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.
Lightspeed
POS & Business Software · 3.7/5 mean
Lightspeed Commerce is a global cloud-based POS and commerce platform that provides retail, restaurant, and ecommerce businesses with integrated payments, inventory management, analytics, and omnichannel selling tools.
Read the full review →Shopify Payments
Payfac / Aggregator · 4.3/5 mean
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.
Read the full review →Shopify Payments 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 5, 2026.
| Criterion | Lightspeed | Shopify Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 3.0 | 4.0wins this criterion |
| Feature set | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Ease of use | 4.0 | 5.0 |
Straight from each provider's published documentation. Where a number isn't published, we say so rather than estimate.
| Metric | Lightspeed | Shopify Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Online rate | Not disclosed | 2.9% + $0.30 (Basic), 2.7% + $0.30 (Grow), 2.5% + $0.30 (Advanced); Plus is custom |
| Monthly fee | Not disclosed | No separate gateway fee — the Shopify plan carries it: $39/mo Basic, $105 Grow, $399 Advanced billed monthly ($29 / $79 / $299 billed annually), Plus from $2,300. |
| Payout | Within 2 business days | 3 business days after the charge (US), plus 1–3 days for your bank to post it |
| Contract | Set in your order form; auto-renews for an equal term | Standard Shopify accounts are month-to-month; Enterprise / Plus customers have custom agreements. |
| In-person rate | 2.6% + $0.10 (advertised on retail plans) | 2.6% + $0.10 (Basic), 2.5% + $0.10 (Grow), 2.4% + $0.10 (Advanced) |
| Keyed rate |
From the Lightspeed review
Shopify Payments activates in one click for Shopify merchants and publishes plan-tiered online card rates, where Lightspeed's card-not-present pricing requires a sales quote. Lightspeed holds up for businesses centered on physical retail or hospitality that need its advanced inventory and multi-location tools.
Pick Shopify Payments if you sell primarily online through Shopify and want one-click payment activation
Ideal for
Not recommended for
Ideal for
Not recommended 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.
| Customer support | 3.0 | 3.0 |
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| Contract terms | 3.0 | 4.0wins this criterion |
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| Industry reputation | 4.0 | 5.0wins this criterion |
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| Not disclosed |
| Typically higher (e.g., ~3.5% + $0.10 reported by some reseller/guide pages) — check your plan/region. |
| International rate | Not disclosed | 1.5% currency conversion for US stores; no separate cross-border card fee is charged to the merchant |
|---|
| PCI fee | Not disclosed | These vary by region and merchant agreement. |
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| Statement fee | Usually none | These vary by region and merchant agreement. |
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| Chargeback fee | $15 | $15 in the US, returned if you win the dispute |
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| Early termination | Published in the Service Agreement (section 13.5): all recurring fees remaining in the current term, plus unpaid one-off fees and any discount clawback. Size depends on the term length, which is set per order form. | These vary by merchant agreement. |
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| Last fact-checked | August 19, 2026 | September 5, 2026 |
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