Buy now, pay later brands

Buy now, pay later brand rankings in the U.S.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) in the United States is shaped by PayPal’s clear leadership across brand awareness, usage, and loyalty. Its 94% awareness level and 54% past-year usage rate place it well ahead of specialist BNPL providers, while 92% of its users expect to use it again. affirm, Klarna, and afterpay make up the strongest specialist group, combining broad recognition with meaningful usage and solid brand loyalty. At the same time, 30% of respondents familiar with BNPL services have not used any in the past 12 months, showing there is still room for the category to expand.

Insights

PayPal is the most recognized BNPL brand, with 94 % brand awareness
While well-known, Affirm has potential in usage share
PayPal and Affirm have the most loyal customers

Brand awareness

PayPal leads the Buy now, pay later awareness ranking in the U.S.

PayPal is by far the most recognized BNPL brand, with awareness 30 percentage points above affirm, its nearest competitor. affirm, Klarna, and afterpay form a closely matched second tier, all known by around six in ten respondents. Among the remaining providers, sezzle has the strongest awareness at 33%, followed by Zip at 31% and Perpay at 30%. Riverty has awareness of 17%, demonstrating the fragmented visibility that remains beyond the category’s leading brands.

PayPal leads the Buy now, pay later awareness ranking in the U.S.. Chart with 1 data series and 10 categories. This table contains the same data as the chart above in a format accessible to screen readers.
Category
PayPal	94.0%
affirm	64.0%
Klarna	60.0%
afterpay	59.0%
sezzle	33.0%
Zip	31.0%
Perpay	30.0%
Splitit	21.0%
Sunbit	19.0%
Riverty	17.0%

Brand usage

PayPal tops the usage ranking

Not only does PayPal hold the top spot in the awareness ranking, but it is also the most used Buy now, pay later brand in the United States, with a usage share of 54 percent among consumers who know the brand. Other frequently used BNPL providers in the U.S. include such well-known names as Afterpay, Klarna, and Affirm.

PayPal tops the usage ranking. Chart with 1 data series and 10 categories. This table contains the same data as the chart above in a format accessible to screen readers.
Category
PayPal	54.0%
afterpay	25.0%
Klarna	22.0%
affirm	21.0%
sezzle	13.0%
Zip	13.0%
Perpay	10.0%
Riverty	8.0%
Splitit	8.0%
Sunbit	7.0%

Brand loyalty

PayPal edges out competitors

PayPal users show the strongest repeat-use intention, with 92% likely to use the brand again in the future. affirm follows with 83% loyalty, while Klarna records 78% and afterpay, sezzle, and Zip each reach 76–77%. These results suggest that the main specialist providers have established credible relationships with their existing users. At the lower end, Splitit records 52% loyalty, with Sunbit at 60% and Riverty at 63%, indicating a less secure future-use base than the category leaders.