For years, one of the most confusing facts in digital payments was that PayPal owns Venmo — yet the two apps couldn’t send money to each other. If a friend paid you on Venmo but your money lived in PayPal, you were stuck moving cash to a bank first and back again. That gap is finally closing. Starting in November 2025, PayPal and Venmo became interoperable in the US, letting users send money directly across the two apps for the first time.
Here’s exactly how it works, what it costs, and the one thing you still can’t do (spoiler: you can send, but you can’t request).
What Actually Changed
PayPal and Venmo have always been separate ecosystems with separate balances, separate contacts, and separate rules — even though Venmo has been a PayPal-owned service since 2013. The new interoperability lets a PayPal user pay a Venmo user (and vice versa) without either person leaving their preferred app or routing the money through an external bank.
This launch is the first visible piece of “PayPal World,” a broader initiative PayPal announced in July 2025 to connect major wallets and payment networks globally. Combined, PayPal and Venmo serve roughly two billion users, so linking them is a big deal for anyone who splits rent, reimburses friends, or pays freelancers across both platforms.
How to Send Money From PayPal to Venmo
The initial rollout is built around phone numbers. Email-based lookup is coming in a later update, but at launch the recipient’s phone number is the key.
- Open the PayPal app and choose Send (Send & Request).
- Enter the full phone number tied to the recipient’s Venmo account.
- PayPal locates the matching Venmo user — confirm the name shown is correct.
- Enter the amount, pick your funding source (balance, linked bank, or debit/credit card), and review any fees shown on screen.
- Tap send. PayPal notes that payments are delivered to the recipient right away, though exact timing can vary.
How to Send Money From Venmo to PayPal
- Open Venmo and start a new payment.
- Search for the recipient using the phone number associated with their PayPal account.
- Confirm the matched PayPal user, enter the amount, and choose your funding source.
- Review the summary and send. The recipient sees the funds land in their PayPal balance.
In both directions, the app shows you the recipient’s name before you confirm — always check it matches the person you intend to pay, since payments to the wrong person are hard to claw back.
Fees: What It Costs to Send
The good news for US users: sending across the two apps is generally free when you use a low-cost funding source. Here’s the breakdown based on PayPal’s official guidance.
| Scenario | Funding source | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| US PayPal → Venmo | Balance, linked bank, or PayPal/Venmo debit card | No fee |
| US Venmo → PayPal | Venmo balance, linked bank, or debit card | No fee |
| Either direction | Credit card | Each app’s standard card fee (typically ~3%) may apply |
| International transfer | Any | International fees + currency conversion may apply |
PayPal states plainly: “There are no fees to send money to Venmo users within the US for all PayPal users when using your balance, PayPal debit card, or bank.” For cross-border payments, it adds that “all fees and currency conversions will be shown up front before completing a transaction, so there’s no hidden fees or surprises.”
Worked example: You owe a friend $60 for concert tickets. She uses PayPal; you use Venmo. You open Venmo, search her PayPal phone number, and pay $60 from your Venmo balance. Fee: $0. She receives the full $60 in PayPal. If instead you funded that $60 from a credit card, expect roughly a 3% fee (about $1.80), matching how each app already treats card-funded personal payments.
International Sending Limits
For cross-border transfers, PayPal applies caps on how much you can move:
| Window | Limit |
|---|---|
| Per transaction | $2,500 |
| Daily | $5,000 |
| Weekly | $10,000 |
| Monthly | $25,000 |
Why You Can Send But Not Request
Here’s the catch that’s tripping people up: cross-platform payment requests are not supported. PayPal is direct about it — “At this time, payment requests are not possible across platforms.”
In practice, that means a PayPal user can’t send a Venmo user a “charge” or request, and a Venmo user can’t request money from someone on PayPal. Only the outbound send flow is connected between the two apps for now.
PayPal hasn’t published a detailed technical reason, but the pattern is typical for a phased launch: sending money is a one-way push that’s simpler to secure and reconcile, while requests require deeper, two-way integration — matching identities, delivering notifications inside the other app, and adding fraud controls to prevent bogus money requests. Building the “send” rail first and layering “request” on later is the safer sequence.
The workaround: If you’re the one owed money, don’t send a cross-app request. Instead, message your friend the amount and your phone-number handle, and ask them to send it to you. Since sending works in both directions, the money still flows — you just initiate it with a text instead of an in-app request.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to update my app to use this?
Yes. Make sure both the PayPal and Venmo apps are updated to the latest version. The feature rolls out gradually, so if you don’t see phone-number lookup for the other app yet, give it a little time as the update reaches your account.
Can I use an email address instead of a phone number?
Not at launch. The initial rollout matches users by phone number. PayPal has said email-based lookup will follow in a later update, so for now confirm you have the recipient’s correct phone number tied to their account.
Is sending between PayPal and Venmo really free?
Within the US, yes — as long as you fund the payment with your balance, a linked bank account, or a debit card. Credit-card-funded payments may carry each app’s standard card fee (commonly around 3%), and international transfers can include fees and currency conversion, which are always displayed before you confirm.
What if I accidentally send money to the wrong person?
Treat cross-app sends like any peer-to-peer payment: they’re designed to be instant and are difficult to reverse. Always verify the recipient’s name shown on the confirmation screen before tapping send. If you do make a mistake, contact PayPal or Venmo support quickly, but recovery isn’t guaranteed.
The Bottom Line
After more than a decade of the two apps ignoring each other, moving money between PayPal and Venmo is now as simple as searching a phone number — and in the US, it’s free from a balance, bank, or debit card. The main limitation to remember is that you can only send, not request, across platforms for now. When you’re the one owed money, just ask your friend to send it to you directly, and the payment goes through all the same.
WalletWisp is an informational resource, not financial advice. Verify current fees and limits in your PayPal or Venmo app before sending, as policies can change.
