We grade payment processors on pricing transparency, features, support and contract terms — then publish the reasoning behind every grade.
reviewed
independent
always
The report card
real directory dataStripe
Payfac / Aggregator
PayKings
Agent Office / Reseller
Square
POS & Business Software
The evidence
Rates, fees, payout times and contract terms come from published documentation and public filings — never from a sales call. Each review carries the date it was last fact-checked.
Where a provider doesn't disclose a number, the review says so. We don't estimate, and we don't fill gaps with marketing copy.
The fact sheet
real directory dataHelcim
Fact-checked September 7, 2026
Every value above is published by the provider. A processor that doesn't publish a number gets “Not disclosed” in that cell — never an estimate.
The grade
Pricing transparency, feature set, ease of use, customer support, contract terms and industry reputation — every review scores all six, and the grade is what the scores say it is.
No pay-to-play, no sponsored placements. A provider can't buy a better grade; they can only earn one, and the reasoning is published either way.
The scorecard
real directory dataHelcim
Mean category score 4.5/5
The six weighted scores produce the letter grade — the same rubric for every review in the directory.
Head to head
Same criteria, same evidence, side by side — with a winner called per row and overall, and the reasoning for each call.
Where the honest answer is “it depends on your business”, the comparison says that instead of forcing a verdict. And it's not just the featured matchups — any two of the reviewed processors can be compared.
Head to head
real directory data| WooPayments (Automattic) | Stripe | |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic online cards and wallets | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Cards issued outside the US | +1.5%, plus 1% if currency is converted | +1.5%, plus 1% if currency is converted |
| Buy now, pay later | Affirm and Afterpay 6% + $0.30; Klarna 5.99% + $0.30 | Affirm and Afterpay 6% + $0.30; Klarna 5.99% + $0.30 |
| ACH bank debits | Not offered in the US | 0.8%, capped at $5✓ |
Full transparency
Lawsuits, regulatory actions, undisclosed pricing, contract traps — when the evidence turns up a problem, it goes in the review with the same prominence as the praise.
A grade you can trust has to be allowed to be bad. Every item in this feed links to the review that documents it.
Watch out
from published reviewsCFPB consent order: In the Matter of Wise US Inc.
Wise Business · January 30, 2025
Multistate consent order: Wise US Inc. (CA, MA, MN, NE, NY, TX)
Wise Business · July 9, 2025
Daugherty v. Wise Group plc, No. 26-cv-06582 (S.D.N.Y.)
Wise Business · July 31, 2026
Blankers et al. v. Pushpay USA Inc., No. 2:21-cv-01549 (W.D. Wash.)
Pushpay · 2022-10-21
Doesn't publish its pricing
Windcave
Doesn't publish its pricing
Tamara
Documented in the linked reviews — legal actions are listed with case title, date and status.
Top rated
Ranked by grade, then by average category score. Equal grades share a position. An acquirer and an agent office are not the same purchase — pick a category to rank like against like.
Stripe is a leading payment processor known for its developer-friendly API, transparent pricing, and comprehensive suite of payment solutions for businesses of all sizes.
PayKings is a specialized payment processor offering tailored solutions for high-risk industries with a strong emphasis on fraud prevention.
Square offers simple, transparent payment processing ideal for small businesses. Flat-rate pricing, no monthly fees, and excellent software make it a top choice — but account holds and limited support are key concerns.
Helcim is a Calgary-based payment processing company that offers genuinely transparent interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fees, no hidden charges, and a comprehensive suite of free payment tools.
Adyen is a global, enterprise-grade payments platform that unifies acquiring, processing, routing and risk management into a single stack for merchants with international and omnichannel needs.
Shopify Payments is Shopify’s own branded payments service — processed by Stripe, per Shopify’s published processor list — giving merchants one-click access to accepting cards and wallets inside Shopify, simplifying setup and eliminating third-party gateway fees for supported merchants.
The directory
Zoho Payments is the payment processing service built into Zoho's finance apps, including Zoho Books, Zoho Invoice, Zoho Billing, Zoho Inventory, Zoho Commerce and Zoho Checkout. Zoho announced its US launch on 14 May 2025, although archived Zoho pages show it already open to US-registered businesses by July 2023; it launched in India in August 2024. This review covers the US product. It takes cards and ACH bank debits online, through invoices, payment links, hosted payment pages, online store checkout and an embeddable widget. It does not offer US in-person payments. As of October 2026, US pricing is 2.9% + 30¢ for domestic cards, American Express included. International cards cost an extra 1.5%, and ACH costs 0.8% capped at $5. There is no setup or monthly fee and no contract. A $15 fee applies to every dispute, whatever the outcome. Zoho onboards and underwrites each business, but card processing and settlement run through Stripe and Adyen, and each merchant also accepts their platform terms. Card payments settle two business days after the sale and ACH payments four, then pay out on the schedule you choose. The product has almost no reviews of its own yet. Zoho's company-wide BBB file carries a complaint-pattern alert about support and billing, though that file covers all of Zoho's apps, not just payments.
