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PayPal vs River: fees, withdrawals, safety and which to use

When you buy $1,000 by bank transfer, River costs less at $10, while PayPal charges $18.

PayPal vs River fees

PayPal and River each publish their dollar charges for $1,000 on their own pages.

$1,000 and the basics	PayPal	River
Buy by bank transfer (ACH)	$18	$10
Buy by wire	–	$10
Buy with PayPal	$18	–
Cash out to your bank (ACH)	–	$0
Cash out by wire	–	$0
Cash out instantly to a debit card	–	$10
States it does not serve	Hawaii	Nevada, New York
Serves New York	Yes	No
Bank withdrawal	–	Standard withdrawals are free. They take between 1 and 3 working days to arrive.
NYDFS licence	Yes	No
App Store rating (ratings)	4.8 (6,299,060)	4.9 (9,070)
Google Play rating (ratings)	4.2 (3,740,000)	–

A dash in a row means the exchange hasn't published any figure. "Not offered" says that the method isn't supported.

You can use PayPal in Nevada and New York, but River serves neither of those states.

River serves Hawaii, while PayPal does not.

The PayPal pages we read give no fee or timing for bank withdrawals.

You can withdraw from River to a bank free of charge. Standard withdrawals take 1 to 3 working days, and the minimum is $10.

The New York licence or charter held by PayPal comes from NYDFS.

River doesn't hold an NYDFS licence for New York.

At the App Store, the PayPal app has 4.8 out of 5 from 6,299,060 ratings. On Google Play, its rating is 4.2 from 3,740,000 ratings.

At the App Store, the River app has 4.9 out of 5 from 9,070 ratings.

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