If you use PayPal Express to accept payments on your membership site, you may have questions about what the PMPro 3.7.1 update means for you. The short answer: your existing payments are not going anywhere. But there are important changes underway that are worth understanding.

Here is a full breakdown of what changed, why it happened, and what is coming next.

Why PayPal Express Is Being Deprecated

This change starts with PayPal, not with us.

In late December 2025, PayPal stopped allowing merchants to generate the API credentials required to connect PayPal Express to third-party platforms. As of that date, no one has been able to add PayPal Express as a gateway on a new site.

PayPal Express was built on an older set of APIs that PayPal is moving away from in favor of a newer, more capable payment platform. Rather than continue to support a gateway that new users can no longer connect, we made the decision to formally deprecate PayPal Express in PMPro 3.7.1, and begin building a replacement that uses PayPal’s current APIs.

What Changed in PMPro 3.7.1

The 3.7.1 release includes two changes related to PayPal:

1. PayPal Express is deprecated.

The PayPal Express gateway is now deprecated in PMPro. Existing sites that were already connected using API keys created before late December 2025 will continue to work exactly as they always have. No one newly setting up PMPro will be able to activate PayPal Express as a primary or secondary gateway.

2. The paypal gateway slug has been reclaimed.

PMPro 3.7.1 includes a migration script that reassigns the paypal gateway slug. Previously, this slug was held by Website Payments Pro, a legacy PayPal integration that was deprecated years ago and is no longer in active use. Reclaiming this slug clears the way for the new PayPal Add On to use it properly.

What This Means for Your Site

If you are already using PayPal Express

Nothing changes for you right now.

If your site was connected to PayPal Express before late December 2025, your integration will continue to work. Recurring payments from existing members will keep processing as normal, provided you maintain the API keys in your membership site settings.

When the new PayPal Add On is available, you will be able to activate it as your default gateway or use it as a secondary option alongside Stripe. Any new checkout that goes through the new PayPal integration will use the new API.

Your existing PayPal Express subscriptions will not be affected. Members who are currently paying you through PayPal Express will continue to do so through that system. There is no technical path to migrate those subscriptions to the new gateway. PayPal Express subscriptions and the new PayPal subscriptions are built on entirely different systems. They can and will run in parallel.

If you are setting up a new site

PayPal Express is not available as an option. The good news is that the new PayPal Add On is coming soon (see below for details). In the meantime, Stripe is the recommended gateway for new sites.

A Critical Note on PayPal’s API Future

There is one more thing to consider. PayPal has made it clear that the NVP/SOAP API that powers PayPal Express will eventually be shut down. We do not have an ETA from PayPal on when this will happen. But when it does, PayPal Express subscriptions will start to fail.

This is not something PMPro can prevent. It is a platform-level change on PayPal’s side.

If you are currently using PayPal Express, we strongly recommend migrating to Stripe or the new PayPal Add On as soon as you can. The sooner you make this transition, the fewer members you will have on the old system — and the fewer people who will need to check out again when the API is eventually sunset.

We know this is not ideal. Migrating payment gateways is never fun. But making the move now will save you from a larger disruption down the road.

Introducing the New PayPal Integration

We are working on a new PayPal Add On built on PayPal’s latest APIs, with a targeted release for late March 2026.

Important note: This initial release will be a work in progress. We are launching it as early as we can so sites that need PayPal have an option, but it will not have the same level of maturity or testing as our Stripe integration. Expect it to feel more like a “beta” release at first.

Our development team is actively working to confirm exactly what will be available at launch, particularly for recurring payments. As we get closer to release, we will share more details.

We do know that we will be launching with an offsite checkout flow. Here is why we think that is the right call for most sites:

The offsite model gives members a familiar, trusted checkout experience on PayPal’s own platform. It integrates cleanly with tools like our Abandoned Cart Recovery Add On, which relies on capturing the checkout intent before payment is complete. It is also a more secure approach: PayPal handles sensitive payment data directly rather than passing it through your server.

The result is a cleaner checkout flow, better recovery options, and less liability for site owners.

Why We Recommend Stripe Over PayPal

We want to be direct about this: Stripe is the better choice for most membership sites.

The new PayPal Add On exists because some sites need PayPal — whether for brand recognition, user preference, or regional availability. But if you are evaluating gateways and have the option to choose, here is why we recommend Stripe:

• Stripe is built for subscriptions. PayPal has historically treated subscriptions as a secondary use case. Stripe has made recurring payments a core part of their platform, and it shows in the reliability and flexibility of their subscription tools.
• Our Stripe integration is more mature. It has been tested more thoroughly, has more features, and is more reliable overall. We have a better relationship with Stripe, which means we can identify and resolve issues faster.
• Stripe is more proactive about identifying problems. For example, if webhooks are not set up correctly, Stripe’s dashboard and our integration will surface that issue. PayPal’s tooling is less helpful in these situations.
• Stripe is where we invest our development time. New features and improvements land on Stripe first. PayPal will always be a supported option, but it will not have feature parity.

If you are already using PayPal Express, the new PayPal Add On will give you a modern integration to transition to. But if you are starting fresh or have the flexibility to switch, choose Stripe.

A Note on Documentation

You may notice that some of our existing documentation still references PayPal Express. We have made the deliberate choice not to update those pages immediately. Instead, we will update all PayPal-related documentation in a single batch with the release of the new Add On. This prevents confusion from half-updated instructions during the transition window.

Frequently Asked Questions