Cash App vs Venmo
Summary:
- Both Cash App and Venmo are great for sending money to friends and family quickly and easily.
- Both apps are free for standard person-to-person payments and withdrawals. But if you want to save money, Venmo charges lower in ATM transactions and business payments.
- Cash App has wider coverage compared to Venmo since it handles both USD and GBP transactions. And it allows you to purchase both bitcoins and stocks directly on its platform.
- Venmo stands out as the only mobile payment app offering a credit card option and more cryptocurrency investment opportunities.
- Your money is protected on both apps but not guaranteed under government financial protection schemes
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1. Quick Comparison: Which is Better?
On App Store and Play Store, Cash App and Venmo have pretty positive reviews, but not on Trustpilot, where both only have 1.2/5 ratings and people are upset about their not-so-great customer service.
 |  | |
| 🔒Trust | Moderate – Low Trustpilot reviews but PCI-DSS level 1 certification for secure card payments | Moderate – Low Trustpilot reviews but Bank-level encryption and owned by PayPal |
| 💻Compatibility | iOS, Android, and web browser | iOS, Android, and web browser |
| 👌Easy to use | Yes | Yes |
| 💰Fees | Fees for instant withdrawals, business payments, ATM withdrawals, and credit card payments | Fees for instant withdrawals, business payments,out-of-network ATM withdrawals, and credit card payments |
| 💱International Transfers | Yes (limited) | No |
| ⭐Trustpilot rating | Excellent – 4.3/5 with over 9,000+ reviews on (as of January 2025) | Bad – 1.2/5 on Trustpilot with over 700+ reviews (as of January 2025) |
| 😎Cool extras | Direct deposits available (receive paycheck, tax returns, and more) Buy Bitcoin Buy stocks ATM withdrawals Cash Card Boosts (discounts at various merchants) | Direct deposits available (receive a paycheck, tax returns, and more) Credit card Bill splitting Buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash Social features like sending emoji ATM withdrawals |
| 📝Full review | CashApp (review) | Venmo (review) |
| 🌐Official website |
Cash App was started by Square in 2013 and Venmo was started in 2009 by PayPal.
Both Cash App (review) and Venmo are Peer-to-Peer (definition) payment apps in the US that let you pay your friends, family, and trusted businesses easily without the big fees (as we discuss below).
Both are also equally safe to use as long as you stick to some basic personal finance habits.
Winner: Tie
Cash App can do more in terms of transfers – offering both local and international transfers as well – as more options for investing.
However, Venmo is the only mobile payment app that offers a credit card and many cryptocurrency investment options.
CashApp is best for you if
- You want to be able to buy stocks through the app
- Be able to withdraw Bitcoin bought on the platform to your own third-party wallet
Venmo is best for you if
- You want social media-like functions like sending emojis with your payment notices.
- You want to be able to buy a wider range of cryptocurrencies
- Have access to a credit card
2. Cash App vs Venmo: Transfers and Bank Accounts
Cash App
Account
- Available for personal and business use
- Accounts for users above 13+ in the US
- Pay and get paid instantly (more below)
- Receive salary and set up direct debits
- Set money aside for savings and taxes
- Link your account with
- Bank account
- Debit card
- Credit card
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Invests in stocks and Bitcoin
Cards
- Cash Card (Visa Debit Card)
- Blocking cards can be done from the app
Transfers (local)
- P2P transfers to other Cash App users in the US
- Sending to non-Cash App users? Send to their phone or email and they can join within 14 days to claim their money
- Pay by Cash App Cash card (debit card)
Transfers (international)
- USD-GBP transfers only
- Both sender and recipient need a Cash App account
Venmo
Account
- Available for personal and business use
- Accounts for users above 18+ in the US
- Teen accounts for 13-17 y/o in the US
- Pay and get paid instantly (more below)
- Receive salary
- Split bills with friends easily
- Social feed of transfers with comments and emojis
- Link your account with
- Bank account
- Debit card
- Credit card
- Invest in many types of cryptocurrency
Cards
- Credit Card
- Debit Card (Master Card Debit Card)
- Virtual Card
- Blocking any of the cards can be done from the app
Transfers (local)
- P2P payments to other Venmo users
- Pay by Venmo debit or credit card
Transfers (international)
Not supported
Winner: Tie
Cash App offers accounts to users as young as 13, allows many integrations with other payment apps for spending your money, and lets you invest in stocks as well as crypto (only Bitcoin). And if you have friends and family in the UK, this is a great instant payment app to have since they offer USD-GBP transfers.
