How to Set Up PayPal on WooCommerce (and Keep It Working)

Adding PayPal to a WooCommerce store takes about 15 minutes. Keeping it working is the part nobody writes about: orders stuck on “pending,” a PayPal button that quietly disappears, or an email from PayPal saying your account is limited and your money is on hold.

We set up and fix payment gateways on client stores, including full gateway swaps when a processor drops a store. This guide covers which gateway to use, how to set up PayPal the right way, the $1 test we run after every gateway change, and how to fix the PayPal problems we see most.

Do you need PayPal at all?

Our default for client stores is Stripe. It takes credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay in one gateway, at a lower fee than PayPal, and it covers everything most stores need. WooPayments, WooCommerce’s own gateway, works just fine too. We add PayPal when the client asks for it.

There are good reasons to ask. Some shoppers would rather pay with PayPal than type a card number into a store they have never used, and PayPal also brings Venmo and “Pay Later” installments. If your customers expect it, offer it.

Just go in knowing the trade-offs:

• It costs more. In the US, a PayPal checkout costs 3.49% plus $0.49, against 2.9% plus $0.30 for Stripe or WooPayments.
• PayPal can hold your money. Its user agreement lets it hold your balance for up to 180 days if it decides that is needed to protect against risk, or if it thinks you broke its acceptable use policy. For a small business, months without that money can be crippling.
• Terms change. PayPal changes its terms of service and sometimes stops serving a type of business or market altogether. Stores we look after have had to swap away from PayPal at short notice.

So offer PayPal next to a card gateway, not instead of one.

WooCommerce payment gateways compared

Fees from Stripe, WooCommerce and PayPal’s US pricing pages, October 2026. International cards and currency conversion cost extra with all three. Pay Later costs 4.99% + $0.49 with PayPal.

Want to take Zelle, Venmo or Cash App directly, with no processing fee? That is why we built SendDollar, our own WooCommerce gateway for person-to-person payments.

How to set up PayPal on WooCommerce

1. Get a PayPal business account. If you have a personal account, you can upgrade it to a business account for free. Use an email address the business controls, not an employee’s.
2. Install WooCommerce PayPal Payments. In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New, search for “WooCommerce PayPal Payments,” and install the one by WooCommerce. It is free, and it is the plugin WooCommerce and PayPal both point to.
3. Connect your account. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments, open PayPal, and follow the steps to connect. You log in to PayPal and approve the connection; you do not need to copy any keys by hand.
4. Choose what shows and where. Decide whether to show PayPal, Venmo and Pay Later buttons, and on which pages: product pages, the cart, the checkout, or all three.
5. Do not show two card forms. If Stripe or WooPayments already takes cards, turn off PayPal’s own card option. Two card forms on one checkout confuses shoppers.
6. Place a real $1 order, then refund it. More on that below.

Be careful with third-party PayPal plugins too. Some are fine, and there are good reasons to use one, but each adds code that sits in your checkout. On one store we look after, a third-party PayPal plugin crashed pages for visitors whenever WooCommerce had not started a shopping session yet, and we had to patch it twice. The official plugin is the safer default.

Our $1 test order rule

Any time a gateway changes on a store we look after, whether it is a new gateway, a swap, or new API keys, we place a real $1 order through it. Not a test-mode order. A real one, with a real card or PayPal account. Test mode proves the settings screen works. A real order proves customers can pay you.

1. Make a $1 product and set it to hidden, so customers never see it.
2. Buy it through each gateway you changed, the way a customer would, logged out.
3. Check the order in WooCommerce. It should say “Processing” (or “Completed” for downloads), not “Pending payment.”
4. Check the emails. You should get the new order email and the customer should get theirs.
5. Check the money shows in your Stripe or PayPal account.
6. Refund the order from inside WooCommerce, which also proves refunds work.

Routine plugin updates do not need a test order every time. Updates that change API keys or how the gateway connects do.

Fixing common PayPal problems

Orders stuck on “Pending payment”

This is the PayPal problem we have to track down most often. “Pending payment” means WooCommerce created the order but never got PayPal’s confirmation that it was paid. Start by finding out which of these it is:

• The customer did not finish. They opened the PayPal window and closed it. That is normal, there is no payment in PayPal, and WooCommerce cancels unpaid orders on its own after the “Hold stock” time in WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory.
• The customer paid, but your site never heard about it. Look the payment up in your PayPal account. If it is there, PayPal’s message to your site did not get through. A security firewall blocking it, maintenance mode, or a site that moved to a new domain or host are the usual causes. Check the webhook status in the PayPal Payments settings and reconnect it if needed, then mark the paid order as Processing yourself.
• It is happening on every order. Stop and test with a $1 order now. Something between PayPal and your site is broken, and customers may be paying for orders you never ship.

If your store recently moved, our guide to migrating a WordPress site covers what to recheck after the switch.

The PayPal button is missing at checkout

WooCommerce hides a payment option it cannot use. Check that the plugin still shows as connected, that your PayPal account is not limited, and that PayPal supports your store’s currency. Speed plugins that delay JavaScript can also stop PayPal’s buttons from loading, so exclude PayPal’s scripts if you use one.

If PayPal limits or closes your account

PayPal can limit an account, hold its balance for up to 180 days, or stop serving a kind of business when its terms change. When it happens, you usually cannot talk your way out of it quickly. What you can control is how much it hurts:

• Have a second gateway already connected. If Stripe or WooPayments is already taking cards on your store, losing PayPal costs you one button, not your checkout.
• Turn PayPal off in WooCommerce so customers are not sent to a payment option that will fail.
• Move your subscriptions carefully. Recurring payments set up through PayPal usually cannot just be copied to another gateway. Customers often have to enter new payment details, so plan the message to them.
• Keep your records of orders, shipping and customer messages. PayPal will ask for them if you appeal or wait out a hold.

We have done these swaps for stores under pressure. If it happens to you, talk to us and we will get a working checkout back first, then sort out the rest.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. WooCommerce, WooCommerce PayPal Payments documentation.
2. WooCommerce, PayPal Standard (hidden for new installations since 5.5.0).
3. PayPal, PayPal merchant fees (US).
4. PayPal, PayPal User Agreement (holds of up to 180 days).
5. Stripe, Pricing.
6. WooCommerce, WooPayments fees.