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Payment Gateway Comparison: 18 Providers, Pricing and Business Fit
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600+ reviews- Compare 18 providers by the payment role and product configuration your business needs, including PSP, gateway, acquiring, wallet, and merchant-of-record models.
- Use published fee examples with their market and service scope, then price the same transaction mix across your proposals.
- Test checkout, settlement, refunds, reconciliation, and evidence retrieval in the proposed implementation.
- Compare dispute operations using consistent case definitions, data, and measured handling time.
- Chargeflow complements supported payment providers with specialized chargeback operations and connected evidence.
A payment gateway comparison evaluates how a payment provider fits your checkout, business model, markets, pricing requirements, integrations, and dispute operations. This guide covers 18 providers across gateway, PSP, acquiring, wallet, merchant-of-record, and embedded-payment models. Start with the role your business needs, then compare the complete implementation.
For an online store, compare checkout and reconciliation together. For SaaS, define who owns billing, tax, and the seller relationship. For retail, connect online and in-person operations. For international commerce, map legal entities, local payment methods, currencies, and settlement accounts.
In This Guide: Payment Gateway Comparison Table · Payment Gateway Pricing Comparison · Payment Gateway vs PSP vs Merchant of Record · Payment Gateway Questions
Payment Gateway Comparison Table
Providers are shown alphabetically. The business-fit descriptions are starting points for a shortlist, with an official source for each provider. A company can offer several operating models; specify the product and commercial agreement you are comparing.
| Provider | Documented Offering | Business Fit | Define in Your Proposal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2Checkout | Digital commerce, subscription billing, and packaged commerce options. Provider documentation | Software and digital-product sales across markets. | Product package, billing and tax scope, and payout reporting. |
| Adyen | Payment processing and acquiring with online and in-person capabilities. Provider documentation | Commerce programs connecting payment methods, channels, and settlement. | Entity coverage, local methods, reconciliation, and dispute ownership. |
| Airwallex | Payment acceptance alongside cross-border financial operations. Provider documentation | Businesses connecting payments, currencies, accounts, and transfers. | Acceptance fees, FX, account plans, entities, and settlement currencies. |
| Authorize.net | Gateway-only and merchant-account-plus-gateway options. Provider documentation | Merchants selecting a gateway and processing relationship. | Gateway scope, acquiring relationship, and combined fees. |
| Braintree | PayPal’s end-to-end payment platform. Provider documentation | Custom card and wallet checkout with transaction-level control. | Payment methods, pricing agreement, data access, and reconciliation. |
| Checkout.com | Digital payments with tailored commercial structures. Provider documentation | Online merchants planning payment performance and regional expansion. | Flat-rate or interchange++ proposal, integration, and reporting. |
| Deposyt | Online payments, gateway, and connected business tools. Provider documentation | Merchants bringing payment acceptance and business workflows together. | Gateway configuration, processor relationship, and operational reporting. |
| Global Payments | Payment technology and industry-focused software. Provider documentation | Businesses connecting payment acceptance with vertical-specific operations. | Selected products, channels, industry workflows, and account structure. |
| Luqra | Online and in-person payment processing and financial business tools. Provider documentation | Merchants and payment businesses seeking connected services and support. | Payment channels, onboarding, account support, and data connections. |
| Mollie | Payment services with standard, volume, and IC++ pricing options. Provider documentation | Businesses evaluating local payment methods and integrated commerce. | Country-specific methods, pricing model, and platform configuration. |
| Nuvei | Payment infrastructure for international acceptance and additional financial services. Provider documentation | Businesses matching payment methods and services to their industry and markets. | Entity and method coverage, reconciliation, and integration scope. |
| Paddle | Merchant-of-record services for software and digital products. Provider documentation | Businesses seeking packaged checkout, billing, and sales-tax operations. | Product eligibility, included services, migration, and reporting. |
| PayPal | Branded checkout with card, wallet, and pay-later options by configuration. Provider documentation | Merchants offering PayPal and complementary checkout choices. | Checkout product, payment methods, protection eligibility, and account fees. |
| Rapyd | Payment and financial-services infrastructure. Provider documentation | Businesses combining acceptance, payouts, and financial workflows. | Supported markets, payment methods, accounts, and APIs. |
| Square | Connected online, in-person, invoice, and mobile payment tools. Provider documentation | Businesses coordinating retail or service payments across channels. | Hardware, software plan, channel pricing, and reporting. |
| Stripe | Modular payments with checkout, billing, platform, and additional products. Provider documentation | Businesses building online commerce or platform payment workflows. | Selected modules, payment methods, integration, and commercial model. |
| WePay | Platform-connected payment accounts and APIs. Provider documentation | Businesses evaluating or operating a platform-provided WePay account. | The platform’s current onboarding path, account terms, and support responsibilities. |
| Worldpay | Payment acceptance across online, in-person, and embedded use cases. Provider documentation | Businesses connecting payments with commerce and software operations. | Selected products, markets, channels, account structure, and support. |
Payment Gateway Pricing Comparison
Use published rates as inputs to a scoped comparison. The figures below were checked September 6, 2026. US card-processing references, gateway-only fees, and merchant-of-record packages cover different services. Price the same transaction mix and required capabilities before comparing totals.
