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Most buyers should pick PayPal.
Choose PayPal if you want a public, low-commitment starting point: its Business Standard plan has no monthly maintenance fee, though processing fees apply, and listed paid options start at $5/month. Choose Trustly if your business specifically needs Pay by Bank, recurring bank payments, payouts or Open Banking customer data, and can get a direct quote. Trustly’s merchant pricing is not public, so compare its quote against PayPal’s transaction fees and confirm coverage for your markets before switching.
01Side by side
| PayPal | Trustly | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; paid options from $5/month | Custom quote; no public price |
| Free plan | Yes; no monthly maintenance fee | No free plan listed |
| Best for | Businesses accepting online and in-person payments | Merchants seeking Pay by Bank payments |
| Core strength | Checkout, transfers, savings and shopping | Bank payments, payouts and customer data |
| Learning curve | Not specified in source | Not specified in source |
| Integrations/data | PayPal Checkout and Venmo | Direct API or payment service providers; Open Banking data |
| Team/seat costs | Not published | Not published |
| Support (review score) | 4 | 5 |
PayPal Choose PayPal if
- Choose PayPal if you want a free business plan with published transaction fees.
- Choose PayPal if you accept online and in-person payments.
- Choose PayPal if you also want consumer shopping and money-transfer features.
Trustly Choose Trustly if
- Choose Trustly if you need direct Pay by Bank payments.
- Choose Trustly if recurring bank payments or direct payouts fit your flow.
- Choose Trustly if Open Banking customer data matters and custom pricing works.
02Pricing compared
PayPal’s Business Standard account has no monthly maintenance fee, but processing fees apply: PayPal Checkout and Venmo are listed at 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction, standard card payments at 2.99% + $0.49, and in-person card or QR payments at 2.29% + $0.09. Its listed paid options start at $5/month for Payments Advanced; other plans and add-ons have separate fees. Annual billing prices are not published.
Trustly does not publish merchant pricing. Its pricing page offers a custom quote through direct sales, so there is no public monthly price to compare. Ask Trustly for a quote based on your markets and payment needs, then compare it with the PayPal rates for the methods you expect to use. A no-monthly-fee plan does not mean no processing costs.
03Features and depth
These products solve different payment problems. PayPal is a digital wallet for consumer shopping and money transfers, as well as a business checkout option. Its listed features include online and in-store checkout, a debit card, sending and requesting money (accounts are required to send and receive), and installment options: Pay in 4 or Pay Monthly, subject to approval and availability. It also lists merchant offers, rewards, savings through an account held at Synchrony Bank, and cryptocurrency services; fees and risks apply to crypto.
Trustly is aimed at merchants that want Pay by Bank. Its products include direct bank payments, recurring payments, deposits, payouts to bank accounts across borders in Europe, and customer verification using Open Banking and KYC data. Trustly Azura is described as a data engine designed to speed checkout and improve conversion. The practical distinction is wallet and checkout breadth versus bank-payment and data services—not a like-for-like feature checklist. Confirm which Trustly products and markets fit your use case with its sales team.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The available information does not establish which service is easier for every merchant. PayPal lists several business options, from standard checkout to hosted payment pages, integrated checkout and phone payments. That gives businesses different routes, but you should compare the plan’s fees and setup requirements rather than assume every option works the same way.
Trustly can be integrated directly through its API or accessed through payment service providers. The API route means your technical setup matters; using a provider may change the integration work, but the published information does not specify how. Before switching, confirm integration requirements, supported markets and the payment flows you need with Trustly, then compare them with your current PayPal setup.
Questions people ask
What is a Trustly bank transfer?
It is a payment that lets a customer pay a business directly from a bank account through Trustly’s Pay by Bank service. Trustly also lists recurring payments, deposits and payouts. The published information does not specify transfer timing or fees for an individual merchant; those details should be confirmed with Trustly.
What is the safest online payment platform?
The information available here is not enough to rank PayPal and Trustly for safety. PayPal offers a digital wallet and payment services; Trustly offers bank payments and customer verification using Open Banking and KYC data. Those descriptions are not a security comparison. Check each provider’s security terms and protections for your use case.
Is PayPal still safe in 2026?
The published information does not establish PayPal’s security status in 2026, so we can’t give a safety verdict. It describes PayPal’s payment and wallet features, but not security controls or buyer protections. Review PayPal’s current security and dispute terms directly before relying on the service for a particular transaction.
Is there a downside to using PayPal?
For businesses, transaction fees apply even on the Business Standard account, which has no monthly maintenance fee. Other plans and add-ons can add costs. The review summary also flags dispute concerns, but does not detail specific cases. For personal transfers, both sender and receiver need accounts, according to the published feature information.