May 15, 2026
Paypal is one of the earliest and most popular payment apps used by consumers and businesses to make money transfers around the world. As of 2025, PayPal accounts for 45% of the global payment market, with a transaction volume of $6.6 billion in Q4 of 2024.
Mobile payment app development is very important for building payment apps like PayPal, considering the necessity for a strong payment gateway, transaction history feature, and the growing demand for digital payment solutions in today’s cashless and cardless transactions trend.
In this blog, we will explore how to build payment apps like PayPal and how Logix Built can help you with that.
Analyzing the Payment App Market
The global digital payments market was estimated at $121.53 billion in 2025 and is predicted to hit upto $358.81 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 19.43%. The increasing volume of digital payments leads to a demand for web and mobile payment best apps like PayPal, making the market for it a lucrative niche to step into.
Online shopping is another factor we need to look at. According to a recent poll by Forbes, 53% of people use digital wallets more frequently than traditional payment. E-wallets are easy to use, have fast transactions, and are extremely easy to integrate in your smartphones and other devices.
Key Features of Payment Apps Like PayPal
Companies looking to develop money apps like PayPal usually expect the solution to cover the following functionalities:
Payments & Money Transfers
- Sending & receiving payments, including recurring, split, and advanced payments.
- Real-time payments (RTP).
- Supports various payment methods, including debit/credit cards, e-wallets, bank transfers, etc.
- Multi-currency payments.
- Online & offline QR-code based payments.
Payment Transactions Tracking
- Full history of payment transactions
- Real-time tracking of both inbound and outbound payment transactions.
- Configurable user notification, such as successful or failed automated payments, due payments, upcoming payment card expiry, etc.
Spend Management
- Configurable budget and saving goals for a particular period or category.
- Real-time analysis of current vs. planned spend.
- Alerts on actual expenses exceeding the pre-set threshold.
- Automated generation of spend reports.
Fund Management
- Filling up the account balance using a bank transfer or debit/credit card.
- Scheduled and added HOC payouts to the bank account.
- Automated updates of the account balance.
- Support for in-app currency exchange transactions.
- Configurable dashboards with up-to-date currency exchange rates.
Account Management for App Users
- Adding, saving, and updating personal/business info, billing details, including tax IDs, bank account and payment card details, etc.
- Creating custom templates for recurring payments, like utilities, rent, telecom, etc.
- A digital assistant to help users solve technical, transactional, and security issues.
- End-to-end audit trail of all account activities.
Billing & Invoicing
- Tracking paid and outstanding invoices.
- Automatically generating and submitting mult-language invoices to customers, initiating the collection of due payments.
- Automated generation of region-specific e-invoices.
- Signing invoices using an electronic signature.
- In-app bill payments.
How to Create Payment Apps Like PayPal?
Below you will find the general outline on how to create pay apps like PayPal:
Step 1. Outline the Scope of the Project
Set up the goals, deadlines, and project requirements that you’ll be working on in order to build an app like PayPal. They can help you clarify the project scope and ensure that all of the elements are aligned with their respective objectives.
Step 2. Choose the Correct SDLC Model
You can start with an MVP model that targets specific geography and a limited set of features. They should encourage users to try pay apps like PayPal and highlight its advantages over competitors. The goal is to validate the concept and gather user feedback without incorporating additional features.
Step 3. Hire a Team to Develop a Digital Payment System
You will need to hire an experienced team or company that can help you with the custom fintech software development process, like Logix Built. Business analysts, UI designers, web developers, Android developers, iOS developers, a group of testers, and project managers are all required as they are already familiar with specific payment technologies stack to create an app like PayPal.
Step 4. Get a Cloud Service Provider
You can speed up the developing process by using cloud services to manage the platform infrastructure. Using a ready-made server, storage, system, and runtime environment reduces costs and time to market.
Step 5. Get an Online Payment Solution (an API/SDK)
To build payment apps like PayPal, you need an API/SDK solution. The primary elements of online banking electronic payments can include this in their implementation. With it, you can start accepting payments online immediately.
Step 6. Comply with Financial Regulations
To comply with the strict requirements governing financial sector companies, an online payment app needs an ID verification solution. The system should make it possible to validate several government-issued identification, and handle compliance with KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) processes for sensitive financial data.
Step 7. Design & Develop your Payment Platform
Before starting the payment app development, choose the most optimal technology. To create pay apps like PayPal, you should consider what are the must-have MVP (minimum viable product) features it will have first. These can be:
- Unique ID verification
- Digital wallet
- Sending bills and invoices
- Sending and receiving money
- Transaction history
- Messaging
Additionally, the UI/UX in the best apps like PayPal are crucial for ensuring customer satisfaction and security.
Step 8. Conducting the Testing Process
Finally, you should test your online and mobile apps both across a variety of browsers and platforms before launching them.
Cost Factors of Developing Money Apps Like PayPal
The table below provides us with a detailed look of the estimated costs to create money apps like PayPal:
| Feature/ Components | Cost Range |
| Basic P2P app with Third party processors | $30,000 – $40,000 |
| Custom Payment System | $150,000 – $200,000 |
| Social Media Features | $60,000 – $100,000 |
| Additional Features | $45,000 – $100,000 |
Why Choose Logix Built to Develop Apps Like PayPal
Build secure, scalable, and user-friendly fintech applications with a team that understands payments, compliance, and digital transaction ecosystems. From wallet integration and P2P transfers to KYC verification, payment gateways, and multi-currency support, Logix Built delivers complete custom fintech software development under one roof.
Skip the hassle of managing multiple vendors for design, development, security, testing, and deployment. We help startups, enterprises, and financial businesses launch powerful best apps like PayPal with faster development cycles, enterprise-grade security, and scalable architecture built for future growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How Much Does it Cost to Develop an App Like PayPal?
The development cost depends on features, security requirements, payment integrations, compliance needs, and platform complexity. A custom fintech app with wallet, transfers, KYC, and payment gateway features usually requires a higher investment than standard mobile applications.
Q2: How Long Does it Take to Build a Fintech Payment App?
A basic MVP can take a few months, while a fully scalable payment platform with advanced security, fraud detection, analytics, and multi-currency support may take significantly longer depending on project scope.
Q3: What Features are Essential in Money Apps like PayPal?
Core features typically include user registration, digital wallets, bank integration, payment processing, money transfers, QR payments, transaction history, KYC verification, notifications, and admin dashboards.
Q4: Can Logix Built Develop Custom Payment Solutions for Specific Industries?
Yes. Custom fintech applications can be custom for eCommerce, marketplaces, subscription businesses, logistics, healthcare, education, B2B payments, and enterprise financial operations.
Q5: Why Should Businesses Choose Custom Fintech Software Instead of Ready-Made Solutions?
Custom fintech software offers better scalability, stronger branding, tailored workflows, advanced integrations, improved security control, and flexibility to add future features as the business grows.
Written by the author
Pushpak Pandya
Pushpak Pandya serves as the Chairperson and full time Director at Logix Built Solutions Limited, bringing 12+ years of experience in fintech innovation and logistics technology solutions. She specializes in building secure, data-driven platforms that streamline financial operations, supply chain workflows, and enterprise logistics networks. Pushpak’s technical leadership helps organizations modernize legacy systems, improve real-time visibility, and create efficient, technology-enabled ecosystems that drive business performance and growth.
