Credit Card Processing Fee Calculator
Enter your monthly card sales and average sale size to see what published rates from Square, Stripe, PayPal and Clover would cost each month, ranked lowest first, with the effective rate for each. Every rate is sourced and dated. Providers whose rates we could not verify are listed separately instead of guessed.
| Provider and rate | Rate | Processing fees | Plan fee | Monthly total | Effective rate |
|---|
Not compared (rate not verified)
- Shopify: Shopify Payments card rates (online and in person) — check current pricing on the provider's site. Shopify
Processing fees only. Hardware, taxes, add-on services, negotiated or interchange-plus pricing are not included. Plan fees are counted only if you tick the box.
Runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Results are estimates based on the rates shown. Your actual fees depend on your agreement with the provider.
How to use it
- Enter your monthly card sales and your average sale. The calculator turns that into a number of transactions.
- Choose how you take payments: in person, online, or keyed in.
- Compare the estimated monthly cost and effective rate. Tick the box to include monthly plan fees such as Square Plus or Premium.
How the effective rate is calculated
Each processor charges a percentage of the sale plus a fixed amount per transaction. For one sale, the fee is the sale times the percentage, plus the fixed amount. Over a month, fees are that per-sale fee times the number of transactions (monthly sales divided by average sale).
The effective rate is total monthly cost divided by monthly sales. It is what makes a low percentage with a high fixed fee comparable to a higher percentage with a low fixed fee.
Worked example: with $10,000 in monthly sales and an average sale of $50, that is 200 transactions. At 2.6% + $0.15, the monthly fees are $290.00, an effective rate of 2.90%.
Small sales make the fixed fee matter more: at a $10 sale the same 2.6% + $0.15 rate has an effective rate of 4.10%.
This is the "flat-rate" view of pricing. Merchant accounts using interchange-plus pricing quote a different structure, so ask for a statement-based quote before comparing.
Related tools and guides
Frequently asked questions
What is an effective rate in credit card processing?
It is your total processing cost divided by your total card sales for the period. Because fixed per-transaction fees count, it is usually higher than the headline percentage, especially on small sales.
Which rates does this calculator use?
Published US rates from each provider's pricing page, checked on 2026-10-14. They are listed with sources below the calculator. We do not include rates we could not verify.
Why is Shopify not in the comparison?
We could not verify Shopify Payments' card rates from Shopify's pricing page, so we do not compare them. See our Shopify fees page and Shopify's own pricing page.
Does the calculator include hardware, taxes or other charges?
No. It covers processing fees from published rates, and optionally monthly plan fees. Hardware, chargebacks, add-on apps and negotiated pricing are not included.
Why do keyed-in transactions cost more?
Providers charge more when the card is not physically present because the risk of fraud is higher. The keyed-in comparison uses each provider's published manual-entry or typed-in rate.
Sources
- Square: /us/en/pricing (checked 2026-10-14)
- Stripe: /pricing (checked 2026-10-14)
- PayPal: /us/business/paypal-business-fees (checked 2026-10-14)
- Clover: /pricing (checked 2026-10-14)
- Clover: /pricing/retail (checked 2026-10-14)
- Clover: /pricing/quick-service-restaurant (checked 2026-10-14)
- Shopify: /pricing (checked 2026-10-14)
Last updated: · Prices verified: