A PayPal payment link on your website: buy buttons without button code
PayPal can give you a plain payment link for a product or service. Save that link in Anticode's payment-link connector, republish, and your site's pricing buttons and store Buy links open PayPal's checkout in a new tab. PayPal's copy-and-paste button code isn't needed, and wouldn't run on Anticode's pages anyway.
Who chooses PayPal
Sellers whose buyers already trust PayPal: makers selling at craft fairs and online, tutors and coaches with international clients, small clubs collecting fees. A PayPal payment link on website buttons lets a buyer pay with their PayPal balance, or with a card on PayPal's page, without you running a checkout. If you already receive money through PayPal, there's no new account to open.
Two kinds of PayPal link
| Link | Amount set by | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Pay link from PayPal Buttons | You, with a product name, price and currency | One product, ticket, deposit or fixed-price service |
| PayPal.Me | The buyer, who types the agreed amount | Agreed prices, tips, deposits that vary |
For a site with prices printed on the page, the first is the natural choice: the buyer sees the same price at checkout that they saw on your pricing card. PayPal.Me is better for invoiced or negotiated work. PayPal's PayPal.Me article says the customer adds the agreed amount and can pay without opening a PayPal account, but because the buyer enters the amount, a fixed-price sale can arrive with the wrong total.
Create a pay link
- In your PayPal business account, open the PayPal Buttons page, as PayPal's pay link help describes.
- Choose the pricing, then enter the product name, price and currency.
- Select Build It. The Details page shows a payment link, button code and a QR code.
- Copy the payment link, not the button code.
If you sell two or three things, make a pay link for each in PayPal and decide which one the site should feature, because Anticode keeps a single link. The others can be shared by email or with the QR code PayPal shows on the same Details page.
Add it to your site
- In Anticode, open Connectors › Payment link and paste the link. It must start with
https://. - Make sure the site has a pricing section, the payments must-have, or is an online store.
- Rebuild or republish so the buttons pick it up.
Why the button code won't work here
PayPal's button code loads PayPal's script to draw its yellow buttons and pop up its checkout. Anticode's published pages are served with a security policy that allows no scripts and no embedded frames, which is how the Sentinel checks keep them free of injected code. So the button code would be blocked, and the code editor refuses scripts anyway. A plain link opens the same PayPal checkout in a new tab and keeps your design's own buttons.
What stays with PayPal
- Payment details. Card numbers and PayPal logins go only to PayPal; Anticode never handles them.
- Records and refunds. Each payment appears in your PayPal account, which is where you refund, see the buyer's details and download reports.
- Receipts. Buyers get PayPal's confirmation; Anticode sends nothing for a purchase.
- Fees and currencies. Set by your PayPal agreement and country.
Before you go live
- Open the published page in a private window and press each pricing button: every one should reach the same PayPal checkout, with the price you expect.
- Check the product name on PayPal’s page matches the wording on your site, so buyers know they’re in the right place.
- Make one real low-value payment and refund it, so you know where both show up in your PayPal account.
Limits
- One link for every button. All pricing and buy buttons on all your sites use the same saved link, so a pay link for one product suits a site that sells one thing.
- No cart or stock. Visitors can't collect several items and pay once on your pages, and nothing counts what's left. PayPal's shopping cart buttons rely on button code, which can't run here.
- No order alerts in Anticode. Turn on PayPal's own notifications for new payments.
- Not inside apps. Model-written apps run sandboxed, with no payments.
Compare Stripe Payment Links and Gumroad, or see the overview of payment links.
Questions people ask
Can buyers pay by card without a PayPal account?
PayPal says customers can pay through a PayPal.Me link without opening an account. Which methods appear depends on PayPal and the buyer's country.
Can I use a PayPal.Me link for my pricing buttons?
You can, but the buyer types the amount. For fixed prices, a pay link with the price set is safer.
Do I need to give Anticode my PayPal login?
No. Only the public payment link is saved.