Deducted from recipient. Sender's amount arrives short unless grossed up.
When Venmo charges a fee
Venmo does NOT charge a fee for personal payments funded by a bank account, debit card, or Venmo balance. Those are free.
Venmo does charge fees in three cases:
- Credit card payments — a 3% fee is charged to the sender.
- Payments marked "goods and services" — a 1.9% + $0.10 fee is deducted from the recipient's total.
- Business profile payments — same 1.9% + $0.10 fee is deducted from the recipient.
Cash App has similar rules: 3% for credit-card-funded sends; 2.75% for business accounts. Zelle has no per-transaction fees for personal payments. Apple Cash has no fees for debit-funded payments and a 3% fee for credit-funded ones.
How the gross-up works
If your friend needs to receive $50 and they'll be charged 1.9% + $0.10, you can't just send $50 — they'd receive $49.05 after the fee. To make them net exactly $50, divide $50.10 by (1 − 0.019) = about $51.07. Send $51.07 and the fee comes out of that, leaving them with $50.
This calculator does that math automatically. Enter the amount the recipient should net, pick which fee schedule applies, and get the amount to send.
Worked example
You owe your friend $85 for concert tickets. They set up a business profile on Venmo, so any payment to them is subject to the 1.9% + $0.10 fee.
- Net owed: $85
- Fixed fee: $0.10
- Grossed-up base: $85 + $0.10 = $85.10
- Divide by (1 − 0.019): $85.10 ÷ 0.981 = $86.75
- Send $86.75. Venmo deducts 1.9% + $0.10 = $1.75. Friend nets $85.
Fee-free alternatives
For most casual splitting between friends, the easiest way to avoid all of this is to make sure the payment is a personal payment funded by a bank account or debit card. That's free on every major US app.
See the Venmo vs Cash App guide for a broader look at picking a payment method for group bills.