Venmo Business Account Review 2026: Pricing, Pros, Cons
Venmo is a low-cost option for businesses looking to accept contactless payments.
The bottom line:
Venmo is great for sending money to friends. It’s more of a mixed bag for business owners. The app makes it easy for solopreneurs and pop-ups to accept contactless payments from anywhere — no hardware needed. But if your customers mostly pay with credit cards, we suggest pairing Venmo with a more robust payment processing service.
Software details
Payment processing fees
1.9% + $0.10
Between Venmo accounts.
Monthly fee
$0
Pros & Cons
Pros
Low per-transaction fees.
No monthly costs or setup fees.
Ability to accept payments via QR code.
Sends tax forms.
Cons
Instant transfers cost extra.
Not available outside of the U.S.
Compare to other products 
Venmo Business Account
3.6
NerdWallet rating
Zelle for Business
Payment processing fees
1.9% + $0.10
Between Venmo accounts.
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.29% + $0.09
Online: 2.99% + $0.49
Payment processing fees
2.6% + $0.15
Payment processing fees
N/A
Some banks may charge transaction fees.
Need more options? Check our picks for best payment processing systems
PayPal: Better for global payments. You can only use Venmo for domestic transactions. PayPal lets users send and receive payments in 25 currencies. Read our full PayPal Business Account review.
Cash App: Better for Square users. Cash App is a money transfer app that integrates with Square. The platforms can share data, and Square hardware can display Cash App QR codes. Read our full Cash App for Business review.
Zelle: Better no-fee option. Zelle offers free instant transfers between accounts at participating banks. It doesn’t accept card payments, though. Read our full Zelle review.
Full review
Venmo is a well-known way to send money to friends and family. But businesses can use it to accept customer payments, too. It has some definite positives for that.
The biggest one is cost. Venmo’s per-transaction rates are some of the lowest we know of. You don’t pay for hardware either. All you need to get started is a free Venmo account. Odds are, you already have one.
That ubiquity is also a plus. Estimates of the number of Venmo users vary. Its parent company, PayPal, puts the total above 85 million. Your customers will likely know Venmo and how to use it.
Inexpensive and easy checkout? That’s a win, especially for smaller operators who rely on in-person events (think pop-ups or farmers markets). Just don’t depend solely on Venmo.
While lots of people have Venmo accounts, not everyone will. That will be a roadblock. Additionally, an actual point-of-sale (POS) system will will have other business features Venmo lacks. You’ll likely get better sales analytics, for instance. Most options also let you record cash payments and key in card payments.
Online commenters crush Venmo’s customer support, too. A temporary glitch may not matter to pay your share of a tab. But service problems derail businesses.
Venmo is best for:
✔️ Solopreneurs.
✔️ Selling on the go.
✔️ Accepting QR code payments.
Venmo business account overview
| Payment processing model | Flat rate. |
| Payment processing fees |
|
| Monthly fee | None. |
| Hardware cost | Venmo does not sell card readers. |
| Contract length | No contract. |
| Customer support | Available by email, mobile app chat (8 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT daily) and phone (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT daily). |
Where Venmo business account stands out
Low barrier to entry
Venmo business accounts have no monthly fees, setup costs or contracts. If your business grows and needs a more traditional payment processing company, it’s easy to switch.
The platform makes it easy to sell items or services from just about anywhere — no hardware or online shop required. Just download the app to get started. Plus, people are typically familiar with the app or already have it on their phones.
Payment options
Venmo, along with its parent company PayPal, uses QR codes to help customers find and pay businesses. This makes the payment process touch-free and quick. All the customer needs to do is scan a business's QR code with their Venmo app.
Here are some other payment-related features we appreciate:
- Ability to accept tips. You can turn on tipping in your account settings. This feature prompts customers to add a tip to their purchase.
- Option to process returns. Customers who paid via QR code receive a returns barcode with their email receipt. Refund policies are up to the merchant. But Venmo can transfer full or partial refunds to the customer’s original payment method.
