10 Best Stripe Competitors for Small Businesses

1. Square
2. PayPal
3. Adyen
4. 2Checkout
5. WePay
6. Authorize.Net
7. Braintree
8. Payline Data
9. PayJunction
10. Fattmerchant

If you’re exploring different payment processing solutions, particularly for accepting payments online, it’s likely you’ve come across Stripe. This developer-friendly, online payments platform has quickly grown to become one of the most popular and well-known solutions in the merchant services industry, especially among ecommerce and other online-based businesses. Of course, while Stripe is a top solution, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for every small business.

This being said, whether you currently use Stripe and are looking for an alternative solution, or you’re still searching for a suitable payments platform for your business, it’s always worth considering Stripe competitors and what they have to offer. In this guide, therefore, we’ll break down 10 of the top Stripe alternatives, so you can determine if any of these solutions is a better fit for your business.

To begin, there’s a reason why Stripe is so popular—it’s highly functional, flexible, and appeals to a wide variety of businesses. Like any small business solution, however, there are both advantages and drawbacks to Stripe—and depending on your specific needs, this payments platform may or may not be the best option for your business.

This being said, before we explore the top Stripe competitors, let’s briefly review the pros, cons, and costs of Stripe, so that you have a better idea of what our alternatives are stacking up against.

Here are some of the most notable advantages of using Stripe:

• Pricing: On the whole, Stripe has a simple, transparent pricing structure and only charges transaction fees. As we’ll discuss in greater detail below, Stripe does not charge other typical fees that you see from some merchant service providers, so you only have to worry about a single, flat-rate, per-transaction charge if you’re accepting online payments. Plus, this rate is competitive with other processors on the market and Stripe includes all of their pricing information on their website.
• Functionality: As a payments solution, Stripe is extremely functional, allowing you to accept all types of payments in the way that works best for your business. With an emphasis on online payments, Stripe gives you the ability to accept payments through an embeddable checkout, custom payment form, and even through invoices. Plus, despite their online payment focus, you can also accept in-person payments with Stripe. Another highlight is that you can sign up for an account quickly and easily online and get started taking payments instantly. Stripe also includes a standard level of security, can accommodate international commerce, and integrates with hundreds of other platforms.
• Customization: Stripe is often referred to as a “developer’s payments solution,” due to their custom UI toolkit and available APIs. With these tools, you can completely customize your payments solution. Even if you’re not a developer, between the types of payments Stripe accommodates, the ways in which you can accept those payments, and the add-ons available to their platform, Stripe offers an impressive level of customization for all business owners.

Example of a global checkout page created using Stripe. Image source: Stripe

Despite these highlights, it’s also important to consider the drawbacks of Stripe—as any of these downsides may inspire you to search for top Stripe alternatives.

• Cost: Although Stripe’s pricing can be an advantage, it can also be a drawback. Even though the pricing is easy to understand and there are very few Stripe fees, Stripe may not always be the most affordable solution. Generally, you’ll find that a processor who charges interchange-plus pricing for transaction fees will be more affordable, especially if you have a high transaction volume. Along these lines, some users also report that Stripe can be expensive, particularly if you decide to utilize their paid add-on tools.
• Account stability: Stripe is a payment service provider (PSP), meaning they aggregate all of their customers’ payments into a single merchant account and distribute the funds from there. Among other benefits, one of the most notable advantages of a PSP is that you can sign up for an account quickly and easily, without the underwriting process required to get a dedicated merchant account for your business. This being said, however, this type of system also means that your Stripe account is subject to greater stability issues—if Stripe deems your business too risky, they can cancel or freeze your account with little notice.
• Developer-focused: The developer-focus of Stripe is extremely useful if you’re a developer or have access to developer resources, but if you don’t, you may not be able to take advantage of everything Stripe has to offer. Although any business can use Stripe, there may be options that are more user-friendly and can work better for those without developer experience or access to those resources.
• In-person payments: Although Stripe does offer a solution for accepting in-person payments, the platform really isn’t designed for that purpose. Business owners looking to first and foremost accept in-person payments will benefit more from a point of sale-focused solution with capabilities more suited to meet their needs.

As we mentioned, Stripe is very transparent about their pricing. Overall, for their standard payments platform, they only charge transaction fees—which are generally 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for accepting credit card payments online. If you accept in-person payments, the transaction fees will be slightly lower, at 2.7% + $0.30 per transaction (you will, of course, also have to pay for the credit card terminal itself). Stripe will charge an additional 1% fee for international cards and 1% on top of that if currency conversion is required. For ACH payments, Stripe charges 0.8% per transaction ($5 maximum).

On the whole, Stripe does not charge monthly fees, PCI-compliance fees, setup fees, account cancellation fees, or any similar extraneous fees. They will, however, require a $15 fee for chargebacks. Finally, some of Stripe’s add-on services will require associated fees if you decide to use them.