Omise is an online payment company founded in Bangkok in 2013 that takes card, QR, bank and e-wallet payments for merchants in Thailand, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Its parent rebranded as Opn in May 2022 and switched back to the Omise brand in March 2025; the holding company is still OPN Holdings Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, and opn.ooo now redirects to omise.co. Each country has its own published, pay-per-transaction price list with no setup or monthly fee. As of October 2026, cards cost 3.65% plus 7% VAT in Thailand, 3.30% + SGD 0.30 in Singapore and 2.50% (domestic) or 3.80% (international) in Malaysia. In Japan, card rates start at 2.95% and rise to 4.55% if you want your money sooner. Local methods are often cheaper: PromptPay is 1.65% in Thailand, PayNow 1.00% + SGD 0.15 in Singapore and DuitNow QR 1.50% in Malaysia. Omise signs the merchant agreement itself, collects the money on your behalf, keeps it on hold for a set period (7 days in Thailand, 1 in Singapore, 3 in Malaysia, 21 by default in Japan) and then lets you withdraw it for a small transfer fee. It is licensed by the Bank of Thailand and holds a Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Public merchant reviews are scarce, so its reputation rests mostly on its licences, its long history and its backers rather than on user ratings.
Clio Payments is the payment processing built into Clio Manage, the legal practice-management software from Clio (Themis Solutions Inc.), which was founded in Vancouver in 2008. Clio first sold a payments add-on powered by LawPay from 2015, then launched its own native Clio Payments in the US in October 2021 and in Canada in November 2022. Card processing is provided by Stripe: each firm accepts Stripe's Connected Account Agreement, and Clio handles enrolment, fees and support. There is no separate monthly fee, but you need a Clio Manage subscription, which starts at $49 per user per month. As of October 2026 Clio's own pages list a flat 2.95% for standard credit and debit cards with no per-transaction fee, and 1% for US eCheck and direct ACH payments. American Express is 3.75% on Clio's current comparison page, or 3.5% for firms switching from the LawPay integration. Clio does not publish Canadian rates on its Canadian site. The trust-account handling is the main reason to use it: trust payments are deposited in full, and processing fees, chargebacks and the $15 (US) or $20 CAD dispute fee always come out of the operating account. Card funds take one to two business days in the US and three in Canada, and eChecks five to seven. Clio itself is well rated on Capterra, but its BBB file is rated F for unanswered complaints, mostly about subscription billing. Clio ended its LawPay integration on 31 August 2026, which leaves Clio Payments as Clio's own way to take payments inside Clio Manage.
Tap Payments is a payment gateway and payment facilitator for businesses in the Gulf and wider Middle East. It started in Kuwait, says it was founded in 2014 by Ali Abulhasan (other sources give 2012 or 2013), and is now licensed by the central bank or its equivalent in all six GCC states and in Egypt. Merchants sign a contract with Tap's local company and accept local debit schemes (KNET in Kuwait, mada in Saudi Arabia, Benefit in Bahrain), Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay and regional wallets and buy-now-pay-later options through one integration, plus payment links, invoicing and card terminals in Kuwait. Tap publishes maximum prices in its country terms and conditions. As of October 2026 the Kuwait terms list KNET at 1% + 100 fils and local Visa and Mastercard at 2.75% + 100 fils, with up to 25 KD a month or a setup fee of up to 500 KD. The Saudi terms list mada at 1% and local cards at 2.5%, each plus a 1 SAR service fee. The UAE terms list local cards at 2.75% + 1 AED, with payouts five days after the transaction. Contracts run for a year and renew automatically, with 30 days' notice to leave. Tap says it serves more than 100,000 businesses, including large regional brands, but its Trustpilot profile scores 1.7 from 155 reviews (44% one-star, 42% five-star), with complaints about closed accounts and funds held for long periods.
Peach Payments is a Cape Town payments company founded in 2012 by Rahul Jain and Andreas Demleitner. Its South African operating company is Peach Payment Services (Pty) Ltd, and Jain is still chief executive. It started as an online payment gateway and now also offers payment links, recurring billing, payouts to bank accounts, card terminals and, through a partner, business cash advances. It has offices in South Africa, Kenya and Mauritius, and in 2025 it agreed to buy PayDunya, a Senegalese gateway operating in six French-speaking West African countries. Apis Partners led a US$31 million (EUR 29 million) Series A in 2023; Launch Africa, an early investor, sold its stake to 27four's Nebula Fund in 2026. That changed who the investors are, not who controls the company. As of October 2026 its fees page lists 2.95% + R1.50 per transaction (ex VAT) for 3-D Secure payments on South African cards under its Growth plan, with no setup or monthly fee and free next-business-day settlement in rands. Kenyan and Mauritian pricing is quoted per account. Its published merchant agreement has no minimum term and lets you cancel on written notice.
