PayPal vs Stripe:Which is more popular by branded search?
In August 2026, Stripe had more branded searches than PayPal among online payment platforms worldwide. Stripe was estimated to have 3.1M branded searches compared to PayPal’s 161K, and held an 80.5% Share of Search versus PayPal’s 4.2%. Worldwide · English terms: these are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms.
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Which is more popular in search, PayPal or Stripe?
Compare payment platforms that let businesses accept online and in-person card, wallet, and bank payments, measured through worldwide English-language branded search demand. 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.
Share of Search by month for Stripe, PayPal. The figures are in the table below the chart.
View monthly share of search table
| Month | Stripe | Airwallex | Adyen | PayPal | GoCardless | Braintree | Mollie | Checkout.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 81.1% | 3.7% | 4.7% | 6% | 3.8% | 0.19% | 0.38% | 0.19% |
| Nov 2025 | 81.7% | 3.8% | 3.9% | 6% | 3.9% | 0.21% | 0.39% | 0.19% |
| Dec 2025 | 77.4% | 6.3% | 5.3% | 5.9% | 4.3% | 0.21% | 0.44% | 0.18% |
| Jan 2026 | 79.1% | 5.4% | 4.5% | 5.7% | 4.5% | 0.2% | 0.38% | 0.18% |
| Feb 2026 | 79.1% | 5.3% | 5.4% | 4.9% | 4.5% | 0.2% | 0.37% | 0.18% |
| Mar 2026 | 82.7% | 4.6% | 3.9% | 4.2% | 3.9% | 0.18% | 0.32% | 0.16% |
| Apr 2026 | 80.6% | 5.4% | 4.6% | 4.9% | 3.8% | 0.2% | 0.33% | 0.16% |
| May 2026 | 80.7% | 5.4% | 4.6% | 4.9% | 3.8% | 0.18% | 0.33% | 0.15% |
| Jun 2026 | 80% | 5.3% | 5.4% | 4.9% | 3.7% | 0.18% | 0.32% | 0.18% |
| Jul 2026 | 81.3% | 5.5% | 3.8% | 5% | 3.8% | 0.17% | 0.33% | 0.19% |
| Aug 2026 | 80.5% | 5.4% | 4.6% | 4.2% | 3.7% | 0.99% | 0.33% | 0.18% |
| Sep 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
How has the PayPal and Stripe comparison changed over the last 12 months?
3 findings
- Stripe was ahead of PayPal in every measured month of the 11 months ending August 2026.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, PayPal’s estimated Share of Search among online payment platforms worldwide moved from 6% to 4.2%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 225K to 161K.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Stripe’s estimated Share of Search among online payment platforms worldwide moved from 81.1% to 80.5%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 3M to 3.1M.
How did search popularity change for online payment platforms worldwide in August 2026?
3 changes
In August 2026, Adyen overtook PayPal to rank 3rd among online payment platforms worldwide, at 4.6%.
In August 2026, PayPal lost estimated Share of Search among online payment platforms worldwide, from 5% to 4.2%.
In August 2026, Stripe lost estimated Share of Search among online payment platforms worldwide, from 81.3% to 80.5%.
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
23 branded search terms
- paypal business
- paypal business account
- paypal business account charges
- paypal business account cost
- paypal business account fees
- paypal business account price
- paypal business app
- paypal business charges
- paypal business cost
- paypal business fees
- paypal checkout
- paypal commercial account
- paypal company account
- paypal corporate account
- paypal express checkout
- paypal for business
- paypal for company
- paypal merchant
- paypal merchant account
- paypal merchant services
- paypal payment processing
- paypal payments
- paypal to business account
Stripe
97 branded search terms
- ach fees stripe
- apple pay with stripe
- billing stripe
- charge for stripe
- check out stripe
- checkout stripe
- checkoutstripe
- connect pricing stripe
- connected accounts stripe
- creating a stripe account
- direct debit stripe
- fees for stripe
- instant payouts stripe
- new stripe account
- payment stripe
- payments stripe
- platform stripe
- secure payment by stripe
- set up stripe
- set up stripe account
- split payment stripe
- stripe
- stripe account
- stripe ach fees
- stripe ach payments
- stripe ach pricing
- stripe atlas
- stripe billing
- stripe billing pricing
- stripe business
- stripe business account
- stripe cc processing
- stripe charge fee
- stripe charges
- stripe connect
- stripe connect charges
- stripe connect fees
- stripe connect pricing
- stripe connected account
- stripe connected accounts
- stripe costs
- stripe direct debit
- stripe ecommerce
- stripe fees
- stripe fees per transaction
- stripe for international payments
- stripe for small business
- stripe gateway
- stripe hosted checkout
- stripe instant payouts
- stripe international payments
- stripe invoicing
- stripe invoicing fees
- stripe issuing
- stripe marketplace
- stripe merchant
- stripe merchant account
- stripe merchant fees
- stripe merchant of record
- stripe merchant services
- stripe nonprofit pricing
- stripe online payments
- stripe pay
- stripe pay by bank
- stripe payment
- stripe payment app
- stripe payment charges
- stripe payment company
- stripe payment cost
- stripe payment fees
- stripe payment gateway
- stripe payment gateway charges
- stripe payment gateway fees
- stripe payment platform
- stripe payment processing
- stripe payment processing fees
- stripe payment services
- stripe payment terminal
- stripe payments
- stripe payments company
- stripe payments processing
- stripe payouts
- stripe platform
- stripe pricing
- stripe processing
- stripe processing fees
- stripe recurring payments
- stripe secure payment
- stripe split payments
- stripe subscription
- stripe subscription management
- stripe terminal
- stripe transaction charges
- stripe transaction fee
- stripe usage based billing
- stripe website
- terminal stripe
Put your own brand in this comparison
Brandwave tracks your branded demand next to the rival you actually watch, with your campaigns, spend and outcomes on the same timeline.