First, PayPal Pro turned out to be a real nightmare. I’m actually still waiting on PayPal to “grant me access” to the account that I tried to set up. I was going to use PayPal Pro’s “recurring payment” option too, which opened another can of worms. After speaking with a few of PayPal’s tech support agents, I learned that PayPal Pro has a V2 and V3 variation. They started using technical jargon, telling me about DPRP vs. Payflow Pro, different monthly charges based on whether I was on a V2 or V3 account, and other noise.
My solution was to open a Stripe account, which I did while I was on hold with PayPal. I was actually able to activate my Stripe account, connect it to my business checking account, and generate API keys to use on my website... all in a matter of minutes. Stripe’s fees are simpler, too. No monthly fees - just pay as you go. And Stripe's transaction fees are comparable.
Last, the Stripe API is much more powerful than PayPal’s API. For example, I can allow a client to keep a credit card on file in Stripe’s system, and then update the card on file from my website. PayPal doesn’t even offer this capability; the only way to do this with PayPal would be for a client to call me and I manually enter their new card into PayPal.
