The 6 Best Venmo Competitors & Alternatives for Business

Whether your business has outgrown Venmo’s services or you’re simply weighing your payment service provider options, you may be curious about some possible Venmo competitors. And we’re here to help.

While Venmo has long been a popular choice for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, it’s not necessarily the most strategic payment service for growing businesses. Transaction fees can steal a hefty portion of a small- to medium-sized business’s profits. The good news: there are plenty of alternatives to Venmo if the platform isn’t the right fit for your business needs. From processing payments to tracking expenses, these Venmo alternatives offer a wide range of features to help businesses easily manage their payment operations.

Let’s take a deep dive into the six best Venmo competitors for businesses. Below, we examine each platform’s unique features, pricing options, and overall value to help you make the best decision.

6 Best Venmo Alternatives for Businesses

1. PayPal

PayPal provides a contract-free payment solution for both merchants and consumers. Businesses can take advantage of payment portals, business management services, and financing options, and merchants can use a card reader or enable PayPal as a payment option on their website. Meanwhile, consumers can use PayPal to pay invoices, transfer money, and pay for purchases. Purchases with PayPal are secure, private, and usually faster than traditional payment methods.

Fees

PayPal for Business charges per-transaction fees, ranging from 2.29% to 3.49% of the total transaction value depending on the payment type, plus an optional monthly subscription fee for online payment gateway services. While you can make personal transfers to PayPal accounts free of charge, your bank will most likely charge a withdrawal fee, as well as a currency conversion fee if applicable.

Spending Limits

Without verification, PayPal for Business limits transfers to $4,000. Once your account is verified, you can send up to $60,000 per transaction; however, in some cases—depending on the currency—you may face an individual transaction limit of up to $10,000. There is no limit on the total amount you can transfer in a day.

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2. Square Payments

Square offers a third-party credit card processing service that makes it easy for any business to accept credit card payments without a merchant account. Additionally, Square Online offers a free eCommerce website builder that allows businesses to manage various online sales. Businesses can operate both online and in-person payment processing by integrating with Square’s point-of-sale (POS) system.

Fees

Square’s pricing options have two paid plan structures and a free plan option. Payment processing varies between 2.6% to 3.5% depending on the transaction type, with an additional $0.30 per online transaction.

Spending Limits

Square Card limits spending at $10,000 per transaction and $25,000 daily, with a monthly maximum of $150,000.

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3. Zelle

Like our other Venmo competitors, Zelle primarily functions as a peer-to-peer payment app for transfers within the United States. But while all banks within the Zelle network offer peer-to-peer transfers, they don’t all offer this service for commercial or business transfers. You can, therefore, only use Zelle for business if your specific bank offers the service. It’s also worth noting that Zelle also does not process credit or debit card payments; customers must have the cash immediately available in their accounts.

Fees

The charge for using Zelle depends on your bank.

Spending Limits

Most major banks limit the number and size of Zelle transactions. Limits may vary between business and personal accounts, as well as between banks. For example, Chase limits each transaction to $5,000 and the total payment amount per month to $40,000, while Wells Fargo has a daily limit of $3,500 and a 30-day rolling limit of $20,000. While most banks limit sending amounts, they don’t usually cap receiving amounts.

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4. Paysley

With Paysley, you can generate payment requests from any smartphone web browser by simply accessing a merchant URL. After you enter payment details, Paysley generates an invoice and sends it to your client in the form of a payment request with a link to a secure browser-based payment page. Clients automatically receive a receipt after making the payment in-browser—meaning less administrative work for you.

Paysley is one of the few Venmo alternatives that provides an app-less service. The browser-based service offers users a wide variety of payment types, including contactless payments with POSlink, QR code scan-and-pay, and direct payments via unique URL links.

Fees

Paysley is available in three graded pricing structures ranging from $15 to $99 monthly. Transaction fees are set at a standard rate of $0.20.

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5. Cash App

Cash App Business accounts allow businesses to accept P2P payments and generate customized payment links and QR codes.^[1]Cash App. “What is Cash for Business?“. Accessed June 5, 2023. Plus, you can accept payments with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover networks. However, keep in mind that Cash App does not work with high-risk businesses and has strict requirements regarding the issuing of customer receipts.

Fees

A Cash App account for business is free to set up. Like most other Venmo competitors and alternatives, you incur charges per transaction when customers pay through the app. These transaction rates vary between 2.5% and 2.75%, depending on the payment type. Additionally, the business account holder is liable for chargeback processing fees and any investigation fees to determine if the chargeback is legitimate.

