{"slug": "paypal", "name": "PayPal", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "Online payment service for sending money, checking out online, and processing merchant payments.", "recommenders": 8, "commenters": 18, "warners": 3, "score": 6.655, "rising": 4.02, "first": "2026-02-10", "latest": "2026-08-28", "why": "Liked for buyer protection and for paying unfamiliar sites without handing over card details, and as a fallback where Stripe or other options aren't available.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 8, "neutral": 7, "compare": 0, "warn": 3}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 5, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Card privacy", "Fallback availability"], "caveat": "Fees", "short_quote": "PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code!", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.paypal.com", "pricing": "freemium", "aliases": ["PayPal"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for buyer protection", "cites": [{"id": 791621824, "item_id": 49476364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476364", "by": "lnsru", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back.", "excerpt": "K\u00e4uferschutz! Safety for the buyer is amazing. I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back. No endless back and forth with stupid bank clerk. PayPal costs money, I would ditch it for a discount sized as Paypal fee though.", "context": "", "use_case": "online payments with buyer protection", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 783051088, "item_id": 48940693, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940693", "by": "okanat", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "its buyer protection is one of the significant reasons that I keep using Paypal for online payments.", "excerpt": "Indeed. My primary issue is requiring a Google or Apple blessed phone for the protocol that is supposed to replace the American alternative with the EU one. If they push strongly the American duopoly, I'd rather use the American monopoly that gives me the better ergonomics and less friction. Yes I do get a TOTP request every now and then, but I have options like authenticator apps, SMSes, passkeys with Paypal. With W", "context": "buys from independent sellers in the EU", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}, {"id": 791636544, "item_id": 49477284, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49477284", "by": "analog31", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code!", "excerpt": "Who uses PayPal any more? I do. I have a side business that makes a gadget, akin to a guitar pedal. It has worked flawlessly for me, for well over a decade. Occasionally I casually search for an alternative (to have a backup) but have never found one. PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code! While I love coding, maintaining an active web page is a cost. My IT costs are zero. I think PP's", "context": "runs a side business making a gadget", "use_case": "accepting payments for side business", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}, {"text": " and for paying unfamiliar sites without handing over card details", "cites": [{"id": 791609392, "item_id": 49475587, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475587", "by": "Steve44", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag.", "excerpt": "I'm in the UK and I use it a few times a month. Generally I would use it on smaller / unfamiliar websites; I may be more hesitant about entering my credit card numbers but also it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag. I also use it exclusively for eBay purchases.", "context": "UK user", "use_case": "paying on small websites, eBay", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791606080, "item_id": 49475380, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475380", "by": "domh", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it on e-commerce sites for first purchase or if it's unlikely I'm going to buy anything from the same site again.", "excerpt": "Yeah this is my primary use case for using PayPal. I use it on e-commerce sites for first purchase or if it's unlikely I'm going to buy anything from the same site again.", "context": "", "use_case": "first purchases on e-commerce sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 782804656, "item_id": 48925291, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925291", "by": "nozzlegear", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there", "excerpt": "If I'm buying something from a website and they don't offer Apple Pay, I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there and don't want to hand over numbers to a random website. Also, when I used to do more freelancing, all of my clients preferred to be invoiced and pay through PayPal (who skimmed a decent chunk of change off the top). Not sure if either of those reasons would be what", "context": "American, former freelancer", "use_case": "online checkout and freelance invoicing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}]}, {"text": ", and as a fallback where Stripe or other options aren't available.", "cites": [{"id": 756025633, "item_id": 47251602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251602", "by": "EdwSgo", "date": "2026-03-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "so I used PayPal for this project", "excerpt": "Hi , a few days ago I launched Odyr AI, a marketplace for people to create amazing things with no-code tools and more. Unlike other platforms, \u00d3d\u00fdr lets creators get paid instantly. Stripe isn't available in my country, and platforms like Lemon Squeezy or Paddle didn't accept me, so I used PayPal for this project. I'd love for you to take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!", "context": "Stripe