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    PayPal

    MeDo supports PayPal integration, allowing you to accept one-time payments in your AI-generated applications through your own PayPal Business account.

    Updated 2026-09-11

    Your app can take PayPal payments, and the money goes straight into your own PayPal account — MeDo never holds it. This is separate from what you pay MeDo for credits.

    Before you start

    • A PayPal Business account, and its Client ID and Secret.
    • Sign-in on your app (recommended). With sign-in, each order belongs to the buyer's account and shows up in their order history. An app without sign-in takes guest payments, the same as Stripe; guests have no order history, and refunds for those apps are made in your PayPal account. See Managing sign-in & users.
    • A backend, since orders need somewhere to live. See Backend settings & keep-alive.
    • Publish before taking real money. See Publishing a release.
    • Credentials are per app. Copying an app does not carry them over — configure PayPal again in the copy with the new owner's Client ID and Secret.

    What you can do

    • Accept one-time payments through PayPal checkout, paid from a PayPal balance or a card
    • Build a store, a digital product page, or a service page with checkout
    • Receive the money directly in your own PayPal account

    Example query:

    “Create an online art store where users can purchase digital paintings via PayPal.”

    Note: MeDo currently supports only one-time payments with PayPal. Subscription-based or recurring billing is not supported. Full refunds are issued by the app administrator from inside the generated app; this is an admin-only action. Apps without sign-in have no administrator, so refund those payments in your PayPal account.

    Add PayPal to your app

    MeDo reaches for Stripe by default, so name PayPal explicitly. Either ask in the conversation —

    "I want to accept payments with PayPal in my app."

    — or type @ in the prompt box, pick PayPal from the Skill list, and describe what you are selling in the same message.

    Each app uses one payment provider. Once the app includes PayPal, MeDo asks you to configure your credentials before checkout will work.

    Configure your credentials

    Click the Configure PayPal button at the end of MeDo's reply, or open the Skill view in the editor's left rail and choose the PayPal card. Then:

    1. Open the configuration dialog.
    2. Open the PayPal Developer Dashboard and log in with your PayPal Business account.
    3. Go to Apps & Credentials and choose Sandbox or Live (see the Sandbox vs Live section below).
    4. Click Create App and give it any name. PayPal does not allow the word “paypal” in the app name.
    5. Copy the app’s Client ID and Secret.
    6. Return to MeDo’s dialog, paste both values into the corresponding fields, and submit the form.

    MeDo checks the credentials with PayPal before saving them. If that fails, make sure both values come from the same PayPal app and try again. Then open checkout in your app (sign in first if it has sign-in): it should show Sandbox or Live next to the PayPal button, depending on which credentials you used. If checkout does not initialise, re-check the configuration and reload.

    Credentials are stored for this app only and are masked when displayed again. Never paste the Secret into page content or ask MeDo to put it in the code. See Keys & data safety.

    Sandbox vs live

    PayPal provides two separate environments. The generated app detects the environment from your credentials when checkout initializes; you do not enter a separate environment setting.

    SandboxLive
    PurposeTest mode — no real money movesReal payments, settled to your PayPal account
    How to payUse a Sandbox buyer test account from the Developer Dashboard (Testing Tools → Sandbox accounts)Visitors pay with their own PayPal balance or card
    RequirementsA PayPal Developer Dashboard loginA PayPal Business account that has completed PayPal’s account verification for receiving payments
    When to useWhile building and testing your appWhen your app is ready to sell to real visitors

    Switching from Sandbox to Live: create a Live app under Apps & Credentials → Live, then save its Client ID and Secret together in the same Skill configuration form. Reload checkout and confirm that it shows Live. Resolve pending payments and arrange any refunds for old orders before changing the merchant account or environment.

    Note: If a published app still uses Sandbox credentials, visitors cannot pay for real. Switch to Live credentials before you start selling.

    If a payment is still processing

    If a confirmation times out or stays pending, use Check payment status in the app or open the order in its order history rather than paying again. The same applies to refunds: an administrator can re-check a pending refund from the order, and pending does not mean refunded. MeDo does not reconcile in the background after the buyer leaves, so compare any unresolved order against your PayPal account's transaction list.

    After setup

    Once your PayPal configuration is complete:

    • All payments from your app are settled in your PayPal account.
    • You can view transactions and payment details in your PayPal account.
    • Full refunds are issued by the app administrator through the admin refund action inside your app; for apps without sign-in, refund in your PayPal account.
    • PayPal charges its own transaction fees according to PayPal’s terms.
    • Stripe — the alternative provider.
    • Skills — how the @ picker and credentials work.