With all of this information in mind, let’s take a look at the top Stripe competitors. Overall, considering the breadth of the merchant services industry, there are a variety of alternatives out there—from full-service merchant account providers to simple payment gateway providers. Generally, we focused our list on payment processing companies with an online payments focus, as these are most comparable to Stripe.

Therefore, whether you’re looking for an alternative to Stripe payments because you don’t have developer resources, need to accept in-person payments, or you’re simply interested in all of your options, you may find that one of the following solutions can better meet your business’s needs.

Like Stripe, Square has quickly become one of the most recognizable names in the payment processing space. First and foremost, Square is a POS provider with free POS software and a variety of hardware options. However, Square has a vast product suite that extends beyond POS and into ecommerce, online payments, invoicing, and more.

With this in mind then, here are some of the biggest benefits of Square when compared to Stripe:

• Point of sale: If accepting in-person payments is a priority for you, there’s no doubt that Square will be a better solution for your business than Stripe. As we mentioned, Square offers free POS software and multiple hardware options—plus, their in-person transaction fees are lower at 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction. Although Stripe can integrate with POS solutions, Square can provide actual payment processing, as well as POS system options that can accommodate a variety of small businesses. Overall, between their robust free POS software, additional product options, and ease of use, Square is a top POS provider and can offer much more for in-person payments than Stripe.
• Ease of use: Although Stripe’s developer-first platform means you have incredible customization options, it also means that it may be more difficult to use for general business owners. With Square’s payment platform, on the other hand, you can receive the functionality you need—accept online payments on your website, build your own payments form, integrate with other platforms—in a much more user-friendly way. Moreover, Square charges the same transaction fees for online payments as Stripe—2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
• Online store: If you need payment processing for your ecommerce business, you’ll very likely be able to integrate Stripe with your ecommerce platform. However, if you want an all-in-one solution to build your store and accept payments, Square might be better-suited for your needs. Comparing Stripe vs. Square in this way, Square offers a full online store service, with the first subscription plan available at $0 per month—you only pay transaction fees.

Overall, you might consider Square a top alternative to Stripe if you’re looking for a solution that extends beyond online payments. Although Square’s online payments platform may not be as sophisticated as Stripe’s, Square offers a user-friendly solution for building an ecommerce store, as well as accepting both online and in-person payments. With their POS system, Square will certainly be a better option for brick-and-mortar retailers and can be particularly useful for those retailers looking to branch into online sales.

PayPal is very likely one of the first brand names you think of when it comes to online payments. PayPal has years of experience with online payments and continues to be a go-to solution for individuals and businesses alike. All in all, PayPal allows you to accept online payments in different ways—they offer a simple payment gateway service that gives you the ability to create a hosted checkout page, they provide a full-service solution to customize your payments form, and they even offer PayPal Here for accepting in-person payments.

When comparing Stripe vs. PayPal, PayPal stands out in the following ways:

• User-friendly: Similar to Square, one of the advantages that PayPal has over Stripe is usability. Although PayPal may not be as advanced as Stripe, it’s still highly functional and likely easier for the average business owner to use. Whereas you may need assistance setting up Stripe or customizing it for your business’s needs, PayPal will be much more approachable and simpler to implement.
• Merchant account compatible: If you already have a dedicated merchant account for your business and you want to use this account for online payments, PayPal will definitely be a better choice compared to Stripe. With PayPal, you have the option to use an existing merchant account in conjunction with their services, whereas your Stripe account requires that you use Stripe as your payment aggregator.
• PayPal Here: Although PayPal’s in-person payment solution, PayPal Here, isn’t as robust of a POS system like Square, it will be much easier to use than Stripe’s in-person payment solution—and with a flat-rate transaction fee of 2.7% per U.S. card payment, PayPal Here is slightly cheaper than Stripe’s in-person processing. Therefore, if you’re not an exclusively web-based business, a combination of PayPal’s online payments platform and their in-person services may be better-suited for your business.

Taking these points into consideration, PayPal is a very close competitor to Stripe. For their online payment processing, they charge similar fees and both providers give you a variety of different ways to customize their online payments solution for your business. This being said, however, where Stripe is more advanced and complex, PayPal is generally more simple and straightforward. Plus, for accepting in-person payments, PayPal Here is going to be much easier to use than Stripe.

Adyen is similar to Stripe in many ways. Whereas PayPal and Square are simpler than Stripe, Adyen is also designed to accommodate larger businesses with higher transaction volumes—especially those that sell across multiple channels. Unlike Stripe, however, Adyen is a merchant account provider, meaning if you sign up and are approved for an Adyen account, you’ll receive a merchant account that’s dedicated to your business.