isn't available in their country", "use_case": "payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Marketplace for AI Builders"}, {"id": 791584096, "item_id": 49474006, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474006", "by": "ocd", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'd love to delete my PayPal account and never log in again, but the use case for me right now is mostly that companies (outside Canada, and outside NA in most cases) usually only accept payment with PayPal.", "excerpt": "I've been wondering about this since it came up in my newsreader that they wanted to acquire PayPal. Seemed like odd timing to me given PayPal has been questionable but necessary in a lot of cases for online businesses in international payments. In Canada, we use Interac for more ordinary payments between ourselves, and the usual credit cards through card processors like Moneris or bank provided services in physical ", "context": "Canada-based", "use_case": "international payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791593472, "item_id": 49474592, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474592", "by": "mjrbrennan", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it can still be handy now and then", "excerpt": "Yes it's basically every website in Australia you can pay via PayPal now. I use it less and less since Apple Pay is available pretty much everywhere, but it can still be handy now and then.", "context": "lives in Australia", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is its fees", "cites": [{"id": 791621824, "item_id": 49476364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476364", "by": "lnsru", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back.", "excerpt": "K\u00e4uferschutz! Safety for the buyer is amazing. I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back. No endless back and forth with stupid bank clerk. PayPal costs money, I would ditch it for a discount sized as Paypal fee though.", "context": "", "use_case": "online payments with buyer protection", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 782804656, "item_id": 48925291, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925291", "by": "nozzlegear", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there", "excerpt": "If I'm buying something from a website and they don't offer Apple Pay, I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there and don't want to hand over numbers to a random website. Also, when I used to do more freelancing, all of my clients preferred to be invoiced and pay through PayPal (who skimmed a decent chunk of change off the top). Not sure if either of those reasons would be what", "context": "American, former freelancer", "use_case": "online checkout and freelance invoicing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}]}, {"text": ", and one small-business owner says it held company funds over fraud claims they call baseless.", "cites": [{"id": 791589552, "item_id": 49474347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474347", "by": "anonzzzies", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "They held and stole quite a bit of money from my company when it was small 'for fraud'", "excerpt": "They held and stole quite a bit of money from my company when it was small 'for fraud'; it was a very hard time, and of course there was no fraud. It was a long time ago and I don't get angry anymore, but it was a nightmare and nothing you can do. Since then I moved to local processing, issuing, acquiring; I can thank Paypal for all of that. Hope they die a miserable death, but I guess 50B$ says at least the managers", "context": "small company owner", "use_case": "payment processing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Card privacy", "summary": "Lets buyers pay without giving card numbers or bank details to random or one-off sites.", "quotes": [{"id": 791609392, "item_id": 49475587, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475587", "by": "Steve44", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag.", "excerpt": "I'm in the UK and I use it a few times a month. Generally I would use it on smaller / unfamiliar websites; I may be more hesitant about entering my credit card numbers but also it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag. I also use it exclusively for eBay purchases.", "context": "UK user", "use_case": "paying on small websites, eBay", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 782804656, "item_id": 48925291, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925291", "by": "nozzlegear", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there", "excerpt": "If I'm buying something from a website and they don't offer Apple Pay, I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there and don't want to hand over numbers to a random website. Also, when I used to do more freelancing, all of my clients preferred to be invoiced and pay through PayPal (who skimmed a decent chunk of change off the top). Not sure if either of those reasons would be what", "context": "American, former freelancer", "use_case": "online checkout and freelance invoicing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}, {"id": 791614976, "item_id": 49475936, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475936", "by": "wewxjfq", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "these days I use PayPal to send and receive money from strangers", "excerpt": "In the early days of eBay I exchanged money exclusively via bank transfer and had no worries, but for me the Internet has changed and these days I use PayPal to send and receive money from strangers. I see it like this: My email address is already public, so I'm not risking anything when I share it with strangers. My IBAN on the other hand is only known to a few respectable companies, so why