How to Add a PayPal Payment Form in WordPress (Step by Step)

Are you looking to add a PayPal payment form in WordPress?

PayPal makes it super-easy to accept payments on your website. It is convenient, cost-effective, secure, and already used by millions around the world.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily add a PayPal payment form to your WordPress website.

Why Accept PayPal Payments in WordPress?

You don’t need a full-fledged eCommerce store to accept payments on your WordPress website.

If you’re only selling a single product or accepting payments for consulting or services, then adding a payment form is much simpler.

PayPal is arguably the most popular and trusted online payment gateway in the world. And since PayPal handles the entire transaction, you don’t have to worry about security issues, getting a separate merchant processor for credit cards, or PCI compliance.

Moreover, PayPal makes it super easy to set up recurring payments or issue refunds to customers if they are unhappy with a purchase.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily add a PayPal payment form in WordPress.

Video Tutorial

If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading.

How to Add a PayPal Payment Form in WordPress

There are many WordPress PayPal plugins available in the market that let you add a payment button or order form on your site.

But when it comes to the flexibility of building the order form and adding customizations without code, we believe WPForms is the best option.

It is the best drag-and-drop form builder plugin for WordPress used by over 6 million websites. WPForms lets you create a simple billing or order form without the need for a full-fledged WooCommerce store or shopping cart plugin.

We recommend using WPForms because it lets you accept both PayPal and credit cards in the same form through their integration with credit card services like Stripe, Square, and Authorize.net.

First, you need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to the WPForms » Settings page from the WordPress admin sidebar to enter your license key.

You can find this information in your WPForms account area. Make sure you click the ‘Verify Key’ button to activate your license.

Next, go to the WPForms » Addons page from the WordPress dashboard. Here, you need to install the PayPal Standard addon.

Simply find it in the list, and then click the ‘Install Addon’ button under it. The addon will now be automatically installed and activated for you.

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to create your payment form.

Creating a PayPal Payment Form in WordPress

To start creating a payment form, visit the WPForms » Add New page in your WordPress admin area to launch the form builder.

First, you need to provide a title for your form and then scroll down to the ‘Billing / Order Form’ template and click the ‘Use Template’ button.

WPForms will now automatically load your form template in the drag-and-drop builder.

From here, it’s easy to add, remove, or change the fields on your form.

For example, a Multiple Items list has been added to the form so your visitors can select the product or service they wish to pay for. Once you click on this field you will be able to configure the field’s label and the name and price of each item.

If you are only offering a single item, then you should delete the Multiple Items field by clicking the trash icon in the top right corner of the field.

Next, you can scroll down to the Single Item field and drag it onto your form.

You can click on this field to further customize it in the left column.

For instance, you can change the field’s label, description, and price. The preview of your form on the right will be updated automatically.

If you are only offering a single item, then the Total field is unnecessary. Feel free to delete it.

For more detailed instructions, you may want to see our tutorial on how to create an online order form in WordPress.

Next, you need to switch to the Payments » PayPal Standard tab to set up PayPal.

From here, simply check the ‘Enable PayPal Standard payments’ box.

If you don’t already have one, you will need to create a PayPal account. Then you can enter your PayPal email address into the WPForms settings.

After that, you must fill in the other PayPal settings. If you wish to test your payment form, then you should select the ‘Test / Sandbox’ mode. This allows you to make dummy PayPal payments to make sure that the form is working correctly.

Don’t forget to change the Mode option back to ‘Production’ when you have finished testing.

Most websites will need the ‘Products and Services’ payment type. The other option is ‘Donations’, and you can learn more in our guide on how to add a PayPal donate button.

You can also add a URL to redirect users who don’t complete the payment, and decide whether a shipping address and note are required.

Finally, you can use the ‘Enable Conditional Logic’ option to accept multiple payment types. For more details, see our guide on how to allow users to choose a payment method on WordPress forms.

Once you’re done, click the Save button to store your settings.

Your online PayPal payment form is now ready, and you can add it to any WordPress post or page on your website.

Adding Your PayPal Payment Form to Your Website

WPForm makes it super easy to add forms anywhere on your website.

First, open up the WordPress post or page where you want to add the form from the admin dashboard.

Once you’re there, click the ‘Add Block’ (+) button at the top left corner of the screen to open the block menu.

From here, locate and add the WPForms block to the Gutenberg block editor.

After that, select your order form from the dropdown menu in the WPForms block.

Once you’re finished, you can save or publish your page and click on the preview button to see your form in action.

When your users fill in the form and click the ‘Submit’ button, the ‘Pay with PayPal’ screen will appear automatically so they can finalize the payment.

Congratulations, you’ve now created a PayPal payment form in WordPress.

If you want, you can also connect your payment forms with email marketing services, Google Sheets, and other apps to further streamline your workflow using WPForms native integrations.

Bonus: Connect WordPress to PayPal Commerce

If you have an online store, then it is a better idea to connect your WordPress site to PayPal Commerce because it offers simplified global payments, seamless integration, and comes with seller and buyer protection.

Using this method will allow customers to pay using their PayPal account or credit card number.

To connect Paypal Commerce with WPForms, you must visit the WPForms » Addons page and install and activate the ‘PayPal Commerce Addon’.

Upon activation, you must head to the WPForms » Settings page and switch to the ‘Payments’ tab.

Next, click the ‘Connect with PayPal Commerce’ button

Once you do that, a prompt will open on the screen asking you to connect your WordPress site with PayPal.

Go ahead and connect the service to your website. After that, you can create a form and simply add the ‘PayPal Commerce’ field from the left column.

This way you will be able to accept payments from customers with PayPal and credit card numbers using the same field. For more detailed instructions, please see our tutorial on how to connect WordPress to PayPal Commerce.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to add a PayPal payment form in WordPress. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to get a free email domain or check out our list of must-have WordPress plugins to grow your site.

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