Cash App vs Venmo: your comparative guide

There are numerous online payments and money transfer solutions on the market today. While many users may want to know which is the cheapest, the best option often goes beyond affordability.

Venmo and Cash App are amongst the standout services and in this article we’re going to explore the variations in their fees, limits, peer-to-peer payment capabilities, debit cards and business needs.

Venmo vs. Cash App: overview

Venmo and Cash App both have an assortment of features, some of which overlap, while others set them apart. Let’s compare their major offerings below:

As you can see, both Venmo and Cash App offer a lot of relevant financial features. If you’re still wondering which is the best option for you, continue reading for a full service breakdown.

Venmo vs. Cash App: a service breakdown

Venmo is a mobile payment service that focuses on money transfer, largely enhanced by a social networking type of experience. On the other hand, Cash App is a platform that, besides offering the option to send and receive money, allows you to make investments.

Let’s take a closer look at how their primary services fare against each other:

Fees and limits

There are a number of actions in the realm of account maintenance and transacting, for which Venmo doesn’t charge any fees. These include account setup, monthly fee, transfers from a bank account to the Venmo account, standard electronic withdrawal, online purchases and more.

In that respect, Venmo doesn’t charge for sending money to people using your Venmo account balance, debit card or bank account. Venmo also doesn’t charge for receiving money from other Venmo users into your Venmo account, receiving a refund from a seller or receiving money using Direct Deposit.

However, the platform does charge a fee for adding money using the cash-a-check feature, which ranges from 1-5% depending on the processing type. When sending money using credit cards, a 3% charge is also applicable³.

Additionally, Venmo charges 1% on instant electronic withdrawals, in this case, the minimum being 0.25 USD and the maximum being 10 USD. There’s also a fee of 10 USD or 5% of each cash advance depending on which amount is greater.

Lastly, for the business account users, there’s a standard non-refundable fee of 1.9% plus 0.10 USD on every seller transaction. On the other hand, when a Venmo user pays a business with a credit card, the 3% fee isn’t subtracted. Venmo has no annual or foreign transaction fee⁴.

Now, when talking about Cash App, you’re charged a 2% fee for using their cards at an ATM. Have in mind that this doesn’t include the eventual charges by ATM providers. If you’ve received qualifying direct deposits totaling 300 USD or more, Cash App will reimburse fees on three ATM withdrawals every 31 days, and up to 7 USD in fees per operation⁵.

As for Bitcoin transactions, Cash App charges two types of fees: a service tariff and an extra fee influenced by the volatility across US exchanges⁶.

When it comes to international payments, Cash App can be used to send money between the US and UK with no fees involved. The amount will be converted at the mid-market rate of the moment the operation takes place⁷.

Register now and start saving

Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

Cash App doesn’t charge any fees for opening investment accounts. You’re also not required to maintain a minimum balance or pay commission. Additionally, Cash App doesn’t charge any fees per trade but there might be some charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These are displayed before a trade confirmation⁸.

Lastly, when it comes to the business account, Cash App has a fee of 2.75% on each transaction⁹.

As per limits, Venmo has a per-transaction limit of 4,999.99 USD for person-to-person payments, and 2,999.99 USD for both authorized merchant payments and debit card purchases. There’s also a maximum weekly spending limit of 4,999.99 USD on personal payments, and 6,999.99 USD for both authorized merchant payments and debit card purchases¹⁰.

When it comes to Cash App, you can send up to 250 USD within seven days and receive up to 1,000 USD within 30 days. These limits can be increased when you verify your account¹¹.

Peer to peer payments

Both Cash App and Venmo allow you to send and receive money from someone else. Below you can find a detailed breakdown of how their services compare regarding payment options and receiving money:

In both platforms, when you receive a payment into the balance, you can use it to pay other users or transfer the money out of it to another account.

Debit cards

Both Venmo and Cash App offer a physical debit card. With Venmo, the debit card is powered by MasterCard and usable in the US and US territories. You can order your card for free, and use it for both online and in person payments. Whenever you use your card, the amount will be deducted directly from your Venmo account¹⁴, you can also turn on the reload option, which will enable an automatic top-up from a linked bank account¹⁵.

Cash App issues the debit Cash Card, which is powered by Visa. It uses the money in your Cash App balance and can also be linked to Apple Pay and Google Pay so you can use it to make purchases. The issuance of the card is free, but there’s also a premium feature which allows customization, such as changing the color and adding emojis¹⁶.

In case you need to send money internationally — a service which isn’t offered by either Cash App or Venmo — you should try out Wise.

Save on international payments

*Transaction speed claimed depends on individual circumstances and may not be available for all transactions

Business features

Venmo offers a business account that can be set up as a sole owner or a registered business. There is a free trial period of 30 days during which you are not charged any fees on seller transactions. The account also comes with some other business-related features like enhanced payments, tax reporting and disputes services¹⁷.

Cash App is also available for business¹⁸. The platform can be used for selling products or services. If you opt for a business account, Cash App will turn your account into a Square one, as the service’s parent company is the one processing the payments. An icon will be displayed on your profile to show that you’re using it to receive business related payments⁹ .

Venmo vs. Cash App: main differences

One of the major differences here is that Cash App allows users to invest in stocks, a feature that Venmo doesn’t offer.

Additionally, Cash App is available in both the US and UK, with international payments between these two countries available, while Venmo is only available in the US.

It is worth noting that the charge on seller transactions for a Cash App business account are significantly higher than those on a Venmo business profile.

Venmo has unique social payment features like sharing and emojis, which Cash App doesn’t offer.

Ultimately, both Cash App and Venmo do a good job at enabling people to send and receive money, or even hold it in an online wallet instead of a bank. However, they are both limited when it comes to international transactions, and it helps to have an alternative like Wise.