change that? Seeing all t", "context": "", "use_case": "sending and receiving money", "switched_from": "bank transfer", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}, {"label": "Fallback availability", "summary": "Accepted where other methods aren't, including by international sellers and in countries without Stripe.", "quotes": [{"id": 791584096, "item_id": 49474006, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474006", "by": "ocd", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'd love to delete my PayPal account and never log in again, but the use case for me right now is mostly that companies (outside Canada, and outside NA in most cases) usually only accept payment with PayPal.", "excerpt": "I've been wondering about this since it came up in my newsreader that they wanted to acquire PayPal. Seemed like odd timing to me given PayPal has been questionable but necessary in a lot of cases for online businesses in international payments. In Canada, we use Interac for more ordinary payments between ourselves, and the usual credit cards through card processors like Moneris or bank provided services in physical ", "context": "Canada-based", "use_case": "international payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 756025633, "item_id": 47251602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251602", "by": "EdwSgo", "date": "2026-03-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "so I used PayPal for this project", "excerpt": "Hi , a few days ago I launched Odyr AI, a marketplace for people to create amazing things with no-code tools and more. Unlike other platforms, \u00d3d\u00fdr lets creators get paid instantly. Stripe isn't available in my country, and platforms like Lemon Squeezy or Paddle didn't accept me, so I used PayPal for this project. I'd love for you to take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!", "context": "Stripe isn't available in their country", "use_case": "payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Marketplace for AI Builders"}, {"id": 791593472, "item_id": 49474592, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474592", "by": "mjrbrennan", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it can still be handy now and then", "excerpt": "Yes it's basically every website in Australia you can pay via PayPal now. I use it less and less since Apple Pay is available pretty much everywhere, but it can still be handy now and then.", "context": "lives in Australia", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}, {"label": "Buyer protection", "summary": "Buyers value fast refunds when something goes wrong.", "quotes": [{"id": 791621824, "item_id": 49476364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476364", "by": "lnsru", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back.", "excerpt": "K\u00e4uferschutz! Safety for the buyer is amazing. I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back. No endless back and forth with stupid bank clerk. PayPal costs money, I would ditch it for a discount sized as Paypal fee though.", "context": "", "use_case": "online payments with buyer protection", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 783051088, "item_id": 48940693, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940693", "by": "okanat", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "its buyer protection is one of the significant reasons that I keep using Paypal for online payments.", "excerpt": "Indeed. My primary issue is requiring a Google or Apple blessed phone for the protocol that is supposed to replace the American alternative with the EU one. If they push strongly the American duopoly, I'd rather use the American monopoly that gives me the better ergonomics and less friction. Yes I do get a TOTP request every now and then, but I have options like authenticator apps, SMSes, passkeys with Paypal. With W", "context": "buys from independent sellers in the EU", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}, {"id": 791636544, "item_id": 49477284, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49477284", "by": "analog31", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code!", "excerpt": "Who uses PayPal any more? I do. I have a side business that makes a gadget, akin to a guitar pedal. It has worked flawlessly for me, for well over a decade. Occasionally I casually search for an alternative (to have a backup) but have never found one. PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code! While I love coding, maintaining an active web page is a cost. My IT costs are zero. I think PP's", "context": "runs a side business making a gadget", "use_case": "accepting payments for side business", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}, {"label": "Convenience", "summary": "Quicker checkout without fetching a physical card.", "quotes": [{"id": 791618992, "item_id": 49476187, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476187", "by": "ahartmetz", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PayPal with immediate bank transfer is usually a little more convenient.", "excerpt": "Same here, Germany. PayPal with immediate bank transfer is usually a little more convenient. I use CC more often anyway to avoid the middle man, but when I feel lazy (wallet is not on my desk, oh no) or there is any hassle with CC, I use PayPal.", "context": "lives in Germany", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791609392, "item_id": 49475587, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475587", "by": "Steve44", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag.", "excerpt": "I'm in the UK and I use it a few times a month. Generally I would use it on smaller / unfamiliar websites; I may be more hesitant about entering my credit card numbers but also it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag. I also use it exclusively for eBay purchases.", "context": "UK user", "use_case": "paying on small websites, eBay", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 782804656, "item_id": 48925291, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925291", "by": "nozzlegear", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there", "excerpt": "If I'm buying something from a website and they don't offer Apple Pay, I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there and don't want to hand over numbers to a random website. Also, when I used to do more freelancing, all of my clients preferred to be invoiced and pay through PayPal (who skimmed a decent chunk of change off the top). Not sure if either of those reasons would be what", "context": "American, former freelancer", "use_case": "online checkout and freelance invoicing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}]}, {"label": "No-code selling", "summary": "A seller accepts payments from a static website with no code and zero IT costs.", "quotes": [{"id": 791636544, "item_id": 49477284, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49477284", "by": "analog31", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code!", "excerpt": "Who uses PayPal any more? I do. I have a side business that makes a gadget, akin to a guitar pedal. It has worked flawlessly for me, for well over a decade. Occasionally I casually search for an alternative (to have a backup) but have never found one. PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code! While I love coding, maintaining an active web page is a cost. My IT costs are zero. I think PP's", "context": "runs a side business making a gadget", "use_case": "accepting payments for side business", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 782726230, "item_id": 48920389, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48920389", "by": "ddyy", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Payments are optional and handled through Stripe or Paypal hosted checkout", "excerpt": "Hi HN, The invoicing SaaS I was using to bill my clients raised its credit card processing fee to 6.9% for free accounts (4% on top of Stripe's 2.9% + 30c fee), so I decided to build my own to fit my minimal needs, hence I called it Minvoice. It runs on Cloudflare Workers + D1 for DB, it should easily be within their free tier for most use cases. The application is built on Hono server-rendered JSX with no client fra", "context": "", "use_case": "payment processing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Minvoice \u2013 invoicing app that runs on Cloudflare Workers and D1"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Fees", "summary": "Commenters note that PayPal takes a noticeable cut.", "quotes": [{"id": 791621824, "item_id": 49476364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476364", "by": "lnsru", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back.", "excerpt": "K\u00e4uferschutz! Safety for the buyer is amazing. I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back. No endless back and forth with stupid bank clerk. PayPal costs money, I would ditch it for a discount sized as Paypal fee though.", "context": "", "use_case": "online payments with buyer protection", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 782804656, "item_id": 48925291, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925291", "by": "nozzlegear", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there", "excerpt": "If I'm buying something from a website and they don't offer Apple Pay, I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there and don't want to hand over numbers to a random website. Also, when I used to do more freelancing, all of my clients preferred to be invoiced and pay through PayPal (who skimmed a decent chunk of change off the top). Not sure if either of those reasons would be what", "context": "American, former freelancer", "use_case": "online checkout and freelance invoicing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}]}, {"label": "Account holds", "summary": "A business owner says PayPal held company money over alleged fraud with no recourse.", "quotes": [{"id": 791589552, "item_id": 49474347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474347", "by": "anonzzzies", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "They held and stole quite a bit of money from my company when it was small 'for fraud'", "excerpt": "They held and stole quite a bit of money from my company when it was small 'for fraud'; it was a very hard time, and of course there was no fraud. It was a long time ago and I don't get angry anymore, but it was a nightmare and nothing you can do. Since then I moved to local processing, issuing, acquiring; I can thank Paypal for all of that. Hope they die a miserable death, but I guess 50B$ says at least the managers", "context": "small company owner", "use_case": "payment processing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}, {"label": "Developer integration", "summary": "A developer disliked PayPal's handling of Braintree and its forced migration to worse webhooks.", "quotes": [{"id": 782848945, "item_id": 48928059, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48928059", "by": "tempest_", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I hate paypal.", "excerpt": "I remember about 10 years ago I switched our billing / subscription code from paypal to braintree. Braintree was better than paypal but that wasnt saying much. Then paypal bought Braintree and started fucking around with it, asking for conference calls because they wanted us off one of their old flows so they could get us on webhooks that preformed worse and were a pain to implement. Anyway we switched to stripe. Don", "context": "", "use_case": "billing / subscriptions", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}]}, {"label": "Declining