Payment Gateway Fees for Event Tickets: Stripe vs PayPal vs Square (2026)
If you sell tickets through a self-hosted, zero-commission plugin like Venuera, there is no platform service fee skimming each sale. That changes the cost question entirely. Your only variable cost per ticket is what your payment gateway charges — so the gateway you pick is your ticketing fee. The obvious next question: which one is actually cheapest?
We pulled the current published US online rates for four gateways commonly used with WooCommerce — Stripe, PayPal, Square and WooPayments — and modeled the real effective cost at four ticket prices. The headline percentages on the pricing pages turn out to be the least useful number for ticket sellers. Here is the data and the math behind it.
Why the gateway is your biggest cost lever
Venuera’s core is free and takes 0% commission. Tickets are standard WooCommerce products, and Venuera creates each attendee’s QR-coded ticket once a WooCommerce order reaches Processing or Completed. Because checkout runs through WooCommerce, you can use any WooCommerce-compatible gateway — and you can enable several at once.
That architecture is exactly why the gateway matters so much. On a hosted marketplace, a platform fee plus a payment fee can stack into double-digit percentages (see our six-platform fee comparison and Eventbrite fee breakdown for the details). Remove the platform cut and the gateway is all that is left. Shaving half a percent off it flows straight to your bottom line.
The published rates (June 2026)
Every figure below is the provider’s standard US rate for online, domestic consumer-card payments, taken from each company’s own pricing documentation:
- Stripe — 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card charge, no monthly fee (stripe.com/pricing).
- WooPayments — 2.9% + $0.30 for US cards, no monthly fee; it is powered by Stripe under the hood (woocommerce.com).
- PayPal — 3.49% + $0.49 for its branded PayPal Checkout (wallet button), or 2.99% + $0.49 for guest debit/credit card payments (paypal.com business fees).
- Square — 2.9% + $0.30 online, but only on the paid Plus plan ($49/month). On the free plan, Square raised its online rate to 3.3% + $0.30 in January 2026 (squareup.com/pricing).
Two things already stand out. PayPal carries a higher fixed fee ($0.49 versus $0.30). And Square’s “2.9%” now comes with a $49 monthly subscription unless you accept the higher 3.3% free-plan rate.
Effective fee by ticket price
The headline rate hides the part that hurts: the fixed per-transaction fee. To compare gateways honestly, we calculate the effective fee — total fee as a percentage of the ticket price — using a simple, reproducible formula:
effective fee % = (rate × price + fixed fee) ÷ price
Applied across $10, $25, $50 and $100 tickets, the picture looks like this:
| Gateway (US online) | Headline rate | Monthly | $10 | $25 | $50 | $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 2.9% + $0.30 | $0 | 5.9% | 4.1% | 3.5% | 3.2% |
| WooPayments | 2.9% + $0.30 | $0 | 5.9% | 4.1% | 3.5% | 3.2% |
| PayPal – branded checkout | 3.49% + $0.49 | $0 | 8.4% | 5.5% | 4.5% | 4.0% |
| PayPal – guest card | 2.99% + $0.49 | $0 | 7.9% | 4.9% | 4.0% | 3.5% |
| Square – Free plan | 3.3% + $0.30 | $0 | 6.3% | 4.5% | 3.9% | 3.6% |
| Square – Plus plan | 2.9% + $0.30 | $49/mo | 5.9% | 4.1% | 3.5% | 3.2% |
Why a $10 ticket costs nearly double the rate of a $100 ticket
Look at Stripe: 5.9% on a $10 ticket but 3.2% on a $100 ticket — same gateway, same headline rate. The difference is entirely the $0.30 fixed fee. On a cheap ticket that flat charge is a large slice of the price; on an expensive one it is rounding error. This is the single most important takeaway for ticket sellers: the lower your ticket price, the more the fixed fee dominates, and the more a gateway with a $0.49 fixed fee (PayPal) stings compared with a $0.30 one.
It is also why blended platform-fee math can mislead. If you sell mostly $10–$15 tickets, the percentage rate barely matters; the per-transaction fee is your real cost. If you sell $80 VIP passes, the percentage is what counts. Knowing your average ticket price tells you which column of the table to read — and our guide to pricing event tickets can help you set it deliberately.
What 1,000 tickets actually costs
Percentages are abstract, so model a concrete on-sale: 1,000 tickets at $25 each, $25,000 gross. Multiplying each gateway’s per-ticket fee by 1,000 (and adding one month of Square’s Plus subscription where it applies) gives the total you would hand the processor:
- Stripe / WooPayments: $1,025
- Square Plus (incl. $49 subscription): $1,074
- Square Free plan: $1,125
- PayPal guest card: $1,237.50
- PayPal branded checkout: $1,362.50
Same event, same gross revenue, same 1,000 buyers — yet a $337.50 spread between the cheapest and most expensive option, purely from the gateway. For a small organizer that is a real chunk of margin, and none of it touches your ticket price or your attendees’ experience.
The pragmatic move that WooCommerce makes possible: offer more than one. Many buyers actively prefer the one-tap PayPal wallet and will convert better with it available, even though it is the priciest per transaction. Enabling Stripe (or WooPayments) for cards and PayPal for wallet users lets shoppers self-select, so you capture the conversion without forcing every sale onto your most expensive rail.
Sources & methodology
Effective fees were calculated as (rate × price + fixed fee) ÷ price and rounded to one decimal place. Rates are each provider’s standard published US rate for online, domestic consumer-card transactions as of June 2026: Stripe and WooPayments at 2.9% + $0.30; PayPal at 3.49% + $0.49 (branded checkout) and 2.99% + $0.49 (guest card); Square at 2.9% + $0.30 (Plus plan) and 3.3% + $0.30 (free plan). Figures exclude international-card surcharges (Stripe and WooPayments add 1.5%), currency conversion (about 1%), chargeback/dispute costs (Stripe $15 each) and any optional add-on products, and assume one transaction per ticket. Pricing and plan structures change frequently, so confirm the current numbers on each provider’s page before deciding. This analysis is independent and not endorsed by any gateway named.
Keep 100% of your ticket revenue minus the gateway
Venuera adds 0% commission on top of whatever gateway you choose — so the rates above are the whole cost of selling a ticket, not the platform’s cut on top of it. Free core, built on WooCommerce, your data stays yours.
Frequently asked questions
Which payment gateway is cheapest for selling event tickets?
In our June 2026 model, Stripe and WooPayments (2.9% + $0.30) are lowest at every ticket price tested. Square matches them only on its paid Plus plan, which adds $49 a month. PayPal’s branded checkout is the most expensive because of its 3.49% + $0.49 rate. The best choice depends on your average ticket price and which payment methods your buyers expect.
Does Venuera charge a fee on top of my payment gateway?
No. Venuera’s core is free and takes 0% commission. Tickets are standard WooCommerce products, so your only transaction cost is whatever your chosen WooCommerce gateway charges. There is no per-ticket platform fee added on top.
Why does a $10 ticket cost a higher percentage than a $100 ticket?
Every transaction carries a fixed fee of $0.30 to $0.49 on top of the percentage rate. On a $10 ticket that flat fee is a large share of the price, pushing the effective rate up; on a $100 ticket it is negligible. Lower-priced tickets always have a higher effective fee.
Can I offer more than one payment gateway at checkout?
Yes. Because Venuera tickets check out through WooCommerce, you can enable several gateways at once — for example Stripe for cards and PayPal for wallet users — and let buyers choose. Published rates and plans change, so confirm current pricing on each provider’s page before deciding.