PayPal vs Skrill: which costs less for personal payments?
PayPal and Skrill are both online wallets, but they price personal payments in opposite ways. PayPal makes same-currency payments to friends free and charges for cross-border payments and conversions. Skrill charges a percentage on every payment to another user and a higher conversion fee, but its top-ups by bank transfer are free.
Here is how that plays out for personal users who also have a bank or neobank account, using both providers’ official fee pages.
Fee differences at a glance
| PayPal (personal) | Skrill | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay a friend, same country and currency | Free from balance or bank (UK, Germany, US); US card-funded 2.90% + $0.30 | 2.99% (min EUR 0.50) |
| Pay a friend abroad | 5%, min/max £0.99–£2.99 (UK), €0.99–€3.99 (Germany), $0.99–$4.99 (US) | 2.99% (min EUR 0.50) |
| Currency conversion | US: 4.00% sending in another currency, 3.00% otherwise; UK/German pages give no rate | 4.49% on Skrill’s reference rate |
| Withdraw to your bank | Standard: free without conversion; US instant 1.75% | 1.75% (min EUR 3.50) |
Worked examples
1. Paying a friend €200 in Germany
PayPal: free from your PayPal balance or bank account. Skrill: 2.99%, so €5.98, if your friend has a Skrill account.
2. A US user sends $200 to a friend abroad, received in another currency
PayPal (US): the international fee is 5% of $200, $10, capped at $4.99, plus the 4.00% conversion fee, $8, so about $12.99 in total. A neobank or Wise transfer would usually cost a fraction of that, because the conversion is the expensive part.
3. Withdrawing €300 to your bank
PayPal: free by standard transfer when no conversion is involved. Skrill: 1.75% of €300 is €5.25, above the €3.50 minimum.
Where each one fits
PayPal is the better general-purpose wallet for personal payments: free domestic payments to friends, free standard withdrawals and wide checkout acceptance. Skrill earns its place when a merchant or platform accepts Skrill but not PayPal, and its free bank top-ups make it cheap to fund in that case.
For anything involving currency conversion, neither is the cheap option. PayPal’s US page lists 3.00% to 4.00% and Skrill charges 4.49%, while multi-currency accounts such as Wise quote conversions from 0.2% to 0.24%.
Verdict by use case
| If you… | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pay friends in your own currency | PayPal | Free from balance or bank; Skrill charges 2.99%. |
| Withdraw money to your bank | PayPal | Standard withdrawals are free; Skrill charges 1.75% (min EUR 3.50). |
| Pay a merchant that only takes Skrill | Skrill | Top up free by bank transfer in the merchant’s currency. |
| Convert currencies | Neither | Use a multi-currency account; both wallets charge 3% to 4.49%. |
Frequently asked questions
Is PayPal or Skrill cheaper for sending money to friends?
In the same country and currency, PayPal is free when paid from your balance or bank, while Skrill charges 2.99% (minimum EUR 0.50).
What is Skrill’s currency conversion fee?
Skrill’s fee page lists a 4.49% foreign exchange fee applied to a reference rate set by Skrill.
Does PayPal charge to withdraw money?
A standard withdrawal to your bank is free in the UK, Germany and the US when no currency conversion is involved. In the US, instant transfers cost 1.75% (min $0.25, max $25).
Sources
Every fee on this page was checked against these official provider pages on .
- PayPal — consumer fees (UK)
- PayPal — consumer fees (Germany)
- PayPal — consumer fees (US)
- Skrill — fees
- Wise — pricing (UK)
- Wise — pricing (Germany)
Fees, limits and availability change and can differ by country and account type. Worked examples apply each provider's published fee rules to round amounts; exchange rates move constantly, so confirm the final price in the provider's app before you pay. How we check fees is explained on our methodology page.