Tips and digital tip jars
PayPal.Me takes the payment. GigTag takes the request.
For event work, the thing you want most from an audience is the next job. You need a way for a guest to enquire on the night and a tidy way to bill the client afterwards. GigTag gives you both, with requests and your public dates, from one code on your stand. PayPal.Me, which you were looking at, is a payment link.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
Why event musicians pick GigTag alongside PayPal.Me
PayPal.Me is a link for being paid an amount. GigTag covers the steps before and after: the request, the booking enquiry, the invoice in your own design, and your next public date. It is built for a live act, with one printed code that never changes. It takes tips too.
- 1
Enquiries at the event itself
The guest who books entertainment can scan your tag between courses and send a booking enquiry. It waits on the website or the GigTag app for when you pack away. GigTag takes no commission on bookings and is not an agency, so the client is yours.
- 2
An invoice that looks like your act
On Pro you send invoices in your own design and clients pay them online. For a company or a wedding client, that is the paperwork they expect. Enquiries and invoices are managed in the same place, so a job is easy to follow from first message to payment.
- 3
Requests for the table
Guests can ask for a piece from your list, or anything if you open requests, and it appears in a live queue on your phone beside the music. At a dinner or a reception, that is a small touch guests notice.
- 4
A tag guests scan from their seat
The tag sits on your stand in your own design. A phone camera opens your page in the browser, with no app and no account. The code never changes, so the same tag serves every event, and old links keep working if the act is renamed.
- 5
Public dates for new followers
If you also play public gigs or a residency, they are listed on your page, and a guest can add them to their calendar. Your socials and website are there too. All of that is on the free plan for one act.
In short
PayPal.Me and GigTag, in four lines
- PayPal.Me is a personal payment link: you share it, the payer enters an amount, and it lands in PayPal.
- GigTag brings the booking: an enquiry form guests reach by scanning the tag on your stand.
- On Pro, GigTag sends invoices in your own design that clients pay online, with no commission on bookings.
- Our recommendation: add GigTag for enquiries and invoices, and keep PayPal.Me for quick payments. GigTag tips work in every country, with 0% taken.
Side by side
GigTag vs PayPal.Me, topic by topic
What you share
A permanent code on a custom tag
A QR code on a custom tag for the mic stand. Scanning it opens your act's page in the browser.
PayPal.MeA personal link with a name you chose, sent by email, text or chat, or printed on a business card.
What the other person does
A request or an enquiry in one scan
They request a song, look up your next gig, follow your links, or fill in the booking enquiry form on your page.
PayPal.MeThey follow the link, enter the amount they want to pay you, and then send the payment through PayPal itself.
Being paid for work
Invoices in your own design, paid online
On Pro, you send an invoice in your own design and the client pays it online. Enquiries and invoices are managed together.
PayPal.MeIts site suggests the link to freelancers and creative professionals as a way to be paid without sending an invoice.
Tips from an audience
Card tips too, 0% taken
By card or Apple Pay, tips go into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, with 0% taken by GigTag.
PayPal.MePerformers share the link so that people can tip them, in the same way anyone can be paid through it.
After the event
Your next date in their calendar
Guests who scanned can follow your socials and website, and add your next public gig or residency to their calendar.
PayPal.MeSee its site for how it handles this.
The quick view
| GigTag | PayPal.Me | |
|---|---|---|
| A QR code your audience scans | Yes, one that never changes | – |
| Song requests from the crowd | Yes, on Pro | – |
| Tips by card or Apple Pay | Yes, on Pro, into your own Ziina or Stripe. GigTag takes 0% | Yes |
| Booking enquiries | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Your gigs and weekly residencies | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Invoices for bookings | Yes, on Pro | – |
| A printed tag for your mic stand | Yes, in your own design | – |
| Works without an app for the audience | Yes, it opens in the browser | – |
A dash means we did not confirm it for PayPal.Me, not that it is missing: see what PayPal.Me offers above, or ask on its site.
