Native integration
A community that wants PayPal can take payment on a Plandalf checkout and have a sequence add each buyer to the right Circle space.
No credit card required. No coding required.
PayPal
CirclePlandalf links them; PayPal does not connect to Circle itself. Circle's own payments page says its paywalls are powered by Stripe, so PayPal payment goes through a Plandalf checkout instead, and a sequence then runs native Circle steps to find or create the member and add them to a space. A PayPal refund does not remove them.
| Event | From and to | Through | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout completed | Plandalf (paid via PayPal) → Circle | Native step | Find or Create Member, then Add Member to Space. New members get Circle's invitation email. The PayPal docs say PayPal buyers use the same completion path as card buyers; confirm in the sandbox. |
| Paywall payment | Circle → Stripe | Payment connection | Circle's payments page states that Circle paywalls are powered by Stripe. A seller who wants PayPal checkout therefore sells the space through Plandalf, and Circle holds the community only. |
| Refund in PayPal | PayPal → Circle | By hand | Remove Member from Space is the step that takes access back, but the Invoice Refunded trigger behind the template is documented for Stripe refunds. Remove the member from the space in Circle, or from a sequence you start yourself. |
| Member created | Circle → Plandalf | Webhook | Circle has no webhook API for this. A Circle workflow with Send to webhook posts to the URL shown in the trigger. Circle includes that action on Enterprise; otherwise use Zapier or Make. |
You need a Circle plan with the Admin API (Business and above), admin access to the community and a space for buyers.
Publish a Plandalf checkout for the membership. Connect PayPal, enable it on the offer and keep card payment available too. Connect the PayPal sandbox environment so you can rehearse.
In your community open Developers, then Tokens, and create a token named Plandalf. Pick the token type that Plandalf's Circle setup guide names, since Circle has more than one Admin API version, then copy it.
Go to Automation, Marketplace, Circle, Connect and paste the token into API Key. Leave Community ID blank unless the token can see more than one community, in which case Plandalf lists the IDs.
Make a sequence on Plandalf, Checkout Completed, for the membership checkout. Add Circle, Find or Create Member with Email Address {{trigger.customer_email}} and Name {{trigger.customer_name}}.
Add Circle, Add Member to Space with the same email and your members-only Space. The member must already be in the community, which is why the find or create step comes first.
Approve a PayPal sandbox payment and watch the Events view. Testing a step adds a real member, so use your own address. Write down who removes a member after a PayPal refund, because no sequence will.
A host charges for a year of access and uses PayPal for members who would rather not give a card to a new community. Circle holds the discussions, while the Plandalf checkout holds the price and the payment option.
Buyers of the course are added to a Students space, and buyers of the bundle also reach an Alumni space through a second Add Member to Space step. Both appear in the same sequence.
Checked October 26, 2026 against Plandalf's own setup guides and the vendor documentation: Circle: payments and paywalls.
