How to use Paypal from a desktop application?

Question

Is it possible to collect billing information and send it to Paypal from a desktop application the same way a webpage normally would?

Answer 1

Paypal uses the HTTP protocol to communicate. As long as you use that with your desktop application, it will work.

As you can see from this Sample Code page, they are simply using apis to make HTTP Requests (cURL for the php example) to the paypal servers.

Answer 2

You can also try developing an adobe AIR application. The application will be platform independant. You can read more here.

Answer 3

If you want to track your Paypal account from desktop, you can try Putler. It won't let you accept new payments on the desktop, but can show you insightful reports.