Side-by-side matchups
Payment Processor Comparisons
Find the best payment processor for your business by comparing popular options side by side. Our detailed comparisons cover pricing, features, customer support, and more.
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Telr vs PayTabs (UAE, online)
B-B-
We compare the two for a business in the UAE selling online in dirhams, using what each company publishes as of 23 October 2026. Telr publishes a full UAE price table: AED 249 a month flat below AED 10,000 in monthly sales, then 2.45% + AED 1 down to 2.25% + AED 0.50 per transaction with monthly fees from AED 199 to nothing, plus 0.50% on international cards, all before 5% VAT. It also publishes its merchant terms: no fixed term, one month's notice to leave. PayTabs's pricing page shows no UAE prices, but its help centre publishes a dirham SMB plan: 2.85% + AED 1 per transaction, plus a US$50 fee in any month with under US$2,000 in sales. PayTabs presents that plan in a notice moving low-activity accounts onto it from 28 August 2026, and does not say whether new UAE merchants are offered the same rate. On those published figures PayTabs costs less between AED 10,000 and AED 24,999 a month and Telr costs less from AED 25,000. PayTabs publishes no UAE merchant terms. On payment methods the two are close. Both list the main card schemes including the UAE's Jaywan, and Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and PayPal. PayTabs lists both Tabby and Tamara for instalments in the UAE; Telr names only Tabby. Telr's contracting company, Innovate Technologies FZCO, is on the Central Bank of the UAE's register as a Retail Payment Services licensee. We found no PayTabs company on that register, and PayTabs does not say which licensed company handles UAE merchants' funds. PayTabs agreed in September 2026 to buy Amazon Payment Services' Middle East and North Africa business; as of 23 October 2026 we found no announcement that the deal has completed. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Spreedly vs Primer (payment orchestration)
BB-
Spreedly and Primer are both payment orchestration platforms. Neither is a processor or acquirer. Each stores your customers' cards in its own PCI DSS Level 1 vault and sends payments to processors that you hold your own contracts with. Their fees come on top of what those processors charge. We compare what each company published as of 23 October 2026: its pricing pages and its standard online terms (Spreedly's Terms of Service v2.1, effective 1 October 2026, and Primer's Merchant Terms v3.45 of 22 May 2026). Your order form can override either set of terms. The clearest differences are price disclosure and contract length. Spreedly publishes a starting price of $750 a month for its standalone vault and, unless an order form says otherwise, its subscriptions run on 30-day terms. Primer publishes no prices. It charges per billable event against a minimum commitment and renews for a year at a time. Both give you a written route to take your stored cards to another PCI-compliant provider when you leave. Spreedly's is in its terms of service, with a stated 90-day window. Primer's comes from the data-return clause in its data protection addendum and an export process set out in its documentation. On product, the two are close. Both offer network tokens, 3D Secure, processor-agnostic routing with retries on a second processor, and checkout SDKs for web, iOS, Android and React Native. Primer has run its no-code Workflows since 2022. Spreedly launched its equivalent, Composer, on 21 October 2026. Payment Review grades Spreedly B and Primer B-.
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Paystone vs Moneris (Canada)
BB-
We compare the two for a Canadian small business paid in Canadian dollars, using each company's published prices and merchant terms as of 23 October 2026, with in-person and online figures kept separate. The two price differently. Paystone prices on interchange-plus (it publishes no flat-rate plan) and publishes 'as low as' starting rates: in-person credit from 1.26% + 5¢, Interac debit from 5¢, and online credit from 2.27% + 25¢ on its pricing page. Moneris publishes a flat rate of 2.65% + $0.10 in person and 2.85% + $0.30 online, with Interac at $0.12 in person and $1.00 online, and offers interchange-plus (Simplified Pricing) by quote. Neither number on one side is the same kind of number as on the other, so we set them side by side without declaring a winner. The contracts are closer than the marketing suggests. Paystone's pricing page said 'No locked-in contracts' and 'No cancellation fees' as late as April 2026, but its published Pay Terms set a three-year initial term that renews for six months at a time and a $295 early termination fee per unit of equipment, and those claims are gone from the page now. Moneris's April 2026 merchant agreement also runs three years with six-month renewals, and charges $300 per location when the agreement ends. Paystone rents every listed terminal at $45 a month; Moneris rents the Go Terminal at $34.95. Both companies are changing hands. Paystone has been under creditor protection (CCAA) since 5 June 2026, and a court-approved sale of its business to a company controlled by its principals had not closed by 16 October. RBC and BMO agreed on 10 August 2026 to sell Moneris to Francisco Partners for about C$2.0 billion, with closing expected by the end of January 2027.
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Stone vs PagBank (Brazil card machines)
BB
We compare the two for a Brazilian business taking cards in person in reais, on a card machine (maquininha) or a phone, using each company's own pages as of October 2026. Both are Central Bank-authorised payment institutions that sign merchants directly and offer their own business account to receive sales. Their pricing models differ. PagBank publishes a rate card for its machines: for Visa and Mastercard, debit costs 1.99% paid the same day, and one-off credit costs 4.99% paid the same day, 3.99% at 14 days or 3.19% at 30 days. Its Super Max plan, for businesses selling more than R$2,000 a month, charges 1.44% debit and 3.49% credit once its promotion ends. You buy the machine outright, from R$15.00 to R$196.08, with no rent. Stone does not publish a machine rate card. Its machine page offers debit from 0.74% and credit from 2.99%, and you get your own rates after a questionnaire or a sales call. Its machines stay Stone's property, usually rented, and the rent is waived only if you reach sales targets it does not publish. By default, according to its help centre, Stone pays debit in one business day and credit in 30 days. Same-day payout costs extra on both your debit and credit rates, and Stone does not publish how much. On tap on phone, both publish rates: TapStone charges 0.87% debit and 1.90% one-off credit, against 0.88% and 3.14% on PagBank's Tap On. Tap On pays the same day. TapStone's page does not say when it pays. Both contracts are open-ended with no exit penalty. PagBank lets you cancel at any time. Stone asks for 30 days' notice and the return of rented machines. Payment Review grades both B.
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Dharma Merchant Services vs Payment Depot
A-C+
We compare the two for a low-risk US small business taking cards in person, online or both, using each company's published standard prices. Both price on interchange plus: you pay the card networks' interchange and assessment costs at cost, plus the provider's markup. In-person rates are compared with in-person rates, and online rates with online rates. Dharma's figures come from its published rate pages as archived between April and July 2026. Payment Depot's come from its pricing page, read on 22 October 2026. The two charge in different ways. Dharma publishes its whole fee table: interchange plus 0.15% and 8¢ per sale in person, plus 0.20% and 11¢ online, a $20 monthly fee, a $25 chargeback fee and a $49 closure fee (which one of its own pages contradicts), with no PCI, batch or annual fees. Payment Depot lists a lower markup, 0% plus 8¢ in person and 15¢ online, but it sells accounts as a subscription and prints no subscription price. The same page advertises "variable rates as low as 0.2% - 1.95%" and sends you to a consultant for a quote. Neither has a long-term contract. Payment Depot has been owned by Stax since 2021. It holds an F with the BBB and 2.3 out of 5 from 1,261 Trustpilot reviews. Dharma, founded in 2007, holds an A+ and 4.5 from 142 reviews.
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Conekta vs Mercado Pago (Mexico, online)
B-B
We compare the two for a Mexican business selling online in pesos, using each company's published standard prices as of October 2026 and leaving out Mercado Pago's in-person Point rates. Both quote their fees before 16% IVA, so every figure here excludes IVA unless we say otherwise. Conekta charges one card rate, 3.4% + MX$3, and pays card sales into your bank account two business days later. Mercado Pago's online rate depends on when you want the money: 3.49% + MX$4 to have it in your Mercado Pago account at once, 3.19% + MX$4 at 14 days on Checkout (7 days on payment links), or 2.95% + MX$4 at 30 days. If you need card money within two business days, Conekta is cheaper on every sale. If you can wait 30 days, Mercado Pago is cheaper on sales above about MX$222. Conekta is much cheaper for SPEI transfers above a few hundred pesos (a flat MX$12.50) and for all but very small cash payments, but it sold its OXXO Pay cash business to FEMSA in 2024 and its current terms and cash pages no longer list OXXO stores, which Mercado Pago does take. Meses sin intereses surcharges are in the same range on both; Conekta's depend on the customer's bank. Neither has a fixed contract term. Payment Review grades Mercado Pago B and Conekta B-.
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Zeffy vs Givebutter for nonprofit fundraising
BB
We compare the two for a US nonprofit choosing a fundraising platform, using each provider's published US pricing as of October 2026. For Givebutter we use Standard pricing, which every account opened since 9 September 2025 is on. Both platforms are paid for mainly by donor tips, not by fees taken from the nonprofit, and both run payments through Stripe accounts set up under their own platform. Zeffy has only one setting. The nonprofit pays nothing on any form, online or in person, and Zeffy pays the card fees itself. Donors are asked for an optional contribution to Zeffy at checkout. The amount is pre-selected, the nonprofit cannot change it or turn it off, and the donor can lower it to $0. Givebutter lets each campaign choose. With tips on, the nonprofit pays no platform or processing fee on online gifts. Donors are asked to cover a 2.9% + 30¢ processing fee and to tip Givebutter, and if they decline the fee, Givebutter covers it under its Guarantee, a discretionary credit subject to caps shown in the account. With tips off, the nonprofit pays a 3% platform fee plus 2.9% + 30¢ on a card, about $6.20 on a $100 gift, unless donors cover it. The two differ most on in-person and auction payments. Givebutter charges 3% plus processing on in-app payments and on auction items charged to a saved card whatever the tip setting, while Zeffy charges nothing. Givebutter offers more tools and more support: 24/7 chat and email, text-to-donate and a $99 card reader. Neither has a contract. Payment Review grades both B.
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PhonePe Payment Gateway vs Paytm Payment Gateway
B-B-
We compare the two for an Indian business taking payments on its own website or app, using each company's online payment gateway: not the consumer apps, and not the QR codes, Soundbox speakers or card machines they sell to shops. Prices are those published as of October 2026, and both companies add 18% GST to their fee, not to the customer's payment. The headline rate is the same on paper: 1.99% per transaction on each standard plan. PhonePe shows its 1.99% struck through and charges nothing under a limited-period offer. It does not say when the offer ends, and it publishes no per-method rates for online merchants. Paytm's pricing page says its 1.99% is "Applicable on all transactions", which on its face includes UPI. Its merchant terms also list a separate MDR schedule, 0.51% on credit cards and Amex and 1.00% on international cards, without saying whether that is added to the 1.99%. Paytm settles the next day by default and sells same-day, on-demand and real-time settlement. PhonePe settles in T+2 working days. Paytm takes international cards in 72+ currencies. PhonePe lists Mastercard only. Both companies are now fully authorised by the Reserve Bank of India as payment aggregators: PhonePe Limited since September 2025, and Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL) since November 2025, after an RBI bar on signing new online merchants that ran from November 2022 to August 2025. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Payfast vs Ozow (South Africa)
B-B-
We compare the two for a South African business selling online in rand, using each company's published standard prices as of October 2026. Payfast quotes every fee excluding 15% VAT. Ozow's pricing page does not say whether its rates include VAT; the one Ozow fee its terms do label, the R0.50 bank account check, is quoted excluding VAT. Ozow is the cheaper of the two on the payments it is built for. Pay by bank, Capitec Pay and PayShap Request cost 1.5% with a R1.00 minimum, against Payfast's 2% + R2.00 for Instant EFT and Capitec Pay, and local cards cost 2.85% on Ozow against 3.2% + R2.00 on Payfast. Ozow also settles bank-payment money automatically every weekday afternoon and Saturday morning with no per-settlement charge, while Payfast holds each payment for 48 hours and then charges R8.70 for every payout you request. Payfast is the broader product. It includes cards in its standard account, adds SnapScan, Zapper and other QR apps, store cards and more buy-now-pay-later options, bills card subscriptions, prices in foreign currencies, pays card money out as fast as EFT money, and sells card machines for in-person sales. Ozow enables cards only after an account manager approves your business, settles card money typically once a week, and offers recurring payments only on Capitec accounts, by approval. Payfast publishes its general terms: a 36-month term that renews automatically, which you can end on 60 days' written notice without penalty. Ozow does not publish its main merchant agreement. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Wells Fargo vs Chase for merchant services
C+B
We compare the two for a US small business that takes cards and banks, or is willing to bank, with the same bank, using prices published as of October 2026. Both are now in-house bank merchant services. Wells Fargo's ran for years as a joint venture with First Data, later Fiserv. Wells Fargo did not renew it, and the venture ended on 1 April 2025. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. now provides the service itself, and Fiserv still processes for it under a multi-year agreement and supplies the Clover hardware and software. Chase's merchant business (Paymentech, LLC, once Chase Paymentech) left its own First Data venture in 2008. At the entry level Chase is cheaper on every channel. In person it charges 2.6% + 10¢ against Wells Fargo's 2.60% + 15¢. Online it charges 2.9% + 25¢ against 3.50% + 15¢, and keyed 3.5% + 10¢ against 3.50% + 15¢. Wells Fargo also charges $19.95 a month per merchant ID in account and PCI fees, while Chase's QuickAccept has no monthly processing fee. Wells Fargo's rates fall automatically once a month's card volume passes $40,000 and $80,000, so a busy in-person merchant can end up paying less there. Chase pays QuickAccept sales into Chase checking the same day, and Wells Fargo pays the next business day into a Wells Fargo account. Wells Fargo's strongest points are 24/7 phone support and a pricing page that promises no long-term contract or termination fee, though an older program guide it still hosts says otherwise for merchants processing $1 million or more a year. Payment Review grades Chase B and Wells Fargo Merchant Services C+.
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Venmo vs PayPal for Business
B-A-
We compare the two for a US small business, using the fees each publishes as of October 2026. They are not rival companies. Venmo is a service of PayPal, Inc. Braintree bought Venmo in 2012, and eBay, then PayPal's parent, bought Braintree in December 2013 and kept Venmo as a separate app. PayPal took both with it when it split from eBay in July 2015. So the real choice is between two PayPal products. The first is a Venmo business profile, which you open yourself in the Venmo app. The second is a PayPal business account. One thing trips people up here. Taking Venmo at an online checkout ('Pay with Venmo') is not part of a Venmo business profile. It is sold through PayPal and Braintree at 3.49% + 49¢, the same price as the PayPal button. We compare like with like. When customers pay from their own app, Venmo charges 1.9% + 10¢ per payment and PayPal's QR code charges 2.29% + 9¢. Tap to Pay on the seller's phone is 2.29% + 9¢ on both, by each company's fees page, though some of their own pages say otherwise. Online, the Venmo and PayPal buttons cost the same. Only PayPal also takes cards online, has a priced invoicing tool, bills subscriptions and lets staff log in. Neither has a monthly fee or a contract. Payment Review grades PayPal A- and Venmo's business profiles B-.
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Elavon vs Worldpay for UK businesses
C-C+
We compare the two for a UK business taking card payments in person, online or both, using the figures each publishes as of October 2026. Both also sell in the US, but we found no published Worldpay US pricing or US merchant terms, so a UK comparison is the only one we can check line by line. Every rate, fee and term in the tables is a UK figure. Both companies publish a card-payments summary that the Payment Systems Regulator requires, built from your annual card turnover, and both call it indicative. For a business taking about £50,000 a year with average sales of £21 to £30, Worldpay's summary is cheaper on personal debit cards (0.6% + 4.5p in person, against Elavon's 0.90% to 0.92% + 4p). Elavon's is cheaper on personal credit cards (1.00% to 1.02% + 4p, against 1.4% + 4.5p) and on business debit cards. Worldpay's standard monthly charges are lower on every line: terminal hire, gateway, PCI fee and monthly minimum. Its summary also settles in 24 hours, against Elavon's 48; Elavon sells next-day payment as a paid upgrade. Elavon also sells packaged plans with cheaper terminal hire than its summary, from £15 a month with rates from 0.99% on personal cards. Both let a business with fewer than 10 staff and under €2 million turnover end the processing agreement on a month's notice. Terminal hire is where you get tied in: Elavon's default minimum hire in its terms is 36 months, though its plans page lists a 12-month contract, and Worldpay's is 18. Elavon belongs to U.S. Bancorp. Worldpay has been owned by Global Payments since 12 January 2026 and is moving to the Global Payments brand. Payment Review grades Worldpay C+ and Elavon C-.
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Zeffy vs Donorbox for nonprofit fundraising
BB
We compare the two for a US or Canadian nonprofit choosing a donation and fundraising platform, using their published prices as of October 2026. They are paid for in opposite ways. Zeffy charges the nonprofit nothing: no platform fee, no card processing fee and no subscription. It pays Stripe's fees itself and asks donors for an optional contribution to Zeffy at checkout, which it says is its only revenue. That contribution is pre-selected as a percentage that falls as the gift grows, and the nonprofit cannot change the wording or the suggested amounts; donors can lower it or set it to $0. Donorbox charges the nonprofit a platform fee on each gift on top of the Stripe or PayPal processing fee: 2.95% on donation forms and 3.95% on event tickets and memberships on the free Standard plan, or 1.75% and 2% on Pro at $150 a month. Donors can choose to cover the fees. On a $100 card gift at Stripe's US nonprofit rate, a nonprofit keeps $100 on Zeffy and $94.55 on Donorbox Standard unless the donor covers the fees. Zeffy adds free auctions, raffles and a free Tap to Pay phone app. Donorbox adds text-to-give and a kiosk app that works with card readers, both as paid add-ons, and gifts settle into the nonprofit's own Stripe or PayPal account. Neither has a contract. Payment Review grades both B.
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Heartland vs Square
B-A
We compare the two for a US restaurant, shop or service business that wants card processing and a point of sale, using prices published as of October 2026. Heartland is now in the middle of a rename. Global Payments has owned it since 2016, and its own page now says "Heartland Payment Systems is now Global Payments". New point-of-sale sales go out under the Genius name. heartland.us still takes sign-ups under the Heartland name, with a banner saying it is moving to the Global Payments brand. So in practice, choosing Heartland today means a Global Payments account and, for a new POS, Genius. In person, Global Payments advertises rates from 2.6% + 10¢ on every Genius plan, but only for "certain" transactions, and it publishes no online or keyed rate. Square publishes all of them: 2.6% + 15¢ in person on its free plan, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus and 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium, with online and invoice payments at 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on paid plans. Genius software starts at $0, $42 or $129 a month for a single station. Square's plans cost $0, $49 or $149 a month per location. The biggest difference is commitment. Heartland's posted processing terms set a 36-month term that renews each year, with a $295 early termination fee per location. Square has no contract and no termination fee, and pays out the next business day at no charge. Heartland's advantage is support: live phone help around the clock, which Square gives only on Premium. Payment Review grades Square A and Heartland B-.
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Creem vs Lemon Squeezy for SaaS and digital products
B-C+
Creem and Lemon Squeezy are both merchants of record for software, SaaS and digital products. Each is the legal seller on every sale, collects and remits VAT and sales tax, and pays you the net amount. We compare their published prices as of October 2026 for an indie developer or small SaaS team. Creem charges 3.9% + 40¢ per successful transaction, with no surcharge for international cards or subscriptions. Lemon Squeezy charges 5% + 50¢, plus 1.5% on transactions from outside the US, 1.5% on PayPal and 0.5% on subscription payments. Both work out the fee on the tax-inclusive total. On a $20 card sale that is $1.18 with Creem, against $1.50 with Lemon Squeezy for a US buyer and $1.80 for a buyer abroad. Lemon Squeezy is cheaper to get paid by: payouts to a US bank are free and 1% elsewhere, where Creem charges $7 or 1%, whichever is higher. Its dispute fee is $15, against Creem's $25, and it supports more payout countries and PayPal payouts. Both pay twice a month with a $50 minimum. Creem's shorter hold pays sales from the first and third weeks of a month about two weeks sooner, while Lemon Squeezy is a few days sooner for the rest. Creem is an independent Tallinn company registered in April 2024. Lemon Squeezy has been owned by Stripe since July 2024, and its co-founder has said the goal is an easy migration to Stripe Managed Payments. Payment Review grades Creem B- and Lemon Squeezy C+. Creem is the better choice for most developers starting today.
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Spreedly vs Yuno: payment orchestration compared
BB-
Spreedly and Yuno are both payment orchestration platforms, not processors. Each sits in front of the gateways, acquirers and payment methods you contract with separately. Each stores your customers' cards in its own PCI DSS vault, routes and retries transactions across providers, and adds 3-D Secure and fraud tools. Neither holds your funds. Your processors still settle your sales and charge their own fees, and the orchestration fee comes on top. Spreedly is the older company. It says it was founded in 2007, and its press releases carry a Durham, North Carolina dateline. It is the only one of the two to publish a price: its Independent Vault starts at $750 a month. As of October 2026 it claims 150+ gateway connections and 60+ payment methods. Yuno started in Latin America and publishes no prices at all. Its merchant terms describe a monthly platform fee plus per-transaction and per-use fees. It claims 1,000+ payment methods and 460+ integrations across 190+ countries (also as of October 2026), and it raised a $45 million Series B in August 2026. Both sets of figures are the vendors' own claims, and they count different things. On standard contract terms, Spreedly needs less notice to stop a renewal (15 or 30 days against Yuno's 60). Yuno's base terms protect you better against mid-term price rises and include a 99.9% uptime target with service credits. Spreedly guarantees uptime only on its paid annual support plans. Payment Review grades Spreedly B and Yuno B-.
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Moyasar vs Tap Payments for Saudi businesses
B-B-
We compare the two for a business registered in Saudi Arabia, using each company's Saudi terms and pages as of 18 October 2026. Both are licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), both accept mada, Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and STC Pay, and Payment Review grades both B-. The biggest difference is price transparency. Tap's Saudi terms publish a fee table: mada at 1%, local Visa and Mastercard at 2.5% and international cards at 3.75%, each plus SAR 1 per transaction, with up to SAR 600 a month or a setup fee of up to SAR 5,000, all excluding VAT and open to negotiation by volume. Moyasar publishes no rates at all; its pages send you to its sales team. Moyasar publishes more of everything else. Its documentation sets settlement twice a week (Monday and Thursday) by default, its terms allow up to seven working days with a SAR 100 minimum, and they charge SAR 200 on chargebacks in listed cases. Tap gives no Saudi payout timetable or chargeback fee. Moyasar's public terms state no contract length, while Tap's run for a year and renew automatically; both let you leave on 30 days' notice. Moyasar serves Saudi businesses only. Tap also holds licences across the other five Gulf states and Egypt, and lists Tabby and Tamara buy-now-pay-later and a Shopify plugin, neither of which Moyasar lists.
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Eway vs Pin Payments for Australian online businesses
B-B
We compare the two for an Australian business taking card payments online, using their published Australian prices as of October 2026. Both include GST. Like for like, we set Eway's all-in-one Online Payments account against Pin Payments' standard account. In both, the provider supplies the merchant facility and the gateway, with no setup fee, monthly fee or lock-in contract. Eway charges 1.5% + 25c on domestic Visa, Mastercard and Amex, against Pin's standard 1.6% + 30c on Australian-issued cards, so at list prices Eway is cheaper on every domestic Visa or Mastercard sale. But Eway also adds its Merchant Trust Initiative security program after 50 transactions unless you opt out. That costs $178 for the first year and then $142 a year, though another part of the same page quotes $149.95 and then $9.95 a month. On international cards the two are close. Eway adds 1.99% for 3.49% + 25c in total, and Pin charges 3.4% + 30c, so Eway is cheaper below about $56 and Pin above. Pin's fee for a lost dispute is $25, against Eway's $44 per chargeback. Pin also lets you leave just by closing your account, while Eway's all-in-one terms ask for 30 days' written notice. Eway's add-on directory lists 191 integrations (it claims more than 250), against 47 in Pin's. Eway can also work as a gateway for a merchant account you already have with your bank, on plans from $20 to $60 a month. Pin has no gateway-only plan, but it can charge in foreign currencies on a standard account. Neither sells a card reader. Neither changed its list prices around the 1 October 2026 surcharging ban. Eway is owned by Global Payments and Pin by Fat Zebra. Payment Review grades Pin Payments B and Eway B-.
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myPOS vs Teya card machines (UK)
BB
This is a UK comparison in pounds. It uses the UK pricing pages both companies published in October 2026. Both sell in several European countries and prices differ by country. myPOS has no monthly fee for businesses taking under £10,000 a month. It charges 1.10% + 7p on UK consumer cards in person. EEA consumer cards cost 2.20% + 7p, American Express 2.45% + 7p, and business cards and cards from outside the EEA 2.85% + 7p. You buy the card machine outright, from £39 + VAT. Every payment lands in your myPOS e-money account within seconds, and moving money to your own bank costs £1.50 per transfer. Teya's Start plan covers businesses taking up to £7,500 a month and has no membership fee. It charges 1.59% on consumer Visa and Mastercard cards and 1.90% on business, international and Amex cards, with no pence per sale. It adds £29.99 in any month your card takings are under £2,500, and 0.10% if takings settle to an outside bank instead of its own account. Teya's machines cost from £89 + VAT under a one-off fee that covers three years, and the machine stays Teya's property. On UK consumer cards myPOS is cheaper below £2,500 a month unless the average sale is under about £4. Above that it is cheaper when your average sale is over about £14.29. A business with many Amex, business or foreign cards pays less at Teya. Both offer 24/7 support. Payment Review grades both B.
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Host Merchant Services vs Payment Depot
B+C+
Host Merchant Services (HMS) and Payment Depot are both US merchant-account sellers. Both price on interchange plus: you pay the card networks' interchange cost, plus a markup. Both are registered ISOs of Wells Fargo Bank. That means they sell accounts under the bank's sponsorship rather than acting as the bank themselves. HMS was founded in 2010 by Lou Honick, who still runs it, and is based in Newark, Delaware. It publishes its markups by business type: interchange + 0.25% + 10¢ for retail, + 0.20% + 9¢ for restaurants and + 0.35% + 10¢ for e-commerce. It also publishes a $14.99 monthly fee, a $14.99 monthly gateway fee where one is needed, and a $0.75 batch fee. Payment Depot began in 2013. Stax, an Orlando payments company, bought it in 2021, according to Stax's own company timeline. It now trades as "Payment Depot by Stax" and lists an Orlando address. Its pricing page lists 0% markup on interchange, plus 8¢ per in-person transaction and 15¢ per keyed or online one. That is a lower markup than HMS on every in-person sale, and on online sales above about $14. But the same page says "subscriptions" unlock its software and names no subscription price. It also headlines "variable rates as low as 0.2% - 1.95%" and sends you to a sales consultant for a quote. Both offer month-to-month terms with no cancellation fee and next-business-day funding. HMS lists 24x7x365 merchant support and has an A+ BBB rating. Payment Depot has an F rating from the BBB and 2.3 on Trustpilot. Payment Review grades HMS B+ and Payment Depot C+.
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Fresha vs GlossGenius for salons and spas
B+B
Fresha and GlossGenius are booking and payments software for salons, barbers, spas and wellness studios. Both build card processing into the calendar, so deposits, saved cards and no-show fees run through the same system. Fresha is based in London and processes through Adyen. GlossGenius is based in New York, serves US businesses and processes through Stripe. This comparison uses US prices as of October 2026. The biggest change is at GlossGenius. Its pricing page and help centre, updated on 13 and 14 October 2026, no longer show its flat 2.6% rate, though it gives no date when existing accounts switch. When you pay the fee yourself, it now lists 2.4% + 15¢ for a card tapped, dipped or swiped in person, and 3.4% + 15¢ for online bookings, deposits, cards on file, no-show fees and keyed cards. Fresha charges 2.29% + 20¢ in person, 2.79% + 20¢ online and 3.30% + 20¢ keyed. In person the two are almost level: Fresha is cheaper on sales above about $45. Online, Fresha is cheaper on any sale above about $8. Software prices go the other way as a team grows. Fresha costs $19.95 a month for one person, or $14.95 per bookable team member. GlossGenius costs $28 a month for Standard, $56 for Gold (up to 9 people) and $168 for Platinum (unlimited), or less billed annually. GlossGenius adds things Fresha does not advertise: instant payouts for 1.8%, full chargeback cover on card-reader and Tap to Pay sales on Gold and Platinum, and a setting that passes the card fee to clients. Fresha has a consumer marketplace that GlossGenius does not, but it charges 20% (minimum $6) on each new client it sends you.
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Zoho Payments vs QuickBooks Payments (US, 2026)
BB
Zoho Payments and QuickBooks Payments are both payment services built into accounting and invoicing software: Zoho Payments into Zoho Books, Zoho Invoice, Zoho Billing and Zoho's other finance apps, and QuickBooks Payments into QuickBooks Online. This comparison uses US pricing. Zoho Payments is offered only in the US and India, and QuickBooks Payments has separate versions outside the US, including Canada and the UK. As of October 2026, Zoho charges 2.9% + 30¢ on every domestic card and 0.8% for ACH bank debits, capped at $5. QuickBooks charges 2.99% on invoice card payments, 2.5% in person, 3.5% keyed and 1% for ACH, with no cap published. Neither charges a monthly fee for payments or requires a contract. Zoho is cheaper on bank transfers, on card invoices above about $333, on chargebacks ($15 against $25) and on the software: Zoho Invoice is free, and Zoho Books has a free plan for businesses under $50,000 in annual revenue, against $38 a month for QuickBooks Simple Start (QuickBooks' own free plan sends only two invoices a month). QuickBooks is cheaper on small card invoices and on foreign cards. It also takes cards in person with a $49 reader or Tap to Pay on iPhone, deposits card payments taken before 3 p.m. PT the next business day, and can add a surcharge to online invoice payments. Zoho has no US in-person product and settles card payments two business days after the sale. Both are graded B on Payment Review, so the right one depends on how your customers pay and which accounting software you already use.
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PayTrace vs Authorize.net for B2B and online payments
BA-
PayTrace and Authorize.net are both US payment gateways. A gateway is the software that sends card payments to the networks. It is not the merchant account that holds your money and pays it into your bank. Authorize.net is a wholly owned subsidiary of Visa and has been running since 1996. It publishes a full price list. Every plan costs $25 a month. The All-in-one plan, which includes a merchant account, charges 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. The Gateway only plan charges 10¢ per transaction plus a 10¢ daily batch fee. eChecks cost 0.75% with a $10 monthly minimum. There is no contract or early-termination fee on the gateway. PayTrace was founded in 2004 and has been part of North (formerly North American Bancard) since March 2022. It is built for businesses that sell to other businesses and to government. Its strength is automatic Level 2 and Level 3 data: the extra order and line-item fields that let commercial and purchasing card payments qualify for lower interchange rates. It publishes no gateway or processing prices. It sells directly and through more than 300 reselling partners, and on a reseller account the reseller sets your fees. Authorize.net also accepts Level 2 and Level 3 data where your processor allows it, but full Level 3 line items need its API. Its Virtual Terminal, invoices and hosted pages send Level 2 fields only. On PayTrace, Level 3 comes with the Pro plan and works through the virtual terminal, integrations and API (an add-on on Pro). Neither company funds your account under its gateway-only service, because your merchant service provider pays you out. Authorize.net offers 24x7 phone and chat support. PayTrace offers phone support on weekdays from 5am to 7pm Pacific, plus email at any time. Payment Review grades Authorize.net A- and PayTrace B.
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CCBill vs Verotel for adult and high-risk billing
B-C+
CCBill and Verotel both started billing for adult and online-entertainment sites in 1998, and both still do the same core job. Each runs the checkout, answers your customers' billing and cancellation enquiries, and underwrites the business categories that mainstream processors turn away. They differ most on what they tell you before you apply. Verotel publishes its whole price list: 15.5% of every sale on its Basic account, 14.0% falling to 13.0% by weekly volume on Premium, 1.5% extra on each renewal, no chargeback or refund fees, and a 10% reserve held for 26 weeks. CCBill publishes no rate at all, only the pricing models it offers. What CCBill does publish, in its July 2026 merchant terms, is a clear payout cycle. It pays weekly, aiming for each Monday, for the billing week that ended nine days earlier. Verotel's contract instead issues a weekly invoice and pays the balance 14 days later. CCBill also offers 24/7 merchant support by phone, email and live chat, and holds an A+ BBB rating (checked 16 October 2026). Verotel's terms are lighter on exit. CCBill's contract stops you using its acquirers or service providers for a year after you leave, and Verotel's has no such clause. Verotel's licensed entity, Yoursafe B.V., was put under an order subject to penalty by the Dutch central bank in February 2026 for not submitting its audited 2024 accounts by the deadline, and a €12,500 penalty became payable. Payment Review grades CCBill B- and Verotel C+.
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Yoco vs iKhokha: South African card machines compared
BB
Yoco and iKhokha both sell card machines that South African small businesses buy outright, with no rental and published rates. We compare them in rand, using what each published as of 15 October 2026, on Yoco's free Core plan against iKhokha's standard tiers. Both quote rates excluding 15% VAT. Entry hardware costs the same: R699 for Yoco's Khumo 2 and for iKhokha's iK Flyer Lite, both shown as reduced prices on 15 October 2026 with no end date given. Yoco is cheaper to use in person at every published volume: 2.30% on local cards to start, against iKhokha's 2.75%, and Yoco's local debit rate falls to 1.35% once your rolling three-month average reaches R50,000. Yoco also includes unlimited mobile data and charges nothing for standard payouts, while iKhokha charges R75 a month for its optional data SIM and R2.50 on every payout. iKhokha's advantages are speed and service: payouts as soon as the next business day for FNB and Absa clients, same-day payouts through its iK Debit Card, a lower online card rate with no fixed fee for smaller sellers, Instant EFT at 2%, and longer phone support hours. iKhokha has been a wholly owned Nedbank subsidiary since 1 December 2025. Payment Review grades both B.
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Razorpay vs CCAvenue
B-B-
Razorpay and CCAvenue publish almost the same headline price: a 2% platform fee on domestic cards, UPI, net banking and wallets, with 18% GST added to the fee, so 2.36% all-in. Both charge 3% on Amex, Diners, corporate and international cards. The differences are in the detail. CCAvenue charges 2% on credit-card EMI where Razorpay charges 3%, but 3.5% on cardless EMI where Razorpay charges 3%. CCAvenue adds an annual software charge of ₹1,200 + GST from the second financial year and 0.20% on Shopify; Razorpay has no annual fee and runs a 0% offer for new merchants. Razorpay settles domestic payments on T+2 working days; CCAvenue's FAQ says payouts are weekly unless your agreement says otherwise. CCAvenue's agreement needs 30 days' notice from either side to end it without cause; Razorpay can close an account at any time. Both are RBI-authorised payment aggregators, and both are graded B- on Payment Review.
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Mollie vs PAY. (Pay.nl) for Dutch and Belgian businesses
B+B
Mollie and PAY. are both Dutch payment providers licensed by De Nederlandsche Bank, and both publish full price lists in euros. PAY. trades from pay.nl under the name Pay. (its legal entity is TinTel B.V.). It refreshed its logo in 2022 but kept the name, so Pay.nl and PAY. are the same company. The two price their services differently. Mollie has one online price list with no monthly fee: €0.32 per iDEAL | Wero payment and 1.80% + €0.25 for an EEA consumer card. PAY. charges a plan fee for lower rates. On its €35-a-month Professional plan, iDEAL | Wero costs €0.19, an EU consumer credit card €0.15 + 1.50%, a Dutch consumer debit card online €0.07 and Bancontact a flat €0.25. Its no-fee Pioneer option adds €0.05 and 0.25% to each Professional rate, though PAY.'s own sources disagree on whether Pioneer includes card payments. Both list their prices excluding VAT. Those plan rates come with conditions. Professional starts with a one-year term and then needs three months' notice to leave, and PAY.'s terms allow a minimum bill of 75% of your average fees if your volume drops. Mollie has no minimum term, though its user agreement still asks for two calendar months' notice. Mollie also offers round-the-clock chat, accepts businesses in the UK and Switzerland, and has a much stronger Trustpilot record. In shops, Mollie is cheaper on credit cards and PAY. charges less per Dutch debit card above a few euros. The Dutch Payments Association said in July 2026 that the next phase of the iDEAL-to-Wero migration would start in October 2026, with completion due by 31 December 2027 at the latest. Mollie charges the same for a domestic Dutch Wero payment as for iDEAL | Wero, and PAY. prices iDEAL payments it routes over Wero at its iDEAL rate. Payment Review grades Mollie B+ and PAY. B.
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Verifone vs Ingenico: card terminal makers compared
C+B-
Verifone and Ingenico are two of the best-known card terminal brands, but you buy from them in different ways. We compare them as of October 2026. Verifone sells to merchants itself as well as through processors. It runs its own acquiring business, Verifone Payments, whose Dutch company holds a payment institution licence passported to every other EU country. It also sells hosted checkout, pay-by-link and a virtual terminal, and it owns 2Checkout, whose top published plan includes merchant-of-record services such as tax handling. Ingenico sells only through banks, acquirers and resellers. Its own help pages say it does not sell directly to merchants, and that your card rates, terminal prices, contract and support come from whoever supplied the terminal. Neither publishes a card-processing rate or a terminal price. The one published price on either side is 2Checkout's 2Sell plan, at 3.5% + $0.35 a sale, and that is for online sales. Both have new Android ranges: Verifone's Victa, launched in January 2025 and expanded in January 2026, and Ingenico's next-generation AXIUM, launched in February 2026. Ingenico says every next-generation AXIUM device runs Android 14 and is certified to PCI PTS v7. Verifone's first v7-certified device was the V660p portable, and its spec sheets list Victa Mobile, Portable and Reader as PCI PTS 7.x compliant. Both also have phone-based SoftPOS and a cloud tool for managing terminals: Verifone Central and Ingenico 360. Ownership is the bigger difference. Francisco Partners has owned Verifone since August 2018. Apollo funds have owned Ingenico since 2022, and on 17 August 2026 Ingenico announced an agreement for EUR 150 million of new money from a PIMCO-led group. Press reports say part of its debt converts to shares and that Apollo exits. Ingenico's own release does not say either. Payment Review grades Ingenico B- and Verifone C+.
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Rotessa vs GoCardless for US and Canadian bank debits
B-B
Both collect recurring payments straight from customers' bank accounts, by ACH debit in the US and pre-authorized debit (PAD) in Canada. Neither takes cards. We compare them country by country, using GoCardless's own US and Canadian pricing pages and Rotessa's single price list, as of October 2026. Rotessa charges $25 a month plus $0.50 per debit, whatever the amount, billed in USD on a US account and CAD on a Canadian one. GoCardless has no monthly fee and charges a percentage plus a fixed fee with a cap. On its cheapest plan that is 0.5% + $0.05, capped at $5, in the US, and 0.75% + $0.40, capped at $3, in Canada. So GoCardless is cheaper on small payments and low volumes, and Rotessa is cheaper once payments are large and regular. In the US, Rotessa wins once you collect six or more payments of about $990 a month, or 13 of $500. In Canada it wins from 11 payments of about $347, or 39 of $100. Failed payments cut the other way. Rotessa charges $30 for each one, against $5 at GoCardless in the US, and GoCardless charges no failure fee in Canada. GoCardless also pays out sooner in the US, lets you refund customers through its platform and collects from 30+ countries. Rotessa does none of those. Showing your business name on customers' bank statements is included with Rotessa but is a paid add-on at GoCardless: $25 a month in the US and $75 a month in Canada. Mollie completed its purchase of GoCardless on 1 September 2026; GoCardless says pricing and contracts are unchanged. Payment Review grades GoCardless B and Rotessa B-.