- Checkout integrations. You can accept Venmo payments within Shopify and PayPal.
Tax forms
The IRS requires Venmo to send businesses a 1099-K tax form if they made more than $20,000 and completed more than 200 transactions on the platform annually. In contrast, the IRS doesn’t require services like Zelle to send tax forms. That’s because it doesn’t consider Zelle a “third-party settlement organization” like Venmo. All that said, businesses should report all taxable income to the IRS, regardless of the platform.
Where Venmo business account falls short
No free instant transfers
Payments received through Venmo don't go straight to a business's bank account. Instead, free standard transfers usually take between one and three business days. Instant transfers are available, but they cost 1.75% of the amount transferred. The minimum fee for those is 25 cents and the maximum fee is $25.
Only available in the U.S.
Venmo is currently only available for U.S. businesses. If you want to sell to customers in different countries, Stripe or PayPal are likely a better fit. Both accept a variety of currencies and work outside of the U.S.
Doesn’t replace a full POS system
Venmo doesn’t have the same features most POS systems do. For example, you miss out on reports that tell you which items are selling best. The app also doesn’t automatically send transactions to your accounting software. This could mean more manual data entry.
And while most cards have Tap to Pay technology, it’s smart to have other options as backup. POS systems usually come with mobile apps that let you key in card numbers. They also typically have built-in payment gateways. These let customers make purchases securely and directly from your online shop. Venmo doesn’t have online storefront features.
What small-business owners think of Venmo
NerdWallet checked online forums like Reddit and reviews from sites like TrustPilot, G2, the App Store and Google Play to gauge how users feel about Venmo. We used an AI tool to help analyze this feedback. Here are the major trends we spotted.
👍 Ease of use
Positive reviews of Venmo typically mention how convenient it is to use. Online reviewers say the setup is simple. They also appreciate that customers are usually familiar with Venmo and already have accounts. Overall, it’s an easy way to quickly accept payments, especially if you’re mostly working with small transaction amounts.
👎 Not ideal for large transactions
Online users caution against using Venmo for large transactions. This is mostly due to claims of chargeback fraud. For example, one user says they completed a sale in person and had documents to help back it up. But they said Venmo still refunded the customer, who claimed they never received the item.
Online reviewers also recommend using Venmo alongside other payment providers. We agree with this. Traditional payment processing companies and banks offer more features specifically for businesses. These can be useful for managing bigger payments. For example, Chase Payment Solutions has built-in sales reports and invoicing.
👎 Customer support
Venmo receives mostly one-star reviews from both business owners and consumers on Trustpilot. Lots of these reviews focus on poor customer support.
Although Venmo’s website says live phone and messaging support is available, users say it’s difficult to actually get a hold of a human. They also criticize the chatbot and say it isn’t helpful. Unfortunately, this isn’t an uncommon complaint when it comes to payment providers.
🤓
Transfers between personal Venmo balances are free. This can make it tempting to use your personal account for business transactions. Don’t. It will make it difficult to keep business and personal transactions separate. Doing so can also violate Venmo’s terms of use, potentially resulting in Venmo shutting down your account. Nerdy Tip
How we evaluated Venmo
NerdWallet’s writers and editors independently review payment products, like Venmo, by analyzing more than 30 data points. We collected data from Venmo’s public-facing website, help articles and company representatives.
Our payment provider ratings range from one to five stars overall. Since Venmo is more of a money transfer app than a true payment processor, we scored it a little differently than some of its competitors. We ran it through two rubrics — one for payment processors and the other for payment gateways. Then, we took the average of the two scores.
Our evaluations also take user sentiment into account. This involves looking through individual reviews and feedback on sites like Trustpilot, the App Store, Google Play and Reddit. Then, we use AI tools to help spot larger trends within those comments. Since we cannot verify each user’s individual experience, we don’t incorporate user reviews in our star ratings.
For more information on how we score payment providers, see our full methodology.