for e-commerce businesses, along with payment gateways like Authorize.net and NMI. If you'd like a second opinion on your current costs, request a free quote. A MannyPay specialist will respond within one business day. Whether a change makes sense depends on your volume, platform and underwriting, so compare the full picture before switching.

ME

About the author

MannyPay Editorial Team

Beyond the Swipe's editorial desk researches the publication's guides and news and cites its sources in every article. Articles reviewed by a named MannyPay editor carry that editor's byline.

This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Card network rules and state laws change; confirm current requirements for your business.