| Provider | Published Pricing Reference or Model | Scope to Include |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | US standard domestic-card pricing: 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction; custom pricing available. | Selected products, international cards, currency conversion, payment methods, and dispute services. |
| Braintree | US standard cards and third-party wallets: 2.89% + $0.29; custom commercial options available. | Currency, card origin, payment method, optional tools, and contractual terms. |
| Authorize.net | Gateway Only: $25/month + $0.10 per transaction and $0.10 daily batch fee. All-in-One: $25/month + 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. | Gateway-only pricing is separate from your processor or merchant-account charges. |
| Adyen | Fixed processing fee plus a payment-method fee; the method and market determine the schedule. | Contracted payment methods and other separately priced products. |
| Checkout.com | Tailored fully flat-rate or interchange++ structures. | The same transaction mix, payment services, markets, and support scope. |
| Mollie | Published method-specific standard pricing, with volume and IC++ options. | Country, payment-method mix, plan or contract, and platform services. |
| Paddle | Pay-as-you-go: 5% + $0.50 per Checkout transaction; custom pricing available. | Merchant-of-record package, billing, tax scope, and any agreed premium services. |
| 2Checkout | 2Sell: 3.5% + $0.35; 2Subscribe: 4.5% + $0.45 per successful sale. 2Monetize and enterprise packages use tailored pricing. | Product package, country-specific fees, tax responsibilities, and billing scope. |
| PayPal | Fees depend on the PayPal checkout product and payment method. | Commercial transaction type, card or wallet funding, market, and currency. |
| Square | Payment fees vary by channel and plan; eligible businesses can discuss custom pricing. | Online, in-person, invoices, software, hardware, and services. |
| Airwallex | Account and spend plans alongside payment, FX, and transfer pricing. | Payment acceptance and financial-services costs for each entity and workflow. |
For the other providers in the main table, request a proposal for the named product and merchant entity. Keep standard published pricing and negotiated quotes in separate columns, with the effective date and currency recorded.
Worked Example: Compare the Same Payment Mix
Illustrative calculation using two published US standard rates: 10,000 domestic-card transactions averaging $50 represent $500,000 in payment volume. At Stripe’s published 2.9% + $0.30 rate, processing is $17,500. At Braintree’s published 2.89% + $0.29 rate, it is $17,350. These calculations cover only the specified standard processing fees.
The $150 difference is one input to a business decision. Add the products you need, currency and card mix, contract terms, implementation, reconciliation, and dispute operations. Then evaluate customer experience and completed-payment performance using comparable traffic. Each provider’s complete proposal can support a different operating plan.
Operational cost example: 200 cases requiring ten minutes each create about 33.3 hours of work. At $30 per loaded labor hour, that is $1,000. Use your measured handling time and case volume when estimating the value of improved evidence collection or automation. This is a planning example, not a provider performance claim.
Payment Gateway vs PSP vs Merchant of Record
| Model | Role in the Payment Stack | What Your Proposal Should Specify |
|---|---|---|
| Payment gateway | Transmits payment information between checkout and the processing chain. | The processor, acquiring relationship, merchant account, and reporting connections. |
| Payment service provider (PSP) | Packages payment acceptance services in one technical and commercial relationship. | Included gateway, processing, acquiring, settlement, risk, and reporting services. |
| Acquirer | Provides the merchant-side relationship for card acceptance and access to card-network processing. | Merchant entities, countries, settlement, account terms, and dispute routing. |
| Merchant of record (MoR) | Acts as the seller of record under its service model, with defined payment, tax, and related responsibilities. | Seller responsibilities, eligible products, tax and billing scope, support, and payouts. |
| Wallet or branded checkout | Provides a recognizable customer payment experience that can work within a wider stack. | Funding methods, checkout integration, customer and merchant protection, and reporting. |
| Embedded payments | Makes payment capabilities available inside a software platform. | Platform and merchant roles, onboarding, account ownership, fees, and support. |
Match the label to the actual product. For example, a provider can offer direct payment processing and a separate merchant-of-record product. Define who is the seller, who settles funds, who receives a dispute, and who submits evidence for the configuration you choose.
