Is PayPal Down?
PayPal processes billions daily. When it goes down, online purchases fail and e-commerce checkout flows break.
Quick Check
- API Status Check — real-time monitoring
- paypal.statuspage.io — official status
- Try a small transaction to test
What Can Break
| Service | Impact |
|---|---|
| Checkout/Payments | Purchases fail |
| PayPal API | E-commerce integrations break |
| Send/Receive | P2P transfers fail |
| Braintree | Payment gateway down |
| Login/Auth | Can't access account |
Common Errors
| Error | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Something went wrong" | Refresh, retry in 5 min |
| "Can't complete payment" | Try different funding source |
| API 500/503 | Check status page, implement fallback |
| Checkout loading forever | Different browser, clear cookies |
Troubleshooting
- Confirm it's PayPal — check apistatuscheck.com
- Try alternatives — different browser, mobile app, different network
- Check your account — not limited? card valid? balance sufficient?
- Clear browser — cookies, cache, disable extensions
- For merchants — test API, check credentials, implement Stripe/Square fallback
- When it's down — switch to backup processor, notify customers, don't retry (risk duplicates)
For Developers
- Implement exponential backoff for API errors
- Use webhooks instead of polling
- Always have a fallback payment processor
- Test sandbox separately (independent infrastructure)
Get free alerts when PayPal or any payment API goes down.
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