> Let members pay with PayPal on a Plandalf checkout and add them to your Circle community and the right space. Covers the Stripe-only paywall gap and refunds. Source: https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/circle Last modified: 2026-10-26 Native integration # PayPal + Circle 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. [Start your 14-day free trial](https://admin.plandalf.dev/signup)[Jump to the setup](#setup) No credit card required. No coding required. **PayPal** **Circle** ## Does PayPal integrate with Circle? Plandalf 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. ## What moves between PayPal and Circle 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 CircleStripe 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 PayPalCircle 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 CirclePlandalf 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. ## Add PayPal buyers to a members-only Circle space You need a Circle plan with the Admin API (Business and above), admin access to the community and a space for buyers. 1. ### Prepare the checkout 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. 2. ### Create the token in Circle 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. 3. ### Connect Circle 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. 4. ### Find or create the member 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}}`. 5. ### Add them to the space 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. 6. ### Rehearse and plan removals 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. ## What sellers do with PayPal and Circle ### A paid mastermind with a private space 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. ### A course community with a course-only space 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. ## Limits and gotchas - Circle needs a plan that includes the Admin API, which is Business and above. - A refund in PayPal does not start Invoice Refunded, because that trigger is documented for Stripe refunds. The member stays in the space. - Removal takes a member out of a space, not out of the community, so they keep a Circle login. - Member Created needs a manual Circle workflow and Circle's Send to webhook action, available on Enterprise, or a Zapier or Make step. - A cancelled subscription does not remove access on its own because Plandalf has no subscription-cancelled trigger. ## PayPal and Circle: common questions Does PayPal integrate with Circle? Not directly. Circle's own payments page describes its paywalls as powered by Stripe. To take PayPal for a community, sell through a Plandalf checkout and have a sequence add the buyer to a Circle space. How do I connect PayPal to Circle? Enable PayPal on a Plandalf offer, connect Circle with an Admin API token under Automation, and build a Checkout Completed sequence with Find or Create Member and Add Member to Space. How do I give access to a Circle space after a PayPal payment? Run Add Member to Space from a sequence that starts when the checkout completes. Put Find or Create Member before it so the buyer is in the community. Can a Circle member joining start something in Plandalf? Yes, with the Member Created trigger, but you build the Circle side by hand with a workflow that posts to the Plandalf URL. ## Guides for this pair - [Plandalf with PayPal](https://plandalf.com/platforms/paypal) - [Plandalf with Circle](https://plandalf.com/platforms/circle) - [PayPal on a Plandalf checkout](https://plandalf.com/docs/platforms/paypal) - [Circle setup guide](https://plandalf.com/docs/integrations/circle) - [Automations overview](https://plandalf.com/docs/integrations/plandalf) [Start your 14-day free trial](https://admin.plandalf.dev/signup) ## More from PayPal and Circle - [**PayPal + MailerLite**A paid PayPal order on a Plandalf checkout can create the subscriber in MailerLite and add them to the group your welcome automation listens to.](https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/mailerlite) - [**PayPal + Next.js**A client component opens the Plandalf checkout, PayPal is a payment option there, and your server confirms the paid invoice.](https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/nextjs) - [**PayPal + React**A React button or hook opens the Plandalf checkout, and PayPal is a payment option on that offer.](https://plandalf.com/apps/paypal/integrations/react-app) - [**Stripe + Circle**Pay in a Plandalf checkout through Stripe and the buyer lands in the Circle space they paid for. If Stripe refunds the payment, they leave that space.](https://plandalf.com/apps/stripe/integrations/circle) Checked October 26, 2026 against Plandalf's own setup guides and the vendor documentation: [Circle: payments and paywalls](https://circle.so/payments).