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Lloyds Cardnet vs Barclaycard Payments for UK businesses
B-B-
Both are UK card acquirers owned by big banks. We compare them in pounds, using what each published as of 14 October 2026. Neither publishes a rate card: both quote each business individually and show only worked examples. Lloyds' in-person example is 0.5% + 3p on a UK Visa debit card. Barclaycard's is 0.7% + 3p on a personal debit card, which it calls representative only. The clearer differences are in hardware, contracts and payouts. Barclaycard's portable terminal costs £18 + VAT a month, against £23 + VAT for Cardnet's Castles Saturn, but it comes on an 18-month contract with a cancellation fee. Cardnet does not publish the term for the Saturn. Barclaycard also sells a £29 + VAT pocket reader with no contract, while Cardnet's closest thing is Lloyds Accept, a separate pay-as-you-go service for Lloyds and Bank of Scotland account holders. Both merchant agreements roll on and can be ended at about a month's notice. Cardnet charges an early-termination fee only in the first six months. On payouts, Barclaycard's terms say settlement usually arrives one banking day after it receives your transactions. Cardnet's default is within five business days, and next-day Faster Settlement costs extra, although Lloyds says funds typically arrive the next working day. Cardnet's customer line is open longer: 8am to 9pm Monday to Saturday, against Barclaycard's weekday 8am to 6pm. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Tap Payments vs PayTabs for Saudi and Gulf businesses
B-B-
We compare the two for a business in Saudi Arabia, the one market where both publish prices, using their terms as of October 2026. They are built differently. Tap Payments signs you up itself, under its own Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) licence as a Major Payment Institution. Its Saudi terms list mada at 1%, local Visa and Mastercard at 2.5% and international cards at 3.75%, each plus SAR 1 per transaction, and say pricing may be customised by volume. On top of that you pay up to SAR 600 a month or a setup fee of up to SAR 5,000. PayTabs's main gateway is a technology layer. In Saudi Arabia you sign a separate agreement with one of its partner banks or payment providers, which sets your card rates and pays you out. PayTabs then adds its own fees: SAR 999 to set up, SAR 199 a month and SAR 1 per transaction. It publishes no gateway card rates for Saudi Arabia. For small Saudi businesses PayTabs also sells the Paymes app at SAR 49 a month, with mada at 1% and credit cards at 2.25% + SAR 1, prices it labelled a testing phase as of 13 October 2026. Tap ties you to a one-year contract that renews automatically, though either side can end it on 30 days' notice. PayTabs has no fixed term and needs 60 days' notice, and it refunds no fees. Tap covers all six Gulf states and Egypt, including Bahrain's BENEFIT. PayTabs lists no Bahrain market, but it does list Iraq, Jordan and Türkiye. In September 2026 PayTabs agreed to buy Amazon Payment Services' Middle East and North Africa business. Neither company had announced completion by 13 October 2026, so for now it changes nothing for merchants. Payment Review grades both B-.
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PagBank vs Mercado Pago for Brazilian businesses
BB
This is a Brazil comparison: both companies are licensed acquirers that sell card machines (maquininhas) outright and run online checkouts, and every figure below comes from their Brazilian sites as published in October 2026. Rates in Brazil depend on when you take the money, so each row compares the same payout option and, where rates depend on sales volume, the same monthly band. At the entry level the two are almost level on Visa and Mastercard: single-payment credit with same-day payout costs 4.99% at PagBank and 4.98% at Mercado Pago, and debit costs 1.99% at both on their rate pages, though PagBank's Essencial plan page lists 2.39% debit. Mercado Pago charges the same rate on every card brand, where PagBank charges Elo and other brands more for same-day payout (6.17% on credit). Mercado Pago publishes machine rates that fall with monthly sales, to 1.25% debit and 3.08% credit above R$50,000; PagBank publishes nothing for sellers above R$5,000 a month, so costs at higher volumes cannot be compared from public pages. Online, Mercado Pago is cheaper on checkout card payments and on Pix (0.99% against 1.89%). PagBank is cheaper on payment links after its promotion (4.20% against 4.98% for credit), sells the cheaper phone-paired card reader (both are discounted cash prices), gives a five-year machine warranty against three, and has the much stronger Reclame Aqui record: RA1000 and 8.7 out of 10, against Mercado Pago's Good rating and 7.9. Neither charges rent, a monthly fee or a cancellation fee. Payment Review grades both B. The site's Mercado Pago review is written mainly for Mexico; this page uses Mercado Pago Brasil's own prices.
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Mangopay vs Stripe Connect for European marketplaces
B-A
This compares the two as payment infrastructure for a marketplace or platform based in the eurozone, using what each published in October 2026, with Stripe's Ireland and France pricing (they are identical). Stripe wins for most marketplaces. Its rates are public: 1.5% + €0.25 for standard EEA cards, and on the Connect model where the platform sets its sellers' pricing, €2 per monthly active account plus 0.25% + €0.10 per payout. It supports more payment methods, offers 24/7 support and has the deeper developer tooling, and Stripe is available to businesses in 51 countries and regions. Mangopay publishes no rates for platforms: every contract is quoted by its sales team, there is no free tier or self-serve plan, and only platforms registered in the EEA or the UK can sign up. What Mangopay does better is hold money. It is an e-money institution licensed in Luxembourg that gives every user a wallet and lets a platform hold funds there with no fixed time limit, while Stripe says it does not provide escrow and requires funds held with manual payouts on an EEA connected account to be paid out within 90 days. A marketplace whose model depends on holding buyers' money for months, such as rentals booked far ahead, crowdfunding or milestone-based services, should get a Mangopay quote. Payment Review grades Stripe A and Mangopay B-.
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Payabli vs Rainforest for software platforms
BB
Payabli and Rainforest both sell embedded payments to US software platforms as payfac-as-a-service. Your platform does not become a payment facilitator with either one: the merchant's processing contract is with the provider and its sponsor bank, and your platform sets the price its merchants pay. The biggest difference is how each charges your platform. Rainforest publishes its buy rate: interchange plus 0.30% and $0.30 per card payment. The percentage falls to 0.25% above $5 million a month and 0.20% above $15 million, and the per-payment fee to $0.25 above 50,000 payments a month and $0.20 above 150,000. ACH costs $0.20 an item, a dispute or return costs $15, and there is no revenue share. Payabli publishes no rates. Its homepage describes a revenue share, and its terms say fees come from a schedule it gives you. Payabli covers more ground. Its Pay Out product pays your merchants' vendors by virtual card, ACH, check, RTP or wire, and it accepts paper checks through remote deposit capture. It also offers eight server SDKs and support by email, Slack and phone. Rainforest lists no payables product: its site and docs cover collecting payments and depositing them to merchants. It adds PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later, ships white-label components for onboarding, payments, reports and chargebacks, and deposits card payments on T+1 as standard (ACH on T+4 unless the platform buys Accelerated ACH). Payment Review grades both B.
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Omise vs 2C2P for Thai businesses
B-B-
This is a Thailand comparison in baht, using documents both companies published as of October 2026. Omise is the one you can sign up for yourself and price in advance. Its Thai rate card charges 3.65% on every card, domestic or international, 1.65% on PromptPay, THB 10 per mobile banking or direct debit payment, and 2.65% to 3.65% on most e-wallets, all plus 7% VAT, with no joining or monthly fee. Its own documents do not all agree: its Thai terms list a lower ShopeePay rate and a higher bank-transfer fee than the price list. 2C2P publishes no gateway rates. Its Thai merchant agreement leaves every rate blank to be filled in per merchant, so its prices can only be compared once you have a quote. The contracts differ more than the coverage. Omise's current Thai agreement (October 2025) has no minimum term and either side can end it on 14 days' notice. 2C2P's runs for a year, renews itself and needs 90 days' notice. 2C2P also accepts only payments of THB 300 to THB 500,000 and charges THB 200 a month on an account with no transactions for six months. On the other side, Omise holds each payment for 7 days before you can withdraw it, while 2C2P sets payout timing in each merchant's contract; its public payment-method directory gives T+1 to T+3 for Visa and Mastercard. Both take Thai cards, PromptPay, the major banks' apps, TrueMoney, LINE Pay, ShopeePay, Shopee PayLater and bank instalments, and both hold Bank of Thailand payment licences. 2C2P, part of Ant International's Antom, covers Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Omise, owned by Japan's OPN Holdings, covers Thailand, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Tyl by NatWest vs Barclaycard for UK card machines
B-B-
This is a UK comparison in pounds, using what both banks published in October 2026. The main difference is price transparency. Tyl, a trading name of National Westminster Bank plc, publishes two rates for businesses taking up to £50,000 a year on cards: 1.39% + 5p on UK and European personal cards and 1.99% + 5p on all other cards, with no minimum monthly charge and no extra charge for phone, online or international card payments. Barclaycard Payments quotes every business individually. Its only published figures are examples (0.7% + 3p on a personal debit card in person, 2.05% + 3p on a personal credit card by phone), and its fee pages say a minimum monthly charge, a card-not-present fee and an international transaction fee may apply. On hardware, Tyl rents its PAX terminals at £13.99 to £19.99 a month plus VAT on a 12-month contract. Barclaycard charges £16 or £18 a month plus VAT on 18-month contracts for its countertop and portable readers, £29 a month on a 12-month contract for Smartpay Touch with no cancellation cost, and £29 once for Smartpay Anywhere with no contract. Both settle the next working day. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Peach Payments vs Payfast for South African businesses
BB-
This compares the two gateways for a South African business selling online in rand, using the prices each published in October 2026. Every fee below excludes 15% VAT, as both companies quote them. Peach Payments' Growth plan charges 2.95% + R1.50 on South African cards with 3-D Secure, against Payfast's 3.2% + R2.00 for credit and cheque cards (Payfast's own fee calculator prices a separate Debit Card option at 3.5% + R2.00, which its fee table does not show). Peach is also cheaper on pay by bank and Capitec Pay (1.50% + R1.50 against 2% + R2.00), on Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, and on Scan to Pay. Peach settles you free on the next business day; Payfast holds funds for 48 hours and charges R8.70 for each payout, which then takes one to two working days, or 0.8% (minimum R14) for an Immediate Payout that arrives within minutes once the hold has passed, so a weekday sale usually reaches a Peach merchant first. Peach's merchant agreement has no fixed term, where Payfast's general terms run for 36 months and renew automatically, although both let you leave without a penalty (Payfast on 60 days' notice). Payfast is cheaper on refunds (R2.00 against Peach's R3.00) and Mobicred, publishes card-machine prices, and supports SnapScan, Zapper and MukuruPay cash payments, which Peach does not list. Peach charges its R1.50 on every attempted transaction, including declines, and adds 0.2% on Shopify and Wix stores. Payment Review grades Peach Payments B and Payfast B-.
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HitPay vs Stripe for Singapore businesses
BA
This compares the two for a business based in Singapore, in Singapore dollars, using the prices both companies published in October 2026. HitPay is cheaper on local cards, PayNow and WeChat Pay, and on every in-person rate. Local cards online cost 2.8% + S$0.50 at HitPay against Stripe's 3.4% + S$0.50. In person the gap is wider: 2.5% + S$0.50 at HitPay against 3.4% + S$0.50 on Stripe Terminal. PayNow is 0.65% + S$0.30 (0.9% below S$100) against Stripe's 1.3%. HitPay also pays out from the next day, where Stripe's default for Singapore accounts is T+7 calendar days. Two things narrow HitPay's lead. It adds 0.2% when you take payments through its own software (payment links, invoices, online store, POS) or most plugins, and 0.5% on its Shopify app. And its merchant agreement says its fees exclude GST, so 9% may be added to them. HitPay stays cheaper on local cards and PayNow with both counted, except on small card payments, but on international cards and GrabPay the two end up close, so we name no winner there. HitPay's agreement runs for a year and renews automatically, with one month's notice before renewal. Stripe has no term and no closure fee. Stripe's strengths are elsewhere: support around the clock by email, phone and chat, much deeper developer tools, and a single integration for selling worldwide. Payment Review grades Stripe A and HitPay B.
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Teya vs SumUp for UK card machines
BB+
This is a UK comparison in pounds, using prices both companies published in October 2026. Both now publish a self-serve plan. Teya's Start plan has no monthly membership fee and charges 1.59% on consumer Visa and Mastercard and 1.90% on business, international and American Express cards, for businesses taking up to £7,500 a month. A £29.99 fee applies in any month card turnover is under £2,500, and settling to an outside bank instead of Teya's own account adds 0.10%. SumUp's pay-as-you-go plan charges 1.69% on every in-person card, including Amex, with no monthly fee and no minimum, and its £19-a-month Payments Plus plan cuts standard UK consumer debit and credit cards to 0.99% (premium cards stay at 1.69%). On an all-standard-consumer-card mix SumUp is cheaper below £2,500 a month and above about £3,170 a month, and Teya's Start plan is cheaper only in the band between, by a few pounds. SumUp's hardware starts lower (a £25 + VAT Solo Lite against Teya's £89 + VAT Lite) and you own it, and its chargeback fee is £10 against Teya's £20. Teya's strengths are elsewhere: 24/7 human support included on every plan, instant settlement into its business account, and a debit card paying 0.5% cashback. Payment Review grades SumUp B+ and Teya B.
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Shift4 vs Square for restaurants
B+A
This compares Shift4's restaurant point of sale with Square for Restaurants in the US, using Shift4's published terms and Square's published prices as of October 2026. Shift4's system was called SkyTab until 12 May 2026, when it was renamed Shift4 Dine; Shift4 told customers the software, account setup and support would not change. The two are sold in opposite ways. Square publishes everything. Software is $0, $49 or $149 a month per location, in-person cards cost 2.6%, 2.5% or 2.4% + 15¢ depending on the plan, there is no contract and no early termination fee, and you buy the hardware. Shift4 publishes no processing rate. The description of its pricing page says pricing starts at $29.99, without saying what that figure covers, and the monthly fee includes hardware with a lifetime warranty, 24/7 support and free loyalty, reservations and a website builder. The cost is in the terms. Shift4's merchant processing agreement runs 36 months and renews yearly. Leaving early costs a per-device monthly fee of $100 to $750, set by your volume, for every month left. Shift4's terms also set $439.99 a year per device in regulatory and program fees, and the hardware goes back to Shift4 when you leave. Payment Review grades Square A and Shift4 B+.
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Finix vs Tilled for software platforms
BB
Finix and Tilled both let a US software platform offer payments to its own customers and earn money on them, without the platform registering as a payment facilitator itself. They price that very differently. Finix publishes its costs to the platform: on its Standard platform plan you pay the card networks' costs at pass-through plus 0.30% + $0.15 per card transaction, $5 to onboard each merchant and $2.50 a month for each active one. There is no monthly platform fee, and you keep what you charge your merchants above those costs. Tilled publishes a monthly fee and a revenue share instead: $500 a month for 70% of the margin (Start-Up, for platforms under $5 million a month) or $2,500 a month for 80% (Scaling). It does not publish the buy rate that margin is measured from. So Finix's published card is more complete, but neither page lets you work out which costs you less without a Tilled quote. The other differences, as of October 2026: Finix is itself a card-network-certified processor and underwrites merchants itself, and supports Tap to Pay on iPhone. Tilled runs on a choice of four processors (North, TSYS, KORT and Paysafe), and its in-person payments are already live in Canada, where Finix's are still a pilot. Payment Review grades both B.
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Yoco vs Payfast (South Africa)
BB-
This is a South African comparison in rand, using both providers' published standard prices as of October 2026. Every transaction rate below excludes 15% VAT, which is how both companies quote them. Yoco started with card machines and added online payments. On its free Core plan it charges 2.30% in person on local cards and 2.95% + R2 online, and its online rate and in-person debit rate drop automatically once your three-month average reaches R50,000 a month. Payfast, now trading as Payfast by Network, started online and recently added card machines. It charges 3.2% + R2 on credit cards online (its fee calculator shows 3.5% + R2 for debit cards, a rate its fee table omits) and 2.5% on local cards on its machines. Yoco is cheaper on card payments in both channels, sells its card machine for less with no monthly connectivity fee, pays out for free, and has no fixed-term contract. Payfast charges R8.70 per payout, and its general terms, which also cover its card machines, run for 36 months, although you can leave on 60 days' notice without penalty. Payfast's advantage is choice at checkout. It takes Instant EFT and Capitec Pay at 2% + R2, SnapScan, Zapper and other QR apps, and recurring subscription billing, and Yoco's online gateway offers none of these. Payfast is also cheaper on foreign credit cards online and on larger instant payouts. Payment Review grades Yoco B and Payfast B-.
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Midtrans vs Xendit (Indonesia)
B-B-
This compares the two gateways for a business selling in Indonesia in rupiah, using each company's published Indonesian rates as of October 2026 for ordinary (non-gaming, non-digital-goods) merchants. Fees are before Indonesian VAT (PPN) unless a cell says otherwise. The two publish the same card rate, 2.9% + IDR 2,000. The difference is that since 1 October 2026 Xendit adds a fixed IDR 4,000 processing fee to every transaction attempt, including failed payments and refunds, and its virtual-account, e-wallet, convenience-store and pay-later fees are also higher than Midtrans's. On every Indonesian rate both companies publish, Midtrans is cheaper. A virtual-account payment costs IDR 4,000 on Midtrans and IDR 13,000 on Xendit. Xendit also charges accounts a monthly minimum of IDR 900,000 if their fees for the month come to less than US$50. Xendit's advantages are elsewhere. Most bank virtual-account payments reach your Xendit balance instantly and e-wallets in one or two days, where Midtrans makes sales withdrawable three business days after the payment settles. It also offers paid same-day Early Settlement and publishes rates for seven other markets, while Midtrans works only in Indonesia and only in rupiah. Payment Review grades both B-.
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FastSpring vs PayPro Global
B+B-
FastSpring and PayPro Global are both merchants of record for software, SaaS, games and digital products. Each one resells your product as the legal seller, then collects and remits VAT, GST and sales tax. Neither publishes its commission. Both quote it per account, so this comparison cannot tell you which is cheaper per sale. It compares what both companies do publish as of October 2026: their fee schedules, seller agreements, payout documentation and review-site profiles. The figures are in US dollars. The published differences are about cash flow and add-on fees. FastSpring pays twice a month by default (weekly and monthly schedules are also offered) after a 14-day settlement delay, with a $100 default minimum. PayPro Global pays once a month, around the 15th, and holds balances until they reach $400. FastSpring publishes a schedule of add-on fees: $20 per chargeback, a 3.5% or 5.5% currency conversion markup, refund and return fees, and a $150 annual fee for sellers under $5,000 a year. PayPro Global publishes its payout fees and a $15 chargeback fee, but no currency conversion rate. Both contracts run 12 months, renew automatically and can be ended on 30 days' notice. After you leave, PayPro Global holds your whole balance for six months. FastSpring may keep part of it for up to 180 days. Payment Review grades FastSpring B+ and PayPro Global B-, but which one costs you less depends on the two commission quotes.
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Klarna vs Scalapay for merchants in Italy
BB
This comparison is for a business selling to shoppers in Italy, priced in euros. Klarna and Scalapay both pay you the full order up front, less their fee, and both carry the risk that the shopper does not pay. Through Stripe in Italy they cost almost the same: 4.99% + €0.40 for Klarna and 4.99% + €0.35 for Scalapay. Signing directly is where they differ. Klarna's latest published price list for merchants in Italy (April 2025) charges 4.99% + €0.35, and the rate you actually get is shown in your merchant portal. Klarna's standard European cooperation agreement (October 2025 version) makes Klarna your only pay-later provider, pays weekly three weeks after shipment, and can be ended on one month's notice, though your own contract may differ. Scalapay does not publish your rate. Its regulated information sheet caps the fee at 10% + €1.00 an order and lets either side leave free of charge on 30 days' notice, and its help centre says money reaches you within about 5 to 7 business days. For your customers, Scalapay offers Pay in 3 or 4 and accepts prepaid cards, which are common in Italy. Klarna offers Pay in 3 in Italy and does not accept prepaid cards for it. Klarna is far larger, with 120 million active consumers worldwide and merchants in 26 countries, against Scalapay's 13 million users in Southern Europe. Payment Review grades both B, so the right choice depends on where your customers are and how you want to contract.