need", "summary": "Some use it less as Apple Pay and local options spread, and keep it only out of necessity.", "quotes": [{"id": 791593472, "item_id": 49474592, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474592", "by": "mjrbrennan", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it can still be handy now and then", "excerpt": "Yes it's basically every website in Australia you can pay via PayPal now. I use it less and less since Apple Pay is available pretty much everywhere, but it can still be handy now and then.", "context": "lives in Australia", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791584096, "item_id": 49474006, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474006", "by": "ocd", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'd love to delete my PayPal account and never log in again, but the use case for me right now is mostly that companies (outside Canada, and outside NA in most cases) usually only accept payment with PayPal.", "excerpt": "I've been wondering about this since it came up in my newsreader that they wanted to acquire PayPal. Seemed like odd timing to me given PayPal has been questionable but necessary in a lot of cases for online businesses in international payments. In Canada, we use Interac for more ordinary payments between ourselves, and the usual credit cards through card processors like Moneris or bank provided services in physical ", "context": "Canada-based", "use_case": "international payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}]}, {"label": "CPU usage", "summary": "One commenter lists PayPal among sites that peg a CPU core.", "quotes": [{"id": 782737458, "item_id": 48921091, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921091", "by": "MrBuddyCasino", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Paypal: pegs a core", "excerpt": "Google Ai studio: pegs a core Opencode: pegs a core Paypal: pegs a core Chatgpt: pegs a core", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is it just me, or is software buggier across the board?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "analog31", "context": "runs a side business making a gadget", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49477284", "date": "2026-08-28"}, {"by": "ahartmetz", "context": "lives in Germany", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476187", "date": "2026-08-28"}, {"by": "Steve44", "context": "UK user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475587", "date": "2026-08-28"}, {"by": "sho_hn", "context": "has no credit card", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475036", "date": "2026-08-28"}, {"by": "mjrbrennan", "context": "lives in Australia", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474592", "date": "2026-08-28"}, {"by": "ocd", "context": "Canada-based", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474006", "date": "2026-08-28"}, {"by": "okanat", "context": "buys from independent sellers in the EU", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940693", "date": "2026-07-16"}, {"by": "nozzlegear", "context": "American, former freelancer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925291", "date": "2026-07-15"}, {"by": "EdwSgo", "context": "Stripe isn't available in their country", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251602", "date": "2026-03-04"}], "tags": ["for small online sellers", "for international payments", "for freelancer invoicing", "for eBay purchases", "for one-off online purchases"], "use_cases": ["online payments", "payments", "payment processing", "accepting payments for side business", "online payments with buyer protection", "sending and receiving money"], "compared": [{"slug": "stripe", "name": "Stripe", "co": 7, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "wero", "name": "Wero", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "apple-pay", "name": "Apple Pay", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "paddle", "name": "Paddle", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49473483", "title": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal", "mentions": 10}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48915953", "title": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48920698", "title": "Ask HN: Is it just me, or is software buggier across the board?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48920388", "title": "Show HN: Minvoice \u2013 invoicing app that runs on Cloudflare Workers and D1", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48618455", "title": "Anthropic to Require ID Verification for Certain Capabilities Starting July 8", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251601", "title": "The Marketplace for AI Builders", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1, "warn": 2, "recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 4, "warn": 1, "recommend": 5}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 791636544, "item_id": 49477284, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49477284", "by": "analog31", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code!", "excerpt": "Who uses PayPal any more? I do. I have a side business that makes a gadget, akin to a guitar pedal. It has worked flawlessly for me, for well over a decade. Occasionally I casually search for an alternative (to have a backup) but have never found one. PP lets me accept payments from a completely passive website. No code! While I love coding, maintaining an active web page is a cost. My IT costs are zero. I think PP's", "context": "runs a side business making a gadget", "use_case": "accepting payments for side business", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791621824, "item_id": 