Venmo also makes it easy to pay friends and family in the US, split bills effortlessly, and is the only mobile payment app that also offers a credit card. Venmo also offers more cryptocurrency for investment (more on that below).
Overall, services offer some pretty cool features and which is right for you depends on your individual preferences and needs.
3. Cash App vs Venmo: Sending and Receiving Money
Cash App
Send and receive money through
- Phone number
- $Cashtag (QR code)
- You can send cash, stocks, and bitcoin easily
Venmo
Send and receive money through
- Phone number
- Venmo username/Personal QR code
- Siri and iMessage payments for iPhone users
- Send cash as well as cryptocurrency
Winner: Tie
Both Cash App and Venmo offer many ways to send and receive money, including cryptocurrency. Venmo also has cool options for iPhone users.
4. Cash App vs Venmo: Fees & Limits
Cash App
Fees (personal)
Free for basic features like sending and receiving money P2P
Free standard withdrawal of balance
0.5% -1.75% fee (with a minimum fee of $0.25) for instant withdrawals to your debit card
3% fee if you send money through your linked credit card
Fees (business)
2.75% processing fee on every payment
No fees for instant withdrawal
ATM withdrawals
Withdrawal fee – $2.50 USD per withdrawal
Out-of-network ATMS may charge additional fee
For free withdrawals – deposit $300 USD into your account every month
Limits
Unverified user:
$250 send in 7 days
$1000 receive in 30 days
Verification needed to increase limits
Venmo
Fees (personal)
Free for basic features like sending and receiving money P2P
Free standard withdrawal of balance
1.75% fee (with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum fee of $25) for instant withdrawals of your balance
3% fee if you send money through your linked credit card
Fees (business)
1.9% + $0.10 for every business payment
ATM withdrawals
Free withdrawals at in-network ATMs
$2.50 USD for out-of-network ATM withdrawals
Limits
Unverified user:
$299.99 USD per week
Verified user:
Send up to $60,000 USD per week
Spend up to $7000 USD per week on purchases
Withdrawal to bank account:
$999 USD per week for unverified users
$19,999.99 USD per week for verified users
$ 5,000 USD limit on each transaction
Winner: Venmo
Cash App and Venmo are both free for their standard P2P payments and withdrawals.
However, Venmo turns out to be cheaper for instant withdrawals, ATM withdrawals, and business payments. Moreover, they have higher limits for sending money, spending, and withdrawing to your bank account.
5. Cash App vs Venmo: Customer Service and Support
Cash App
Cash App can be reached via phone, email, and live chat.
However, they’re often short-staffed, which can be annoying during an emergency.
Venmo
Venmo can be contacted by email and live chat, but the response times are quite long. Also, Venmo can’t help you with any issues related to their credit card – you need to contact Symphony Bank instead (because they legally issue the card, not Venmo).
Winner: Tie
One of the key shortcomings of apps like Venmo and Cash App is their customer service.
We found they often rank highly in the Apple or Android stores and then get dismal scores on the Review sites.
Here is a recent example from Trustpilot on one of them;
“Absolute BS customer service.
I contacted them with an inquiry about a purchase, and all the person sent me was their Terms and Conditions page, as if it had anything to do with my question.”
Kyle on Trustpilot
6. Cash App vs Venmo on Mobile
Cash App
Android Play Store – 4.7/5 with over 2.7 million reviews
iOs App Store – 4.8/5 with over 5.5 million reviews
People love the ease of sending, receiving, and tracking payments on Cash App.
