Head to head
Compared side by side on published facts and the same six criteria every review is graded on — generated from the live directory, not a sales page.
Global Payments
Platform / Acquirer · 2.2/5 mean
Global Payments Inc. is a Fortune 500 payments technology behemoth, processing trillions of dollars annually across 38 countries, offering massive scale and enterprise capabilities, but consistently criticized by small and mid-size merchants for opaque pricing, hidden fees, rigid contracts, poor customer support, and a significant history of legal actions.
Read the full review →Stripe
Payfac / Aggregator · 4.5/5 mean
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.
Read the full review →Stripe holds the higher standing — by grade, then mean category score. The row-by-row picture below is what should actually decide it for your business.
Both graded against the same six criteria. How we grade · Last fact-checked August 19, 2026 and September 16, 2026.
| Criterion | Global Payments | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 1.0 | 5.0wins this criterion |
| Feature set | 4.0 | 5.0wins this criterion |
| Ease of use | 2.0 |
Straight from each provider's published documentation. Where a number isn't published, we say so rather than estimate.
| Metric | Global Payments | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Online rate | Not disclosed | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Monthly fee | Not disclosed | No monthly fees |
| Payout | Typically next business day; varies by contract | First payout 7-14 days; then a rolling schedule of about 2 business days |
| Contract | Contracts carry a three-year initial term with an automatic renewal clause extending the contract for one-year periods after that | No long-term fixed contract requirements for standard services / 1-year minimum commitment for add-ons and enterprise services |
| In-person rate | Not disclosed | 2.7% + $0.05, plus $0.10 per authorization for Tap to Pay |
| Keyed rate | Not disclosed |
From the Global Payments review
Stripe publishes its flat-rate pricing and requires no contract or early-termination fee on standard service, where Global Payments negotiates every rate and ties merchants to three-year auto-renewing terms. Global Payments still holds up for large enterprises that need its vertical software and have the leverage to negotiate competitive custom pricing.
Pick Stripe if you run an online business and want developer-friendly APIs with published rates
Ideal for
Not recommended for
Ideal for
The full reviews carry the pricing narratives, contract analysis and everything else behind these numbers — or let the matching funnel score the whole directory against your business.
| 4.0wins this criterion |
| Customer support | 1.0 | 4.0wins this criterion |
|---|
| Contract terms | 1.0 | 5.0wins this criterion |
|---|
| Industry reputation | 4.0 | 4.0 |
|---|
| 3.4% + $0.30 (the online rate plus 0.5% for manually entered cards) |
| International rate | Not disclosed | +1.5% + ~1% for conversion |
|---|
| PCI fee | p to $125/month PCI non-compliance fee — well above industry standard | No separate PCI fee |
|---|
| Statement fee | Charged monthly (amount varies by contract) | No monthly statement fee |
|---|
| Chargeback fee | Non-refundable; amount varies by contract | $15 dispute received fee per dispute, kept whether you win or lose; a further $15 dispute countered fee if you respond manually, returned if you win and kept if you lose |
|---|
| Early termination | Up to $500 USD; some contracts include liquidated damages clauses for higher penalties | No early termination fee under the pay-as-you-go model |
|---|
| Last fact-checked | August 19, 2026 | September 16, 2026 |
|---|
Not recommended for