Connect your Payment Services

Connect Stripe or PayPal in Integrations → Payments to charge clients for bookings. Payments are available on every plan, including the Free Plan.

Payment Services Overview

TidyCal supports two payment processors. You can connect both and choose which one to use for each booking type individually.

Plan availability: All plans (Free, Individual, Agency, and Pro) can accept payments for bookings.

Prerequisites

• A Stripe account (for Stripe payments)
• A PayPal account with a valid email address (for PayPal payments)

Connect with Stripe

Stripe is the recommended payment processor for TidyCal. The connection uses a secure OAuth flow through Stripe's authorization process.

Setup Steps

1. In the sidebar, click Integrations (near the bottom, below Notifications).
2. On the Integrations page, click the Payments tab (or open it directly at tidycal.com/integrations/payments).
3. Click the "Connect with Stripe" button.
4. You will be redirected to Stripe's authorization page.
5. Authorize TidyCal to connect with your Stripe account (or create a new Stripe account).
6. Once complete, you will be redirected back to TidyCal.
7. You will see "Stripe account connected" with a green checkmark.

Tip: Your payments history lives on a separate page at tidycal.com/dashboard/payments. That page no longer has a sidebar link, so open it directly. If you have not yet connected a provider, it shows a Connect payment provider button that brings you back to Integrations → Payments.

Note: As of March 2026, new booking types default to Stripe as the payment processor. If you have both Stripe and PayPal connected, you can choose which processor to use per booking type in the Pricing & Subscriptions tab.

Stripe Fees

Stripe deducts its own processing fees from each payment. On top of that, Stripe payments carry a 1% TidyCal platform fee on the Free Plan, Individual Lifetime and Agency Lifetime; Pro has none, and PayPal payments carry none. By default your client pays it at checkout as a separate Platform fee line, so you receive the full price you set. On Individual Lifetime and Agency Lifetime you can cover it yourself instead with I'll cover the 1% platform fee in Settings → Bookings.

For which payments carry the fee, every exception, and how coupons and refunds affect it, see Does TidyCal charge a fee on payments?

Disconnecting Stripe

To disconnect your Stripe account:

1. In the sidebar, click Integrations, then click the Payments tab.
2. Click the "Disconnect Stripe" button (red outline button).

Disconnecting removes the payment connection but does not affect past transactions processed through Stripe. Booking types set to Stripe can't be booked until you reconnect — clients see a message that the booking page isn't set up to accept payments yet.

Connect PayPal

PayPal requires only your PayPal email address. No OAuth setup needed.

Setup Steps

1. In the sidebar, click Integrations.
2. On the Integrations page, click the Payments tab (or open it directly at tidycal.com/integrations/payments).
3. Under PayPal, enter your email in the "PayPal email:" field.
4. Click "Save PayPal email".
5. You will see a confirmation message: "PayPal email updated."

Clients pay through PayPal checkout with their PayPal account (PayPal also offers Venmo to eligible US buyers) once you enable paid bookings.

Removing PayPal

To disconnect PayPal, clear the email field and click "Save PayPal email" with an empty value. The PayPal connection will be removed.

How do I charge for a booking type?

After connecting a payment processor, you need to enable payments on each booking type individually:

1. Go to Booking types
2. Edit the booking type you want to charge for
3. Go to the Pricing & Subscriptions tab and select Per booking
4. Enter the price for the booking
5. Select your preferred payment processor (Stripe or PayPal)
6. Click "Save"

Note: You can use different payment processors for different booking types. For example, use Stripe for one booking type and PayPal for another.

If you have not connected the selected processor, you will see a warning: "Required: Connect your Stripe account." or "Required: Connect your PayPal account."

Currency Settings

Your default currency is set in Settings → Preferences using a searchable dropdown, and new booking types start with it. Each booking type has its own currency, which you can change next to the price in the Pricing & Subscriptions tab. TidyCal supports a fixed list of currencies, shown in the currency dropdown.

What does my client see when they pay?

When a client selects a time for a paid booking type, they are prompted to complete payment via your connected provider. The booking is only confirmed after payment succeeds.

Where the platform fee applies, the checkout summary itemises the charge: your price, then a Platform fee line with a ? icon your client can hover for a short explanation, then the total they pay. The fee line is only shown when a fee is actually being charged.

Where can I see my payment history?

Open tidycal.com/dashboard/payments directly to view your payments history — this page no longer has a sidebar link. The page lists your booking payments (completed and pending) and subscription renewals as cards, newest first. Cancellation and no-show fee charges and payments for team booking types are not listed here — check Stripe or PayPal for those.

Two card types appear in the same list:

• One-time booking payments — check icon (paid) or clock icon (pending), booking amount, attendee name, booking type title, Paid or Pending status, payment date, and an external-link icon to view the payment in Stripe or PayPal.
• Subscription renewals — repeat icon, renewal amount, subscriber name, subscription plan name, Paid status, payment date, and an external-link icon to the Stripe invoice.

Search: Use the Search payments... box in the header to filter by attendee or subscriber name or email.

Pagination: 10 payments per page.

Empty states you might see:

• "Start collecting payments" — shown when no payment provider is connected. Click Connect payment provider to open the Payments connection settings.
• "Get your first payment" — shown when you have a provider connected but no paid booking types yet. Click Go to booking types to create one.
• "Share your paid booking type" — shown when you have a paid booking type but no payments yet. Copy the booking link to share.
• "No payments matching 'query'" — shown when your search returns no results.

Coupon Codes

After connecting a payment processor, you can create coupon codes to offer discounts on paid bookings. Go to Coupons in the sidebar to create and manage discount codes.

Can I use PayPal for subscriptions?

No. If you plan to offer subscription-based booking types, you must connect Stripe. TidyCal bills subscriptions through Stripe only, so PayPal can't be used for Subscription booking types. See Enable Additional Stripe Payment Methods to offer ACH, Apple Pay, and more.

Troubleshooting

Stripe authorization not completing

• Ensure you complete all steps in Stripe's authorization flow
• Stripe may require identity verification — check your email for Stripe requests
• Disable browser extensions that may block OAuth redirects (ad blockers, privacy extensions)
• Try using a different browser or incognito/private mode
• If the problem persists, contact support@tidycal.com

PayPal payments not going through

• Verify the PayPal email address is correct and belongs to an active PayPal account that can receive payments
• The email must be 191 characters or fewer
• Ensure the currency you set in TidyCal is supported by your PayPal account
• Check that the booking type has payments enabled and PayPal selected as the processor
• If a client says PayPal charged them but the booking wasn't made: TidyCal showed them "Your PayPal payment went through, but this booking couldn't be completed. Please don't pay again. Contact the host about this payment." Check the payment in PayPal and refund it there, or book the time for them.

Clients do not see payment option

• Confirm you have selected Per booking in the Pricing & Subscriptions tab of the booking type editor
• Verify a payment processor is connected on the Integrations → Payments page
• Check that you selected a payment processor for the booking type

Client reports payment failed

On Stripe, TidyCal has usually already taken the first step for you. A declined payment holds the client's time slot for about four hours and emails them a link to finish paying, so the booking is not lost. Check it on your Bookings page — a Payment failed badge means the hold is running. See What Happens When a Booking Payment Fails for the full sequence and how to switch the hold off.

• Give it a little time first. The recovery email goes out about 30 minutes after the decline.
• Your client can switch to a different card or payment method from the link in that email — you do not need to send them anything.
• Check your Stripe or PayPal dashboard for the decline reason. Declines come from the client's bank, not from TidyCal.
• For Stripe, ensure your account is fully activated (not in test mode).
• PayPal bookings are only recorded once payment succeeds, so a failed PayPal payment leaves no booking to recover.
• If the issue persists, contact support@tidycal.com.

Where to check the status. The Bookings page is the view that shows a declined payment, using a Payment failed badge. The payments history page lists each payment as either Paid or Pending, so a declined payment that is still inside its retry window appears there as Pending.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I connect both Stripe and PayPal at the same time?

Yes. You can connect both payment processors and select which one to use for each booking type individually. However, each individual booking type can only use one payment processor at a time.

Does TidyCal charge a platform fee?

Yes, on the Free Plan, Individual Lifetime and Agency Lifetime — Pro has no platform fee, and PayPal payments carry none. By default your client pays the 1% at checkout; on a lifetime plan you can cover it yourself. See Does TidyCal charge a fee on payments? for the full details.

How do I issue refunds?

Refunds are processed through your payment processor's dashboard (Stripe Dashboard or PayPal). TidyCal does not process refunds directly. See How do refunds and cancellation fees work for paid bookings? for details.

When you refund a booking payment that carried a platform fee, the platform fee is returned along with it — your client gets back the full amount they paid, including the Platform fee line. Partial refunds return a proportional share of the fee, so refunding half a booking returns half the fee.