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Finix vs Stripe for embedded payments
BA
This is a US comparison for software platforms and marketplaces that embed payments for their merchants, with each provider's direct-merchant pricing alongside. The two sell different pricing models. Finix publishes interchange-plus pricing: on its Standard platform plan you pay the card networks' costs at pass-through plus 0.30% + $0.15 per card transaction, $2.50 a month for each active sub-merchant and $5 to onboard each one. Stripe Connect has no platform fees at all if you let Stripe price your merchants at its standard 2.9% + 30¢ online rate. If you price them yourself, you pay Stripe that rate plus $2 per monthly active account and 0.25% + 25¢ per payout. Stripe publishes interchange-plus only as custom pricing. Finix can cost less per card on low-interchange cards such as regulated debit, but Stripe charges less for disputes, ACH, instant payouts and active accounts, and you can leave whenever you like. Finix has been a card-network-certified processor since May 2023 and operates in the US and Canada. Stripe lists 51 countries and regions. Payment Review grades Stripe A and Finix B.
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Chase vs Bank of America for merchant services
BC+
This comparison is for US small businesses taking cards. Chase Payment Solutions and Bank of America both offer card processing from a bank you can also keep your checking with, and both publish simple flat rates. As of October 2026, Chase is slightly cheaper on every published rate: 2.6% + 10¢ in person against Bank of America's 2.65% + 10¢, 2.9% + 25¢ online against 2.99% + 30¢, and 3.5% + 10¢ keyed against 3.50% + 15¢. The bigger difference is how tightly each ties you to the bank. Bank of America requires a Bank of America business checking account and settles only into it. It funds every merchant next day, and same day at no fee if you are approved for it. Chase's simple QuickAccept product also needs a Chase Business Complete Banking account and pays out the same day. Its standalone merchant accounts can pay into another bank, but those deposits take 2 to 3 business days. Bank of America answers the advantages Chase has with 24/7 US-based technical support, a written promise of no contract term and no termination fee, and rate discounts of 0.05% to 0.10% for Preferred Rewards members. Payment Review grades Chase B and Bank of America Merchant Services C+.
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QuickBooks Payments vs Stripe
BA
This is a US comparison, using Intuit's standard pricing for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Money and GoPayment (rates dated 18 September 2026) and Stripe's US pay-as-you-go pricing as of October 2026. QuickBooks Desktop has a different rate card and is not covered here. The two charge differently. QuickBooks Payments sets one flat rate for each way of paying: 2.99% on an invoice paid by card or wallet, 2.5% in person, 3.5% keyed and 1% for ACH, with no per-transaction cents. Stripe charges 2.9% + 30¢ online, 2.7% + 5¢ in person and 0.8% for ACH capped at $5, and then adds fees for the tool you use: 0.4% per paid invoice, and 0.7% of volume for subscriptions on Billing. That makes QuickBooks cheaper on card invoices, in person and on small keyed payments, and deposits arrive faster: the next business day for card payments taken before 3 p.m. PT, against Stripe's two business days. Stripe is cheaper on large bank payments, chargebacks and instant payouts. It also has a real checkout and API, prices in 135+ currencies, and offers 24/7 support. QuickBooks puts every payment into your books with no matching step. Stripe needs a third-party app to sync with QuickBooks Online. Payment Review grades Stripe A and QuickBooks Payments B.
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Klarna vs Zip for merchants
BB
This is a US comparison. Klarna and Zip both pay the merchant up front and carry the shopper's credit risk, and their direct rates are almost the same: 5.99% + $0.30 in Klarna's US and Canada pricing terms dated September 2023 (the latest Klarna has published), and from 5.9% + 30¢ on Zip's Standard plan. Through Stripe the gap opens up: Zip costs 4.5% + 30¢ against Klarna's 5.99% + 30¢, and Stripe charges $3 for a lost Zip dispute against $15 for Klarna. The difference is partly who pays. Klarna's Pay in 4 is interest-free for a shopper who pays on time, while Zip adds an origination fee to its Pay in 2, 4 and 8 plans. Both can charge up to $7 for a late payment. Klarna also offers monthly financing of 3 to 24 months, against Zip's longest plan of Pay in 8 over fourteen weeks. Zip publishes more of its merchant terms, including a 2 to 3 business day settlement window, and holds an A+ BBB rating to Klarna's B. Klarna is far bigger and serves 26 markets, where Zip US serves US purchases only. Payment Review grades both B, so the right one depends on your channel and basket.
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GlossGenius vs Square for salons
BA
This is a US comparison of GlossGenius and Square Appointments for salons, spas and beauty professionals, using prices published in October 2026. The two charge for cards in different ways. GlossGenius charges one flat 2.6% with no per-transaction fee, whether the card is tapped, keyed, saved on file or used for an online deposit; only invoices (2.9% + 30¢) and buy now, pay later (6% + 30¢) cost more. Square's rate depends on the plan and on how the card is taken. In person it charges 2.6% + 15¢ on Square Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus and 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium. Online and invoice payments are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on the paid plans, and saved or keyed cards are 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan. The software is priced differently too. GlossGenius has no free plan: it costs $28, $56 or $168 a month ($24, $48 or $148 billed annually), and its cheaper plans limit how many team members you can add. Square Free costs nothing and has unlimited staff calendars. Plus is $49 and Premium $149 a month per location, and Square's no-show and cancellation fees start on Plus. GlossGenius costs less per payment, by the widest margin on deposits, saved cards and no-show fees. Square can cost less overall for a solo professional who takes few card payments, for large teams, and on in-person tickets above $75 on Premium. Payment Review grades Square A and GlossGenius B, and Square has the far stronger BBB rating.
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Zenoti vs Boulevard for salons and spas
B-B
Zenoti and Boulevard both sell booking, point-of-sale, membership and marketing software to salons, spas and medspas, with their own card processing built in. Payment Review grades Boulevard B and Zenoti B-. The biggest difference is how much you can see before you sign. As of October 2026, Boulevard publishes its plan prices: $159 a month for Essentials (one location, up to five bookable providers) and $325 or $455 a month per location for Premier or Prestige at monthly list price, cut to $260 and $364 on a limited-time fall offer for new customers. It also publishes a starting card rate of 2.65%. Zenoti publishes neither its software prices nor its card rates; both are quoted. Both contracts renew automatically. Zenoti asks for 60 days' notice and can raise fees at any time on 60 days' notice with no way out, while Boulevard asks for 30 days' notice and, if it raises fees mid-term, lets you terminate with what you still owe calculated at your original fees. Zenoti goes further for large operators: it runs in more than 50 countries, has payroll with tax filing built in, offers next-business-day deposits for 0.03% more on your rate, and has franchise tools such as automated royalties. Boulevard is US-only, deposits in two business days, and has the cleaner record: an A+ BBB rating with no complaints, against Zenoti's F.
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Lavu vs Toast for restaurants
B-B
Lavu and Toast both sell a restaurant point of sale with payment processing attached, but they differ in what they tell you before you sign. As of October 2026, Toast publishes its standard prices for a new single-location US restaurant: $69 a month for the Basic software, 2.49% + 15 cents per in-person Visa, Mastercard or Discover payment, and $1,153 for its countertop hardware kit. A pay-as-you-go option cuts the monthly fee and the hardware cost to $0 and charges 3.09% + 15 cents instead. Online Starter Kit orders carry a two-year agreement. Lavu publishes no software prices and no card rates, and its pricing page now redirects to its homepage. What it does publish is its hardware shop and its terms of service. Those terms renew a subscription for the same length as the first term, do not let you cancel before the term ends, and require the person who signs to guarantee the business's obligations personally. Lavu wins on flexibility. It runs on ordinary iPads, and restaurants can use a processor other than Lavu Pay, although its MenuDrive online ordering then charges 2% on every transaction. Toast restricts processing to its own payments, except for select enterprise customers, and runs only on Toast-approved hardware. Toast publishes its deposit schedule and has the better BBB grade. Lavu has the much better Trustpilot score. Payment Review grades Toast B and Lavu B-.
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Affirm vs Zip for merchants
B-B
This is a US comparison. Affirm and Zip both pay the merchant up front and carry the shopper's credit risk, but they sell different things. Affirm is a financing network. Its Pay in 4 is 0% APR with no fees, its merchant help centre lists monthly plans of up to 60 months at 0% to 36% APR on orders up to $25,000 (its checkout FAQ and Stripe say up to 36 months), and it never charges late fees. Zip is built around short plans: Pay in 2, Pay in 4 over six weeks from $35, and Pay in 8 over fourteen weeks. Zip's Pay in 2, 4 and 8 plans carry an origination fee for the shopper, and a missed payment can cost up to $7. On the merchant side Zip is the more open of the two. It publishes a Standard rate of 5.9% + 30¢ with no monthly fee, and through Stripe it costs 4.5% + 30¢ against Affirm's 6% + 30¢. Affirm quotes its direct rate privately, but it publishes a $15 fee on disputes decided against you and charges nothing on a dispute you win. Affirm reaches far more shoppers: 27.8 million active consumers across the US, Canada and the UK, against 6.5 million for Zip's whole group across the US, Australia and New Zealand (4.6 million of them in the US). Payment Review grades Zip B and Affirm B-, and which suits you depends on your basket size.
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Vagaro vs Boulevard for salons and spas
BB
Vagaro and Boulevard both sell booking, point-of-sale and client-management software to US salons, spas, barbershops and medspas, with card processing built in. Payment Review grades both B, but they are priced for different businesses. As of October 2026, Vagaro costs $30 a month for one calendar ($23.99 for the first six months) plus $10 for each extra calendar, topping out at $90 a month for seven or more people on its pricing calculator. The software is month to month, though the free card reader carries a 12-month processing commitment. Boulevard's cheapest plan, Essentials, costs $159 a month billed monthly, or $143 billed annually, for one location and up to five bookable providers. Premier and Prestige list at $325 and $455 a month per location (cut to $260 and $364 for new customers on a limited-time fall offer), and Boulevard's agreement defaults to a 12-month term that renews automatically. Vagaro publishes a full rate card: 2.6% + 10¢ in person under $4,000 a month, or 2.29% + 19¢ above it for $10 a month, and 3.5% + 19¢ on every online, saved-card and membership payment. Boulevard publishes only a starting rate of 2.65%, without saying which payment types it covers, and sets the exact rate in your order. It does let you pass most of the card cost to clients through its Offset surcharge program, which Vagaro does not allow. Vagaro pays out the next business day and has a free consumer marketplace listing. Boulevard pays out in two business days and has the cleaner BBB record.
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Lightspeed vs Shopify POS for retail stores
B+A-
Payment Review's Shopify listing is Shopify Payments, the processor built into Shopify POS, so this page compares Lightspeed Retail with Lightspeed Payments against Shopify POS with Shopify Payments for a US store. As of October 2026 the card rates start in the same place: both charge 2.6% + 10 cents in person on their entry plans, and 2.9% + 30 cents online (Lightspeed states its online rate on its blog rather than its pricing page). Shopify's rates fall on its higher plans, while Lightspeed's stay the same on every plan. For one store with one register, Lightspeed Basic costs $109 a month billed monthly ($89 billed annually). Shopify Basic plus the POS Pro retail add-on costs $128 ($96 annually). Shopify is much cheaper per extra store: $89 a month per POS Pro location, against a full second Lightspeed plan per location plus $59 a month for each extra register. The bigger differences are in the terms. Lightspeed's service agreement requires Lightspeed Payments and charges $200 to $1,120 a month if you use another processor. Its plans run for a term set in your order form, and leaving early costs every fee left in that term. Shopify charges nothing extra on in-store sales taken through another processor, adds 0.2% to 2% on online orders, and has no contract on its standard plans. Lightspeed has deeper retail inventory tools and pays out sooner. Payment Review grades Lightspeed B+ and Shopify Payments A-.
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Airwallex vs Wise Business for US businesses
BB-
Airwallex and Wise Business both give a US company a multi-currency account with local bank details abroad, so overseas clients can pay by an ordinary domestic transfer and you can hold the money and convert when you choose. This comparison uses each provider's US pricing as of October 2026. Wise is the cheaper place to convert and wire money. On 4 October 2026 its calculator quoted $3.44 to convert $1,000 to euros and send it to a European bank. Airwallex has no public calculator, but its published 0.5% markup alone works out to about $5. Wise also charges $6.11 to receive a domestic USD wire against Airwallex's $15, and its phone lines are open 24/7. Airwallex is the broader business platform. It costs nothing to open, makes domestic ACH payouts free, settles card payments one business day after capture, and adds spend management, bill pay and NetSuite sync on paid plans. The biggest difference is card acceptance. Airwallex charges 2.80% + 30 cents on domestic cards, while Wise says its card acceptance is unavailable to new Wise Business customers. Neither company is a bank. Airwallex says its US partner-bank arrangements, including Evolve Bank & Trust for some customers, are designed to provide FDIC pass-through coverage if a partner bank fails. Wise says balances are not FDIC-insured unless you opt in to its interest feature. Payment Review grades Airwallex B and Wise Business B-.
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WooPayments vs Stripe for WooCommerce stores
BA
Both options run on Stripe, so the choice is less about who processes your cards than about how you connect to them. WooPayments is Woo's own payment plugin. When you sign up, it creates a Stripe Express account linked to your store, and you manage payments, refunds, disputes and payouts inside WordPress. You never get API keys or the full Stripe Dashboard, and you cannot connect an existing Stripe account. The alternative is the free Stripe for WooCommerce plugin connected to an ordinary Stripe account that you hold directly, with its own dashboard, API keys and 24x7 Stripe support. As of October 2026 the US online card price is the same either way: 2.9% + $0.30, plus 1.5% for cards issued abroad and 1% when currency is converted. Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna also cost the same on both. The differences are elsewhere. WooPayments refunds its $15 dispute fee when you win, while Stripe keeps its $15 dispute fee win or lose. A direct Stripe account offers ACH bank debits, and WooPayments has no US ACH option. Stripe's card-reader rate is 5 cents lower per sale with no monthly reader fee, but WooPayments is 5 cents cheaper on Tap to Pay. Both pay out US funds two business days after a sale once the first payout clears. Payment Review grades Stripe A and WooPayments B.
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Toast vs NCR Aloha (NCR Voyix) for restaurants
BB-
Toast and NCR Voyix both sell a restaurant point of sale with payment processing attached, but they sell it in different ways. Toast publishes its standard prices for a new single-location restaurant. As of October 2026, its online Starter Kit costs $69 a month for the software, plus 2.49% + 15 cents per in-person Visa, Mastercard or Discover payment and about $1,153 for the basic hardware. A pay-as-you-go option drops the monthly fee and hardware cost to $0 and charges 3.09% + 15 cents instead. Starter Kit orders carry a two-year agreement. NCR Voyix, the company that sells Aloha, publishes no prices: software, hardware and processing are all quoted. What it does publish is its US merchant agreement for Aloha Cloud. That agreement sets a 36-month term that renews itself for 12 months at a time, makes every remaining month payable if you cancel early, and allows a price rise of at least 5% each year, even during the first term. Toast publishes its payout schedule and has the better BBB record. Aloha has the much better Trustpilot score and, unlike Toast for most restaurants, can let you use a processor other than its own, though only one NCR Voyix has certified or approved. Payment Review grades Toast B and NCR Voyix B-.
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LawPay vs Clio Payments for law firms
B+B
Both are built for law firms, and both keep processing fees and chargebacks out of the client trust (IOLTA) account. The real difference is where they live. LawPay, from 8am (formerly AffiniPay), is a standalone legal processor. It costs $19 a month with no contract and works with 8am's own MyCase, CasePeer and DocketWise and dozens of other legal apps. Clio Payments is built into Clio Manage, and you cannot get it without a Clio Manage subscription, which starts at $49 per user per month. Card processing runs through Stripe, under Stripe's Connected Account Agreement. The choice matters more for Clio users now. Clio's help centre says the LawPay integration with Clio Manage ended on 31 August 2026, so a firm on Clio can no longer take LawPay payments inside Clio. As of October 2026, Clio's published card rate is lower: 2.95% with no per-transaction fee, against LawPay's 2.99% + $0.30 plus a $7.99 monthly card-brand allocation. Both charge 1% on eCheck. LawPay pays out faster, with next-business-day funding for new accounts on cards and eCheck. Clio cards process within two business days and some eChecks take five to seven. LawPay also has the much stronger BBB record (A+ against Clio's F). Payment Review grades LawPay B+ and Clio Payments B.
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Tithe.ly vs Pushpay for church giving
BB-
Both sell digital giving and church software to US churches, but they sell it in very different ways. Tithe.ly (now styled Tithely) publishes its prices. As of October 2026, giving costs nothing a month and carries no contract. Card gifts cost 2.9% + $0.30, American Express 3.5% + $0.30 and ACH bank gifts 1% + $0.30. Church management, an app and a website are optional monthly add-ons, or $119 a month for everything in All Access. Pushpay is quote-based. Its pricing page shows no prices, but its own blog gives its card pricing as 2.1% to 2.9% + $0.20 to $0.30 and ACH as 0.5% to 1.0% + $0.20 to $0.30, depending on giving volume, so a large church may be quoted less per gift than Tithe.ly charges. It sells one-, two- and three-year contracts, defaulting to 36 months, that renew automatically for the same length unless you give 90 days' notice. Leaving early means paying the rest of the contract, and Pushpay must be your only payment processor while it runs. Pushpay is quicker to pay out: card gifts arrive in two business days and ACH gifts in about four on a fixed schedule. Tithe.ly's default is a weekly Wednesday deposit, and ACH gifts can take up to ten business days to clear. Pushpay also has the much better BBB record, an A+ against Tithe.ly's F. Payment Review grades Tithe.ly B and Pushpay B-.
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Razorpay vs PayU
B-B-
Razorpay and PayU India publish the same headline prices. Both charge 2% on domestic Visa and Mastercard cards, net banking and wallets, and 3% on Amex, Diners, EMI and international cards. GST at 18% is added to the fee on both, so the all-in cost is 2.36% and 3.54%. The differences are elsewhere. Razorpay publishes a 2% platform fee on UPI; PayU says its UPI pricing varies by business type and volume. Razorpay runs a 0% new-merchant offer and publishes its subscriptions add-on. PayU says it typically settles international payments in T+2 business days; Razorpay says typically T+7. The contracts differ too. PayU's agreement needs 30 days' written notice from either side, and after termination PayU can hold back funds for up to 210 business days. Razorpay can close an account at any time, and it can withhold a sum sized to your chargeback ratio for 120 days. Both hold RBI payment aggregator licences, and both are graded B- on Payment Review. This comparison covers PayU's Indian business (payu.in) only.
