--- title: "PayPal vs Stripe: Which is searched more?" description: "Is PayPal or Stripe more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Payment gateways set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/payment-gateways/compare/paypal-vs-stripe" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # PayPal vs Stripe: Which is searched more? Is PayPal or Stripe more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Payment gateways set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Compared**: PayPal and Stripe - **Competitive set**: Payment gateways - **Market**: Global - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **PayPal Share of Search**: 86.3% - **Stripe Share of Search**: 12.4% ## Is PayPal or Stripe more popular in search? - In September 2026, PayPal had more branded searches than Stripe among payment gateways worldwide. PayPal had about 20.4 million branded searches, while Stripe had 2.9 million. PayPal made up 86.3% of all payment gateway searches we track, and Stripe accounted for 12.4%. - PayPal was ahead of Stripe in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, PayPal’s share of searches among payment gateways worldwide moved from 88.4% to 86.3%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 24.9M to 20.4M. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Stripe’s share of searches among payment gateways worldwide moved from 10.5% to 12.4%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 3M to 2.9M. ## Top payment gateways in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, both PayPal and Stripe showed up in all five answers. Stripe was listed before PayPal in every answer. Brands get a higher AI rank if they are mentioned earlier in the answers that list options. | Brand | AI rank | ChatGPT answers that named it | Google AI Overviews that named it | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Stripe | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | PayPal | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | Square | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Authorize.net | 4th | 0 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 5 | | Helcim | 5th | 1 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 2 of 5 | | Adyen | 6th | 2 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 2 of 5 | | Braintree | 7th | 0 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 5 | | Worldpay | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 0 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about payment gateways - Asked ChatGPT "Which payment gateway should I use?": 1. Stripe, 2. PayPal, 3. Square - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best payment gateways?": 1. Stripe, 2. PayPal, 3. Square, 4. Adyen, 5. Helcim - Asked ChatGPT "What's the best payment gateway for online card payments?": 1. Stripe, 2. PayPal, 3. Square, 4. Adyen - Searched Google, AI Overview "payment gateway": 1. Stripe, 2. Square, 3. Helcim, 4. PayPal - Searched Google, AI Overview "online payment gateway": 1. Stripe, 2. Authorize.net, 3. PayPal, 4. Braintree Not named in any answer: Worldpay. Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in the United States on October 21, 2026. ## How did search popularity change for payment gateways worldwide in September 2026? - Estimated monthly branded searches for PayPal worldwide fell 18.1% over 12 measured months, from 24.9M to 20.4M in September 2026. ## Month by month | Month | PayPal estimated searches | PayPal Share of Search | PayPal rank | Stripe estimated searches | Stripe Share of Search | Stripe rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 24.9M | 88.4% | 1 | 3M | 10.5% | 2 | | Nov 2025 | 24.9M | 88.6% | 1 | 2.9M | 10.5% | 2 | | Dec 2025 | 24.9M | 90.2% | 1 | 2.4M | 8.9% | 2 | | Jan 2026 | 24.9M | 88.5% | 1 | 3M | 10.5% | 2 | | Feb 2026 | 20.4M | 86.1% | 1 | 3M | 12.5% | 2 | | Mar 2026 | 20.4M | 83.9% | 1 | 3.6M | 14.9% | 2 | | Apr 2026 | 20.4M | 86.2% | 1 | 3M | 12.6% | 2 | | May 2026 | 20.4M | 86.2% | 1 | 3M | 12.6% | 2 | | Jun 2026 | 20.4M | 85.9% | 1 | 3M | 12.7% | 2 | | Jul 2026 | 20.4M | 86.3% | 1 | 3M | 12.6% | 2 | | Aug 2026 | 20.4M | 86.1% | 1 | 3M | 12.6% | 2 | | Sep 2026 | 20.4M | 86.3% | 1 | 2.9M | 12.4% | 2 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using PayPal’s and Stripe’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **PayPal**: Measured on the search term “paypal”. - **Stripe**: Measured on the search terms “billing stripe”, “charge for stripe”, “check out stripe”, “checkout stripe”, “checkoutstripe”, “direct debit stripe”, “fees for stripe”, “instant payouts stripe”, “payment stripe”, “payments stripe”, “set up stripe”, “stripe”, “stripe ach payments”, “stripe atlas”, “stripe billing”, “stripe business”, “stripe cc processing”, “stripe charge fee”, “stripe charges”, “stripe connect”, “stripe direct debit”, “stripe fees”, “stripe invoicing”, “stripe issuing”, “stripe merchant services”, “stripe pay”, “stripe payment”, “stripe payment app”, “stripe payment company”, “stripe payment gateway”, “stripe payment processing”, “stripe payment services”, “stripe payments”, “stripe payments company”, “stripe payments processing”, “stripe processing fees”, “stripe recurring payments”, “stripe terminal”, “stripe transaction charges”, “stripe transaction fee” and “terminal stripe”, summed into one figure. - [PayPal profile](/demand/global-en/brands/paypal) - [Stripe profile](/demand/global-en/brands/stripe) - [All payment gateways worldwide](/demand/global-en/categories/payment-gateways): The set both shares are measured inside, 8 brands. ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is PayPal or Stripe more popular in search? In September 2026, PayPal had more branded searches than Stripe among payment gateways worldwide. PayPal had about 20.4 million branded searches, while Stripe had 2.9 million. PayPal made up 86.3% of all payment gateway searches we track, and Stripe accounted for 12.4%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "PayPal vs Stripe: Which is searched more?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/payment-gateways/compare/paypal-vs-stripe This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/payment-gateways/compare/paypal-vs-stripe. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.