Cash App vs. Venmo [2025]: Which Payments App Wears the Crown?

Cash App and Venmo are peer-to-peer payment apps you can use to send and receive money quickly. Both also include helpful features, including ATM withdrawals, instant transfers, and various payment methods. But each app is better in different scenarios.

Between these two popular payment transfer apps, we've found Venmo to be the better option for business use, investing in crypto, and American Express credit cardholders and Cash App to be the better choice for making international transfers, linking a debit card, and filing your taxes (for free).

Cash App vs. Venmo at a glance

Cash App and Venmo have similar fee structures for their primary services, including sending and receiving money. But you might find a few differences in each app’s transfer limits and payment methods. This table gives a quick overview of how the two apps compare.

	Cash App	Venmo
Best for	International transfers, debit card, tax filing	Businesses, crypto investing, American Express users
Fees	$0 for standard deposits and sending money with Cash App balance or linked bank account 0.5%-1.75% for instant transfers 3% to send money with a credit card $2.50 ATM withdrawal fee 0.75% to 3% for buying Bitcoin	$0 for standard bank deposits and sending money with Venmo balance, debit card, or linked bank account 1.75% for instant transfers 3% to send money with a credit card $0 in-network ATM withdrawal ($2.50 out-of-network) Variable network fees for cryptocurrency transfers
Payment methods	Send money: Cash App balance Linked bank account Debit or credit card Spend on purchases: Cash App balance Cash Card debit card2 <p>Prepaid debit cards issued by&nbsp;Sutton Bank.</p> Mobile wallets (Apple Pay and Google Pay) with a Cash Card	Send money: Venmo balance Linked bank account Debit or credit card Amex Send account Spend on purchases: Venmo balance Venmo debit card Venmo credit card
Transfer speed	Standard: 1-3 business days Instant deposit for a 0.5%-1.75% fee	Standard: 1-3 business days Instant deposit for a 1.75% fee
	Visit Cash App	Visit Venmo

When you should choose Cash App

You want to make international transfers

Venmo requires you to be physically located in the U.S., which means users in other countries can’t use its services. I found this out the hard way at a flea market in London. However, you might still be able to send and receive money from other U.S.-based Venmo users, even if you’re traveling abroad. Just don’t expect to use it with any non-U.S.-based users. To be able to shop at that flea market, I had to go get cash from an ATM.

Cash App beats Venmo for international transfers. Cash App still isn’t available everywhere, but it is available in the U.K., which increases its functionality worldwide. That’s not a much wider reach, but it’s still more than what Venmo offers. (And it would’ve helped me during my shopping conundrum!)

You want a debit card linked to a transfer app

Both Venmo and Cash App offer debit cards you can link to your account, but we think Cash App's offering is more impressive here. While the Venmo Debit Card earns up to 5% cash back, the offers can be pretty limited and don't extend to every category. The Cash App Card also has offers that change and vary by category, but a lot of users report them being more practical for everyday spending than Venmo's. Cash App also applies these as discounts on your spending for more immediate savings. Plus, you can enable round-ups to automatically top up your debit card purchases and send the extra cents to your savings or investing balance.

Both debit cards can be added to your Apple Pay or Google Pay wallet.

You want to file taxes

Cash App rolled out a free tax filing tool back in 2021 (actually, it took over Credit Karma Tax and rebranded under the Cash App name), and it's not a bad option for processing your state and/or federal tax return. Other tax filing software will be better for trickier tax scenarios, but if you have straightforward taxes because you're taking the standard deduction and earning W-2 income, for example, Cash App Taxes is easy to use. 

The platform's software can also support forms for investing income, business income, and plenty of itemized deductions, but it isn't a good choice if you want help squeezing out savings or getting the most personalized recommendations because you're pretty much on your own when filing.

Venmo doesn't offer any form of tax filing support.

When you should choose Venmo

You own a business

If you own a business and want to accept payments through a transfer app, Venmo has an edge here over Cash App. Venmo charges lower fees for business transactions, with a standard fee of 1.9% + $0.10 of the payment total for payments that come directly from another person's Venmo account. For Tap to Pay transactions, the fee is 2.29% + $0.10 of the payment total.

Contrast that with Cash App's business processing fee of 2.75% on any Cash App for Business transaction, and you're likely to save a bit of money as a business owner if you use Venmo. Plus, Venmo has millions more active users, so you may have an easier time finding potential customers or clients if you accept Venmo instead.

You want to invest in crypto

Investing is not as comprehensive as the best investment apps on Cash App or Venmo, but it's slightly better on Venmo for crypto. Cash App users can buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin through the app and invest in stocks. While Venmo doesn’t allow you to invest in stocks, you can purchase popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. However, I wouldn’t recommend keeping large sums of crypto on these platforms. You’re going to want to transfer that over to your crypto wallet if you plan to hold it securely long term.

This category has no overall winner because it depends on your situation and investing preferences. For example, if you’re more interested in the cryptocurrencies offered by Venmo and don’t want to invest in stocks, Venmo may be a more suitable option. But if you want to invest in stocks and Bitcoin, Cash App might make more sense.

However, I would trust an established investing-specific app over Cash App or Venmo. If you feel the same, this category may be a non-issue.

You have an Amex credit card

You typically have to choose a payment method if you want to send money to someone else using a payment service. Both Cash App and Venmo accounts offer payment methods such as using a credit card, a debit card, a linked bank account, or your account balance. However, with Cash App, you can also use Apple Pay and Google Play by connecting them to your Cash Card.

Venmo offers an Amex Send feature that lets you use American Express credit cards without paying the standard cash advance credit card fee. Keep in mind that you likely won’t receive any rewards (if applicable) for credit cards used this way, but it’s still a unique feature that’s probably more useful than what Cash App offers.

What both apps excel at

Money apps often overlap in many ways, and it’s no different with Cash App and Venmo. Both mobile payments apps offer the same primary service of sending and receiving money. Here are some of the features and benefits that Cash App and Venmo share:

• Sending and receiving money: Both apps' main feature is sending and receiving money, including sending money with a credit card. So rather than carrying cash on you at all times, you can pull out your phone and pay someone with either app. This can be helpful if you split rent among roommates, want to pay your friend back for a nice meal they covered, or are divvying up vacation costs among a group.
• No hidden fees: Both apps are free to download, and neither charges a monthly maintenance fee. You also won’t have to pay high fees to send and receive money unless you want a faster transfer.
• Transfer limits: Both apps have sending and spending limits for new users that can be increased if you go through a verification process. This process typically includes sending documentation or additional personal information. For Cash App, you can send and receive up to $1,000 per 30-day period for unverified accounts, and limits vary by user for verified accounts. For Venmo, you can send up to $299.99 per 7-day period with no receiving limit for unverified accounts. For verified, you can send up to $60,000 in person-to-person payments per 7-day period.
• Transfer speed options: Cash App and Venmo have standard or instant transfer options. Standard transfers are typically free and take one to three business days. Instant transfers on Cash App have a transaction fee that ranges between 0.5% and 1.75%. For Venmo, that fee is 1.75% up to $25.
• Supported devices: It’s simple to get started with either app on any iOS or Android device or through a web browser. The Cash App and Venmo apps are available on the App Store and Google Play.

Which app should you choose?

The better app for you between Cash App and Venmo comes down to multiple factors, including your lifestyle and financial preferences. Both apps are easy to use for sending and receiving money, and there aren’t many fees to worry about. For example, I don’t pay any fees since I only use the apps for money transfers and stick to standard transfer times.

However, you might prefer to use one app over the other depending on which one your friends and family use. For me, it wouldn’t make sense for me to use Cash App for peer-to-peer payments, as most people in my life use Venmo.

If you’re interested in investing in stocks or cryptocurrency, you may want to consider what your priority is. Cash App users have more options to invest in stocks, while Venmo users have more cryptocurrency opportunities. Of course, you can always rely on a different app altogether to manage your investments, like I do.

Review each app’s differences and see how their features align with your financial goals. Keep in mind that these aren’t the only payment apps available. Many of the best banks offer different money transfer options.

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