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Cantaloupe vs Nayax for vending and unattended payments
B-B-
Cantaloupe and Nayax are two of the largest suppliers of card readers and telemetry for vending machines, laundromats, car-wash vacuums, arcades and micro markets. Both now publish self-serve US prices, so an operator can compare them before talking to sales. Cantaloupe charges one rate, 5.95% of each card sale, plus $9.95 or $12.95 a month per reader bought outright (from $329), with a 12-month commitment on most reader kits. Readers can also be rented through Cantaloupe One from $18.95 a month on a 36-month commitment. Nayax's US shop sells the VPOS Touch reader for $399 (down to $289 each at 15 or more units) plus a one-time $20 activation fee and $9.99 a month. Its processing fee depends on the prices the machine sells at. As of October 2026 its calculator returns 5.95% when the cheapest item is under $5, but 2.5% + 10¢ when every item is $5 or more and 3% + 20¢ from $25. On a $2 snack the two cost the same. On an $8 car-wash vacuum cycle Nayax is cheaper (30¢ against 48¢). On machines whose prices top out at $1 with some items below it, Cantaloupe is cheaper. Cantaloupe publishes its contract terms, including the commitment periods and early-termination fees. Nayax's shop does not publish a contract length, and the shop takes no returns. Cantaloupe has been owned by 365 Retail Markets since 8 May 2026. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Wisetack vs Sunbit for service businesses
B+B
Both let a US service business offer customers monthly payments, and neither is the lender: Wisetack's loans come from Hatch Bank, U.S. Bank and Happen Bank, Sunbit's from TAB Bank. They differ in where they are built to be used. Wisetack publishes a flat 3.9% merchant fee for home services and auto repair, with optional 4.9%, 6.9% and 9.9% plans for longer 0% offers, and finances home-services jobs from $500 to $65,000 over up to 120 months from inside Housecall Pro, Jobber and other field-service software. Sunbit is built for the service counter at auto shops, dental, optical, veterinary and healthcare practices. It finances purchases from $60 to $20,000 over up to 72 months and says 90% of applicants are approved, against Wisetack's stated 74%. For direct merchants Sunbit publishes only a dental fee 'as low as' 1.9%, though Stripe lists Sunbit at 6% + 30¢ for merchants who take it through Stripe. Sunbit's rates page lists two interest-free structures: 'True 0% APR', on which no interest accrues, and 'Avoid Paying Interest', on which interest accrues from the purchase date and is not owed if the financed amount is repaid before the promotion ends; the footnote to its dental no-interest plans describes the second. Wisetack says its 0% offers carry no deferred interest. Payment Review grades Wisetack B+ and Sunbit B.
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Wise Business vs Revolut Business for UK businesses
B-B
Both are London-based multi-currency business accounts, and both price by country, so this comparison uses their UK pages and pounds throughout. Wise Business charges a one-time £50 setup fee and nothing monthly, and charges a conversion fee on every exchange (0.33% for GBP to EUR when checked on 1 October 2026) at the mid-market rate. Revolut Business charges a monthly plan (£10 Basic, £35 Grow, £125 Scale on monthly billing) that includes an allowance of exchange at the interbank rate (£1,000, £15,000 or £60,000 a month), then 0.6% above it and 1% outside market hours. Wise is cheaper for a business converting small or irregular amounts; on Grow, Revolut is cheaper for GBP to EUR conversion between roughly £10,500 and £20,000 a month. The bigger differences are elsewhere: Revolut takes card payments from 0.8% + £0.02 in person, while Wise's card acceptance is closed to new customers, and Revolut is moving business accounts in phases to Revolut Bank UK, where eligible deposits are FSCS-protected up to £120,000, while Wise is an e-money institution that safeguards funds instead. Payment Review grades Revolut Business B and Wise Business B-.
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Payoneer vs Wise Business for getting paid internationally
B-B-
Both give a business local bank details abroad so overseas clients can pay by an ordinary domestic transfer, and both let you hold several currencies and convert when you choose. This comparison is written for a US-based freelancer, agency or online seller, using Payoneer's published standard fee schedule (last updated 1 January 2026; Payoneer says the fees on any one account can vary by country and account type) and Wise's US business pricing as of 1 October 2026. Wise is cheaper on almost every fee a cross-border earner pays: euro and pound receipts into its local details are free where Payoneer charges a US account holder 1% for receiving a currency that is not local to it, its conversion fee is set per currency route on the mid-market rate (0.47% from EUR to USD, 0.29% from USD to EUR on 1 October), and its card has no annual fee. On a €1,000 invoice paid by a German client and withdrawn to a US bank, that works out to about $6.39 at Wise against about $18.29 at Payoneer, even assuming Payoneer converts at the mid-market rate. Payoneer's advantages are reach and access: Upwork, Fiverr, Amazon, eBay, Walmart and what it calls 100+ other platforms pay out to it, it has no setup fee, and a new customer can still send a payment request that a client pays by card, which Wise has closed to new business customers. Payoneer charges $29.95 a year if the account receives under $6,000 in any twelve months; Wise charges a one-time $31 to open account details. Payment Review grades both B-.
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Tabby vs Tamara for merchants
B-B-
Tabby and Tamara are the two big buy now, pay later providers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and many large retailers, including SHEIN, IKEA, Jarir and noon, offer both. They work the same way for a merchant: you are paid the order value less a fee, weekly, and the provider carries the shopper's credit and fraud risk. Neither publishes its merchant rate; both quote a percentage plus a fixed fee per order in your contract. The differences are in the terms. Tabby's published merchant terms are kinder when things go wrong: on a refund it keeps the fixed fee and 2% of its percentage fee and returns the rest, it charges no dispute fee, it gives 30 days' notice of fee changes, and you can leave on 30 days' notice. Tamara can keep all its fees on a refund, charges USD 5 or USD 10 for each dispute you lose, can raise fees on 10 days' notice, and needs 60 days' notice to leave. Tamara is ahead on reach and payout cost: it reports over 130,000 partner merchants to Tabby's 70,000, operates in Bahrain as well, offers plans of up to 24 months in Saudi Arabia, and its help centre sets no fee on payouts above SAR/AED 2,500, where Tabby charges SAR/AED 6. Both are graded B- on Payment Review, and the right choice depends on your market and how often your orders are refunded or disputed.
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Mollie vs Adyen for European businesses
B+A-
Both are Amsterdam payment companies, but they sell to different merchants. Mollie publishes a blended price per payment method, lets a business sign itself up and process its first payments before its account review, and charges nothing monthly on online payments: 1.80% + €0.25 for an EEA consumer Visa or Mastercard on its Dutch price list. Adyen prices cards at €0.11 plus interchange, scheme fees and 0.60%, with no setup or monthly fee but an unpublished minimum invoice that depends on industry or business model, and live accounts go through its sales team. On a €50 EU consumer credit card, Adyen's published formula comes to €0.56 plus scheme fees against Mollie's €1.15, so for a merchant Adyen takes on it is cheaper per card sale unless its pass-through scheme fees exceed €0.59 on that sale. Mollie is cheaper on American Express above about €13, on iDEAL and on SEPA Direct Debit, charges only for successful transactions, and has a far stronger Trustpilot record. Neither has a minimum term, and both terms set two months' notice to leave. Adyen pays out card sales faster, serves merchants in many countries outside Europe, and runs on its own banking licences. Payment Review grades Adyen A- and Mollie B+.
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Affirm vs Sezzle for merchants
B-B-
Affirm and Sezzle both let a shopper split a purchase, pay the merchant up front and carry the shopper's credit and fraud risk, but they are built for different baskets. Affirm is a financing network: Pay in 4 from $50, then monthly plans of up to 60 months at 0% to 36% APR on orders up to $25,000 by its help centre (up to 36 months and $30,000 through Stripe), with no late fees for shoppers. Sezzle is built around short plans on everyday orders: Pay in 4 from $20 and Pay in 2 from $10, with monthly plans for US merchants it approves. Sezzle publishes its direct rate (6.1% + 30¢ standard) and Affirm does not, although Stripe lists Affirm at 6% + 30¢. Affirm charges no monthly minimum, settles in one to three business days, reaches 27.8 million active consumers against Sezzle's 3.16 million, and switches on inside Stripe and Shopify Payments. Sezzle adds a $15 fee in any month under $300 of volume. It charges no dispute fee today, but from 30 October 2026 a new agreement adds a standard $5 fee on each dispute, plus $10 when the merchant loses. Payment Review grades both B-, and the better pick depends on what you sell.
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Razorpay vs Cashfree Payments
B-B-
Razorpay and Cashfree Payments are both Bengaluru payment gateways, and both were authorised by the Reserve Bank of India as online payment aggregators on the same day, 19 December 2023. Their standard pricing is close. Razorpay charges a 2% platform fee on domestic cards, UPI, net banking and wallets. Cashfree charges 1.95%. GST at 18% is added to the fee on both. Razorpay charges 3% on Amex, Diners, EMI and corporate cards; Cashfree charges 2.2% on credit-card EMI but does not clearly publish a domestic Amex, Diners or corporate-card rate. Both settle domestic payments on T+2 working days by default. Cashfree publishes an instant-settlement fee of 0.30% plus GST; Razorpay shows its fee only in the dashboard. Razorpay advertises 24x7 support on its standard plan and prices subscriptions as a percentage add-on. Both are graded B- on Payment Review, and both have poor Trustpilot scores.
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PayMongo vs Xendit for Philippine businesses
BB-
PayMongo and Xendit both let a Philippine business take cards, GCash, Maya, QR Ph and bank payments online, and both are registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as operators of payment systems. On their published Philippine rate cards, PayMongo is cheaper on almost every local method. Both quote fees before 12% VAT. PayMongo charges a flat percentage on e-wallets and QR Ph: 2.23% on GCash and 1.34% on QR Ph. Xendit charges a payment method fee, and from 1 October 2026 adds a ₱11 processing fee to every attempt: 3.00% + ₱11 on GCash and 1.50% (minimum ₱15) + ₱11 on QR Ph. From the same date the ₱11 also applies to failed attempts and refunds, and Xendit bills a US$50 monthly minimum to low-volume accounts. Local cards are close. From 1 October PayMongo's 3.125% + ₱13.39 is cheaper above about ₱640 a sale and Xendit's 3.5% + ₱11 below it; before then, Xendit's 3.5% alone is cheaper below about ₱3,570. Xendit's advantages are reach and range. Its group holds licences in seven Asian markets, and it takes cash payments at 7-Eleven, pawnshops and bills-payment counters, which PayMongo's rate card does not offer. PayMongo is graded B on Payment Review and Xendit B-.
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Clip vs Mercado Pago for Mexican businesses
BB
Clip and Mercado Pago are the two terminal brands most Mexican small businesses choose between, and both charge only per sale, with no rent, monthly fee or minimum. All figures here are Mexican (MXN), and every rate is quoted before IVA, which is charged at 16% on the commission, not on the sale. Mercado Pago charges a flat 3.50% + IVA on its Point terminals, on credit, debit and vales, with the money available instantly. Clip's standard rate is 3.6% + IVA, but new merchants start in its Socio Clip loyalty programme at 2.99% + MX$1 + IVA, falling to 2.59% + MX$1 at MX$100,000 a month. That makes Clip cheaper on sales above about MX$196 for any merchant selling at least MX$10,000 a month on cards, and on meses sin intereses and payment links. Mercado Pago is cheaper on very small tickets and for merchants below MX$10,000 a month, its terminals cost less up front, and it says it will not hold the money from a Point sale while a chargeback is investigated. Both are graded B on Payment Review.
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QuickBooks Payments vs FreshBooks Payments
BB-
Both are payment add-ons to accounting software, so most businesses pick the accounting product first and take the payments that come with it. Neither charges a monthly fee for payments itself. On the payments layer, QuickBooks Payments costs less in more places: a flat 2.99% on invoice card payments whatever the card brand, 2.5% in person with a $49 reader or Tap to Pay on iPhone, 3.5% keyed with no add-on fee, and next-business-day card deposits on payments taken before 3 p.m. PT. FreshBooks Payments, which runs on Stripe, charges 2.9% + 30¢ on consumer cards and 3.5% + 30¢ on American Express and business cards, has no card reader, and pays card money out two business days after the payment. FreshBooks is cheaper on consumer-card invoices above about $333, on chargebacks ($15 against $25) and on instant payouts (1.5% against 1.75%), and its software starts lower: $23 a month against $38 for QuickBooks Simple Start. QuickBooks Payments, graded B on Payment Review, is the better payments product for most businesses. FreshBooks Payments, graded B-, suits service businesses that invoice consumers in larger amounts and already prefer FreshBooks' software.
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PayPal vs Authorize.net
A-A-
PayPal and Authorize.net both let a US business take cards on its own website, but they are built differently. PayPal is the processor and holds the account itself: its Expanded Checkout charges 2.89% + 29¢ on card payments with no monthly fee, and its PayPal and Venmo buttons cost 3.49% + 49¢. Authorize.net, a wholly owned subsidiary of Visa, is a payment gateway. You either buy its all-in-one plan, which bundles a merchant account at 2.9% + 30¢ plus $25 a month, or pay $25 a month plus 10¢ a transaction and a 10¢ daily batch fee to connect a merchant account you already hold. On published self-serve pricing PayPal is cheaper, and it has a published in-person rate of 2.29% + 9¢, which Authorize.net does not. Authorize.net includes recurring billing and its fraud rules in the $25, answers the phone 24/7, and lets an established business keep a merchant account and rate it negotiated with its own bank. Both are graded A- on Payment Review.
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Klarna vs Sezzle for merchants
BB-
Both let a US retailer offer buy now, pay later, pay the merchant up front and carry the shopper's credit and fraud risk. Their standard US rates are close: Klarna's US pricing terms list 5.99% + $0.30 per transaction, and Sezzle's merchant agreement sets a standard 6.1% + 30¢, which either company can quote differently at approval. The bigger differences are elsewhere. Klarna reaches 120 million active consumers in 26 markets and plugs into Stripe, Adyen and other processors, and its Pay in 4 is interest-free for shoppers who pay on time. Sezzle serves the US and Canada, can charge shoppers a service fee on Pay in 4, adds a $15 monthly fee under $300 of volume, and signs merchants to a one-year agreement that renews automatically. Sezzle documents a typical three-business-day settlement. Its merchant agreement sets no dispute fee until 29 October 2026; from 30 October it charges $5 per dispute, plus $10 if you lose. Klarna, graded B on Payment Review, suits most retailers better than Sezzle, graded B-.
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Zeller vs Square for Australian businesses
B+A
Zeller and Square sell the same kind of deal in Australia: a flat rate on every card, American Express included, no monthly fee, no lock-in and hardware you buy outright. The difference is in the numbers and in what surrounds them. Zeller (a B+ on Payment Review) charges 1.4% including GST in person, sells its terminal for A$99 on promotion (A$199 standard), settles the same night into a free Zeller Transaction Account with a debit card, and answers the phone 24/7. Square (an A) charges 1.6% in person and 2.2% online and keyed, sells a A$65 Reader and a A$329 Terminal, pays out next day to any Australian bank, weekends included, and wraps payments in a much broader free software kit: POS, online store, invoices, appointments and an app marketplace. With no fixed fees on either side in person, Zeller is 0.2 points cheaper on every in-person sale. Online, Zeller's 25-cent fee makes Square cheaper on invoices under about $50.
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SpotOn vs Square for restaurants
B-A
Both sell a restaurant point of sale with payments built in, and both publish their US rates. They charge in different ways. SpotOn prices per station: POS Essentials is $55 per station a month at 2.45% + 15¢ in person, and the All-In plan is $0 a month with hardware included, at 2.79% + 20¢, with a two-year minimum term and processing minimums. Square prices per location: its Free plan is $0 at 2.6% + 15¢, Plus is $49 a month at 2.5% + 15¢, and Premium is $149 a month at 2.4% + 15¢. Square charges the same rate on every card brand, needs no contract and charges no early termination fee. SpotOn charges more for American Express, but gives every plan 24/7 support and moves money in under 30 minutes for 0.2%, against Square's 1.95%. Square, graded A on Payment Review, is the better fit for most small and counter-service restaurants. SpotOn, graded B-, earns its place in full-service rooms that want round-the-clock support and same-day cash.
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Epos Now vs Square for UK businesses
B-A
Epos Now and Square both sell a till, the software to run it and the card payments behind it to UK shops, cafés and restaurants, but on opposite commercial terms. This comparison uses each company's UK pages in pounds, not the US figures in the site's reviews. Epos Now (a B- on Payment Review) charges 1.7% on Visa and Mastercard through Epos Now Payments and sells its countertop Complete Solution for £299 + VAT, but that price needs a 12-month payments, care and support subscription starting at £54 a month. Its UK terms add a payments agreement of 12, 24 or 36 months, a £49 monthly inactivity fee if you process too little through it, and exit costs equal to the remaining monthly payments. Square (an A) charges 1.75% on every in-person UK card including Amex. Its POS software is free, it sells its hardware outright (Reader £19 + VAT, Terminal £149 + VAT, Register £699 + VAT), and it has no contract or cancellation fee. Square also pays out the next day including weekends where your bank supports it. The 0.05-point rate gap covers Epos Now's £54 subscription only above about £108,000 a month in card sales, so for most small businesses Square costs less and is far easier to leave.
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Moneris vs Square for Canadian businesses
B-A
Moneris operates only in Canada, so this comparison uses Square Canada's published pricing in Canadian dollars, not the US rates in the site's Square review. Square, graded A on Payment Review, charges 2.5% on in-person credit cards, 2.8% + 30¢ online and 3.3% + 15¢ keyed, with no monthly fee, no contract, hardware you buy (Square Terminal $399) and free POS software. Moneris, graded B-, charges 2.65% + 10¢ in person and 2.85% + 30¢ online on its flat-rate plan, rents its Moneris Go terminal at $34.95 a month, and its merchant agreement runs three years with a $300 deactivation fee per location, which Moneris waives for merchants who apply through its online form. Moneris wins on Interac debit, at 12¢ a transaction against Square's 0.75% + 7¢, and on 24/7 phone support and next-day deposits even on non-business days. RBC and BMO still own Moneris as of September 2026, but agreed in August 2026 to sell it to Francisco Partners.
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GlossGenius vs Vagaro for salons and spas
BB
GlossGenius and Vagaro both sell booking, point-of-sale and marketing software to US salons, barbers, spas and beauty professionals with card processing built in, and Payment Review grades both B. They price the payments very differently. GlossGenius, which runs on Stripe, charges one flat 2.6% with no per-transaction fee however the card is taken: tapped, keyed, stored on file or used for an online deposit. Vagaro, whose processing comes from Vagaro Merchant Services, an ISO of PNC Bank, charges 2.6% + 10¢ in person under $4,000 a month or 2.29% + 19¢ above it for $10 a month, and 3.5% + 19¢ on every keyed, online, card-on-file and membership payment, plus card-brand pass-through fees. As of September 2026 GlossGenius software costs $28, $56 or $168 a month billed monthly by plan tier; Vagaro costs $30 for one calendar ($23.99 for the first six months) plus $10 per extra calendar, reaching $90 a month at seven or more people on its pricing calculator. GlossGenius is cheaper for most solo professionals and small teams and on anything taken online; Vagaro is cheaper on large in-person tickets and for teams of ten or more, lists businesses free on its consumer marketplace, and has the better complaint record.
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Dwolla vs Moov
B-B
Dwolla and Moov are US money-movement APIs that software platforms build on to collect and pay out funds, and both use the same credit union, Veridian, for ACH and RTP payments. The difference is scope and pricing. Dwolla, graded B- on Payment Review and owned by NMI since 19 May 2026, is a bank-transfer platform: standard and Same Day ACH, RTP and FedNow payouts, a stored Dwolla Balance, and push to card through Checkout.com for approved customers, all on custom pricing it does not publish. Moov, graded B, adds card acceptance at interchange plus 0.60% and 15¢ online, push to card, and virtual cards, and publishes a standard rate card: 25¢ per next-day ACH credit, 40¢ same-day, 0.95% on instant payouts with a $5 cap, and a $500 monthly minimum. Dwolla allows larger instant payments by default, $500,000 per transfer against $100,000 on Moov's recommended instant-payment method.
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dLocal vs EBANX for emerging-market payments
B-B-
dLocal and EBANX are the two specialists global merchants usually shortlist to take local payments in Latin America, and both now sell into Africa and Asia too. Both are graded B- on Payment Review. dLocal, founded in Montevideo in 2016 and listed on Nasdaq as DLO since June 2021, says it covers more than 60 countries and over 1,000 payment methods, and processed US$40.8 billion in 2025. EBANX, a Curitiba-based company founded in 2012 and still private, covers more than 20 countries and over 200 payment methods and does not publish its volume, though it says volume grew 48% in 2025. Neither publishes enterprise rates: both quote each merchant. EBANX publishes standard merchant terms (effective March 2021) with a US$15 chargeback fee that may apply, a US$50 fee on extra settlements and a 4% reserve it may hold for the first 180 days; dLocal publishes no enterprise terms, only a price list and terms for dLocal Go, its self-serve tier. Both have poor Trustpilot scores, and dLocal is still defending a US federal securities class action filed in 2023.
