Helcim vs Payment Depot
Last updated: September 6, 2026
Helcim
A-
Helcim is a Calgary-based payment processing company that offers genuinely transparent interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fees, no hidden charges, and a comprehensive suite of free payment tools.
Payment Depot
C+
Payment Depot, now operating as "Payment Depot by Stax," is a California-based merchant services provider founded in 2013 that pioneered the subscription/interchange-plus pricing model for small businesses, but has experienced significant customer service and transparency issues since its 2021 acquisition by Stax.
VS
Overview
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.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Payment Depot publishes the lower markup — 0% over interchange plus 8¢ card-present against Helcim's 0.40% plus 8¢ — but does not publish what the subscription behind it costs.
- ✓Helcim wins on knowability: five volume tiers, hardware, ACH, chargeback and cancellation costs are all on its own pages, and its monthly fee is $0.
- ✓Helcim wins on volume pricing, dropping automatically to interchange plus 0.15% + 6¢ above $1M a month on a three-month rolling average, with no renegotiation.
- ✓Helcim wins on disputes, refunding its $15 chargeback fee when the merchant wins; Payment Depot publishes no chargeback fee at all.
- ✓Both are no-contract and charge no cancellation fee, so the comparison is about cost and disclosure rather than about lock-in.
Helcim
Helcim is for a small or mid-sized business that wants to know its total cost before signing anything — no monthly fee, a published margin that falls automatically with volume, and the invoicing, virtual terminal and storefront included.
Payment Depot
Payment Depot is for a merchant willing to get a quote and compare it line by line, where a 0% markup over interchange plus 8¢ a swipe could beat Helcim outright — provided the subscription it comes attached to is small enough.
Overall Winner
🏆 Winner
Helcim
A-expert grade
Runner-up
Payment Depot
Why?
Helcim wins because it is the only one of the two you can actually price. Every number a merchant needs is published — five volume tiers, $0 monthly, $0 PCI, $0 setup, $0 cancellation, $15 chargeback refunded if you win, ACH capped at $6, hardware to the dollar — and the margin falls on its own as volume grows. Payment Depot's published markup of 0% plus 8¢ is genuinely lower than Helcim's 0.40% plus 8¢, and if the subscription behind it is small, a high-volume card-present merchant could come out ahead. But that subscription price appears nowhere on Payment Depot's site, third-party reviews still cite a membership ladder the company has retired, and the fees Helcim names outright — chargebacks, PCI, recurring billing — Payment Depot does not name at all. A merchant who gets a written Payment Depot quote should compare it against Helcim's published tiers line by line; a merchant who does not want to run that exercise should take Helcim.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Pricing model
| Feature | Helcim | Payment Depot |
|---|---|---|
| Published markup, card-present | Interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ ($0–$50K/month) | Interchange + 0% + $0.08 |
| No winner marked, because the two are not measured on the same total. Payment Depot's 0% markup is published alongside references to a subscription whose price it does not disclose, so the per-transaction figure is not the whole cost. Helcim's 0.40% is the whole cost. | ||
| Published markup, keyed and online | Interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ ($0–$50K/month) | Interchange + 0% + $0.15 |
| Same caveat. On a $75 online sale Helcim's stated margin is about 63¢; Payment Depot's stated margin is 15¢ plus whatever the subscription costs. | ||
| Monthly fee | $0 — no monthly, minimum, software or statement fee Winner | Not published; quoted per account |
| Payment Depot's pricing page says subscriptions unlock its software features at no extra cost, but prints no subscription price anywhere on the site. Third-party reviews still quote a retired $79/$99/$199 membership ladder; NerdWallet's January 2026 review reports $0. We could not verify either from Payment Depot. | ||
| Volume discounts | Automatic, five tiers, on a three-month rolling average Winner | Not published; rate quoted per account |
| Helcim's ladder runs from interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ in person at $0–$50K a month down to interchange + 0.15% + 6¢ at $1M–$5M, applied without a phone call. Payment Depot's headline is a range — 'variable rates as low as 0.2%–1.95%' — not a schedule. | ||
| ACH / bank transfer | 0.5% + 25¢, capped at $6 Winner | 1%, capped at $10 |
| Helcim adds 0.05% on amounts above $25,000. On a $2,000 invoice Helcim caps at $6 and Payment Depot charges $10. | ||
Published markup, card-present
Helcim
Interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ ($0–$50K/month)
Payment Depot
Interchange + 0% + $0.08
No winner marked, because the two are not measured on the same total. Payment Depot's 0% markup is published alongside references to a subscription whose price it does not disclose, so the per-transaction figure is not the whole cost. Helcim's 0.40% is the whole cost.
