PayPal is one of the most widely used online payment services, letting individuals and businesses send and accept payments without each party needing a direct merchant bank relationship. For merchants, it's a closed, proprietary system: standard online checkout runs around 3.49% + a fixed fee per transaction, international transactions cost more, and you have no control over or visibility into how transactions are routed or processed.
If you're building payment infrastructure rather than just accepting occasional payments, Hyperswitch is an open-source alternative that lets you self-host a payments layer and connect to many providers instead of depending on one closed platform's fees and rules.
FAQ
Is there a free, open-source alternative to PayPal?
Yes, for merchants building payment infrastructure. Hyperswitch is open source and self-hostable, letting you route transactions across many providers instead of relying solely on PayPal's proprietary platform.
What's the best open-source alternative to PayPal?
Hyperswitch is the closest match for merchants who want control over payment routing and provider choice rather than being locked into a single processor's fees.
What are the top open-source alternatives to PayPal?
Browse all open-source alternatives to PayPal above, or explore the full Finance category for more options.