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Adyen vs Worldpay
A-C+
Adyen and Worldpay both acquire card payments for large merchants in the US, UK and Europe, but they sell very differently. Adyen, graded A- on Payment Review, publishes one price list: a fixed processing fee of $0.13 (£0.11 in the UK) per transaction plus interchange++ and 0.60% on Visa and Mastercard, with no setup, monthly or closure fees, though it sets a minimum invoice by industry. Its standard terms run indefinitely and end on two months' notice. Worldpay, graded C+ and owned by Global Payments since January 2026, quotes US pricing individually and does not publish its direct US merchant terms. In the UK its online quote tool shows indicative small-business pricing: blended rates plus a 4.5p authorisation fee, a £15 minimum monthly charge, a £5 PCI fee and £20 a month per hired terminal, and its UK terms set an 18-month minimum hire for most smaller incorporated merchants. The same tool shows settlement in 24 hours, against Adyen's default payout delay of two business days, and Worldpay has far better Trustpilot numbers. Adyen is the stronger choice for most enterprise and mid-market merchants; Worldpay suits UK small businesses that want fast settlement and a price they can see before they call.
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Viva.com vs SumUp for UK card machines
BB+
This is a UK comparison, in pounds. Viva.com (formerly Viva Wallet, graded B on Payment Review) and SumUp (graded B+) both charge 1.69% on an in-person payment with a UK consumer card, and neither ties you to a contract. The differences are around that rate. Viva settles card payments into its own account in real time on every plan and charges 2.19% + 24p online, but its terminals start at £220 plus VAT, its £0 plan carries a £3.99 minimum monthly charge, and it charges £20 per lost chargeback. SumUp's readers start at £25 plus VAT list price, it charges a flat 2.5% online and £10 per chargeback, its business account is free, and a £19-a-month Payments Plus plan cuts domestic debit and credit cards to 0.99% in person. SumUp suits most small UK merchants better. Viva is the choice for a business that wants money available the moment a card is tapped.
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Vagaro vs Mindbody
BC+
Vagaro and Mindbody are the two booking-and-payments platforms salons, spas and fitness studios most often weigh against each other. Vagaro, graded B on Payment Review, lists its software at $30 a month for one bookable calendar ($23.99 for the first six months as of September 2026), publishes every card rate, from 2.6% + 10¢ in person on its small-business plan, and runs month to month. Mindbody, graded C+, starts at $79 a month per location, quotes its upper tiers and its US card rates only on request, and signs new customers to a 90-day initial term with 30 days' notice to cancel. Vagaro pays out the next business day and offers instant payouts for 1.75%; Mindbody pays card sales in one to two business days and publishes no instant-payout option. Mindbody's strengths are class and membership scheduling and a consumer app with a larger Trustpilot following. For most salons, spas and solo practitioners Vagaro is the cheaper and more transparent choice.
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Paystack vs Flutterwave
BB-
Paystack and Flutterwave are the two payment gateways most African businesses shortlist first, and in Nigeria, where both started, they compete head to head. Paystack, a Stripe company since 2020 and graded B on Payment Review, charges Nigerian merchants 1.5% + ₦100 on local payments, waives the ₦100 on transactions under ₦2,500 and caps the fee at ₦2,000. Flutterwave, graded B-, has charged a flat 2% with no published cap on local naira payments since 11 April 2025, plus 7.5% VAT, and raised its international card fee to 4.8% in November 2024 against Paystack's 3.9% + ₦100. Both settle local payments the next working day and charge the same ₦10 to ₦50 per transfer. Paystack is cheaper on small payments under ₦2,500 and on anything above about ₦15,000, where Flutterwave's uncapped 2% overtakes it; Flutterwave publishes pricing for 12 African markets and carries the better Trustpilot score.
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Razorpay vs Stripe for Indian businesses
B-A
For a business registered in India the Razorpay-or-Stripe question is decided by two facts before any rate is compared. Stripe is invite-only in India: its support pages state that businesses from India cannot sign up through the website and must request an invite from its sales team, which it grants to a select number of businesses with a focus on international expansion. And an Indian Stripe account takes Visa, Mastercard and American Express only, with no UPI, netbanking, wallets, EMI, Google Pay or Apple Pay, in a market where UPI is the default way to pay. Razorpay, graded B- on Payment Review, is an RBI-authorised payment aggregator with open sign-up, a flat 2% platform fee plus 18% GST across cards, UPI, netbanking, wallets and Pay Later, a 0% platform-fee offer for a new merchant's first 90 days, and T+2 settlement. Stripe, graded A, charges the same 2% on Indian Visa and Mastercard cards, 3% plus a 2% conversion fee on international cards it can present in 135+ currencies, ₹1,000 per dispute, and pays out daily on a two-business-day lag for Indian cards and five for international ones. Razorpay is the practical choice for anyone selling to Indian customers or who needs an account this month; Stripe is worth the invite request for an exporter of software or services whose customers pay by card from abroad and who wants Stripe's Billing, Checkout and Connect tooling.
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Jobber vs Housecall Pro for home-service businesses
B+B-
Jobber and Housecall Pro are the two field-service platforms a plumber, electrician, cleaner, landscaper or HVAC contractor is most likely to shortlist, and both run card processing on Stripe underneath their scheduling, quoting and invoicing tools. They charge for it differently. Jobber, graded B+ on Payment Review, starts at $29 a month billed annually ($49 month to month) and charges 2.9% + 30¢ on cards paid online and 2.7% + 30¢ when a card is tapped to your phone or read by its card reader. Housecall Pro, graded B-, starts at $59 a month billed annually ($79 month to month) and charges percentage-only rates with no per-transaction cents: 2.59% in person, 2.99% on an invoice paid online and 3.49% for anything keyed, saved on file or paid with an American Express or business card, plus $5 a month for each phone that uses Tap to Pay. Both take ACH at 1%, both pay out in about two business days and both offer an instant payout for an extra 1%. Housecall Pro is cheaper per transaction in person and on small online tickets; Jobber is cheaper to subscribe to as a solo operator, offers every plan month to month with self-serve cancellation, and carries a far stronger reputation record.
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GoDaddy Payments vs Square
BA
GoDaddy Payments and Square both give a small business a card reader, a countertop terminal, an online store, invoices and pay links with no monthly fee and no contract, and both publish a full rate card. GoDaddy, graded B on Payment Review, undercuts Square on almost every published rate: 2.5% with no per-transaction cents in person against Square's 2.6% + 15¢, 2.7% + 30¢ on its own online store against Square's 3.3% + 30¢ on the free plan, 3.5% flat on keyed cards against 3.5% + 15¢, and a 1.75% same-day payout against Square's 1.95%. Square, graded A, charges no dispute fee where GoDaddy charges $15, gives away its first magstripe reader and sells its contactless reader for $59 against GoDaddy's $79, and sits on a far deeper platform: restaurant and retail point-of-sale editions, a kiosk, payroll, marketing, loans and a developer API that GoDaddy does not attempt to match. GoDaddy is the cheaper processor for a business already on GoDaddy's website and store products, or one that simply wants the lowest flat rates in the US; Square is the better business platform, and the one to pick if the point of sale has to do more than take a card.
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PaymentCloud vs Durango Merchant Services for high-risk merchants
B+B+
PaymentCloud and Durango Merchant Services are the two names that come up first when a business has been declined or dropped by Stripe, Square or PayPal, and Payment Review grades both B+. Neither publishes a rate card — every account is custom-quoted and placed with an acquiring bank that sets the final terms — so the comparison is about what each discloses, how each works and who each suits. PaymentCloud, founded in Los Angeles in 2015 and a Kurv company since Electronic Merchant Systems bought it in January 2024, is the larger operation: a 4.3 Trustpilot score from 889 reviews, approval in 24 to 48 hours for most applicants, a US-based support team it says is available around the clock, and a gateway choice of Authorize.Net, NMI or USAePay. Durango is a boutique in Durango, Colorado, registered as an ISO of Fifth Third Bank, that publishes a range for what a high-risk account costs — a 1.95% to 4.95% discount rate, 15¢ to 25¢ per authorisation, $15 to $60 a month and a 0% to 10% rolling reserve — serves international and multi-currency merchants across the US, Canada, the EU and the UK, and holds an A+ BBB rating with no complaints in three years, but wants $5,000 a month of US volume ($50,000 international) and answers the phone on Mountain-time business hours. PaymentCloud is the better fit for a US merchant who needs an account fast and a large support operation behind it; Durango for an established merchant with international or hard-to-place volume who values a small shop with a published range and a clean record.
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Fresha vs Vagaro for salons and spas
B+B
Fresha and Vagaro are the two booking platforms a salon, barbershop, spa or studio is most likely to shortlist, and both build card processing into the calendar so deposits, no-show charges and checkout run from the same screen. They price it differently. Fresha, graded B+ on Payment Review, charges $19.95 a month for one person, 2.29% + 20¢ on its terminal and 2.79% + 20¢ online, and takes 20% of a new client's first booking when that client found you on its marketplace. Vagaro, graded B, charges $30 a month for one calendar ($23.99 for the first six months), matches Fresha in person at 2.29% + 19¢ once you process $4,000 a month, charges 3.5% + 19¢ on every online, saved-card and membership payment, and lists you on its marketplace for nothing, taking 20% only on bookings you solicit through its Fill My Books promotions. Fresha is cheaper for a solo professional and for anyone who takes deposits and memberships online; Vagaro is cheaper for a business that fills its book from the marketplace or runs seven or more calendars, and it is the only one of the two with same-day and instant payouts.
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Dodo Payments vs Polar
C+B-
Dodo Payments and Polar are the two young merchants of record that indie developers and SaaS founders now weigh against Paddle and Lemon Squeezy: both are the legal seller on every transaction, collect and remit sales tax and VAT worldwide, carry chargeback liability and pay the developer a net amount. Dodo, a Bengaluru start-up founded in 2023 or 2024 depending on the source and graded C+ on Payment Review, leads on headline price with a published 4% + 40¢ on US cards and no monthly fee, accepts PayPal and buy-now-pay-later for a 3% uplift, prices bank debit at 1.5% capped at $15, and ships SDKs in nine languages. Polar, founded in Stockholm in 2022, open source and graded B-, charges 5% + 50¢ on its free tier but sells paid plans from $20 a month that cut the rate to 3.8%, 3.6% and 3.4%, adds no subscription surcharge on new accounts, charges $15 per dispute against Dodo's $30, and lets you withdraw whenever the balance passes $10 instead of waiting for Dodo's twice-monthly cycle and $50 minimum. The contracts differ too: Dodo's master agreement still quotes 5% + 50¢, lets Dodo terminate at a 0.5% chargeback, cancellation or refund rate, and its Trustpilot record is dominated by accounts closed with balances held for 120 days; Polar's terms allow payment delays of up to 120 days on suspended accounts but its complaint record is thinner. Dodo is cheaper for a seller under about $10,000 a month who wants PayPal or bank debit; Polar is the better platform above that and for anyone who values on-demand payouts, a lower dispute fee and a better-capitalised, open-source operator.
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Wix Payments vs Squarespace Payments
B-B-
Wix Payments and Squarespace Payments are the built-in processors of two website builders, and both start at 2.9% + $0.30 on US cards with no separate processing contract, no monthly fee beyond the site plan and no early-termination fee. The differences are in the second row of the rate card. Squarespace Payments (a B- on Payment Review) gets cheaper as the plan gets dearer — 2.7% + $0.30 on Plus and 2.5% + $0.30 on Advanced — charges 3.2% + $0.30 on American Express against Wix's 3.7% + $0.30, offers ACH at 1% (1.5% on Basic) where Wix lists no bank-debit rate, and pays out daily with funds arriving in one to two business days; but its $19 Basic plan adds a 2% platform fee on every sale. Wix Payments (also a B-) charges 2.9% + $0.30 on every plan, lists no platform fee on sales, has a real in-person rate of 2.6% on its POS hardware, takes PayPal, Venmo, Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna at published rates where Squarespace publishes none, charges $15 rather than $20 per chargeback, and answers support 24/7 by chat and callback — but a payout takes three to five business days to land. A store that also sells in person or leans on wallets and buy-now-pay-later gets more from Wix; a store on a higher plan, one collecting by ACH, or one that needs its money quickly does better on Squarespace.
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GoCardless vs Stripe for recurring payments
BA
GoCardless and Stripe both collect US bank debits at a published, capped rate with no monthly fee and no contract, and on that one row GoCardless is cheaper: 0.5% + $0.05 capped at $5 on its Standard plan against Stripe's 0.8% capped at $5. Everything else separates them. GoCardless (a B on Payment Review) is a bank-debit specialist: ACH in the US and the equivalent direct debit schemes in 30-plus countries from one integration, mandate handling and retry logic built for recurring billing, and no card acceptance of any kind — most businesses run it alongside a card processor. Stripe (an A) is the full stack: cards at 2.9% + $0.30, wallets, ACH, SEPA and Bacs, Stripe Billing for subscriptions, Radar for fraud and 24x7 support. GoCardless was bought by Mollie in a deal that completed on 1 September 2026, with no immediate change to contracts. If your revenue is fixed recurring amounts collected from bank accounts — memberships, utilities, retainers, B2B invoices — GoCardless costs less per collection and pays out slightly faster; if customers pay by card, or you want one provider for everything, Stripe is the only one of the two that can do the job.
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Cybersource vs Authorize.net
BA-
Cybersource and Authorize.net are the same family: Cybersource bought Authorize.net in 2007 and Visa bought Cybersource in 2010, and both now sit under Visa Acceptance Solutions. They serve opposite ends of the market. Authorize.net (an A- on Payment Review) publishes its prices — $25 a month plus 2.9% + $0.30 on the all-in-one plan with a merchant account, or $25 a month plus $0.10 a transaction and a $0.10 daily batch fee if you bring your own — with no set-up fee, no contract and no early-termination fee on the gateway, fraud tools and recurring billing included, self-serve sign-up and 24/7 live support. Cybersource (a B) publishes no price at all: it is sold through Visa's enterprise sales team and through acquirers, priced by module, and built for merchants that need 200-plus acquirer connections across 160-plus countries, 50-plus settlement currencies and Decision Manager, a fraud engine drawing on VisaNet data. A US small or mid-sized business gets everything it needs from Authorize.net for a known price; a multi-country enterprise with a payments team is the customer Cybersource is designed for, and the sales process is the point of entry.
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SumUp vs myPOS for UK card machines
B+B
SumUp and myPOS are the two pay-as-you-go card machines a UK sole trader or small shop is most likely to weigh, and both are London-based, FCA-authorised e-money institutions with no contract and no monthly fee. They price in opposite ways. SumUp (a B+ on Payment Review) charges a flat 1.69% on every in-person card — domestic, EEA, Amex, business cards alike — and 2.5% online, and pays out free to any UK bank account in one to two business days, or by 7am the next day into its own Business Account. myPOS (a B) charges 1.10% + 7p on domestic consumer cards in person and 1.30% + 15p online, but 2.20% + 7p on EEA cards, 2.45% + 7p on Amex and 2.85% + 7p on business and non-EEA cards, settles every payment into its e-money account within seconds, and charges £1.50 to move money to your bank. On a domestic consumer card the two cost the same at a ticket of about £12: below that SumUp's flat rate is cheaper, above it myPOS is. Which cards your customers carry matters as much as the ticket — a business taking many corporate or Amex cards pays far more on myPOS.
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Square vs Tyro for Australian businesses
AB+
Square and Tyro are the two names an Australian café, shop or tradie most often weighs for EFTPOS, and they sell opposite deals. Square (an A on Payment Review) charges 1.6% on every in-person card including Amex, has no monthly fee, sells its hardware outright from $65, bundles a free POS app and online store, and pays out next day to any bank. Tyro (a B+) charges 1.3% on Visa, Mastercard and eftpos but rents its Pro terminals at $19 to $29 a month, settles the same day seven days a week into its own bank account, integrates with more than 580 POS and PMS systems, and staffs phones 7am to 9pm every day. On the published rates Tyro's 0.3-point advantage covers a $19 Pro Lite rental at roughly $6,300 of monthly card turnover and a $29 Pro Touch at about $9,700; below that Square is cheaper, above it Tyro is. Tyro also has an introductory 1% rate until 31 March 2027, but only for businesses already transacting more than $20,000 a month.
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Airwallex vs Stripe for international payments
BA
Airwallex and Stripe both accept online card payments in the United States at a published pay-as-you-go rate with no monthly fee and no contract, and the numbers are close: Airwallex charges 2.80% + $0.30 on domestic cards and 4.30% + $0.30 on international ones, Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 and 4.4% + $0.30. Where they part is everything around the card. Airwallex (a B on Payment Review) is a cross-border finance platform — a multi-currency wallet you can hold, spend and pay out from without converting, FX at 0.5% to 1% above interbank, free transfers to 120+ countries, corporate cards and expense tools — with no in-person hardware and support that runs through an in-app chatbot and web form. Stripe (an A, and first of 31 payment facilitators on the site) is the broader payments stack: Terminal for in-person at 2.7% + $0.05, ACH at 0.8% capped at $5, Billing, Tax, Radar and the developer tooling the industry copies, with 24x7 phone, email and chat on the free plan. If most of your money arrives in foreign currencies and leaves the same way, Airwallex's wallet and FX margin save real money; if you sell mainly at home, in person, or need the deepest integrations and support, Stripe is the safer choice.
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Teya vs Dojo for UK card machines
BB
Teya and Dojo are two London-based acquirers selling Android card machines to UK shops, cafés, salons and restaurants, and both earn a B on Payment Review. They sell in opposite ways. Dojo publishes its small-business price: the Fix plan is £39.99 a month covering the first £3,999 of monthly card turnover with 1% above that, on a 12-month term, with hardware bought outright from £149. Teya publishes only a floor — machines from £14.99 a month and rates 'from 1.59%' — and quotes each business individually, but the default contract has no lock-in, the machine comes with a free e-money business account paying 0.5% cashback, and support is 24/7. At Teya's published starting rate Dojo's Fix plan is cheaper for almost any business under £100,000 a year; Teya's case is flexibility, settlement options and the bundled account rather than headline price.
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Polar vs Lemon Squeezy
B-C+
Polar and Lemon Squeezy are both merchants of record for software and digital products: they are the legal seller on every sale, collect and remit VAT and sales tax worldwide, and pay the developer a net amount. They start at the same price — 5% + 50¢ per transaction — but diverge from there. Polar, an open-source Stockholm start-up graded B- on Payment Review, sells paid plans from $20 a month that cut the rate to 3.8%, 3.6% and 3.4%, charges no subscription surcharge on new accounts, and lets you withdraw whenever the balance passes $10. Lemon Squeezy, owned by Stripe since July 2024 and graded C+, has one rate plus 1.5% on international cards, 1.5% on PayPal and 0.5% on subscriptions, pays out on the 14th and 28th after a 13-day hold with a $50 minimum, and has spent 2026 building Stripe Managed Payments, the product it says it wants its users to migrate to. Polar is the better choice for a developer starting today; Lemon Squeezy's remaining case is a US seller who wants PayPal checkout and free US payouts and is content to move to Stripe's successor when it opens.
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Melio vs BILL for paying vendors
B-B
Melio and BILL both let a US business pay vendors by ACH, check, wire or card from a single dashboard and sync the results to its accounting software. They are not merchant accounts. Melio, owned by Xero since October 2025 and graded B- on Payment Review, prices per account: a free Go plan, then $25, $55 and $80 a month with extra users at $10 each. BILL, a public company graded B, prices per user at $49, $65 and $89 a month. Melio's per-payment fees are lower on the everyday methods — 50¢ ACH against 59¢, $1.50 checks against $1.99, and standard ACH arrives in 3 business days rather than 4 — while BILL is cheaper on expedited checks and connects to more ERPs, including Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics and Acumatica. Melio is the better fit for a small business or a one- or two-person finance function; BILL for a larger team that needs multi-step approvals and an ERP beyond QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite.
