Venmo vs PayPal for Business: Which is best?

As an online or in-store business, having your customer’s prefered payment options is essential for making sales.

Venmo and PayPal are two payment processing platforms for small and medium sized businesses. PayPal owns Venmo, but there are some large differences between the two providers.

In this article, we’re putting the two side-by-side in a Venmo vs PayPal for business comparison.

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Venmo vs PayPal for Business: Quick overview

Here’s a quick side-by-side comparison of Venmo for Business vs PayPal.

Venmo for Business vs PayPal key features

Let’s now take a look at the key features of PayPal vs Venmo for small business.

Venmo for Business

Venmo started out in 2009 as a simple peer-to-peer payment app. In 2012, PayPal acquired Venmo and as of 2020, Venmo now offers business profiles for its users.⁷ ⁸

In 2021, Venmo had a total payment processing volume of $230 billion, with over 70 million customers.⁶

Whether you have a side gig or are a registered small business, Venmo’s business profile allows you to accept payments while benefiting from the social aspect of the app.

Users send money using either their balance, or from a connected card or bank account. At its basic level, it’s designed for two parties to send money between one another.⁹

You can create a business profile free of charge with Venmo, and link it to your personal profile. After that, customers can pay you just like a friend, through the Venmo app.

If you run a small arts and craft business, for example, accepting payments through Venmo makes it convenient for your customers. Venmo Business also allows tipping when your customers make a payment.

You can promote your business through the Venmo social feed, as well as add photos and website links to your account. Similarly, in-store retailers can now offer Venmo as a payment option with scannable, touch-free payment QR codes.¹⁰

A Venmo Business profile is restricted to one user, and has a maximum weekly transaction limit of $25,000 USD with a verified account. It also offers a maximum weekly bank transfer limit of $49,999.99 USD and a single instant transfer limit of $10,000 USD to your debit card.⁴

PayPal for Business

PayPal serves over 400 million active customers worldwide.¹¹ This makes it one of the most trusted names in the payment processing industry. So offering it at your checkout can help you reach a broader range of customers.

Just like Venmo, PayPal allows you to accept payments online and in-store. Customers can send money from a connected bank account or card, or from their** in-app balance**. PayPal is geared toward ecommerce. Specifically, it’s designed to act as a payment gateway.

PayPal gives your customers flexibility. They can pay with credit and debit cards, Venmo, or with PayPal’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options: “Pay in 4” and “Pay Monthly”.¹² On top of this, PayPal supports customers in up to 200 countries and across 25 currencies.³

In addition, with PayPal Zettle, your business has access to point of sale (POS) technologies.¹³ These POS systems can integrate with accounting software, such as QuickBooks, to simplify financial management.¹⁴

If your account is unverified, the PayPal Business transfer limit is restricted to sending $4,000 USD per transaction. With a verified PayPal account, you can send up to $60,000 in one transaction, although you may be limited to $10,000 - depending on the currency. There is no daily limit with PayPal.⁵

Venmo vs PayPal Business customer service

Venmo has a help center for customer queries and problems.¹⁵ In addition, they have an online form to fill out for specific problems, a web page chatbot, and offer customer support via their app.

They also have a dedicated customer support email address for business profiles and debit card inquiries, and a dedicated phone line for credit card problems.¹⁶

PayPal customer support can be reached via email or phone. They also have a community forum and large FAQ section on their website for dealing with queries.¹⁷

PayPal vs Venmo for Business fees

PayPal’s fee system can look complex, as different fees apply for every transaction type. The fees listed below are just some of the most common ones. In every case, the “fixed fee” varies with what currency is being used.

In comparison, Venmo fees are straightforward and somewhat cheaper.

So let’s now take a look at the fees of PayPal vs Venmo for business.

Which is better: Venmo or PayPal for business?

When comparing trustpilot user reviews, PayPal scores 1.7 and Venmo gets 1.2 out of 5 - putting them on a similar level.²⁰ ²¹ Both companies receive poor reviews for their lack of customer support and sudden account closures.

That said, reviews from the buyer’s perspective are overall positive, rating PayPal’s and Venmo’s ease of use.

In the end, the Venmo vs PayPal for business discussion comes down to your individual needs.

When looking at Venmo vs PayPal for small business, the vote sways towards Venmo. If you’re a small business, or simply have a side gig, a Venmo business profile is a convenient way to get paid. The higher transaction fees of PayPal might make doing business difficult for a small operation.

On the other hand, PayPal does have a wider range of features on offer, as well as higher transaction limits. If you need to send or receive international transfers, then PayPal is the clear choice of the two, as this is not possible with Venmo. It may not be the best choice for your business, however.

Cut the cost of running your business with Wise

If you have an international business, then you may want to consider using Wise Business.

Wise is a safe and low-cost way to make business banking easier. You can send payments around the World at the real mid-market rate, and get paid like a local with no PayPal cross border fees to worry about.

Sending business payments is also up to 19x cheaper than with PayPal.

There are no monthly subscription fees, and you have access to a host of tools to help manage your business finances.

Get a Wise Business account today

Whether you need to pay your suppliers in China, or receive money from Amazon - Wise has you covered.

All sources checked November 23, 2022.