Braintree special offers

Verified: May 8, 2026

Starting at

Standard: 2.59% + $0.49 per card/digital wallet transaction (no monthly fee). PayPal via Braintree: 3.49% + $0.49. ACH Direct Debit: 0.75% capped at $5.00. International cards: +1%. Currency conversion: +1%. Chargebacks: $15/dispute. High-volume ($80K+/mo): interchange-plus available on request.

No monthly fees — free to set up

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Finance Specs

What We Like

No monthly fees no setup fees and no minimum processing requirement — cost scales directly with transaction volume with no fixed overhead
ACH Direct Debit at 0.75% capped at $5 per transaction is competitive for high-value B2B payments where card processing percentage would be prohibitive
Developer-friendly API with SDKs for iOS Android JavaScript and all major server-side languages — well-documented for custom payment flow integration
Supports 130+ currencies and operates across US Canada Australia Europe and major Asian markets from one platform

Considerations

Requires a PayPal Business account — businesses without an existing PayPal relationship must create one as a prerequisite
No in-person payment terminal support — Braintree is strictly an online and mobile payment processor with no POS capability
No affiliate program — this page provides editorial and comparison value only and will not generate direct affiliate revenue
Interchange-plus pricing for high-volume accounts is not self-serve — requires contacting Braintree sales team with no published threshold guarantee

Expert Verdict

Braintree is a solid developer-first payment gateway for online businesses processing card and digital wallet payments. The no-monthly-fee model is genuinely valuable for businesses with variable transaction volume. The rate comparison with Stripe depends on your average transaction value: Braintree wins on percentage (2.59% vs 2.9%) but Stripe wins on fixed fee ($0.30 vs $0.49) — the crossover point is approximately $6 per transaction. For ACH payments Braintree's 0.75% capped at $5 is among the most competitive rates available. Note: Braintree has no affiliate program and this page serves comparison and reference value only.

Top Alternative

Stripe →

Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction — higher percentage but lower fixed fee than Braintree — with a more extensive developer ecosystem and broader product suite including in-person payments.

More Alternatives

Square →

PayPal Business →

Braintree (now operating as PayPal Enterprise Payments) is a payment processing platform founded in 2007 in Chicago and acquired by PayPal in 2013 for $800 million. It provides payment gateway services credit card processing recurring billing and fraud protection for online and mobile businesses. Braintree processes over one billion transactions per quarter and serves businesses in the United States Canada Australia Europe Singapore Hong Kong Malaysia and New Zealand. A PayPal Business account is required to use Braintree.

Braintree operates a flat-rate pricing model with no monthly fees no setup fees and no minimum processing requirement. The standard transaction fee is 2.59% + $0.49 per transaction for credit cards debit cards and digital wallets (Apple Pay Google Pay Venmo) in the United States. PayPal transactions processed through Braintree cost 3.49% + $0.49. ACH Direct Debit costs 0.75% per transaction capped at $5.00 per transaction. International cards processed in USD add a 1% fee; currency conversion adds another 1% for non-USD transactions. The $15 chargeback fee applies per disputed transaction.

For high-volume businesses processing $80,000+/month Braintree offers interchange-plus pricing (Interchange + 0.35% + $0.10 per transaction) which can reduce effective rates substantially — this requires contacting Braintree sales directly. There is no public self-serve path to interchange-plus.

Compared to Stripe (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) Braintree’s standard rate of 2.59% + $0.49 is slightly lower on percentage but higher on fixed fee — Braintree is cheaper for larger transaction values (roughly over $6.00) and Stripe is cheaper for smaller ones. Square charges 2.6% + $0.10 for card-not-present transactions. Braintree has no in-person payment terminal support making it an online-only processor. Its API is developer-friendly with SDKs for iOS Android JavaScript and server-side languages.

Braintree has no public affiliate program. The page serves comparison and reference value for developers and businesses evaluating payment processors — it will not earn direct affiliate revenue.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Braintree charge per transaction?

Braintree charges 2.59% + $0.49 per transaction for credit cards debit cards and digital wallets (Apple Pay Google Pay Venmo) in the United States. PayPal transactions processed through Braintree cost 3.49% + $0.49. There are no monthly fees setup fees or minimum processing requirements. High-volume merchants processing $80,000+/month can request interchange-plus pricing for lower effective rates.

Is Braintree cheaper than Stripe?

It depends on your average transaction value. Braintree charges 2.59% + $0.49 per transaction while Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30. For transactions above approximately $6 Braintree's lower percentage makes it cheaper. For transactions below $6 Stripe's lower fixed fee makes it cheaper. For a $100 transaction: Braintree costs $3.08 while Stripe costs $3.20. For a $5 transaction: Braintree costs $0.62 while Stripe costs $0.45.

Does Braintree charge a monthly fee?

No. Braintree has no monthly fee no setup fee and no minimum processing volume requirement. You pay only per transaction processed. This makes Braintree cost-effective for businesses with variable or seasonal transaction volumes who want no fixed overhead when activity is low.

What is Braintree's ACH fee?

ACH Direct Debit costs 0.75% per transaction capped at a maximum of $5.00 per transaction. There are no monthly fees for ACH processing. The $5 cap makes Braintree's ACH pricing highly competitive for high-value B2B transactions — a $10,000 ACH payment costs $5 rather than 0.75% ($75) which would apply without the cap.

Does Braintree support in-person payments?

No. Braintree is strictly an online and mobile payment processor. It does not offer point-of-sale terminals card readers or in-person payment infrastructure. Businesses that need both online and in-person payment capability should evaluate Stripe (which offers Terminal hardware) or Square (which is built around in-person and online parity).

Advertiser Disclosure: Pricing verified May 2026 from Braintree official pricing page and NerdWallet review.

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