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Wave vs QuickBooks Payments
B-B
Wave and QuickBooks Payments are both payment services bolted onto accounting software, and both publish every rate. Wave's accounting and unlimited invoicing are free, and it charges 2.9% + 60¢ on cards and 1% on bank payments; QuickBooks Payments has no fee of its own but sits behind a QuickBooks Online subscription, and charges 2.99% with no per-transaction cents on invoices, 1% on ACH, 2.5% in person and 3.5% keyed. On a typical invoice the card cost is nearly identical — QuickBooks is cheaper below about $667 and Wave above it — so the decision turns on everything else. QuickBooks, graded B, deposits next business day, takes in-person payments, staffs support six days a week and charges $25 per chargeback. Wave, graded B-, has no in-person option, deposits US card payments in two business days, charges $7–15 per chargeback and offers a cheaper 1% instant payout. Wave is the better fit for a very small service business that wants free books and emailed invoices; QuickBooks Payments for a business already on QuickBooks Online or one that also sells face to face.
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Helcim vs Moneris for Canadian businesses
A-B-
Helcim and Moneris are both Canadian processors, but they sell opposite deals. Helcim, graded A-, publishes an interchange-plus margin — 0.40% + 8¢ in person and 0.50% + 25¢ online at the entry tier — with no monthly fee, no contract and hardware you buy outright. Moneris, graded B-, is the RBC–BMO joint venture and Canada's largest acquirer: its published flat rate is 2.65% + 10¢ in person and 2.85% + 30¢ online, its terminals rent at $34.95 a month, and its merchant agreement runs three years with a $300 deactivation fee per location. Moneris answers with 24/7 phone support, next-day deposits including non-business days, and the deepest terminal and integration catalogue in the country. For most small and mid-sized Canadian businesses Helcim is cheaper and easier to leave; Moneris earns its place where a business wants a bank-backed acquirer with round-the-clock support and a full countertop POS estate.
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Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy
C+C+
Gumroad and Lemon Squeezy both act as merchant of record for digital products — they are the legal seller, collect and remit sales tax and VAT worldwide, and pay the creator a net amount — and both earn a C+ on Payment Review. Compared on their published fees, Lemon Squeezy is much cheaper: 5% + 50¢ all in, against Gumroad's 10% + 50¢ plus 2.9% + 30¢ card processing on direct sales and a flat 30% on marketplace sales. Gumroad pays out weekly and has a marketplace, a volume discount at $20,000 a month and an open-source codebase. Lemon Squeezy pays out twice a month after a 13-day hold and, since Stripe bought it in 2024, has been building Stripe's own merchant-of-record product and steering its users toward it. Lemon Squeezy is the better fit for a software or SaaS seller who wants licence keys and subscriptions at the lowest price and can tolerate slow payouts; Gumroad for a creator who wants weekly money, a discovery marketplace and a platform that is not preparing its own replacement.
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Stax vs Square
BA
Stax and Square sit at opposite ends of small-business pricing. Square charges nothing monthly and a flat 2.6% + 15¢ in person, and gives you free POS software, a $59 reader and an account you can close from the dashboard. Stax charges a subscription from $99 a month and then passes interchange through at cost plus 8¢ in person or 15¢ online, which is a far lower per-transaction cost but only pays for itself once volume is high enough to cover the subscription — Stax's own entry tier is sized for up to $150,000 a year. Square is graded A on Payment Review and Stax B. For most businesses under roughly that volume band, and for anyone who needs a point of sale, Square is the better choice; for an established business processing well above it, especially one invoicing or taking payments online, Stax's model saves real money.
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Airwallex vs Revolut Business
BB
Airwallex and Revolut Business both sell a multi-currency business account with card acceptance bolted on, both publish their rate cards, and both earn a B on Payment Review. Compared on their UK rate cards — the only basis on which both publish acceptance pricing — Revolut is cheaper on the domestic consumer cards most UK shops and websites actually take, settles next day including weekends, and has real terminals and 24/7 chat. Airwallex charges more on those cards but less on commercial and EEA cards, converts currency at 0.5% with no allowance to run out, and can accept card payments in the United States, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as the UK and Europe, which Revolut cannot. Revolut is the better fit for a UK or European business selling mostly to local consumers; Airwallex for one operating across several countries or one that is not in Revolut's acquiring footprint at all.
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Adyen vs Braintree
A-A-
Adyen and Braintree are both enterprise-grade gateways with published pricing, no monthly fees and no early-termination fee, and both earn an A- on Payment Review. The difference is shape, not quality. Adyen is a single global platform that sells interchange++ pricing, in-person terminals, local acquiring and platform payouts to merchants large enough to justify a sales-led onboarding. Braintree is PayPal's online-first gateway: one flat published rate, native PayPal and Venmo in the same integration, an online application, and a merchant agreement you can leave on a day's notice. For an omnichannel or international enterprise, Adyen is the stronger fit. For an online or in-app business that wants PayPal and Venmo at checkout and a rate it can read before it applies, Braintree is.
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Tyro vs Zeller for Australian EFTPOS
B+B+
This is an Australian comparison, in Australian dollars with GST included, of two EFTPOS providers that both price flat and both refuse lock-in contracts. Tyro is a Sydney acquirer with a full banking licence, listed on the ASX since 2019, that rents its Pro Series terminals for $29 a month ($19 for the Pro Lite) and charges 1.3% on every card for businesses transacting under $20,000 a month, with a custom quote above that and a 1% introductory rate until 31 March 2027 for larger new customers who join before 24 November 2026. Zeller is a Melbourne fintech launched in 2021 that sells its terminal outright - both models are A$99 on promotion in September 2026, from A$199 - and charges 1.4% on every card including American Express, or 1.2% when payments run through its free Zeller POS, with no rental. The money moves differently too: Tyro settles the same day, seven days a week, into a fee-free Tyro Transaction Account that is a bank deposit protected by the Financial Claims Scheme; Zeller settles nightly into a free Zeller Transaction Account that its own product disclosure statement says is a stored-value facility held at Cuscal and not protected by the scheme. Zeller charges no chargeback fee; Tyro does not publish one. Payment Review grades both B+.
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Sezzle vs Afterpay for US merchants
B-B
This is a US comparison of two buy-now-pay-later networks that do the same job for a merchant: the shopper splits the purchase into instalments, the merchant is paid up front for the whole order less a commission, and the provider carries the fraud and repayment risk. Neither publishes that commission. Sezzle's merchant support says only that a set percentage plus a small processing fee applies and that the figures are in the agreement you sign; Afterpay's business page promises simple, transparent pricing and prints no price. Where they part company is everything around the commission. Sezzle now publishes its ancillary fees and two of the amounts - a $15 monthly minimum below $300 of order volume, a refund fee (amount unstated) when a refund cannot be drawn from your refund reserve, and a monthly inactive-account fee of 10% of the balance or $1,000, whichever is greater, on dormant accounts holding funds - and documents a common three-business-day settlement. Afterpay publishes none of that, assigns each merchant a settlement period of one to five business days in its agreement, but is owned by Block, is native to Square and Cash App, serves five countries under one brand, and its Pay in 4 is interest-free with no fees for the shopper at partner brands, where Sezzle's Pay in 4 can now carry a service fee shown at checkout. Payment Review grades Sezzle B- and Afterpay B.
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Payoneer vs PayPal for getting paid across borders
B-A-
This comparison is written for a US-based business, freelancer or seller that gets paid by clients, marketplaces and customers in other countries, and it uses each company's US fee schedule - PayPal's dated 1 September 2026, Payoneer's dated 1 January 2026. The two are not the same kind of product. PayPal is a checkout and a wallet: a buyer clicks a button the whole world recognises, and the merchant pays 3.49% plus 49 cents for a domestic wallet payment, 2.99% plus 49 cents for a card, 1.5% more when the payer is abroad, and a 3% or 4% spread if a currency is converted. Payoneer is a receiving account: a client pays into a local-currency account in your name for nothing, a marketplace such as Fiverr or Wish pays out to it at whatever that marketplace has agreed, and the cost sits at the exit - $1.50 to withdraw US dollars to a US bank, 1.2% to 4% when the withdrawal converts currency. A client who insists on paying by card costs up to 3.99% plus 49 cents at Payoneer, which is more than PayPal charges for the same card. Payoneer charges $29.95 a year if the account receives under $6,000 in twelve months; PayPal has no equivalent. Payment Review grades Payoneer B- and PayPal A-, and the gap is reputation and product breadth rather than price.
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takepayments vs Dojo for UK card machines
BB
This is a UK comparison of two card-machine providers that both sell through a sales team on a 12-month term, and the question is what each will tell you before the consultant arrives. Dojo is an acquirer in its own right - Paymentsense Limited, FCA-authorised, settling on its own platform - and for businesses under £100,000 a year in card turnover it publishes a price: the Fix plan at £39.99 a month covering the first £3,999 of monthly turnover and 1% above that, Amex included, on a 12-month price lock, with a 30-day trial first and a fee schedule you can read. takepayments is a reseller: a Global Payments company since June 2024 that supplies the terminal, the onboarding, the PCI help and a seven-day UK phone line, while the merchant signs a separate contract with an acquiring bank it nominates. It publishes no rate, no standing charge and no terminal price, and its 12-month minimum then rolls monthly. What it has instead is the strongest service record on this site by volume - 4.8 on Trustpilot from 67,006 reviews, 94% five-star - against Dojo's 4.2 from 5,613. Payment Review grades both B.
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Stripe vs Checkout.com
AC+
Stripe and Checkout.com are both online payment platforms with developer-grade APIs and global card acquiring, and the search pairing them is usually a growing merchant wondering whether it has outgrown Stripe. The two are sold in opposite ways. Stripe is self-serve: a US business signs up online, pays a published 2.9% plus 30 cents per domestic card transaction with no monthly fee or contract, and negotiates custom pricing only when volume justifies it. Checkout.com is sales-led: it publishes no rate at all, prices every merchant individually on a flat-rate or interchange-plus-plus basis, and counts more than 1,000 enterprise merchants, 63 of them processing over $1 billion a year. Stripe is far larger, handling $1.9 trillion in 2025 against Checkout.com's $300 billion, sells in-person payments and 125-plus payment methods, and settles US merchants on a published T+2 schedule. Checkout.com's case is direct acquiring licences across the US, UK, EEA, APAC and the Middle East for a merchant that already has volume to negotiate with. This comparison uses Stripe's US price list. Payment Review grades Stripe A and Checkout.com C+.
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Afterpay vs Zip for US merchants
BB
This is a US comparison. The Zip reviewed here is the American business formerly called Quadpay, and Afterpay's US price list and merchant terms are the ones compared. Both do the same job for a merchant: the shopper splits a purchase into instalments, the merchant is paid up front and the provider carries the credit and fraud risk on approved orders. The difference is what each will tell you before you sign. Zip publishes a Standard plan at 5.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, a settlement window of two to three business days and a chargeback policy with named exclusions, so a merchant can cost it without a sales call. Afterpay publishes no merchant rate, assigns each merchant a settlement period of one to five business days in its agreement, and leaves refund and reserve terms to the contract - but it is interest-free with no per-order fee for the shopper at partner brands, it is native to Block's Square and Cash App, and it serves five countries where Zip US serves one. Payment Review grades both B.
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SumUp vs Dojo for UK card machines
B+B
This is a UK comparison, because Dojo is a UK acquirer and the question is about card machines. SumUp sells a reader for £15 to £99 plus VAT and charges 1.69% on every in-person payment with no monthly fee, no contract and no minimum; a £19-a-month Payments Plus plan drops domestic consumer cards to 0.99%. Dojo publishes one plan for businesses under £100,000 a year in card turnover - Fix, at £39.99 a month covering the first £3,999 of monthly turnover and 1% above that, on a 12-month price-locked term - and quotes everyone larger individually. On the rate alone Dojo Fix is cheaper once monthly card turnover passes roughly £2,400, because £39.99 is exactly 1% of £3,999 and 1% is well under 1.69%. What SumUp gives up in rate it recovers in freedom: no term, no early-closure charge, a £10 chargeback against Dojo's £28 plus VAT, and money in its business account by 7am the next day including weekends. Dojo's standard settlement is next business day, with weekend and bank-holiday settlement sold as an upgrade, and its ancillary fee schedule only surfaces at signing. Both sit at 4.2 on Trustpilot. Payment Review grades SumUp B+ and Dojo B.
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Stripe vs Mollie for European businesses
AB+
This is a European comparison, because it has to be: Mollie processes for the EEA and the UK only, so the Stripe figures here are from its Dutch price list, not the US one. On that basis Stripe is cheaper on the row that matters most - 1.5% + €0.25 for a standard EEA card against Mollie's 1.80% + €0.25 - and cheaper again on iDEAL, Klarna and in-person EEA cards. Neither charges a monthly fee, a setup fee or an exit fee on online payments. What Mollie sells instead is the experience around the rate: chat support 24/7 and a phone line until midnight CET, a payout schedule you set yourself, a 4.4 Trustpilot score across 12,840 reviews against Stripe's 1.6 across 17,478, and roughly thirty European payment methods under one contract. Stripe's platform is broader - 100+ payment methods, Terminal, Billing, Connect, and global reach when you outgrow Europe - and it is the one to build on. Payment Review grades Stripe A and Mollie B+.
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Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy
BC+
Two merchants of record for software with the same headline price - 5% + 50 cents per transaction, no monthly fee - and very different situations. Paddle, founded in London in 2012, is an independent company used by more than 6,000 software businesses by its own July 2025 count; its published rate is the whole price apart from a currency-conversion margin of 2% to 3% when a sale is not in your balance currency. Lemon Squeezy has been owned by Stripe since July 2024, and its 5% climbs with surcharges - 1.5% on non-US transactions, 1.5% on PayPal, 0.5% on subscriptions - before the cheaper twice-monthly payouts and $15 dispute fee pull some of that back. The decisive difference is not on the price list. In January 2026 Lemon Squeezy's chief executive wrote that the team had been building Stripe Managed Payments, that Lemon Squeezy users had seen slower support and fewer updates as a result, and that the goal was to give them an easy migration to it. Its Trustpilot score is 1.2 from 173 reviews; Paddle's is 3.9 from 11,108. Payment Review grades Paddle B and Lemon Squeezy C+.
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TouchBistro vs Lightspeed for restaurants
C+B+
Both entry plans cost $69 a month, so the decision is made everywhere else. TouchBistro is a restaurant-only iPad system, now owned by Harris - a Constellation Software subsidiary - which bought it in July 2026; every add-on beyond the base POS is quote-only, and its published terms say a merchant may not terminate before the current term expires. Lightspeed Restaurant publishes its whole ladder - $69 Starter, $189 Essential, $399 Premium, $30 per kitchen screen - along with a $15 chargeback fee, two-business-day payouts and instant payouts inside 30 minutes, and it serves restaurants that also run retail, which TouchBistro does not. Both lock you into an auto-renewing term and neither publishes a processing rate. The reputational gap is wide: Trustpilot has TouchBistro at 1.5 from 348 reviews and Lightspeed at 3.8 from 2,509. Payment Review grades Lightspeed B+ and TouchBistro C+.
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Chase Payment Solutions vs Square
BA
Chase undercuts Square on every published card rate - 2.6% + 10c in person against 2.6% + 15c, 2.9% + 25c online against 3.3% + 30c on Square's free plan, 3.5% + 10c keyed against 3.5% + 15c - and if your funds land in a Chase business checking account it deposits same day at no extra cost, where Square charges 1.95% to move money instantly. Square answers with everything around the payment: sign up and sell the same day with no underwriting wait, no chargeback fee at all, published software tiers at $0, $49 and $149 per location, hardware from $59, ACH at 1%, and a month-to-month arrangement you can cancel from the dashboard. The structural difference underneath is that Chase gives you a dedicated merchant account while Square is a payment facilitator placing you on a shared one. Payment Review grades Square A and Chase B.
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Authorize.net vs NMI
A-B-
These two gateways are not bought the same way, and that is the whole comparison. Authorize.net publishes a rate card - $25 a month, plans starting at 10c a transaction - and sells directly to merchants as well as through resellers, with no contract and no early termination fee on the gateway itself. NMI publishes nothing and sells to nobody directly: it is a white-label platform bought by ISOs, software companies and banks, who brand it as their own and set the merchant's price. So a merchant can sign up for Authorize.net this afternoon and cannot sign up for NMI at all, except through whoever is reselling it. Underneath, NMI is the larger platform - 1.2 million merchants, 150+ processor connections, 235,000 connected devices - while Authorize.net serves 430,000 merchants on roughly $149 billion a year and is a wholly owned Visa subsidiary. Payment Review grades Authorize.net A- and NMI B-.
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Stax vs Payment Depot
BC+
Start with the fact most comparisons of these two leave out: they are the same company. Stax acquired Payment Depot in 2021, the brand trades as Payment Depot by Stax, and both are run out of Orlando. The convergence has since reached the price list. As of September 2026 the two pricing pages carry an identical rate card - 0% markup on interchange, $0.08 per card-present transaction, $0.15 card-not-present, ACH at 1% capped at $10, $19 a month for terminal protection, next business day funding and no cancellation fees. The one real difference on the page is that Stax publishes its monthly subscription tiers and Payment Depot publishes no monthly fee at all, sending you to a sales consultant instead. Payment Review grades Stax B and Payment Depot C+.
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Paddle vs Stripe for SaaS
BA
This is not two processors competing on rate. Paddle is a merchant of record: it becomes the legal seller of your software, so the tax registration, the filing and the liability in every jurisdiction are Paddle's rather than yours, and one 5% + 50c fee covers processing, subscription billing, tax and customer billing support. Stripe is a payment processor at 2.9% + 30c, and you remain the seller - which means you own global tax compliance, and Stripe Tax calculates it for you but does not carry it. Stripe is far cheaper on a domestic sale and far more capable everywhere outside digital goods. Paddle is narrower by design: software and digital products only, no physical goods, and it pays out once a month. Payment Review grades Stripe A and Paddle B.
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Affirm vs Afterpay
B-B
Affirm and Afterpay are both buy-now-pay-later networks that approve the shopper, pay the merchant upfront and carry the consumer credit risk. The structural difference is who pays for the plan. Afterpay is entirely merchant-funded: every plan is interest-free to the shopper, so the commission is the whole of Afterpay's merchant economics. Affirm splits it - Pay in 4 is 0% APR and merchant-funded, but its longer monthly plans run at 0-36% APR, so on interest-bearing volume the consumer carries much of the cost and the merchant discount rate falls. That is why Affirm can underwrite a $3,000 purchase over three years and Afterpay cannot. Neither publishes a merchant rate card. Payment Review grades Afterpay B and Affirm B-.
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Shift4 vs Toast for restaurants
B+B
Shift4's restaurant point of sale was called SkyTab until 12 May 2026, when it was rebranded Shift4 Dine; the product, contracts and support channels did not change. Against Toast it presents a clean trade. Toast publishes what it charges - $0 or $69 a month, and 2.49% + $0.15 in person on the paid plan - so a restaurant can work out the cost before speaking to anyone, and it pays out faster. Shift4 publishes neither a software price nor a rate, but advertises no upfront hardware cost with a lifetime warranty, bundles more guest-facing software at the advertised price, and rates far better with its own users. Both lock the restaurant into their own card processing, so the software choice and the processing choice are one decision.
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Klarna vs Afterpay
BB
Klarna and Afterpay both let a shopper split a purchase into four interest-free instalments, pay the merchant upfront and carry the consumer credit and fraud risk themselves. Neither publishes a US rate card, so cost is settled in your contract rather than on a pricing page, and the reported ranges overlap. What actually separates them is reach and ownership. Klarna sells one contract across 26 markets, offers a wider ladder of consumer options and reports its numbers every quarter as a listed company. Afterpay is a Block subsidiary whose strongest pull is native placement across Square and Cash App, at the cost of a much narrower footprint and no standalone disclosure. Payment Review grades both B.