Published markup, keyed and online
Helcim
Interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ ($0–$50K/month)
Payment Depot
Interchange + 0% + $0.15
Same caveat. On a $75 online sale Helcim's stated margin is about 63¢; Payment Depot's stated margin is 15¢ plus whatever the subscription costs.
Monthly fee
Helcim
$0 — no monthly, minimum, software or statement fee
Winner
Payment Depot
Not published; quoted per account
Payment Depot's pricing page says subscriptions unlock its software features at no extra cost, but prints no subscription price anywhere on the site. Third-party reviews still quote a retired $79/$99/$199 membership ladder; NerdWallet's January 2026 review reports $0. We could not verify either from Payment Depot.
Volume discounts
Helcim
Automatic, five tiers, on a three-month rolling average
Winner
Payment Depot
Not published; rate quoted per account
Helcim's ladder runs from interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ in person at $0–$50K a month down to interchange + 0.15% + 6¢ at $1M–$5M, applied without a phone call. Payment Depot's headline is a range — 'variable rates as low as 0.2%–1.95%' — not a schedule.
ACH / bank transfer
Helcim
0.5% + 25¢, capped at $6
Winner
Payment Depot
1%, capped at $10
Helcim adds 0.05% on amounts above $25,000. On a $2,000 invoice Helcim caps at $6 and Payment Depot charges $10.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
Small business processing under $50,000 a month
Recommended
Helcim
At this volume Helcim costs interchange plus 0.40% + 8¢ in person with nothing monthly, so a slow month costs nothing at all. Any Payment Depot subscription has to be earned back before its lower markup starts helping.
High-volume card-present retailer above $500,000 a month
Both. This is where the comparison genuinely turns. Helcim's margin falls to 0.20% + 6¢ automatically, while Payment Depot's published 0% + 8¢ would be lower still if the subscription is modest. Get the Payment Depot quote in writing and compare it against Helcim's published tier for your volume.
Business billing mainly by invoice or ACH
Recommended
Helcim
Helcim's ACH is 0.5% + 25¢ capped at $6 against Payment Depot's 1% capped at $10, and invoicing and the card vault are included with no monthly fee.
Merchant with regular chargebacks
Recommended
Helcim
Helcim charges $15 per chargeback and refunds it when the merchant wins the dispute. Payment Depot publishes no chargeback fee, so the cost is unknown until it appears on a statement.
Merchant who wants a published price and no sales call
Recommended
Helcim
Helcim's rate ladder, hardware, ACH, chargeback and cancellation costs are all on its own pages and an account can be opened online. Payment Depot's page ends at 'contact sales' for anything beyond the per-transaction fee.
Helcim: Best for 4 use cases
Payment Depot: Best for 0 use cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
On published markup, yes — Payment Depot lists 0% over interchange plus $0.08 card-present and $0.15 card-not-present, against Helcim's interchange plus 0.40% + 8¢ in person at entry volume. But Payment Depot's pricing page refers to subscriptions without naming a price, so the per-transaction figure is not the full cost. Helcim's $0 monthly fee means its published margin is the full cost.
Its own pricing page no longer names one. It refers to subscriptions unlocking software features but publishes no subscription price, and the $79/$99/$199 membership tiers still quoted around the web date from before the Stax acquisition. NerdWallet's January 2026 review reports a $0 monthly fee. We could not confirm either figure from Payment Depot, so the honest answer is that the price is quoted per account.
No. Both are month-to-month with no cancellation fee — Helcim states $0 for contracts, leases, termination and cancellation, and Payment Depot leads its pricing page with 'no cancellation fees'. This is the one row where the two are genuinely identical.
Automatically. Helcim averages your card volume over the most recent three months and applies the matching tier at the start of each month, with no call or renegotiation. The in-person margin runs from 0.40% + 8¢ below $50,000 a month down to 0.15% + 6¢ between $1M and $5M; the keyed and online margin runs from 0.50% + 25¢ down to 0.15% + 15¢.
Helcim. Its ACH is 0.5% + 25¢ capped at $6 per transaction, against Payment Depot's 1% capped at $10, and Helcim charges nothing monthly for the invoicing, virtual terminal and card vault that go with it. Helcim does add 0.4% per transaction on recurring billing; Payment Depot does not publish a recurring rate.
Helcim charges $15 per chargeback and refunds it if the case is resolved in the merchant's favour, which is unusual — most processors keep the fee whichever way the dispute goes. Payment Depot does not publish a chargeback fee on its pricing or equipment pages, so ask for it in writing before signing.
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