Braintree review
by PayPalPayments and billing
PayPal’s gateway and merchant account: 2.89% + 29¢ per US card, with PayPal, Venmo and recurring billing in the same integration.
- Approval wait
- Usage-based
- Public prices
What you're paying for
- Worth the price (main value)
- Built-in reach
- Compliance included
Cards, PayPal and Venmo through one gateway, with the lowest card fees in our scenario: $368 on $10,000 a month, subscriptions included.
Braintree is PayPal’s gateway and merchant account in one: 2.89% + 29¢ per US card, with PayPal, Venmo, ACH and local payment methods in the same integration and Recurring Billing listed at no extra fee. In our scenario that comes to $368 a month. You stay the seller, so tax calculation, registration and filing are yours; Braintree offers no tax product. Custom roles, SAML SSO with SCIM, required two-factor authentication and a documented card export are part of the account.
- Lowest card fees in our scenario$278.40 for 160 US cards and $89.60 for 40 EU cards: $368 on $10,000 a month by our arithmetic from the fee page, with no separate subscription fee listed.Evidence: US fee page (2026-10-15)
- PayPal and Venmo in the same integrationOne account takes cards and wallets, PayPal, Venmo (3.49% + 49¢, US only) and ACH Direct Debit; the docs also list Apple Pay, Google Pay, SEPA Direct Debit and local payment methods.Evidence: US fee page and developer docs (2026-10-15)
- Access controls a review asks aboutSAML 2.0 SSO, SCIM provisioning through Okta or Microsoft Entra, custom roles built from more than 40 permissions, and two-factor authentication required for every user since September 2023.Evidence: Users and roles, SSO, SCIM and 2FA docs (2026-10-15)
- Best for
- Businesses that want card, PayPal and Venmo payments from one processor at a low per-transaction rate, and handle sales tax themselves.
- Good to know
- A production account needs an application and underwriting, and tax calculation and filing are not offered.
How Braintree compares
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Payments and billing: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Braintree | Stripe | Paddle | FastSpring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceCards, PayPal and Venmo through one gateway, with the lowest card fees in our scenario: $368 on $10,000 a month, subscriptions included. | Saves engineering timeCard payments, subscriptions and tax calculation as separate per-transaction lines, with the lowest total of the three in our scenario: $500 on $10,000. | Compliance includedPaddle becomes the seller of record: it files and remits sales tax and VAT and answers buyer billing questions, all inside 5% + 50¢. | Compliance includedFastSpring becomes the seller of record: it collects and remits sales tax and VAT, runs subscriptions and handles fraud and chargebacks for one quoted rate. |
| Overall score | 7.5 | 8.1Best | 6.9 | 5.3 |
| Free option | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured | Free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Approval wait | Self-serve | Approval wait | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | 2.89% + 29¢/card transaction | 2.9% + 30¢/US card charge | 5% + 50¢/transaction | Quote/transaction |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based | Custom quote |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Prices hidden |
| Model | Payment processor; you are the seller | Payment processor; you are the seller | Merchant of record | Merchant of record |
| Base fee | 2.89% + 29¢ per US card | 2.9% + 30¢ per US card | 5% + 50¢ per transaction | Quoted revenue share; no published rate |
| $10,000/mo scenario | $368 (3.7%), computed | $500 (5.0%), computed | $600 (6.0%), computed | Not computable; priced by sales |
| Sales tax and VAT filing | Yours; no tax product offered | Yours; Tax Complete from $90/mo, or Managed Payments +3.5% | Paddle files and remits | FastSpring collects and remits |
| Dispute fee | $15, not refunded if won | $15, plus $15 to counter (refunded if won) | $20, not refunded if won | $20 per chargeback or prevention alert |
| Payouts | Every weekday (US accounts) | Daily, weekly or monthly; standard schedule free | Monthly, $100 minimum | Twice a month by default; weekly or monthly; $100 minimum |
| Charge currencies | 130+, one merchant account per currency | 135+ | 33 | 36 |
| Team access | Custom roles, SAML SSO, SCIM, 2FA required | Granular roles, SAML SSO, audit log | Five roles, 2FA | Ten predefined roles, 2FA, Okta (OIDC) or Google SSO |
| Card export if you leave | Documented, free, to a PCI-compliant gateway | Documented, to a PCI DSS Level 1 processor | Not documented; data portability stated | Not documented; data returned in a standard form |