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6. Stripe Pay

The last noteworthy option on our Venmo competitors list is Stripe Pay. This is a versatile payment service provider suitable for online sales. Unlike most other Venmo alternatives, Stripe offers more than 135 currencies and over two dozen payment methods. Accepted payment methods include wire transfers, all major credit and debit cards, and a range of digital wallets. Stripe is also compatible with buy now, pay later options such as Klarna and Afterpay. Furthermore, Stripe users can process in-person payments with the Stripe Terminal.

Fees

Standard Stripe Connect accounts have no setup costs. Transaction fees vary between 2.7% to 3.9% depending on transaction type, location, and currency conversion.

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Pros and Cons of Using Venmo

Venmo started offering business profiles in 2021, allowing business owners to receive payments through the Venmo app. While business accounts offer additional features to personal accounts, they are not eligible to obtain a Venmo debit card.

Since business accounts have social sharing features, the platform offers greater visibility and an opportunity to generate referrals through Venmo’s transaction feed feature. You also have the option to include links to your website and social media. Other helpful features for business owners include a bookkeeping tool, formal tax documentation, and customer insights. It is, however, important to assess whether these features outweigh the drawbacks of Venmo for business purposes, especially when such an array of alternatives to the platform are available.

The maximum amount a business can transfer with Venmo differs based on verification. Unverified businesses face a payment cap of $2,499 per week and a bank transfer limit of $999. Verified businesses have higher limits: payments up to $24,999 weekly and bank transfers up to $49,999.

Selling subscription services or high-ticket items to multiple customers can pose a problem. In addition, while verification is generally secure, it does put your personal information at risk.

While standard bank transfers don’t incur fees, processing can take up to three business days. Other competitors can truncate this processing time. While instant processing is an option, it comes with a hefty fee.

Credit card and instant transfer fees are all percentage-based. If you have a client base that mostly pays by credit card, you’ll be wishing a good amount of profits farewell purely on account of transaction fees.

Venmo provides multiple layers of security to protect funds and data. However, while Venmo itself is generally safe, there are external risks associated with using the app, such as scams and fraud.

Identity verification is a requirement according to federal laws. This requires personal information such as legal names, addresses, birthdates, Social Security numbers, passports, and driver’s licenses. The nature of this information adds an extra risk of identity fraud or theft—should there be a data breach.

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Considerations for Choosing the Right Payment App for Your Business

Choosing the right payment provider for your business is a critical decision. If you don’t select a provider that aligns with your business needs, you risk incurring unnecessary expenses or even losing customers. Whether you pair with Venmo or one of its many competitors, consider the following key factors when making your decision:

It’s worth noting that while payment apps are software solutions that allow users to make transactions from their mobile devices, they are largely geared toward P2P transactions.

A payment gateway, on the other hand, is an eCommerce application that allows merchants to accept payments from customers. This means they can offer better security features, advanced payment methods, wider integration options, lower fees, and higher limits.

Payment gateways securely validate customers’ credit card details and route encrypted customer information through secured gateway servers, relieving you of the liability of safeguarding sensitive customer data.

Which of these Venmo competitors best fits your business?

As mobile payments grow in popularity, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of payment services in today’s market. On the one hand, P2P payment solutions such as Venmo (and many Venmo alternatives) offer unparalleled convenience and speed. They are secure, easy to set up, and work well with loyalty rewards programs. However, P2P payment providers rely heavily on technology and are not accepted everywhere. For example, if your phone battery dies or you lose your internet connection, you cannot complete a transaction.

Ultimately, it’s up to you as a business owner to consider the most convenient way for your customers to pay while keeping fees at a minimum. Not all customer groups have the same requirements—so it’s important to know who your customers are and what they prefer.

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Fast-Track Your Way to Receiving Online Payments

As a business owner, you need to make online payments quickly and easily for your customers. While the payment services mentioned above can certainly help with this, not all providers are created equal. When you partner with PaymentCloud, your account manager will personally review your business operations and processing history to ensure you get the best rate available to your business—far beyond the sub-par service of competitors in the payments space. PaymentCloud also offers a range of different payment structures to suit your needs, whereas most P2P platforms or payment service providers offer only one pricing structure. Build an online payment processing operation that suits your business needs, rather than shaping your business around a provider’s limitations.

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