Freelancer Payment Fee Calculator — Compare What You Keep After PayPal, Wise & Bank Fees

You invoice $1,000 and the client pays in full — but what actually lands in your account? This calculator puts PayPal, Wise, and bank wire side by side for the same invoice, using fee figures you can edit, and shows which method leaves you the most. Unlike single-method fee calculators, it answers the freelancer's real question: which way should I ask to be paid? The math is deterministic — no AI, no estimates hidden from you.

Privacy: this tool runs entirely in your browser. It makes no network requests and has no backend. Nothing you type is uploaded. Closing the page discards it.

Compare the three methods

Invoice amount

Numbers only, greater than zero. The currency is set below.

Currency

Client country (optional)

Informational only — it does not change the math. Fee schedules vary by country, so adjust the fee inputs below to match your case.

Fee settings — edit to match your case

PayPal: percent (%)

PayPal: fixed fee

Wise: percent (%)

Default 2.99% + fixed: the standard US commercial rate (PayPal fee page, updated 1 Oct 2026 — see fee sources below). PayPal has several rate types; change these to match yours.

Default 0.70% + 0 fixed: representative of Wise's own 2026 quotes (0.55%–1.13% on $1,000 depending on route). Wise fees vary by corridor — verify your route.

Wise: fixed fee

Bank wire: flat fee

Default $44: the 2026 US average for an outgoing international wire (Bankrate via Transak; NerdWallet median $45). Non-USD defaults are illustrative — see fee sources.

Side-by-side result

No comparison yet — enter the invoice amount and choose Calculate comparison.

How it works

You enter the invoice amount and currency, then set the fee for each of the three methods — or keep the researched defaults. The calculator applies the same formula to all three and ranks them by what you keep. The side-by-side comparison is the point: nine of the top ten results for "paypal fee calculator" only do single-method math, so none of them answer "which method should I ask for?".

PayPal charges the receiver a percentage plus a fixed fee per payment — which is why small invoices lose a bigger share.
Wise charges a small percentage that varies by currency route, with no exchange-rate markup — usually the cheapest for cross-border invoices.
Bank wire charges a flat fee regardless of amount — which can win on very large invoices, but the flat fee stings on small ones.

Fee sources and last-verified dates

Defaults are starting points, not promises. Fee schedules change — verify with the provider before invoicing.

PayPal 2.99% + fixed (USD $0.49, GBP £0.30, EUR €0.35): the standard US commercial rate. PayPal's official fee page was updated 1 October 2026; independently checked against paypal.com on 2 September 2026 (via sellfy.com) and 5 October 2026 (via billbooks.com). Note: PayPal has several rate types — a Send-Money goods-and-services payment is 2.99% with no fixed fee, while PayPal Checkout buttons are 3.49% + fixed. Edit the inputs to match the way your client actually pays.
Wise 0.70% + 0 fixed: representative figure. Wise's own quotes (via transferfees.io, collected 28 October 2026) ranged 0.55%–1.13% on $1,000 depending on route and funding method; Wise US pricing states "from 0.23%" (checked 21 October 2026). Wise fees depend on your corridor — get your route's quote and enter it.
Bank wire $44 flat (USD): Bankrate 2026 data (via transak.com) puts the US average at about $44 for an outgoing international wire; NerdWallet 2026 data (via corpay.com) puts the median at $45. The GBP (£35) and EUR (€40) defaults are illustrative estimates, not verified — replace them with your bank's fee.

Example

Illustrative example: $1,000 invoice, defaults unchanged. PayPal: fee $30.39 (2.99% + $0.49), you keep $969.61. Wise: fee $7.00 (0.70%), you keep $993.00. Bank wire: fee $44.00, you keep $956.00. Best method: Wise — you keep $37.00 more than the worst method (bank wire) on this invoice. Change the amount to $10,000 and the ranking can flip, because the wire's flat fee stops mattering at scale.

Limitations — read before invoicing

These are estimates only. Fee schedules change and vary by country, account type, and how the client pays. Verify the current fee with the provider before you invoice.
This is not financial advice — it is arithmetic on numbers you supply.
International bank wires usually carry an exchange-rate markup (often 1–3%) on top of the flat fee. This calculator models the flat fee only, so it understates the true cost of a cross-border wire.
Currency conversion spreads (PayPal adds a spread on top of its fee when currencies differ) are not modeled. Keep the invoice and payout in the same currency for the comparison to hold.
The calculator assumes you, the freelancer, bear the fee. If your client covers it, the ranking does not apply.
This page has been code-tested only — it has not been checked in a real browser on a phone or desktop, and fee figures were researched on 29 October 2026 and will go stale.

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