PayPal vs. Venmo: Which One Is Better?

Author: Edeh Kelechi

Sending and receiving money has never been more accessible with several payment platforms at your disposal. PayPal and Venmo are two of the most popular payment platforms available for making payments.

Because some of their features overlap, we reviewed both platforms to help you make an informed decision.

How do PayPal and Venmo Work?

Even though the two platforms (PayPal and Venmo) facilitate sending and receiving money, they work differently. 

While Venmo supports payments for goods and services, it is more of a social peer-to-peer (P2P) payment platform where you can send money to your friends and family.

Whereas PayPal is a top choice for merchants to make business transactions in addition to allowing users to send and receive money from friends and family.

To access any of these applications, you need to create an account and then link it to your bank account and credit or debit card.

Differences between PayPal and Venmo?

Because PayPal owns Venmo, they may share some similarities. However, there are some differences between these two payment platforms.

Here are some of the features we compared:

• Accessibility

You can access both PayPal and Venmo through their free mobile apps available on Android and iOS. They’re also accessible through a desktop or mobile device browser.

However, users can only make payments on Venmo through its app, while with PayPal, they can initiate transactions through the browser and application.

• Fees

PayPal and Venmo share similarities when it comes to fees. Both platforms do not charge users fees for payments from linked bank accounts. But you’ll be charged a $2.50 ATM withdrawal fee when using your PayPal or Venmo debit card unless you use a free in-network cash machine.

Nevertheless, the significant difference lies in debit or credit card payments. Venmo offers free debit card transactions and a 3% fee for credit card transactions. In comparison, PayPal charges users a $0.30 fee per transaction and an additional 2.9% fee on debit and credit card transactions.

• Transfer limit 

You may want to consider PayPal to send large sums of money. The platform allows single payments up to $10,000. It also has a substantial advantage over Venmo’s seven-day transfer limit of $7000 and $5000 for P2P transactions.

In addition, Venmo requires users to verify their identities to access these limits. Unverified Venmo users’ transfer limit is $299.99.

• Sending money

Sending money on both platforms is reasonably straightforward and similar. Users can sync their contacts on both apps, allowing them to search for friends or family with profiles on the app. 

You can also send money using the recipient’s email, phone number, or username.

The time it takes for transfers to send money is also similar across PayPal and Venmo. It takes about one to three days for funds from a Venmo transfer to be available and about three to five days for PayPal’s transfer.

They also provide instant transfers, but Venmo charges a 1% fee for this service while PayPal charges a 1.5% fee.

• Money Request

Both applications have a money request option, but Venmo provides its users with an automated reminder feature. This feature allows users to automatically follow up with their money quest. PayPal also has a money request feature, but the platform doesn’t have an automated reminder at the moment. 

Conclusion

Choosing between PayPal and Venmo would depend on the transaction you want to make. For simple transactions between people you know and trust, you may want to consider Venmo; however, if you need to transfer large sums of money and need more flexibility, PayPal may be a better choice.