Build a Shortlist Around Your Business
| Business Requirement | Examples to Include in Your Evaluation | Demonstrate With Your Data |
|---|---|---|
| Online checkout and APIs | Stripe, Braintree, Checkout.com, PayPal, and Authorize.net configurations. | Checkout, payment methods, saved credentials, refunds, and order matching. |
| Online and in-person commerce | Adyen, Square, Worldpay, Global Payments, and Luqra configurations. | Payment and refund visibility across channels and locations. |
| Software and digital commerce | Paddle and relevant 2Checkout packages; compare direct-PSP architectures where you retain the seller role. | Billing, tax responsibilities, cancellations, payouts, and customer support. |
| International payment and financial workflows | Adyen, Airwallex, Checkout.com, Mollie, Nuvei, Rapyd, Stripe, and Worldpay configurations. | Merchant entities, local methods, presentment and settlement currencies, FX, and reporting. |
| Platform or service-led operations | Platform-provided WePay accounts, Stripe platform products, Rapyd, Deposyt, Luqra, and relevant acquiring arrangements. | Onboarding, support ownership, account relationships, reconciliation, and evidence access. |
The groups overlap and are not exhaustive. They organize discovery conversations; they do not rank providers or imply that other providers lack a capability.
Test Settlement, Integrations, and Dispute Operations
Give each provider the same transaction file and workflow requirements. The most useful payment comparison records how the proposed configuration will work for your business, including the steps after checkout.
| Area | Exact Test | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Market coverage | Onboard each planned merchant entity and demonstrate required local payment methods. | Entity eligibility, shopper markets, currencies, and contracted services. |
| Checkout | Complete representative payments, declines, authentication, retries, and refunds. | Successful outcomes, errors, manual steps, and customer experience. |
| Settlement | Trace a captured payment through fees, payout, refund adjustment, and bank reconciliation. | Capture cutoff, settlement initiation, bank arrival, references, and adjustment handling. |
| Dispute notification | Show how a case reaches the responsible team. | Notification channel, case ID, reason, actual deadline, and owner. |
| Evidence | Retrieve transaction, authentication, order, fulfillment, policy, and service records. | Fields available, permissions, submission channel, and measured handling time. |
| Outcome reporting | Trace a resolved case into recovered funds, fees, reversals, and finance reporting. | A consistent definition of closed cases, costs, and retained revenue. |
For a multi-PSP setup, use a shared order identifier and document refund routing, token portability, notification ownership, and reconciliation. Test the transition between providers with your implementation team. Record what the customer sees and how finance connects each event to the original order.
Measure Dispute Outcomes With Consistent Definitions
Provider capabilities are easiest to assess when the data uses the same definitions. Record the disputes received, cases challenged, responses submitted on time, final outcomes, evidence completeness, handling time, and net recovered revenue. State the denominator and time period for every rate.
Compare merchant populations and case types consistently before drawing conclusions about outcomes. A workflow test can show where automation and connected evidence add value without treating different merchants’ chargeback win rates as a provider ranking.
How Chargeflow Complements Your Payment Provider
Chargeflow’s integration documentation lists supported dispute sources separately from ecommerce, subscription, and customer-communication sources. For example, its catalog lists Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Adyen, Checkout.com, Square, Nuvei, Global Payments, and Deposyt as available processor connections, with Airwallex and Authorize.net labeled New. Check the current catalog for your exact setup; being featured in this comparison does not by itself establish native connection availability.
Your payment provider delivers the selected acceptance and financial services. Chargeflow adds specialized chargeback operations, including automated case handling, evidence enrichment, and analytics across supported connections. Schedule a demo to map the payment and evidence workflow for your shortlisted providers.
For storefront and order-data requirements, see the ecommerce platform comparison. For Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, and Sezzle, see the BNPL comparison for merchants.