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Adyen vs Checkout.com
A-C+
Both are enterprise acquirers sold by a salesperson rather than a signup form, and both target global merchants processing at serious volume. The difference starts at the pricing page. Adyen publishes its card markup - $0.13 plus interchange-plus 0.60% on Visa and Mastercard - so a finance team can model the cost before the first call. Checkout.com publishes nothing and quotes every merchant individually. Adyen is also several times larger, settles through its own banking licence, and sells in-person payments, which Checkout.com does not offer at all. Payment Review grades Adyen A- and ranks it first of 25 platforms; Checkout.com is a C+ at fifteenth.
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Square vs Lightspeed
AB+
Square publishes every price it charges and asks for no commitment; Lightspeed publishes its software plans but quotes card-not-present rates and hardware privately, and its service agreement bills out the rest of your term if you leave early. Lightspeed buys you materially deeper inventory and purchasing tools, and 24/7 support on every plan. For most single-site and small multi-site merchants Square is the safer, cheaper choice; the case for Lightspeed is a stock-heavy retail operation that needs purchase orders, landed costs and supplier catalogues.
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Clover vs SpotOn for restaurants
BB-
Clover has the lower card-present rate on its full-service restaurant plans — 2.3% + 10c against SpotOn's 2.45% + 15c — but asks for a three-year contract on its subscription route, holds funds for one to three business days as standard, and charges 1.75% to get them sooner. SpotOn will put a full restaurant POS in with $0 monthly software and hardware included on a two-year term, funds the next morning free, and charges 0.2% for money in under 30 minutes. Clover's App Market is the bigger ecosystem; SpotOn sells direct, so the price you read is the price you get.
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Authorize.net vs Braintree
A-A-
Both publish their US pricing in full, which makes this an unusually clean comparison. Authorize.net charges $25 a month and 2.9% + 30c on its all-in-one plan, includes its fraud suite and recurring billing at no extra cost, and answers the phone around the clock — but it requires a merchant account from a US or Canadian provider and settles one currency per account. Braintree charges no monthly fee, 2.89% + 29c, and brings PayPal and Venmo plus 150+ settlement currencies, at the cost of a $15 chargeback fee, paid fraud add-ons and no published support hours.
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Toast POS vs SpotOn for restaurants
BB-
Both sell a restaurant POS on the same two-plan shape: a $0-a-month plan that buries the hardware cost in a higher card rate, and a paid plan that lowers the rate once you buy the hardware outright. The difference is what each will tell you before you sign. SpotOn puts every plan's card-present and keyed rate on its pricing page, sells its paid plan month-to-month, and funds you the next morning for free. Toast publishes plan prices but not rates, sets the term inside the order form, and charges 1.75% to get your money the same day. Toast answers with depth — payroll, inventory, kiosks, scheduling and multi-location tooling that SpotOn does not match.
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Helcim vs Payment Depot
A-C+
These are the two best-known interchange-plus alternatives to flat-rate processing, and on paper Payment Depot's published markup is the lower of the two: 0% over interchange plus 8¢ card-present, against Helcim's 0.40% plus 8¢ at entry volume. The problem is what Payment Depot does not print. Its pricing page refers to subscriptions but names no subscription price, and its per-account quote is the only place the full cost appears. Helcim publishes the whole ladder — five volume tiers, hardware, ACH, chargebacks, cancellation — and charges nothing monthly at all. One of these you can price before you call; the other you cannot.
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Amazon Pay vs PayPal
BA-
These are not really the same kind of product, and pricing them against each other only makes sense on one row. Amazon Pay is a checkout button: shoppers pay with the cards and addresses already in their Amazon account, and the merchant pays 2.9% + $0.30 with no monthly fee. PayPal charges 3.49% + $0.49 for the equivalent wallet button, which is the more expensive of the two by a clear margin — but PayPal is also a full processor, taking ordinary cards at 2.99% + $0.49, in-person QR payments at 2.29% + $0.09, invoices, Pay Later and Venmo. The realistic decision is not which one to use; it is whether adding Amazon Pay alongside PayPal is worth it.
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Shopify Payments vs WooPayments
A-B
Neither of these is a processor you choose on its own — each one only runs on its own platform, so the real decision is Shopify or WooCommerce, and the payments follow. At the entry level both charge exactly 2.9% + 30¢ online. From there they diverge: Shopify buys down the rate on its more expensive plans and charges a penalty if you use anyone else, while WooPayments charges a flat rate forever, costs nothing per month, and lets you swap in any gateway you like at no cost.
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QuickBooks Payments vs Square
BA
Both are pay-as-you-go processors with no contract, but they are built around different halves of a business. QuickBooks Payments is a billing tool: its rates are the lowest published here on every card entry method, and every payment reconciles itself inside QuickBooks. Square is a point of sale: it costs more per swipe on the free plan, but it sells the hardware, runs the register, and charges nothing when a customer disputes a charge. The right answer follows from whether you invoice clients or ring people up.
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Helcim vs Stripe
A-A
This is the clearest interchange-plus versus flat-rate comparison on the market, because both companies publish their numbers in full. Helcim passes interchange through at cost and adds a stated margin that falls automatically as volume rises; Stripe charges the same 2.9% + 30¢ online whether you process $500 a month or $500,000. Helcim also refunds its chargeback fee when you win, funds you the next business morning for free, and includes invoicing and a storefront. Stripe is a developer platform first: a full API, cheaper hardware and 24/7 support on every account.
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Toast vs TouchBistro for restaurants
BC+
Both run restaurants, both charge $69 a month for their core plan, and neither will tell you your card processing rate before you talk to sales. The differences that are knowable up front are hardware and money movement: Toast runs only on Toast-approved hardware but deposits next business day and offers instant payouts; TouchBistro runs on iPads you can buy anywhere, but its next-day deposits depend on you banking with Chase. Toast also carries the healthier public record — an accredited A+ BBB profile against TouchBistro's unaccredited F.
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Shopify Payments vs PayPal
A-A-
For a Shopify store this is rarely an either/or, and the most repeated reason for treating it as one is wrong. Shopify's own documentation states that when Shopify Payments is activated, PayPal is excluded from third-party transaction fees, so accepting PayPal alongside Shopify Payments costs you nothing extra on the Shopify side. The real comparison is narrower: Shopify Payments has the better online rate once you are on a higher plan and is bundled into a subscription you already pay, while PayPal costs nothing to hold, is cheaper in person, and works everywhere Shopify Payments does not.
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Airwallex vs Payoneer
BB-
These two look like competitors and are really answers to different questions. Airwallex is a business financial platform: cheaper card acceptance, a published 0.5% FX markup, free domestic transfers and free cards, but it will not open an account for an individual. Payoneer is a cross-border receiving account built for freelancers, contractors and marketplace sellers, and it charges for almost every step, from a $29.95 annual card fee to 1.2%-4% on a withdrawal that converts currency. If you are a registered business, Airwallex is materially cheaper. If you are not, Airwallex is not an option at all.
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Toast vs Lightspeed for restaurants
BB+
Toast and Lightspeed both sell a restaurant POS at $69 a month and neither publishes a card processing rate, so the comparison is decided elsewhere. Lightspeed publishes the rest of its price list - $189 and $399 for the upper restaurant tiers, $30 a screen for kitchen display, a $15 chargeback fee - where Toast publishes nothing above $69 and quotes everything else. Toast's contract is the easier one to leave: it renews a year at a time on 30 days' notice, while Lightspeed's renews for the whole length of the original term and needs 90 days. Both charge an early termination fee equal to the rest of the term; only Lightspeed also claws back the discount you were given.
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Square vs Shopify Payments
AA-
Square and Shopify Payments come at the same merchant from opposite ends. Square is a processor that grew a store around itself: nothing to pay until you take a payment, money in your account the next business day, no dispute fee, and no contract. Shopify is a storefront that grew a processor inside it: you pay a monthly plan before you sell anything, but the online rate at the entry tier is lower, it falls further as you move up, and you can bolt on a different gateway if you need one. The decision is mostly about where your sales actually happen.
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Klarna vs Affirm
BB-
Klarna and Affirm both let a shopper split a purchase and both pay the merchant up front, but they are built around different baskets. Klarna's volume is short-term - pay in four, pay in thirty days - and it publishes a US rate card at 5.99% + $0.30. Affirm's is long-term: 70% of its FY2026 volume was interest-bearing monthly installments where the shopper pays the interest, which is why its blended merchant take is low even though its 0% APR promotions are the most expensive thing either company sells. Klarna is far larger in reach, with 120 million consumers and 1.2 million merchants against Affirm's 27.8 million and 571,000. Affirm charges a dispute fee only when you lose; Klarna charges one either way.
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Square vs SumUp
AB+
Both charge one flat rate, neither requires a contract, and both will have you taking cards the day the reader arrives. The difference is scope. SumUp is a card reader and a light POS: 2.6% + 10¢ in person, a $99 standalone reader, no monthly fee and nothing else to think about. Square is an entire commerce platform — full hardware line, e-commerce, invoicing with ACH, staff and inventory tools — at 2.6% + 15¢ in person and a nickel more per sale. For a merchant who only needs to take payments in person, SumUp is the cheaper and simpler answer. For nearly everyone else, the five cents buys a great deal.
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Lightspeed vs Clover
B+B
These are the two POS systems a growing retailer or restaurant usually ends up choosing between, and they are built on opposite commercial models. Lightspeed sells software directly at a published monthly price with one card-present rate attached, and supports it in house. Clover sells hardware — cheap to buy outright, cheaper to swipe on — but is mostly distributed by banks and resellers who set their own contract, support and, often, their own rates. Clover wins the price comparison on the published numbers. Lightspeed wins on inventory depth, on knowing what you will pay before you sign, and by a wide margin on customer sentiment.
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Helcim vs Dharma Merchant Services
A-A-
Helcim and Dharma are the two US processors that publish a real interchange-plus margin on their own websites instead of quoting it, which makes them directly comparable in a way most merchant accounts are not. Dharma's markup is lower on every transaction type; Helcim charges nothing fixed at all. The whole decision turns on volume: Dharma's $20 monthly fee costs more than the markup it saves until roughly $8,000 a month in card-present volume, after which it turns cheaper and keeps widening. Helcim wins on everything around the rate — published hardware prices, next-business-morning deposits, longer support hours and self-serve signup.
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Stripe vs Authorize.net
AA-
These are not the same kind of product, and the choice between them is structural before it is financial. Stripe is an all-in-one: gateway, processing and merchant account in a single relationship, at 2.9% + 30c with no monthly fee. Authorize.net is a gateway, owned by Visa and running since 1996, that you normally point at a merchant account you hold with a bank or ISO — $25 a month plus 10c a transaction and a 10c daily batch fee, with your acquirer's rate on top. It also sells an all-in-one plan at the same 2.9% + 30c as Stripe, but with the $25 monthly fee still attached, which makes it the more expensive way to buy the same thing. The reason to choose it anyway is that your merchant account, and the underwriting risk that comes with it, sits with your bank rather than with the processor.
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Square vs PayPal
AA-
PayPal is cheaper to take a card payment. Square is cheaper to run a business. PayPal's published in-person rate of 2.29% + 9c undercuts Square's 2.6% + 15c at every volume, its first card reader is $29 against Square's $59, and its point-of-sale app carries no monthly or setup fee — so on rate alone PayPal wins, and by more than most comparisons admit. Square earns its price back elsewhere: it charges nothing when a customer disputes a payment where PayPal charges $20, it applies no currency conversion spread where PayPal takes 4%, it publishes a next-business-day payout schedule, and its free plan is a real till with inventory, staff logins and offline payments rather than a card-reader app. Which of those two sets of facts matters more is genuinely a function of what you sell and to whom.
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Shopify Payments vs Stripe
A-A
This is not two rival processors. Shopify publishes a legal list of the payment processors behind Shopify Payments, and for the United States it names Stripe, Inc. So the question is not whose processing is better — it is the same processing — but whether you want it wrapped in Shopify's commerce platform or bought directly. Wrapped, you pay a Shopify plan fee from $29 a month and get a rate that improves as you move up plans, from 2.9% + 30c on Basic to 2.25% + 30c on Plus, plus a store, a checkout, POS and inventory. Direct, you pay nothing monthly, stay at 2.9% + 30c on standard pricing, and can build on anything. The row that decides it for most people is neither of those: Shopify charges 2% on Basic for using any processor other than Shopify Payments, which makes running Stripe inside a Shopify store irrational.
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CCBill vs Segpay for high-risk billing
B-B
Start with the thing both have in common: neither publishes a processing rate. CCBill sets out its pricing models — a flat-rate PSP offering with no monthly fee, or interchange-plus, tiered and discount-plus under its ISO offering — without attaching a single number to any of them. Segpay does not have a pricing page at all. So a comparison on price is impossible, and anyone quoting you 'CCBill charges X%' is guessing. What can be checked is everything underneath: which banks each is registered with, which regulators licence them, when they pay you, and how they handle your customers. On those, Segpay is the more disclosed of the two, and the more diversified — seven acquiring relationships against CCBill's concentrated pair, and a published payout day. CCBill is the older and larger platform, and the only one of the two that prints its high-risk registration costs.
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Toast vs Clover for restaurants
BB
Both are restaurant-capable POS systems that bundle hardware, software and card processing, and both lock you to their own devices. Toast is built for restaurants only and publishes the cheapest way in — a $0/month Starter Kit and a $69/month Point of Sale plan — but it does not publish its card rates anywhere on its site. Clover is a general-purpose platform sold in restaurant, retail and services configurations, and it does publish rates: 2.3% + 10c card-present and 3.5% + 10c keyed on the plans you can buy directly at clover.com. The trade is a cheaper, restaurant-native entry (Toast) against published pricing and a broader app market (Clover), with contract exit terms that are unpleasant on both sides.
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Stripe vs Braintree
AA-
These two are closer on price than the marketing suggests and further apart on scope. Braintree's published US card rate of 2.89% + $0.29 is fractionally under Stripe's 2.9% + 30c, it charges no keyed-entry surcharge, and its international surcharge is 1% against Stripe's 1.5%. But Braintree is an online-only processor owned by PayPal: its whole reason to exist is putting PayPal and Venmo in the same checkout as cards, and its US rate card publishes no card-present rate at all. Stripe publishes a full in-person rate and sells its own readers, cannot accept PayPal or Venmo for US merchants, and surrounds the processor with a product line — Billing, Tax, Radar, Connect, Issuing, Terminal — that Braintree does not attempt.
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Helcim vs Stax
A-B
Both sell the same promise — see the interchange, see the markup, no long-term contract — and reach it from opposite directions. Helcim charges nothing monthly and takes a published margin on each transaction, starting at interchange + 0.40% + 8c in person and shrinking automatically as your volume grows. Stax charges a subscription from $99 a month and takes no percentage markup at all, just 8c on a card-present sale and 15c on a keyed one. That makes this a straight arithmetic question for most merchants: below roughly $50,000 a month in card-present volume Helcim's percentage costs less than Stax's subscription, and above it the subscription starts to pay for itself.
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Stripe vs Adyen
AA-
Stripe for almost everyone; Adyen once you have the volume to negotiate and the channels to unify. Both publish their pricing, but they price differently: Stripe charges a flat 2.9% + $0.30 online and 2.7% + $0.05 in person, while Adyen passes interchange and scheme fees through at cost and adds $0.13 a transaction. Adyen's model is cheaper at scale, but it comes with a minimum monthly invoice, two months' notice to leave, terminal prices on request and an F at the BBB. Stripe has no minimum, no notice period, published hardware prices and an A+.
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Paddle vs FastSpring
BB+
Both are merchants of record for software and digital products: they become the legal seller, collect and remit sales tax and VAT worldwide, run subscriptions and handle fraud, and pay you the net. The differences are commercial. Paddle publishes its price, 5% + $0.50 per checkout transaction, and runs on 30 days' notice; FastSpring publishes no rate, quotes a volume-based revenue share and signs you to a one-year auto-renewing term. FastSpring pays out twice a month against Paddle's once, converts currency at 2.5% against Paddle's up to 1.5%, and holds an A- at the BBB against Paddle's F and a 2025 FTC settlement.
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Helcim vs Square
A-A
Helcim on price, Square on everything you can touch. Helcim charges interchange plus 0.40% + 8¢ in person and interchange plus 0.50% + 25¢ online, with automatic volume discounts and no monthly fee; for most card mixes that comes in under Square's 2.6% + 15¢ in person and 3.3% + 30¢ online on the free plan. Square answers with a $59 reader, a $299 terminal, an $899 register, free POS software with an online store built in, and no chargeback fee. Past roughly $10,000 a month Helcim's savings outrun Square's convenience; below it, Square's hardware and ecosystem usually win.
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Square vs Clover
AB
For most small businesses, Square is the safer choice — a published 2.6% + $0.15 in person, no monthly fee, month-to-month terms and free POS software, all of which you can verify before signing anything. Clover has the better hardware range and a deeper app marketplace, but its rate, chargeback fee and contract are set by whichever reseller signs you, so two identical shops can end up on wildly different deals. Choose Clover only if you need specific hardware or apps, and only after getting every figure in writing.
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Toast vs Square for restaurants
BA
For most independent restaurants, Square is the better choice — 2.6% + $0.15 in person, no monthly fee, and month-to-month terms you can leave at any time. Toast has genuinely deeper restaurant software and a slightly cheaper card rate at 2.49% + $0.15, but it costs $69 a month, locks you into two years, and charges $150 for every remaining month if you leave early — roughly $2,700 to exit an 18-month remainder. Choose Toast only if you will actually use the kitchen display, coursing and payroll.
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Stripe vs PayPal
AA-
Use Stripe as your processor and PayPal as a checkout button. On headline rate they are effectively identical — 2.9% + $0.30 against 2.89% + $0.29 — but Stripe charges $15 per chargeback to PayPal’s $20, has a far more predictable dispute process, and costs less internationally. PayPal’s value is buyer trust: a meaningful share of shoppers will complete a purchase with PayPal who would abandon a card form. Most successful online stores run both.
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Stripe vs Square
AA
Stripe and Square are leading payment processors that cater to different types of businesses. Stripe was built for online businesses and developers, offering extensive customization, global payment support, and powerful APIs that can handle everything from subscriptions to marketplace payments. However, businesses often need technical expertise to unlock its full potential, and customer support can be challenging to navigate. Square, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and in-person commerce, providing user-friendly hardware, point-of-sale software, and integrated business tools such as inventory management, payroll, scheduling, and online ordering. While both charge similar rates for online transactions, Stripe may offer lower negotiated pricing for high-volume merchants, whereas Square's pricing is easier to understand, but can become costly as transaction volume grows. Neither platform is a good fit for high-risk businesses, as both operate as payment facilitators and may restrict or terminate accounts in industries with elevated risk profiles.
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PayKings vs Square
AA
PayKings and Square serve very different segments of the payment processing market. PayKings is a merchant services provider that focuses on helping high-risk businesses get approved for payment processing. It offers customized merchant accounts, payment gateways, and risk management tools for industries that are often declined by traditional processors. Approval typically involves underwriting, and pricing is tailored based on the business model, risk profile, and processing history. Square, by contrast, is a widely used all-in-one payment platform designed for low-risk businesses. It is known for its easy setup, flat-rate pricing, and integrated point-of-sale, online payments, and business management tools. Both payment service providers strive for a short approval processes.
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Corepay vs PayKings
BA
Corepay.net and PayKings.com are both payment processors. PayKings focuses on helping high-risk payment processors whereas Corepay focuses on both low and high-risk merchants. Both companies provide merchant accounts, gateways, and support for online payments, but their approaches, pricing transparency, and reputation vary.
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