Lately, I’ve been getting a few subscriptions and donations on my WordPress.com site, and it got me thinking about how payments actually work behind the scenes. If you run a WordPress.com site and want to accept payments — whether for newsletters, subscriptions, donations, or one-off purchases — you’ll soon notice that Stripe and PayPal are both mentioned, which can be confusing at first.
Here’s an explanation of what’s happening and what it all means.
1. Two payment services, different roles
WordPress.com does not process payments itself. Instead, it connects your site to external payment providers. The two services you’ll see are:
Stripe: Handles credit and debit card payments and is the main payment processor on WordPress.com.
PayPal: Allows people to pay using their PayPal account, if you choose to enable it.
While both are mentioned in the settings, they are not used in the same way.
2. What Stripe is used for
On WordPress.com:
- Paid newsletters are Stripe only
- Subscriptions are paid through Stripe
- Donations are paid through Stripe
This means:
- Anyone subscribing to a paid newsletter
- Anyone signing up for a paid subscription
- Anyone making a donation
👉 will pay via Stripe, even if PayPal is connected.
Stripe is usually set up automatically when you enable payments, and for many sites it’s the only payment service actually being used.
3. Where PayPal fits in
PayPal is optional on WordPress.com and is mainly used for:
- Some one-off payments
- Giving readers an extra payment choice, where supported
However:
- PayPal cannot be used for paid newsletters
- PayPal does not handle subscriptions or donations in the way Stripe does
So even if PayPal is connected, your regular income (subscriptions, newsletters, donations) still goes through Stripe.
4. Why WordPress.com works this way
Stripe is designed to handle:
- Recurring payments
- Automated renewals
- Newsletter billing
- Ongoing subscriptions
This makes it more reliable for the kinds of payments WordPress.com specialises in. PayPal is offered as a convenience option, but Stripe does the heavy lifting.
5. What happens when someone pays
Here’s what happens behind the scenes:
- A reader clicks Subscribe, Donate, or signs up for a paid newsletter.
- WordPress.com sends the payment to Stripe.
- Stripe processes the payment and sends the money to your connected bank account.
- WordPress.com records the payment and manages access automatically.
Your site never holds the money — Stripe does.
6. What this means for site owners
- You don’t need to worry about payment security
- Stripe is essential and should stay connected
- PayPal is optional and mainly for one-off payments
- Paid newsletters, subscriptions, and donations all rely on Stripe
- Payments continue smoothly once set up
💡 Tip: Even if you like PayPal, Stripe needs to stay active on WordPress.com if you’re offering subscriptions, newsletters, or donations.
You can check this guide on WordPress explaining ways you can earn from your site with what payment options it uses:
https://wordpress.com/support/wordpress-editor/blocks/payments/#get-started
It’s been really encouraging to see a few subscriptions and donations coming in — it’s a lovely reminder that people value the content enough to support it. ♡ Janet
Feature image: generated by Freepik and AI.
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