Explore Detailed Payment Provider Comparisons
Payment Gateways, PSPs, and Commerce Providers
- Source: Baymard Institute checkout research
- 2Checkout vs Stripe
- Adyen vs Airwallex
- Adyen vs Braintree
- Authorize.net vs Stripe
- Braintree vs Authorize.net
- Checkout.com vs Adyen
- Checkout.com vs Stripe
- Clover vs PayPal
- Clover vs Square
- Clover vs Stripe
- Deposyt vs Stripe
- Global Payments vs Square
- Global Payments vs Stripe
- Global Payments vs Worldpay
- Luqra vs Stripe
- Mollie vs Adyen
- Mollie vs Stripe
- Nuvei vs Stripe
- Paddle vs Stripe
- PayPal vs Braintree
- Rapyd vs Stripe
- Square vs PayPal
- Stripe vs Adyen
- Stripe vs Airwallex
- Stripe vs Braintree
- Stripe vs PayPal
- Stripe vs Square
- Stripe vs WePay
- WePay vs PayPal
- Worldpay vs Airwallex
- Worldpay vs Stripe
- Baymard Institute checkout research
Pay-Over-Time Providers
- Affirm vs Afterpay
- Affirm vs PayPal
- Klarna vs Affirm
- Klarna vs Afterpay
- Sezzle vs Affirm
- Sezzle vs Afterpay
- Sezzle vs Klarna
Payment Gateway Questions
What Is the Difference Between a PSP and a Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway transmits payment information from checkout to the processing chain. A PSP packages payment acceptance services that may include a gateway, processing, acquiring, settlement, and reporting. When comparing providers, specify the services included in the actual contract and identify which parties own settlement and dispute handling.
How Do I Compare Payment Gateway Fees?
Compare payment gateway fees using the same transaction volume, average order value, payment methods, card origins, currencies, and required products. Add monthly, gateway, processing, FX, refund, dispute, and operational costs. Keep gateway-only fees separate from acquiring charges and compare merchant-of-record packages using their full service scope.
Which Payment Gateway Fits an Ecommerce Business?
An ecommerce business should select a payment configuration that supports its storefront, customer markets, checkout requirements, refunds, and reconciliation. Compare the complete integration, including how orders and fulfillment records connect to payment and dispute references. Use the provider table to build a shortlist and validate it with representative transactions.
Should a SaaS Company Use a PSP or Merchant of Record?
A SaaS company can use a PSP while retaining its seller responsibilities, or evaluate a merchant-of-record package that takes on defined payment, tax, and related operations. Compare billing features, supported products and markets, migration, payouts, customer support, and data access. Match the model to the responsibilities your business wants to manage.
What Should Treasury Teams Compare Across Payment Providers?
Treasury teams should compare merchant entities, settlement currencies, payout timing, FX, reserves where applicable, reconciliation files, and account structure. Trace the same payment from capture to bank arrival and include refunds and dispute adjustments. This shows how the proposed payment stack connects to your cash-flow and financial reporting processes.
Can a Merchant Use Multiple PSPs?
A merchant can use multiple PSPs where its architecture and agreements support that setup. Define which transactions each provider handles and connect orders, refunds, disputes, and settlements through stable identifiers. Test token portability, routing, notifications, and finance reconciliation with the implementation team before expanding traffic.
Which Chargeback Solution Connects With PSPs and Gateways?
Chargeflow provides chargeback operations across the processor connections listed in its integration catalog. Supported payment sources bring in disputes, while connected commerce and customer-service systems can enrich evidence. Confirm the provider, merchant account, supported case types, and implementation path for your business.
Choose a Payment Stack With Clear Ownership
- Shortlist the operating models and products that fit your business.
- Compare commercial proposals using the same transaction mix.
- Demonstrate checkout, settlement, refunds, and evidence retrieval.
- Assign owners and definitions for dispute outcomes and finance reporting.
How This Comparison Was Prepared
Chargeflow Experts reviewed the linked provider documentation on September 6, 2026. This payment gateway comparison compares documented capabilities and operating models. The providers featured are Chargeflow partners. Provider descriptions explain business fit; they are not a performance ranking. Availability and commercial terms depend on your market, product, plan, and agreement.
Worked examples are illustrative calculations. The evaluation exercises are practical methods you can run with your own data; they are not claims that Chargeflow conducted a controlled test of the providers. Source links appear beside the facts they support.
Chargebacks?
No longer your problem.
Recover 4x more chargebacks and prevent up to 90% of incoming ones, powered by AI and a global network of 20,000 merchants.
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