49476364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476364", "by": "lnsru", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back.", "excerpt": "K\u00e4uferschutz! Safety for the buyer is amazing. I love PayPal, some incident and I have my money in no time back. No endless back and forth with stupid bank clerk. PayPal costs money, I would ditch it for a discount sized as Paypal fee though.", "context": "", "use_case": "online payments with buyer protection", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791618992, "item_id": 49476187, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49476187", "by": "ahartmetz", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PayPal with immediate bank transfer is usually a little more convenient.", "excerpt": "Same here, Germany. PayPal with immediate bank transfer is usually a little more convenient. I use CC more often anyway to avoid the middle man, but when I feel lazy (wallet is not on my desk, oh no) or there is any hassle with CC, I use PayPal.", "context": "lives in Germany", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791614976, "item_id": 49475936, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475936", "by": "wewxjfq", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "these days I use PayPal to send and receive money from strangers", "excerpt": "In the early days of eBay I exchanged money exclusively via bank transfer and had no worries, but for me the Internet has changed and these days I use PayPal to send and receive money from strangers. I see it like this: My email address is already public, so I'm not risking anything when I share it with strangers. My IBAN on the other hand is only known to a few respectable companies, so why change that? Seeing all t", "context": "", "use_case": "sending and receiving money", "switched_from": "bank transfer", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791609392, "item_id": 49475587, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475587", "by": "Steve44", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag.", "excerpt": "I'm in the UK and I use it a few times a month. Generally I would use it on smaller / unfamiliar websites; I may be more hesitant about entering my credit card numbers but also it's quicker and easier as I can do it without getting my card out of my bag. I also use it exclusively for eBay purchases.", "context": "UK user", "use_case": "paying on small websites, eBay", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791606080, "item_id": 49475380, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475380", "by": "domh", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it on e-commerce sites for first purchase or if it's unlikely I'm going to buy anything from the same site again.", "excerpt": "Yeah this is my primary use case for using PayPal. I use it on e-commerce sites for first purchase or if it's unlikely I'm going to buy anything from the same site again.", "context": "", "use_case": "first purchases on e-commerce sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791600576, "item_id": 49475036, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475036", "by": "sho_hn", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "PayPal is the payment method I use for Google Pay", "excerpt": "> online is dead too, no app uses paypal PayPal is the payment method I use for Google Pay, so pretty much everything goes through it. (I don't have a credit card, which is common where I live.)", "context": "has no credit card", "use_case": "payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791593472, "item_id": 49474592, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474592", "by": "mjrbrennan", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it can still be handy now and then", "excerpt": "Yes it's basically every website in Australia you can pay via PayPal now. I use it less and less since Apple Pay is available pretty much everywhere, but it can still be handy now and then.", "context": "lives in Australia", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791589552, "item_id": 49474347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474347", "by": "anonzzzies", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "They held and stole quite a bit of money from my company when it was small 'for fraud'", "excerpt": "They held and stole quite a bit of money from my company when it was small 'for fraud'; it was a very hard time, and of course there was no fraud. It was a long time ago and I don't get angry anymore, but it was a nightmare and nothing you can do. Since then I moved to local processing, issuing, acquiring; I can thank Paypal for all of that. Hope they die a miserable death, but I guess 50B$ says at least the managers", "context": "small company owner", "use_case": "payment processing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 791584096, "item_id": 49474006, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49474006", "by": "ocd", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'd love to delete my PayPal account and never log in again, but the use case for me right now is mostly that companies (outside Canada, and outside NA in most cases) usually only accept payment with PayPal.", "excerpt": "I've been wondering about this since it came up in my newsreader that they wanted to acquire PayPal. Seemed like odd timing to me given PayPal has been questionable but necessary in a lot of cases for online businesses in international payments. In Canada, we use Interac for more ordinary payments between ourselves, and the usual credit cards through card processors like Moneris or bank provided services in physical ", "context": "Canada-based", "use_case": "international payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal"}, {"id": 783051088, "item_id": 48940693, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940693", "by": "okanat", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "its buyer protection is one of the significant reasons that I keep using Paypal for online payments.", "excerpt": "Indeed. My primary issue is requiring a Google or Apple blessed phone for the protocol that is supposed to replace the American alternative with the EU one. If they push strongly the American duopoly, I'd rather use the American monopoly that gives me the better ergonomics and less friction. Yes I do get a TOTP request every now and then, but I have options like authenticator apps, SMSes, passkeys with Paypal. With W", "context": "buys from independent sellers in the EU", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}, {"id": 782848945, "item_id": 48928059, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48928059", "by": "tempest_", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I hate paypal.", "excerpt": "I remember about 10 years ago I switched our billing / subscription code from paypal to braintree. Braintree was better than paypal but that wasnt saying much. Then paypal bought Braintree and started fucking around with it, asking for conference calls because they wanted us off one of their old flows so they could get us on webhooks that preformed worse and were a pain to implement. Anyway we switched to stripe. Don", "context": "", "use_case": "billing / subscriptions", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}, {"id": 782804656, "item_id": 48925291, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48925291", "by": "nozzlegear", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there", "excerpt": "If I'm buying something from a website and they don't offer Apple Pay, I'll opt for PayPal instead since I already have my credit/debit cards saved there and don't want to hand over numbers to a random website. Also, when I used to do more freelancing, all of my clients preferred to be invoiced and pay through PayPal (who skimmed a decent chunk of change off the top). Not sure if either of those reasons would be what", "context": "American, former freelancer", "use_case": "online checkout and freelance invoicing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53B"}, {"id": 782737458, "item_id": 48921091, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921091", "by": "MrBuddyCasino", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Paypal: pegs a core", "excerpt": "Google Ai studio: pegs a core Opencode: pegs a core Paypal: pegs a core Chatgpt: pegs a core", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is it just me, or is software buggier across the board?"}, {"id": 782726230, "item_id": 48920389, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48920389", "by": "ddyy", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Payments are optional and handled through Stripe or Paypal hosted checkout", "excerpt": "Hi HN, The invoicing SaaS I was using to bill my clients raised its credit card processing fee to 6.9% for free accounts (4% on top of Stripe's 2.9% + 30c fee), so I decided to build my own to fit my minimal needs, hence I called it Minvoice. It runs on Cloudflare Workers + D1 for DB, it should easily be within their free tier for most use cases. The application is built on Hono server-rendered JSX with no client fra", "context": "", "use_case": "payment processing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Minvoice \u2013 invoicing app that runs on Cloudflare Workers and D1"}, {"id": 778080064, "item_id": 48630004, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48630004", "by": "BeetleB", "date": "2026-06-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Paypal wherever supported.", "excerpt": "> You literally provide your name, email address, address and credit card number when you create an account and subscribe. I don't recall Anthropic's payment systems, but I use Paypal wherever supported. I don't think Paypal sends my address, but am not sure. I'm pretty sure they don't send the CC information. And often, not even the name (e.g. have often had people use my CC to buy stuff (with my permission)). Also,", "context": "", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Anthropic to Require ID Verification for Certain Capabilities Starting July 8"}, {"id": 756025633, "item_id": 47251602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251602", "by": "EdwSgo", "date": "2026-03-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "so I used PayPal for this project", "excerpt": "Hi , a few days ago I launched Odyr AI, a marketplace for people to create amazing things with no-code tools and more. Unlike other platforms, \u00d3d\u00fdr lets creators get paid instantly. Stripe isn't available in my country, and platforms like Lemon Squeezy or Paddle didn't accept me, so I used PayPal for this project. I'd love for you to take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!", "context": "Stripe isn't available in their country", "use_case": "payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Marketplace for AI Builders"}, {"id": 751389473, "item_id": 46961842, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46961842", "by": "mzajc", "date": "2026-02-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Is it really just PayPal left offering a sane online payment service?", "excerpt": "Can I use it without installing their software on my smartphone? Question is rhetorical - of course not, and your smartphone also needs to pass Google's or Apple's remote attestation schemes. Good riddance. Is it really just PayPal left offering a sane online payment service? --- From https://support.wero-wallet.eu/hc/en-us/articles/25599074240401-What-devices-support-the-Wero-app: > It is not possible to use Wero vi", "context": "", "use_case": "online payments", "switched_from": "", "story": "Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun"}]}