“Cash app is a must! The best app to have!
I love this app! I have 4 kids and they borrow and pay me back. I sell a lot of items and use it for taking payments from my renters. It can categorize each person and the payments I’ve made to them & the payments I have received from them. I can pull up one person & look at the entire account. It allows you to state what the money is for so u can keep track of it.”
– Nicole Heart on the iOS App Store
Venmo
Android Play Store – 4.2/5 with over 714,000 reviews
iOS App Store – 4.9/5 with over 15 million reviews
Venmo users have been using the app for a while and love their innovative features as well as the ease of sending, receiving, and categorizing payments.
There are many positive reviews, however, recent reviews indicate that the app malfunctions and freezes frequently.
“Venmo has gone downhill – not just the app, but online as well. Payments are not able to go through 90% of the time…even though money is in the bank account it’s connected to and the bank says there should not be an issue. I’ve deleted the bank account information and re-added it numerous times, cleared the history and cache on my laptop, uninstalled and reinstalled the app…still consistently inconsistent in being able to make a payment.”
– Christine Clemmons on the Android Playstore
Winner: Tie
Both apps are highly rated on the iOS and App stores – but they have a low Trustpilot rating.
What is going on?
We have a feeling that many people start out using the app with no issues and start posting good reviews on the App Store.
But down the road, when they encounter an issue, they realize that their customer service isn’t great and they head over to Trustpilot (or another) to report it.
As both are free services (for their basic features) as well, they most likely don’t invest much in their customer service teams.
The bottom line is, try not to make any mistakes when using these apps and we would not recommend keeping a big balance on either of them.
You most likely won’t get reliable help if you ever encounter a problem (but hopefully you do).
7. Cash App vs Venmo – Third Party Reviews (What Others Say)
Cash App
Trustpilot Score
Excellent – 4.3/5 with over 9,000+ reviews (as of January 2025)
Analysis
Positives
- Easy-to-use app
- Fast transfers
Negatives (8%)
Unauthorized transactions
One of the biggest issues noted with Cash App is unauthorized transactions. Their PCI certification protects you in case of card payments but it can be difficult to get your money back in other cases.
Customer service
Many users complained that Cash App’s customer service was difficult to reach and downright unhelpful in resolving these security issues and other concerns.
What They Say
“Cash App is so very convenient for me to use for my online banking needs and I have never once had an issue with Cash App and I highly recommend Cash App and it’s user-friendly and I love how transferring or moving money within the app is immediate when you have a bank linked to your Cash App card. I love Cash App!!”
– Kimberly A. Fusilier on Trustpilot
Venmo
Trustpilot Score
Bad – 1.2/5 on Trustpilot with over 700+ reviews (as of January 2025)
Analysis
Positives (4%)
- Convenient transfers
- Great social payment features
- Easy bill splitting
Negatives (92%)
Lack of purchase protection
Many Venmo users were dissatisfied when Venmo was unable to get their money back after raising a dispute against dishonest sellers.
We recommend sending money to friends, family, and businesses you trust since your funds on Venmo are not FDIC-insured
Frozen accounts and transfers canceled
Many users found that their accounts were blocked and transfers canceled randomly.
Usually, this is due to going over their transfer or spending limits.
Venmo’s weekly rolling limit for $4,999.99 USD, which means the accounts were flagged for violating service agreements.
Learn more about Venmo limits here.
Customer service
Venmo’s customer service is pretty hard to reach and their response times are quite long. This has caused a lot of frustration to users for whom things had gone unexpectedly wrong.
What They Say
“I’ve been using Venmo for years now. I love this business. Not everyone has PayPal or Zelle Which makes this a great alternative.”
– Mathew on Trustpilot
“I just wanted to share some positive feedback about using Venmo. I recently started using the app to split expenses with friends, and I’ve found it to be incredibly convenient and easy to use. The ability to send and receive money quickly, without having to worry about carrying cash or writing checks, has been a game-changer for me.”
