Authorize.net vs. PayPal Payments Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Authorize.net
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Authorize.net is a payment gateway software solution offered by Visa featuring secure data processing and fraud protection.
$25
monthly gateway
PayPal Payments Pro
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
PayPal Payments Pro is an enterprise-class ecommerce payment solution, that provides payment processing security to build a professional-grade ecommerce site. It can be configured to meet business needs and works across devices. Users can tap into over 390 million active customer accounts around the globe.
$0.02
per transaction
Pricing
Authorize.netPayPal Payments Pro
Editions & Modules
All-in-One Option
25 & 2.9% + $0.30
monthly gateway/per transaction
Payment Gateway Only
$25
monthly gateway
QR code Transactions
1.90% + fixed fee
per transaction
Charity Transactions
2.20% + fixed fee
per transaction
Commercial Transactions - In-Store
2.70% + fixed fee
per transaction
Commercial Transactions - Online
2.90% + fixed fee
per transaction
PayPal's pay later offers
2.90% + fixed fee
per transaction
Venmo
2.90% + fixed fee
per transaction
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Authorize.netPayPal Payments Pro
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Authorize.netPayPal Payments Pro
User Ratings
Authorize.netPayPal Payments Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(0 ratings)
2.3
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Authorize.netPayPal Payments Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
Authorize.net is reliable and I feel confident that customers' information is protected. The security protocols used by Authorize.net appear to be as good, and probably better than many credit card payment processors. However, the initial setup process was very difficult. I distinctly recall getting up and running as being very cumbersome and time-consuming. I also was disappointed with how the processing and deposit of payments were not consistent. I distinctly remember regretting the decision to go with Authorize.net. However, as mentioned before, with the time and effort required to get the account set up and running, I refused to go through the process again and try a different provider.
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Paypal is great for personal payments as well as business payments for ecommerce of for paying monthly memberships. It is a user friendly software that needs little expertise to get used to. For larger payments, the fees become high therefore it is more suitable for payments of upto few hundred dollars.
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Pros
  • All payments are automatically sent straight into bank account almost instantly!
  • Is a reliable and secure payment processing company with robust security protocols to help against chargebacks.
  • It has very good compatibility with wordpress plugins such as woo-commerce or gravity forms.
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  • You can Keep track of transactions and conform accounts daily
  • Require users set strong passwords
  • PayPal Payments also comes with an encryption feature that protects our customer’s and our data to the highest possible standard of security.
  • Like its desktop version, PayPal Payments has a mobile application that is super easy to operate.
  • PayPal Payments is extremely user-friendly and easy to use and comes up with a Great user interface.
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Cons
  • The lack of data portability is a big issue for me.
  • Authorize.net uses the same $49.00 gateway setup fee to scam merchants out of money, which is no better than any of the other gateways out there.
  • Their customer service is not up to the mark. You can get stuck if you need any help from their end.
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  • Sometimes the UX flow would not deliver the customer back to our site, leaving orders in limbo "Pre-approved" status. The customer would call days later asking why we hadn't shipped it.
  • The PayPal logo on the checkout page can be kind of large and obtrusive.
  • They mention new features and programs on their login page, but it's hard to find any details on them deeper in the software.
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Likelihood to Renew
Authorize.net has been a useful system for our Chamber. We appreciate the ease of use and access to our Main Frame. Connecting Authorize.net to our system for membership, event and other payment ease has been excellent and we have experienced no problems whatsoever.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
Except for some of the back of the house issues with settings the overall usability was great
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I have no experience directly with the support offered by Authorize.Net.
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Customer service representatives were unable to explain why customer in Australia were unable to make payments using our link. It turned out that customers in Australia must create an account. PayPal's user interface did not reveal this to our customers in Australia. There was plenty about this issue appearing in online forums and PayPal customer service couldn't explain this. This change in PayPal's usability happened between April and May of 2021 and was done without notice to vendors (like us).
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Alternatives Considered
We had previously used SAGE and Transaction Express. We've also explored Stripe, Amazon Pay, and Apple Pay as parallel payment options. In every situation, Authnet has better rates with fewer strings attached. It has also proven to have a significantly rich API which is a must-have for any solution we implement.
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For us, TransferWise was a very good option to be able to send and receive payments, it is a very reliable system and allowed our employees to receive payroll money safely, however, the reason we prefer PayPal Payments is because offers us a more instantaneous receipt of money, TransferWise made us wait several days for payments to be completed, we had to wait a long time for our employees to receive the money we sent them. PayPal Payments is very different, payments are completed instantly, the only delay is the one that is placed with the freezing of funds when sending money to a new employee.
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Return on Investment
  • Lets us charge cards so we can get paid on time, every time.
  • It was very difficult to setup the DocuSign integration the first time, but after we got it setup, it's made the onboarding process very easy. That probably saves about 30 minutes every time we get a new client.
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  • In the past year we've lost a couple hundred dollars due to cancelled payment agreements
  • Due to the large percentage who choose PayPal Payments, it's brought in thousands in sales that may have been abandoned otherwise
  • Customers trust PayPal Payments and some feel more comfortable with it rather than putting in their credit card info. It's allowed purchasers who otherwise wouldn't have bought to purchase with the security of not having to enter sensitive payment info.
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