Etsy Payments is mandatory for most sellers, but it's not the whole picture. Whether you're getting paid across borders, selling at craft fairs, or building your own storefront, you need a broader financial stack. We break down four processors — PayPal, Wise, Stripe, and Square — by fees, integration ease, and real-world use cases for Etsy sellers.
If you sell on Etsy, you already use Etsy Payments — it's mandatory for sellers in most countries. It lets buyers pay by credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and (where available) PayPal.1 But Etsy Payments is just the checkout layer. For the money to actually reach your bank account, for international currency conversions, and for sales outside Etsy (your own website, in-person markets), you need a separate payment processor or payout service.
Here's the honest truth: no single processor does everything. You'll likely end up using two or three. Below are the four that matter most for Etsy sellers, ranked by how they fit into your actual workflow.
PayPal is already inside Etsy Payments in many regions — buyers can check out with PayPal, and sellers can withdraw funds to their PayPal balance.1 That makes it the most frictionless add-on for an Etsy seller. If you're just starting out and want a simple way to receive payouts without extra accounts, this is your default.
Best for: Sellers who want one familiar account for Etsy payouts and occasional off-platform transactions.
Trade-off: PayPal's currency conversion fees (typically 3–4% above the mid-market rate) add up fast if you sell internationally. And PayPal isn't designed for in-person sales.
If you sell to buyers in different currencies — say, you're in the UK but half your customers are in the US and Australia — Wise is the smartest addition to your stack. Wise (formerly TransferWise) gives you real mid-market exchange rates with a small, transparent fee (usually 0.4–1%). That's dramatically cheaper than PayPal or traditional bank wires.
Best for: Multi-currency sellers who want to keep more of their international revenue.
Trade-off: Wise is a payout and currency tool, not a payment gateway. You can't use it to accept credit card payments at a craft fair. Pair it with another processor for that.
Stripe is the gold standard for sellers who are expanding beyond Etsy — launching a standalone Shopify or custom website, running subscriptions, or handling recurring orders. Its API is developer-friendly, its fee structure (2.9% + 30¢ per transaction for card payments) is competitive, and it supports 135+ currencies.
Best for: Sellers building their own storefront alongside Etsy.
Trade-off: Stripe has a learning curve if you're not technical. And it's overkill if you only sell on Etsy — Etsy Payments already handles card processing on-platform.
Square shines when you leave the digital storefront. If you sell at craft fairs, farmers' markets, or pop-ups, Square's free card reader and flat-rate pricing (2.6% + 10¢ for in-person transactions) make it the obvious choice. It also syncs inventory and sales data, so you're not manually reconciling two ledgers.
Best for: Sellers who do in-person markets and want one system for offline and online sales.
Trade-off: Square's online transaction fees (2.9% + 30¢) match Stripe, but its e-commerce features are less flexible. It's not ideal if you need a custom checkout flow.
| Feature | PayPal | Wise | Stripe | Square |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best use case | On-platform payouts | International payouts | Own website checkout | In-person sales |
| Transaction fee (online) | 2.99% + 49¢ | N/A (payouts only) | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| In-person payments | No | No | No | Yes (2.6% + 10¢) |
| Currency conversion fee | 3–4% markup | 0.4–1% (mid-market) | 1% above mid-market | 1% above mid-market |
| Etsy integration | Native (via Etsy Payments) | Payouts only | Via custom store | No direct integration |
The biggest hidden cost for Etsy sellers is currency conversion. If you're a Canadian seller with US customers, every payout from Etsy gets converted — and the spread between the mid-market rate and what your processor charges can eat 3–5% of your margin. Wise alone can save you hundreds of dollars a year on that spread alone.
The second blind spot is in-person sales. Many Etsy sellers also vend at markets, and using a separate cash-only or Square-less system means lost data and double-entry bookkeeping. Square solves that neatly.
You don't need to pick one. Most Etsy sellers should use PayPal (for Etsy payouts) + Wise (for international transfers) + Square (for in-person sales). Add Stripe only if you're building your own storefront.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend services we've vetted and would use ourselves.
This page was written by the engine and the engine is still on the line. The conversation below picks up where the article stops.
Yes — the picks above are the engine's current verdicts. Ask a sharper version of this question below and you'll get a custom answer with the latest pricing.