– Sushanta Kumar on Trustpilot
Winner: Tie
Both apps perform the basic features well – fast transfers to friends and family.
However, security is a growing concern for both. Holding small amounts of money only on both Cash App and Venmo would be better since your funds are not FDIC-insured on either platform.
And, if you’re making payments for goods and services, make sure you’re sending money to sellers and businesses you trust.
There were also quite a few people who reported problems with blocked accounts and delayed or canceled payments.
We found that some of these issues cropped up due to mismatched expectations about the service (particularly about sending and receiving limits), while others could be avoided by reading the fine print.
But here’s one possible thing that could happen — Expect NOT to get a lot of help from either service if you want to dispute a transaction.
Hopefully, you will be surprised at how good they are. If so, head on over to your favourite review site and leave a positive review – they need it.
8. Cash App vs Venmo for Investing
Cash App
- Invest in stocks and bitcoin – start with as low as $1
- Sell your stocks and bitcoins on the platform
- Monthly statements & trade confirmations
- Send bitcoins and stocks to friends and family
Venmo
- Buy and sell many varieties of crypto (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash)
- Can send cryptocurrency to friends and family.
- Can’t withdraw to a third-party wallet.
Winner: Cash App
Cash App wins this by a small margin because you can buy both bitcoins and stocks on their platform, send them to friends and family, and even withdraw to a third-party wallet to spend it as you wish.
Venmo on the other hand offers more cryptocurrency investment options – but your usage is limited to their platform.
9. Cash App vs Venmo: Security and Privacy
Cash App
- Encryption: PCI-DSS level 1 certification
- PIN, Touch ID, Face ID, and 2-way Factor Authentication option
- Bitcoin is stored offline and can be withdrawn into your own third-party wallet
- If you accidentally send money to the wrong person, you can only request for the person to send it back to you. There is no guarantee that you’ll get it back.
Venmo
- Bank-level encryption
- PIN and 2-way Factor Authentication option
- Cryptocurrency cannot be withdrawn to your own third-party wallet
- If you accidentally send money to the wrong person, you can only request for the person to send it back to you. There is no guarantee that you’ll get it back.
Winner: Tie
It’s a tie for this one again as they both use the same standard of encryption as the banking industry to secure your financial information.
In terms of getting your money back (if you accidentally send it to the wrong person), you can only rely on the honesty of the other party to send it back to you.
Both apps do not guarantee any refunds for payments that are sent wrongly.
Bottom line
Though Cash App isn’t a real bank, the banking features and international transfer facility are nice to have, giving it a slight edge over Venmo.
Verdict
Overall, Cash App is slightly better if purely based on the number of features. But honestly, it all comes down to your specific needs.
Both services are good at their core feature of sending or receiving payments quickly and for free among US users. They offer ease, speed, and security.
Cash App can be better if you need to deal with USD and GBP. And you want to do more in investments, not just considering Bitcoins but also stocks. Cash App lets you buy, sell, or send these assets on its platform, and even withdraw them to another wallet if you wish.
If you’re into cryptocurrencies, Venmo might be better for you. It has not only Bitcoins, but also Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. However, you can only use them on Venmo’s platform.
You can have more fun in both services if you get their cards. Cash App has a Cash Card and Venmo has a Credit Card. You can use these cards to pay or get cash from ATMs and get cashback rewards on what you spend.
However, one area where both apps are significantly lacking is in terms of international money transfer. You’d be better off with specialized money transfer services.
We hope this helps you understand Cash App and Venmo better. It’s always good to compare their fees and limits (above), how fast they transfer money, and what other customers say about them (above).
Happy Money!
Are Venmo and Cash App owned by the same company?
No, they are not owned by the same company. Venmo is owned by Paypal while Cash App is owned by Block (formerly Square). Both apps are great for mobile payments, however, each has its own advantages and disadvantages you must be aware of.
Can Venmo be used internationally?
No, Venmo does not support international transfers, as it is only available to US residents. Cash App, however, can support international transfers, but it is only limited to USD and GBP currency. If you need to send money abroad, you may want to consider other services.