# PayPal, what it is, status and alternatives.

PayPal is the most widely used global payment service with billions of users. In the Slovak market, it primarily serves for international payments and is a popular alternative to card payments for purchases from abroad.

- **Status:** Stable. Stable and proven platform with a long history. Regularly modernizes its API, but the core architecture remains stable.
- **Category:** [Payment Gateways](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment)
- **First release:** 1998
- **License:** Proprietary
- **Official website:** https://www.paypal.com
- **Documentation:** https://developer.paypal.com/docs
- **Page:** https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/paypal

## PayPal in our audits

Tech Stack looks for PayPal on audited websites it recognizes as e-shops. Usage numbers for payment gateways are not in our public statistics yet.

PayPal is a hosted service, so there is nothing to install: no versions and no release history to show.

## Other technologies in Payment Gateways

- [Besteron](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/besteron)
- [CardPay](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/cardpay)
- [Comgate](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/comgate)
- [GoPay](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/gopay)
- [SporoPay](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/sporopay)
- [Stripe](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/stripe)
- [TatraPay](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment/tatrapay)

[All 8 in Payment Gateways](https://be1st.ai/technologies/payment)

## Questions about PayPal

### What is PayPal?

PayPal is the most widely used global payment service with billions of users. In the Slovak market, it primarily serves for international payments and is a popular alternative to card payments for purchases from abroad. The be1st catalog lists PayPal under Payment Gateways. License of PayPal: Proprietary.

### When was PayPal first released?

PayPal was first released in 1998.

### Is PayPal still a modern choice?

PayPal is a stable, mature choice rather than a new one. Stable and proven platform with a long history. Regularly modernizes its API, but the core architecture remains stable.

### What are the alternatives to PayPal?

Technologies that do the same job as PayPal include Stripe.