PayPal - Overview

Start here to learn about options for using PayPal

PayPal is the most commonly used online payment method in the ecommerce world.

There are several integrations available, and the one(s) you choose will depend on your needs.

  • PayPal RESTful is the most up-to-date PayPal integration, and replaces all the other (listed below) PayPal modules as of December 2025. It supports accepting payments from your customer by credit card or their PayPal account, with or without PayPal branding (where possible). It requires Zen Cart 1.5.7 or higher, and works on PHP 7.0-to-8.5. You can ask questions about this payment method on the support subforum for PayPal RESTful.

  • PayPal Express has been most commonly recommended integration (before the REST module was developed), as it supports most sites’ needs directly. It allows your customers to pay by their credit card or PayPal account, which they do offsite (not on your website). You can ask questions about this payment method on the support subforum for PayPal Express. Its features are now built-in to the REST module already.

  • PayPal Website Payments Pro allows customers to enter their credit card details on your site during the checkout process. This more seamless experience is preferred by some vendors, but has a fee and minimum requirements. Talk to your PayPal account rep to see if this is a good choice for you. You can read about setting up PayPal Pro, and ask questions about this payment method on the support subforum for PayPal Website Payments Pro. This module’s features are also built-in to the REST module already.

  • PayPal Standard (sometimes also called “PayPal Website Payments Standard” or “PayPal IPN”) was the earliest PayPal integration, and is no longer recommended because it is less reliable. See PayPal Standard - Potential Problems for details. The REST module supercedes this module.

A new module “status” called payment module retirement is available in older modules to ease the transition between to the PayPal RESTful module, from PayPal Website Payments Pro and/or Express.

See the FAQ PayPal Standard, Express and Pro - what’s the difference? for a deeper discussion of the three older integrations, as well as some information on other PayPal offerings.

Where can I learn more about PayPal?

PayPal provides a series of Help Guides with information about how to handle common situations.

More information about the various PayPal services can be found on the PayPal website.



Still have questions? Use the Search box in the upper right, or try the full list of FAQs. If you can't find it there, head over to the Zen Cart support forum and ask there in the appropriate subforum. In your post, please include your Zen Cart and PHP versions, and a link to your site.

Is there an error or omission on this page? Please post to General Questions on the support forum. Or, if you'd like to open a pull request, just review the guidelines and get started. You can even PR right here.
Last modified December 21, 2025 by Chris Brown (898ff6c1).