| Security reports | PCI DSS Level 1 service provider; no SOC 2 stated | PCI Service Provider Level 1, SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II | PCI DSS attestation, SOC 2 Type II | PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type 2, SOC 3 |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Braintree has the lowest fees in our scenario and strong access controls and exit terms. It leaves tax entirely to you and takes an application before you go live. | From its public pages, Stripe has the lowest fees in our scenario and the strongest controls and exit path here. Tax registration and filing stay with you unless you pay for Tax Complete or Managed Payments. | From its public pages, Paddle is the most complete merchant of record here for a SaaS business: tax filing, buyer support and security reports in one 5% + 50¢ fee. Plan around monthly payouts and the $20 chargeback fee. | From its public pages, FastSpring is a full merchant of record with strong B2B tools and security reports, but its rate is quoted by sales, so its cost cannot be compared here before a call. |
Evidence: Braintree: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Stripe: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Paddle: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; FastSpring: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Score
- Pricing clarity
- 8.0 / 10, Excellent
- adds +1% on cards issued outside the US; not on the pricing page: card-network arbitration fees passed through ($500 Visa, $575 Mastercard)
- Fees on $10,000 a month
- 7.9 / 10, Good
- $368/mo, 3.7% of volume: 160 × ($1.45 + $0.29) + 40 × ($1.95 + $0.29), each percentage fee rounded to the cent as the fee docs describe (computed from the US fee page); assumes Recurring Billing adds no fee (the fee page lists none); no tax is calculated or filed, because Braintree offers no tax product
- Tax and compliance you inherit
- 1.0 / 10, Fair
- you are the seller of record, buyer support is yours, PCI DSS stated, no SOC 2 Type II stated
- Payouts and currencies
- 10.0 / 10, Excellent
- daily payouts, free to a US bank, 130 charge currencies
- Team and control
- 8.0 / 10, Excellent
- granular roles, SAML SSO, 2FA, audit log not stated
- Data portability
- 10.0 / 10, Excellent
- card export process documented, customers and subscriptions via API, no lock-in stated
Review
Review from public pages
Written from Braintree's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 15, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
What the public pages show
We read PayPal Braintree's US fee page, its Payment Services Agreement and its support articles on currencies, funding, users and roles, SSO, SCIM, two-factor authentication, chargebacks, recurring billing and data migration on Oct 15, 2026; we did not sign up or apply for this review. The fee page lists one standard US rate for cards and digital wallets, 2.89% + 29¢, plus 1% for cards issued outside the US and 1% when a charge is presented in a currency other than USD, $15 per chargeback, Venmo at 3.49% + 49¢ and ACH at 0.75% capped at $5. It says custom flat rates and interchange-plus pricing are available for established businesses.
Anyone can open a sandbox, but a production account takes an application with business, tax ID and identity details, and the underwriting article says Braintree may ask for a personal guarantee or hold a reserve for higher-risk business models. You stay the seller: the agreement says PayPal will not calculate, collect or remit taxes. Recurring Billing is part of the gateway, with plans and subscriptions set up in the Control Panel or the API, and the fee page lists no separate charge for it.
What surprised us is the naming: paypal.com/us/braintree now opens with "Braintree is now PayPal Enterprise Payments", while the fee page and the docs still say PayPal Braintree. The funding article for US accounts says funds are sent every weekday, and the fee docs round each percentage fee to the cent per transaction, which we applied in our scenario.
Strengths
- Lowest fees in our scenario
$368 a month on $10,000 in card subscriptions, with Recurring Billing listed at no extra fee.
vs Stripe: Stripe comes to $500 including Billing and Tax Basic; Paddle to $600 and Lemon Squeezy to $680, both of which also file tax.
- PayPal and Venmo built in
PayPal, Venmo, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay and local payment methods run through the same gateway and Control Panel as cards.
- Subscriptions without a billing fee
Plans, add-ons, discounts, trials and automatic retries of failed charges are part of Recurring Billing; the fee page lists no charge for it.
vs Stripe: Stripe Billing adds 0.7% of billing volume.
- Identity controls
SAML 2.0 SSO, SCIM through Okta or Microsoft Entra, custom roles built from more than 40 permissions, required 2FA and hardware security keys.
vs Paddle: Paddle documents five roles and 2FA; Lemon Squeezy has owners and members.