A PayPal.Me alternative
Where GigTag is different from PayPal.Me
A link to pay, a code to scan
PayPal.Me is a link you pass on. GigTag is a QR code on a small custom tag that stays on your mic stand all night. The audience points a phone camera at it and your page opens in the browser, with no app, no account and nothing to download. The code never changes, so the tag you print once keeps working, even if you rename the act.
What the page is about
A PayPal.Me page is about one payment. A GigTag page is about your act. A fan can request a song from your list and it arrives in a live queue on your phone. They can see your next gig and your weekly residencies, add them to their calendar, follow your socials and music links, or send a booking enquiry for their own event.
Getting paid for the booking
Its site suggests PayPal.Me for freelancers who want to be paid without an invoice. Some clients, venues and companies among them, will ask for one anyway. On GigTag Pro you can send an invoice in your own design, and the client pays it online. Fan tips are a separate matter: on GigTag they go into your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, with 0% taken by GigTag.
A night with GigTag
A string trio at a corporate dinner
Tonight is a company awards dinner in a hotel ballroom, and you are the string trio playing through the drinks reception and the meal. The GigTag tag is on the stand by the cellist, small enough not to look out of place. Guests wander over between courses. One scans it, your page opens in his browser, and he asks for a piece from your list for his table. It appears in the live queue on your phone, next to the music.
Corporate rooms are full of people who book entertainment for a living. An events manager scans the tag and sends a booking enquiry for a client dinner next month. Another guest adds your next public concert to his calendar. You see the enquiry on the GigTag app when you pack away. Because her company needs paperwork, you send an invoice in your own design from GigTag once the date is agreed, and she pays it online. A PayPal.Me link is still handy for the pupil who pays you for a lesson. Each has its place.
About PayPal.Me
What is PayPal.Me?
PayPal.Me is a personal link for being paid through PayPal. You choose your own link name and share it, and anyone who follows it can pay you. Its site presents it for three kinds of people: friends and family settling up, freelancers and creative professionals who want to be paid without writing an invoice, and business owners taking payments. Performers use it for tips in the same way.
You share the link however you like. Its site suggests sending it by email or text, dropping it in a chat or printing it on a business card. The person paying follows the link, enters an amount and sends it, and the money arrives in your PayPal account. For a musician that can mean a tip from someone in the audience or a payment from a client, since both are payments to the same account.
- Where
- Worldwide
- Website
- paypal.com/paypalme
How PayPal.Me works
- 1
Choose your link. You pick the name that goes on the end of your link. Its site says this helps people know that it is you they are paying.
- 2
Share it. You send the link wherever it is useful to you: in an email or a text, in a chat with a client, or printed on a card.
- 3
They enter an amount. The person paying opens the link, types in the amount they want to send and confirms it. The payment itself is then made through PayPal.
- 4
It reaches your account. The money arrives in your PayPal account, which its site says usually takes seconds. What you do with it from there is between you and PayPal.
Who PayPal.Me is for
Friends and family. The first use on its site is settling up between people who know each other: paying someone back for dinner, a present or a shared bill. The link saves them swapping bank details with each other.
Freelancers and creatives. It is also offered to freelancers and creative professionals as a way to be paid for work without preparing an invoice. The client is sent the link and pays the amount that was agreed between you.
Business owners. For businesses, its site talks about accepting payments from customers through the same kind of link, and it mentions PayPal's protection programmes for sellers. See PayPal for the conditions that apply to business use in your country.
The verdict
GigTag or PayPal.Me: which should you choose?
The bottom line
For musicians who play events, GigTag is the tool to add. The strongest reason is that it handles the booking from both ends: an enquiry form the guest can reach by scanning your tag, and on Pro an invoice in your own design that the client pays online, with no commission on bookings. A PayPal.Me link is still a quick way to be paid a simple amount, and it can sit beside GigTag's own tips for fans who prefer PayPal.
Yes. A PayPal.Me link can sit among the links on your GigTag page, for fans who prefer to tip through PayPal. The tag on the mic stand then gives the audience requests, your next gig, a booking form and a way to pay you. If all you ever need is to be paid, the link alone does that.
- Step 1
Keep the link for quick payments
A PayPal.Me link remains a fast way for a pupil, a friend or a small client to pay you an amount you have already agreed.
