Payment Fee Calculator
Enter a payment amount and the processor's fee structure to calculate exactly how much you'll actually receive after fees.
How to Use This Tool
Enter the payment amount
The full amount your client is paying.
Enter the percentage fee
Your payment processor's percentage-based fee.
Enter the fixed fee
Any flat per-transaction fee, if applicable.
Click "Calculate fees"
See the total fee and your actual net amount.
About the Payment Fee Calculator
Most payment processors — PayPal, Stripe, Wise, various freelance platforms — charge a combination of a percentage fee and sometimes a small fixed fee per transaction, and these fees add up meaningfully over the course of a year, especially for freelancers processing many smaller payments.
This calculator applies both fee types to a payment amount, giving you the total fee deducted and the actual net amount you'll receive — useful for pricing your work with fees already factored in, or for simply understanding where your money is going on each payment.
It's also useful for comparing different payment methods before choosing one — if a client offers to pay via two different platforms with different fee structures, running both through this calculator quickly shows which one nets you more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I factor payment processing fees into my pricing?
Many freelancers do, either by building the expected fee percentage into their rates upfront, or by explicitly passing the fee on to the client for certain payment methods. Either approach is common — the key is being aware of the fee so it doesn't quietly eat into your margin.
Why do some payment processors charge both a percentage and a fixed fee?
The fixed fee covers the processor's baseline transaction cost regardless of amount, while the percentage fee scales with transaction size to cover fraud risk and processing costs proportionally — together they're how most card-based payment processors structure pricing.
Do international payments usually have higher fees?
Often yes — cross-border and currency conversion transactions frequently carry additional fees on top of the standard processing fee, so check your specific processor's international payment terms if you're billing clients in a different country or currency.
Which payment method typically has the lowest fees?
This varies by processor and region, but direct bank transfers often have lower or no percentage fees compared to card-based processors like PayPal or Stripe, though they may have other trade-offs like slower processing times or less buyer protection for the client.
Can I use this calculator to figure out what to charge to net a specific amount?
Not directly in this version — this calculator works forward from a payment amount to the net received. To work backward from a target net amount, you'd need to adjust your input amount up incrementally until the net result matches your target.
Are these calculations exact for my specific payment processor?
Use this calculator with your specific processor's actual published fee rates for an accurate result — the placeholder values shown are just common examples, and different processors, account types, and regions can have different rates.