- A free, documented card export
If you leave, Braintree exports saved customers and cards to another PCI-compliant gateway; the docs say there is no fee for migrations.
Things to know
- Tax is yours
Braintree offers no tax calculation or filing; the agreement says you are solely responsible for collecting, reporting and remitting taxes.
Workaround: Pair it with a separate tax service, or compare a merchant of record such as Paddle.
- Production needs approval
Going live takes an application and underwriting; for higher-risk models the docs say Braintree may require a personal guarantee or a reserve.
- Disputes cost $15 either way
Each chargeback or pre-arbitration carries a non-refundable $15 fee, and lost arbitrations pass through network fees of $500 (Visa) or $575 (Mastercard).
- Extra currencies take setup
Accounts start in your home currency; presenting in other currencies needs an extra merchant account for each, approved during onboarding.
Pricing reality
Braintree charges per transaction with no monthly fee listed: 2.89% + 29¢ for cards and wallets, +1% for cards issued outside the US, +1% for non-USD presentment, $15 per chargeback (not refunded if you win), Venmo 3.49% + 49¢ and ACH 0.75% capped at $5. Fees on refunded transactions are not returned. Optional Chargeback Protection starts at 0.4% per transaction.
For our scenario, each percentage fee is rounded to the cent: 160 × ($1.45 + $0.29) = $278.40 and 40 × ($1.95 + $0.29) = $89.60, total $368, or 3.7% of volume. Tax calculation and filing are not included at any price.
Exit path
The data migration docs say Braintree exports saved customers and cards, at no fee, as a GPG-encrypted CSV to another gateway that shows PCI compliance, in at most two exports. Subscriptions and transactions are not migrated but can be downloaded as a report or read through the API; Apple Pay and Google Pay tokens are excluded. The agreement lets you terminate with one day's notice.
Compared with
- Pick Braintree when
- You want the lowest card fees, subscriptions without a billing fee, and PayPal and Venmo in the same integration.
- Pick Stripe when
- You want tax calculation or filing from the same vendor, charges in 135+ currencies, or an audit log.
- Pick Braintree when
- You can handle sales tax yourself and want lower fees, payouts every weekday, SAML SSO and a documented card export.
- Pick Paddle when
- You want a merchant of record to file sales tax and VAT and answer buyer billing questions inside one fee.
Choose it if
- You want PayPal and Venmo alongside cards from one processor.
- You want the lowest per-transaction card fee here and subscriptions at no extra fee.
- You can register for, collect and file sales tax yourself.
- You need SAML SSO and SCIM for your payments dashboard.
Look elsewhere if
- You want someone else to handle sales tax and VAT.
- You need to sell live without an application and approval.
Bottom line
From its public pages, Braintree has the lowest fees in our scenario and strong access controls and exit terms. It leaves tax entirely to you and takes an application before you go live.
Plan limits at a glance
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Model | Payment processor; you are the seller |
| Base fee | 2.89% + 29¢ per US card |
| $10,000/mo scenario | $368 (3.7%), computed |
| Sales tax and VAT filing | Yours; no tax product offered |
| Dispute fee | $15, not refunded if won |
| Payouts | Every weekday (US accounts) |
| Charge currencies | 130+, one merchant account per currency |
| Team access | Custom roles, SAML SSO, SCIM, 2FA required |
| Card export if you leave | Documented, free, to a PCI-compliant gateway |
| Security reports | PCI DSS Level 1 service provider; no SOC 2 stated |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 15, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Braintree yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 15, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Braintree yet; access was not open to our agent.
Braintree lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Standard rate, costs 2.89% + 29¢/card transaction.
- BraintreeCards and digital wallets2.89% + 29¢/transactionUS standard rate; custom flat or interchange-plus pricing for established businesses
- +1% for cards issued outside the US
- +1% when presented in a currency other than USD
- $15 per chargeback
- Recurring Billing, no separate fee listed
- BraintreeVenmo3.49% + 49¢/transactionUS only
- BraintreeACH Direct Debit0.75%/transactionCapped at $5 on the standard schedule
- Same-day ACH 1.5% + 10¢
- $5 per return or unauthorized dispute
- BraintreeChargeback ProtectionFrom 0.4%/transactionOptional; Effortless Chargeback Protection from 0.6%
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-15.
Source: paypal.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.