- Step 2
Use GigTag at events
Put the tag on your stand at every booking you play. It collects requests and booking enquiries from guests, and lists your public dates as well.
- Step 3
Invoice the bigger jobs
When a client needs paperwork, send an invoice from GigTag Pro in your own design. Add your PayPal.Me link to your page for fans who prefer PayPal.
Choose GigTag if
You want a code on the mic stand that brings requests, followers and booking enquiries, with invoices for the work that follows. Your PayPal.Me link can sit on the same page.
Start freePayPal.Me may still suit you if
You already use PayPal and want a simple link people can follow to pay or tip you.
GigTag FreeYour page, your tag design, every gig and residency, a booking form. One act.
GigTag ProSong requests, tips, invoices, more than one act. AED 30, £11.99 or $15.99 a month.
GigTag Printed tagFrom AED 100 in the UAE, £24.99 in the UK or €28.99 in the EU, delivered free, with a large size for more; $32.99 elsewhere, plus postage from the UK. Or print your own, anywhere, for free.
Is GigTag better than PayPal.Me for getting booked?
Yes, because it is built for that. GigTag puts a booking enquiry form on your page, reached by scanning the tag on your stand, and on Pro it sends invoices in your own design that clients pay online. PayPal.Me is a link for paying an amount. Keep it for quick payments.
Why use GigTag invoices instead of sending my PayPal.Me link?
Use an invoice when the client needs a record. A GigTag Pro invoice is in your own design, is paid online, and sits with the enquiry it came from on the website and in the GigTag app. A PayPal.Me link suits a simple payment. You can keep both and choose per job.
What is PayPal.Me?
PayPal.Me is a personal link for being paid through PayPal. You choose the name, share the link by message, email or on a card, and the payer follows it, enters an amount and pays. Its site presents it for friends and family, freelancers and business owners. See PayPal for fees and terms.
Can I use PayPal.Me for tips at gigs?
Performers do use a PayPal.Me link for tips. If you also have a GigTag page, add the link there. A fan scans the tag on your mic stand, requests a song or looks up your next gig, and can follow your PayPal.Me link to send a tip from the same page.
Does GigTag take tips like a PayPal.Me link does?
Yes. A fan tips by card or Apple Pay on your GigTag page, the money goes to your own Stripe account, or your own Ziina account in the UAE, and GigTag takes 0%. A PayPal.Me link on your page can sit beside it for fans who prefer PayPal.
Can I send invoices with GigTag and still use PayPal.Me?
Yes. GigTag Pro includes invoices in your own design, which clients pay online, and they are meant for bookings. A PayPal.Me link is a quick way for anyone to pay you a chosen amount. You can keep the link for tips and small payments and use invoices when a client needs paperwork.
How should a musician invoice a corporate client?
With something that looks like yours and is easy to pay. On GigTag Pro you send an invoice in your own design and the client pays it online. Enquiries, gigs and invoices sit together on the website and in the GigTag app. For what a client's accounts team requires on an invoice, ask them.
Can a classical or function ensemble use GigTag?
Yes. GigTag is for any live act, whether solo, duo or band, and an ensemble is an act like any other. Your page lists the pieces you offer for requests, your public dates and a booking enquiry form. Members can join the act, and Pro lets one account hold more than one act.
How do I create a PayPal.Me link?
Its site says you choose your own link name and then share it. The payer follows it, enters an amount and pays through PayPal. For the exact steps and any conditions, go to PayPal. If you use GigTag as well, the link can be added to your page with your other links.
Does the GigTag tag look out of place at a formal event?
It is a small tag for the mic stand, and the design is your own, so it can be as plain or as smart as the act. You make the design on the website. The design and print file are on the free plan, and a printed tag can be ordered if you prefer.
Looking for PayPal.Me itself?
This page is GigTag's. PayPal.Me's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
Apps like PayPal.Me: more tips and digital tip jars compared
See all comparisonsPayPal.Me is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about PayPal.Me here comes from its own public website, checked on 7 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
For musicians
One code on your stand. Requests, tips and the next gig behind it.
No app for your audience, nothing to download. Free to start.