Conekta is a Mexico City online payment company for businesses that sell in Mexico. It takes cards, meses sin intereses (interest-free instalments), SPEI bank transfers, cash payments at stores and BBVA cash machines, Apple Pay, Google Pay, pay-by-bank through BBVA and buy now, pay later. As of October 2026 its published rate for small and mid-size businesses is 3.4% + MX$3 per card sale, MX$12.50 per SPEI transfer and 2.6% + MX$3 per cash payment, all plus 16% IVA. There is no monthly fee and no fixed contract term. Either side can end the agreement on 30 days' written notice. Card sales are deposited two business days later. Conekta signs merchants as a payment aggregator under acquiring banks, but in September 2026 it announced CNBV authorisation to act as a direct non-bank acquirer. In 2024 it sold the cash business behind OXXO Pay to FEMSA, and its current cash network and terms no longer list OXXO. Public review data is thin, and the terms let Conekta hold funds for up to 540 days.
Wise Business is the business version of the Wise multi-currency account, run by Wise, the London company that launched as TransferWise in 2011. A US business pays a one-time $31 fee to open local account details in 22 currencies, and there is no monthly fee. As of October 2026, US pricing makes domestic (non-wire) receipts in USD and eight other currencies free and charges $6.11 for each incoming USD wire or Swift payment. Conversion fees start at 0.23% and depend on the currency, always at the mid-market rate, and same-currency payments between Wise accounts are free. Clients can pay you through payment links, invoices and QR codes. Wise also has a card acceptance feature, priced for US businesses at 2.9% + $0.30 for domestic consumer cards and 4.2% + $0.30 for international and business cards, but Wise says it is currently unavailable to new Wise Business customers. Wise is not a bank: in the US the account is provided by Wise US Inc., a licensed money transmitter, and balances are not FDIC-insured unless you opt in to its interest feature. Its US regulatory record is the main weakness. Wise US settled with the CFPB in 2025 and paid $4.2 million to six state regulators over anti-money-laundering failings, the OCC refused its trust bank charter in July 2026, and a securities class action against Wise Group is pending.
Windcave is a New Zealand payments company, founded in Auckland in 1999 as Direct Payment Solutions (DPS). It traded as Payment Express from 2015 and as Windcave from 1 July 2019. It sells three things that most providers split up: an online payment gateway, payment terminals it designs and builds itself, and merchant acquiring, meaning it can hold your merchant account as well as carry your transactions. It acquires cards in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada, the EU and the US, and it is strongest in unattended payments such as parking, vending and kiosks. Windcave publishes no prices. Gateway fees, terminal rental and merchant service rates are all quoted per account, on blended, interchange-plus or interchange-plus-plus pricing depending on the country. Its merchant FAQ says acquiring agreements run for 36 months, while its published standard terms define a one-month term that renews automatically, and those terms set an early-termination fee of at least NZ$400, A$400, £400 or €400 per merchant facility. Funds generally settle the next business day. Windcave is privately owned by its founder and chief executive, Andrew (Andy) Cullen. Public review data is thin: eight one-star Trustpilot reviews and no BBB profile, as of October 2026.
Pushpay is a church giving and church management company. It was founded in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2011 and now runs its US business from Redmond, Washington, with an office in Colorado Springs. It was listed on the NZX and ASX until May 2023, when a company owned by entities associated with investment firms BGH Capital and Sixth Street bought it and took it private. Pushpay sells digital giving on its own, or bundled with church management software and a branded app as ChurchStaq (ParishStaq for Catholic parishes). It also owns Resi, a church live-streaming service. In the US, its subsidiary Pushpay Processing, Inc. describes itself as a registered ISO of KeyBank, and churches sign a card merchant agreement with Fiserv and KeyBank. In Australia and New Zealand the only processing partner Pushpay lists is Stripe, and it lists Stripe's connected-account agreement for the US and Canada too. Software is quote-based. As of August 2026, Pushpay's own blog gives card rates of 2.1% to 2.9% + $0.20 to $0.30 and ACH rates of 0.5% to 1.0% + $0.20 to $0.30, variable based on total giving volume. Contracts run one, two or three years (36 months unless the order form says otherwise), renew automatically and cannot be cancelled early without paying the balance. The BBB rates Pushpay A+, and it scores 4.2 from 183 reviews on Capterra.
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