# Paydude vs Braintree: Fee Calculator

URL: https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/paydude-vs-braintree-fee-calculator
Type: Free interactive calculator
Summary: Compare Braintree's published card rate against Paydude tier pricing at your own volume and average transaction size.

Both sliders matter. Volume decides which Paydude tier applies; average transaction size decides how much the fixed per-transaction fee costs you, which is where Braintree and Paydude differ most on small tickets.

## How Braintree prices card payments

Braintree, PayPal's merchant-facing platform, lists 2.59% plus 49¢ for domestic cards. The percentage is competitive, but the 49¢ fixed fee makes it expensive on low-value transactions.

**Published standard rates for domestic cards**

| Processor | Card rate | Fixed fee |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Braintree | 2.59% | 49¢ |
| Paydude (Starter) | 2.6% | 25¢ |
| Paydude (Growing) | 2.55% | 20¢ |
| Paydude (Scale) | 2.5% | 15¢ |

> **Check the current rate card:** Published rates change, and Braintree may quote you something different from its list price. Treat this as a like-for-like comparison of advertised rates, not a quote.

## What the calculator does not model

- International and premium-card surcharges, which both providers apply situationally
- Chargeback and dispute fees, which depend on your dispute rate
- Negotiated or interchange-plus pricing, which is not publicly listed

If you want your real number rather than a list-price comparison, run last month's statement through the [effective rate calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/effective-rate-calculator).

**See the full Paydude rate card** Every tier and every situational fee, published up front. — [View pricing](https://www.paydude.io/pricing)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Paydude always cheaper than Braintree?

Not on percentage alone. Paydude's fixed per-transaction fee is lower at every tier, and the Growing and Scale tiers are lower on both components — but the Starter rate of 2.6% sits a hundredth of a point above Braintree's published 2.59%. In practice the 24¢ difference in the fixed fee more than covers that on any transaction under roughly $2,400. If you have negotiated custom pricing with Braintree, compare against that instead — run a real statement through the effective rate calculator.

### Where do these rates come from?

Both sides are the publicly published standard rates for domestic card payments. Neither figure is a negotiated or promotional rate.

### Why does average transaction size change the answer so much?

Because the fixed per-transaction fee is a flat amount regardless of the sale. On a $10 sale a 30¢ fee is another 3%; on a $200 sale it is 0.15%. The smaller your average ticket, the more the fixed fee dominates.