Stripe may not be a household name, but it’s a global leader in online payments and has shaped the fintech world in more ways than one. Stripe’s technology stack is simply unmatched and is considered a benchmark in merchant on-boarding, seamless payments, and fraud detection. That said, it doesn’t excel in every aspect. And there are competitors that offer more flexibility and even charge a lot less. So, if you are on the lookout for the best Stripe alternatives that can seamlessly fit your needs, we have got you checked off with an extensive roundup.
Here, we have put together 12 best Stripe alternatives after considering many key factors like reliability, pricing, global reach, how developer-friendly the service is, and more. Besides that, we have also mentioned a few payment processors for specific regions so that you can choose a proper alternative to Stripe in your country.
There could be multiple reasons why you may want to explore Stripe competitors. Maybe you want to have a payment system that offers you more flexibility to facilitate payments or maybe you have set your sight on cutting down the processing fee (Stripe takes 2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge).
1. PayPal
PayPal is one of the oldest fintech companies in the world so it has a lot of experience in handling online payments and preventing fraud. For this very reason, PayPal is among the best Stripe alternatives you can go for. In terms of pricing, Stripe and PayPal share a similar processing fee of 2.9% and $0.3 flat-rate for every purchase. But the difference between these two services is global reach.
Cons:
- Limited seller protection
- Phone-based customer service is not always consistent
Pricing: 2.9% + $0.30; 2.7% for swiping card on POS machine
Braintree is our next pick for Stripe alternatives which is also a division of PayPal. In terms of offerings, Braintree is an obvious alternative to Stripe. To begin with, the pricing is very similar, as it’s with other payment processors. You incur a processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction.
Having said that, the best part about Braintree is that, unlike Stripe, it does not charge you separately for billing, invoice, and other advanced APIs. All in all, Braintree is one of the best Stripe alternatives and you should definitely check it out.
Cons:
Pricing: 2.9% + $0.30
3. Square
Square and Stripe started at the same time in 2009 and since then, they have been direct competitors. Both offer excellent payment services with industry-leading technology and wide support for different forms of payments. And even in terms of functionality, Square is quite similar to Stripe.
- Best for both in-person POS sales and online payments
- Seamless integration, excellent Fraud detection
- Recurring billing, Quick ACH transfer
Cons:
Pricing: 2.9% + $0.3
Adyen is our next pick for Stripe alternative which seems a small company but has a huge base of merchants. In tandem, Adyen is one of the best payment processors for small and medium-sized businesses. The reason is its extremely low processing fee in comparison to Stripe.
For instance, it charges 0.6% + $0.12 for Visa and Mastercard cards and flat rate of $0.25 + $0.12 for ACH transfers. It only has a higher processing fee for Amex cards which is capped at 3.95% + $0.12. And that is not all, Adyen provides merchant accounts which means you will have better control over your online account.
Pricing: 0.6% + $0.12 for Visa and Mastercard; 3.95% + $0.12 for Amex
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Dwolla is our next payment processor which is among the cheapest Stripe alternatives in the US. It offers a merchant account and has support for ACH transactions. Among other things, Dwolla is one of the most developer-friendly service providers with excellent documentation and requirement-based customization.
Pros:
Pricing: 0.5% + $0.5
Pricing: 1.95% plus applicable taxes
Authorize.net is among the oldest payment gateways on the internet and has been providing its service for more than 20 years. It’s important to note that Authorize.net is just a payment gateway that does not deal with merchant accounts whereas Stripe is an all-in-one payment processor that handles everything from cart to checkout.
Pricing: $0.10 per transaction; $25 flat monthly fee
Worldpay is one of the best companies like Stripe for the UK as it’s the country’s oldest fintech company with huge experience in payment handling. It supports many forms of payments including credit and debit cards, mobile wallets, and bank transfers. It also has a POS system in place which can bring more in-person sales to your business.
Cons:
- Doesn’t offer much support on chargebacks
Pricing: 2.75% + €.20 or €19.95 flat monthly charge with 2.75% (credit cards) & 0.75% (debit cards) charges
Cardinity is your best Stripe alternative if you operate your business in Europe. Just like Stripe, it’s an all-in-one payment solution and offers a merchant account which is great. Cardinity accepts both credit and debit cards from all over the world. It can also process payment from many different card providers such as Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, Carte Bleue, and more.
Cardinity is also a developer-friendly service so you can smoothly integrate its service on your portal. To conclude, if you are looking for a Stripe alternative in Europe at a low cost, Cardinity should be your pick.
Pricing: 1.35% + €0.25
10. Razorpay
Among the online payment service providers in India, Razorpay is best suited to take on the mettle of Stripe. To put it straight, if you run a small to medium-sized business in India, Razorpay is the best way to collect money online. In addition, Razorpay is now available in the US, UK, UAE, France, and Australia so if you are building a global e-commerce platform from India, Razorpay should be your default option for processing payments globally.
- Best payment service provider for India
- Flat-rate processing fee
- No monthly fee
- Advanced fraud detection
- Supports all major cards
- Access to advanced developer tools
Pricing: 2% per transaction for India-based cards, UPI or wallet, 3% for Amex and international cards
Don’t get me wrong! Venmo is not a direct competitor of Stripe, so why should you think of trying it out? Well, if you are looking for a more user-friendly peer-to-peer payment platform, it can easily fit into your needs.
- Excellent for peer-to-peer payment
- Pretty easy setup
- Offers Venmo card to let you shop with Venmo balance
- Provides cashback rewards
Pricing: Free
Coinbase seems to be an automatic choice for the folks who want to buy, sell, and manage cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, etc. So, if you are hunting for a Stripe alternative to take control of your cryptocurrency portfolio, you should give serious consideration to it.
Coinbase also offers you the flexibility to schedule buys daily, weekly, or monthly based on your convenience. In terms of user-interface, it has looked up to the task to me. And what about security? Well, if Stripe claims to offer the best in class security, it’s not behind either thanks to the bank-level security. Notably, it lets you store your funds in a vault for enhanced safeguards.
Pricing: Up to 1.5% of any transaction and a minimum fee of $0.55
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Last but not least, Billtrust is a highly rated Stripe alternative for medium-sized companies. What puts it at the forefront is the ability to simplify the B2B payments and order-to-cash cycle. So, if these are the two main features you want to see in the Stripe substitute, you shouldn’t fail to try it out.
With the surcharging, you can accept credit card payments without any additional processing costs. Keep in mind that it will charge between 1.8% and 2.5% of the total value of the transaction on credit card payments, which is lower than the fees charged by Stripe (2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge).
Pricing: Charges between 1.8% and 2.5% of the total value of the transaction
Who are Stripe’s competitors?
PayPal, Braintree, and Square are some of the most equipped Stripe competitors.
Thanks to the simple setup and ease of use, PayPal is considered to be a better option for small businesses. With way more customization and additional features, Stripe is said to be a better bet for larger businesses.
Yes, Adyen is overall cheaper than Stripe. Adyen charges 0.6% + $0.12 for Visa and Mastercard cards as well as the flat rate of $0.25 + $0.12 for ACH transfers, which make it a cheaper alternative to Stripe.
Considering plenty of customization and several helpful features, Stripe has got most bases covered to stake the claim of being one of the best payment gateways.
Which is cheaper PayPal or stripe?
Both Stripe and PayPal charge an online payment processing fee of 2.9%+$0.30.
So that was our list of the best Stripe alternatives which are very comparable to Stripe in features, global reach, and most importantly have cheaper pricing. Besides that, we have mentioned various payment processors based on countries, business size, and other key factors.
