Revolut vs PayPal
Two virtual cards people weigh up side by side. We put Revolut and PayPal on the same rows so the difference is easy to see.
Revolut issues on Visa · Mastercard and PayPal on Mastercard; verification is ID only at Revolut versus ID + proof at PayPal.
Revolut is the more cost-effective option for everyday spending and travel thanks to its free virtual cards, no monthly fee. PayPal still clears the same checkouts in our tests, so match the table to the services you actually pay for.
The two, compared
| Field | Revolut | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Card network | Visa, Mastercard | Mastercard |
| Card type | Digital Bank / Neobank | Fintech Wallet |
| KYC | ID only | ID + proof |
| Card issuance fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly fee | Free (Standard); Plus £3.99; Premium £7.99; Metal £14.99; Ultra £55 per mo | Free |
| Top-up fee | Not disclosed by issuer | Not disclosed by issuer |
| FX fee | 0.5% | Cross-border ~2.5-4% |
| Crypto funding | Yes | Yes (US region partial) |
| AI tool support | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney | — |
| Risk level | Low-Medium | Low |
| Our rating | 8.6 | 7.1 |
| User reviews | 80 | 124 |
| Best for | All-rounder · Ad spend | Streaming · App Store / Play |
A green left edge marks the side that holds the advantage on that row, where the data gives one.
Side by side
- Multi-task users get more from Revolut — it clears more of the checkouts we run through our test suite.
- Revolut has the lighter onboarding; PayPal will want more documents from you.
- In our scoring, Revolut finished ahead of PayPal — not by a mile, but enough to tilt a tiebreak.
- PayPal carries the lower risk flag in our file, which some users prefer for a primary card.
The short version of the matchup
Both cards clear the same checkouts in our tests, so the call comes down to cost. Revolut is cheaper on issuance (free) and top-ups (no top-up fee), while PayPal is worth the premium only for the rows where it leads in the table.
Questions people ask
That depends on what you spend on. Revolut scores 8.6/10 against PayPal's 7.1/10 in our tests, but the two split on fees, KYC and crypto funding. Read the table above, then match it to the checkouts you actually run.
Revolut works out cheaper: no virtual card issuance fee, free account maintenance. PayPal adds a 4% FX fee.
Revolut asks for ID only at signup; PayPal asks for ID + proof. If a light sign-up is the priority, the one with the lower KYC label is the faster route.
Both show up in 75 of the same test scenarios, including Netflix, Spotify Premium, YouTube Premium. They overlap on a good share of checkouts, so the choice between them matters most on those pages. Where one is accepted and the other is not usually comes down to the billing country and 3-D Secure handling.
Where both show up
Revolut and PayPal both landed in our top picks for 75 checkouts. Grouped by category so you can jump straight to the one you actually pay for:
📺 Streaming & Entertainment 20
🛍️ Cross-border Shopping 15
🌐 Cloud & VPS 15
🎮 Gaming 15
🧳 Travel & Productivity 10
Their BIN ranges
Cards issued in 🇬🇧 UK · 🇺🇸 US — the country guides group every range we track from there.
What our charge log shows
Every count here is a real charge attempt we placed on that range, renewals included, with the gateway response recorded. Weeks tracked is how long the range has been in the programme: