Integrate PayPal

PayPal is a payment processing platform that lets Fluent Forms receive payments from your users securely. This article will guide you through integrating PayPal into your WordPress site with the Fluent Forms plugin.

NOTE

PayPal requires Fluent Forms Pro. See Upgrade to Fluent Forms Pro Add-on.

Enable PayPal Payment Method

Go to Global Settings from the Fluent Forms navbar, open the Payment tab, and select Payment Methods.

Select PayPal Standard, then click Enable PayPal Payment Method to activate PayPal globally for all forms.

Configure PayPal with Fluent Forms

Once you enable PayPal, all required settings appear to configure PayPal with Fluent Forms.

Before starting, select a Payment Mode between Sandbox (for test payments) and Live (for real payments). Both modes follow the same configuration process.

Standard (Legacy Mode)

This legacy method relies on your primary PayPal email address and IPN responses to track single and recurring transactions.

• PayPal Email: Enter the email address linked directly to your verified PayPal Business Account.

Checkout API (Recommended Mode)

Fluent Forms connects to PayPal through PayPal's modern Orders API v2 (one-time payments) and Subscriptions API (recurring payments). You get reliable webhook-based confirmations, native subscription support, and verified signatures on every event.

• Payment Mode: Set Mode to Sandbox Mode (for test environments) or Live Mode (for processing real payments). Fluent Forms automatically routes API calls to the proper developer endpoints depending on this mode.
• Generate REST API credentials in PayPal:
  1. Log in to the PayPal Developer Dashboard.
  2. Switch to the Sandbox or Live tab to match your selected mode.
  3. Click Create App, name the app (for example, Fluent Forms), and select Merchant as the app type.
  4. Copy the generated Client ID and Secret Key.
• Enter keys into Fluent Forms: Paste the credentials into the matching fields inside Fluent Forms (Test Client ID / Test Secret Key or Live Client ID / Live Secret Key). You can fill both pairs at once; the system uses the Mode toggle to determine which pair is active.
• Webhook ID: Input your verified Webhook ID.

Webhook settings: To receive real-time payment, refund, and subscription events from PayPal, configure a webhook in the PayPal Developer Dashboard. Add a webhook with the Webhook URL provided in the Fluent Forms settings box.

Subscribe to at least these events:

PAYMENT.SALE.COMPLETED
BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.ACTIVATED
BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.CANCELLED
BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.EXPIRED
BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.PAYMENT.FAILED
BILLING.SUBSCRIPTION.SUSPENDED

Copy your Webhook ID back into Fluent Forms. Webhook events are only processed when a Webhook ID is configured as a safety guard against unsigned events.

Press Save PayPal Settings to save your configuration.

Setup PayPal IPN Settings

After configuring PayPal, you can set up IPN (Instant Payment Notification) Settings to enable notifications for subscription or recurring payments in PayPal. Recurring billing is collected through the Subscription field.

IPN (Instant Payment Notification) is a post-message notification sent by PayPal after a successful transaction for standard merchant accounts, containing all payment transaction details. Setting up PayPal IPN with Fluent Forms allows you to receive instant payment notifications from PayPal.

Go to Global Settings from the Fluent Forms navbar, open the Payment tab, and select Payment Methods.

Open PayPal Standard, scroll to PayPal IPN Settings (Recommended for Subscription Payment), and copy the IPN URL for subscription and recurring payment data.

NOTE

If you do not set up IPN, single payments still work, but recurring PayPal subscription payments will not be marked as paid.

Press Save PayPal Settings to save your changes.

Visit the dashboard of your PayPal Business Account, hover over the Profile Icon, and click Account Settings.

Scroll down and open the Website Payments tab. Go to Instant Payment Notifications and click the Update link.

Click Edit Settings to set up your IPN notification.

Paste the URL into the Notification URL field that you copied from the PayPal IPN Settings page.

After entering your Notification URL, select Receive IPN messages (Enabled) to activate IPN messages.

Click Save to confirm the setup.

The Notification URL is updated and IPN is enabled for your site.

You can modify your notification URL anytime by clicking Edit Settings. To disable PayPal IPN, click Turn Off IPN.

Integrate PayPal in Forms

Once you finish setting up your PayPal payment method, you can add it to any existing payment form (a form with Payment Item and Payment Method fields).

NOTE

If you do not have an existing payment form, see How to Create a Payment Form With Fluent Form.

Go to the Editor page of your desired form by clicking its Edit option.

On the Editor page, hover over the Payment Method field and click the Pencil Icon to open Input Customization.

Under Payment Methods, check PayPal, click the Dropdown Arrow, and configure these options:

• Method Label: Change the label for your payment method.
• Require Shipping Address: Check this box to require shipping address information before form submission.

Click Save Form to save your changes.

To embed the form on a specific page or post, copy the Shortcode from the top right and paste it into your desired page or post.

Click Preview & Design in the middle to preview the form.

Preview of Added Payment Method

Here is the preview of the Payment Method you added. When a user clicks Submit Form, they are redirected to PayPal to complete payment.

Form Specific PayPal Settings

You can customize PayPal Settings for a specific form.

Go to Forms from the Fluent Forms navbar and click Settings on the form you want to configure.

On the Settings and Integrations tab, open Payment Settings and scroll to PayPal Settings.

Select which PayPal Account (Global or Custom) this form uses. Choose Custom PayPal ID to use a different PayPal account for this form only.

Click Save Settings to save your changes.