With this in mind, here are some of the top ways in which Adyen compares to Stripe:

• Merchant account provider: As we mentioned, Adyen provides each of their customers with a dedicated merchant account, whereas Stripe aggregates all of their customers’ funds into a single merchant account. Although this means it may take more time to sign up and be approved for Adyen, you’ll also receive the account security that comes with your own merchant account.
• Interchange-plus pricing: Whereas Stripe operates on a flat-rate pricing basis, Adyen implements an interchange-plus pricing system. Typically, interchange-plus is considered the most affordable pricing structure for credit card processing fees—meaning you may be able to save money by using Adyen over Stripe—especially if you have a higher transaction volume. Plus, compared to some merchant account providers who offer interchange-plus pricing but charge a variety of other fees, Adyen (like Stripe) is relatively fee-free.
• Risk management and transaction optimization tools: Although Stripe includes basic security and fraud protection tools with their payments platform, Adyen greatly focuses on these tools. With your Adyen account, you’ll receive advanced risk management and transaction optimization tools to ensure that you’re getting the most revenue out of every transaction you accept. In this way, where Stripe is advanced in terms of development and customization capabilities, Adyen is advanced in their functionality as it relates to the actual process of accepting payments.

Overall, Adyen is a worthwhile alternative to Stripe for larger businesses that are looking to make the most out of their payment processing. Adyen can provide advanced risk and fraud management tools beyond what Stripe offers, as well as a merchant account, and very likely, more affordable pricing. It is worth noting, however, that Adyen will require a minimum invoice of $120 in fees every month. 

Example of a custom payment page on mobile created with Adyen. Image source: Adyen

2Checkout is a payment processor that focuses exclusively on online payments. With 2Checkout, like Stripe, you can customize your payments solution to accept online payments in the way that works best for your business. However, it is worth noting that overall, 2Checkout deals with riskier payments (as online payments are often considered more susceptible to fraud) and therefore, their transaction fees—at 3.5% + $0.35 per transaction—start at a much higher rate than Stripe or any of the Stripe alternatives we’ve reviewed thus far.

With this in mind, however, 2Checkout is a worthy competitor to Stripe in two significant ways:

• Global payments: Although Stripe offers more accommodations for international commerce than other payment processors, 2Checkout excels in this area. 2Checkout has coverage in over 200 countries and territories and accepts over 45 different payment methods. Additionally, 2Checkout is available in over 30 languages and offers 100 display and billing currencies. 2Checkout also uses intelligent payment routing and multi-currency management tools to optimize transactions, plus offers localized settings. In this way, 2Checkout’s global features are ideal for ecommerce businesses that sell around the world.
• Ecommerce and digital product tools: On top of their global payments features, 2Checkout also offers impressive capabilities focused on ecommerce businesses. In addition to the customizable payment options you’ll find with Stripe, 2Checkout offers checkout solutions specifically created for digital goods, selling software, trials, subscriptions, and selling through affiliates or distributors. In fact, 2Checkout offers an entire subscription plan that is designed exclusively for businesses that sell digital goods. Moreover, if you choose to utilize 2Checkout’s merchant of record model, you’ll receive global tax and financial services management from the 2Checkout team and won’t have to worry about any of these responsibilities yourself.

On the whole, although 2Checkout will likely be more expensive than Stripe, the increased price may be worth it for the services you receive, particularly if you’re running a global ecommerce business. In this way, 2Checkout could be an ideal payments solution for a variety of ecommerce business owners, particularly those with unique business models—like selling subscriptions or digital goods.

WePay is an online payments solution that is currently affiliated with Chase Merchant Services. Unlike many of the Stripe competitors we’ve discussed thus far, WePay is designed to accommodate a very specific need. Instead of servicing businesses that need to accept online payments, WePay works with business owners who want to allow their customers to send and receive payments. Therefore, WePay largely services SaaS (software-as-a-service) businesses and other similar companies.

With this in mind then, WePay stands out over Stripe in these ways:

• Customer base: As we briefly explained above, WePay is designed to serve a different market than Stripe is. Where Stripe’s payments platform allows merchants to accept payments, WePay’s purpose is to allow other platform-based businesses to create a payments solution that looks like their own solution. In this way, WePay’s service is extremely unique, and although you may be able to create a comparable solution with Stripe, you’ll likely find it easier to do so with WePay.
• Affiliation with Chase: Although WePay isn’t exactly transparent about pricing on their website, their affiliation with Chase Merchant Services does have some benefits. Most notably, if you use WePay and have a Chase business bank account, you’ll be able to receive same-day deposits—instead of having to wait days to be able to transfer your funds from your merchant account to your business bank account.
• Ease of use: Even though WePay may seem a little complex compared to some of the Stripe alternatives we’ve reviewed, users report that it’s extremely fast and easy to get started with WePay. In fact, WePay offers instant onboarding and is generally considered highly flexible and user-friendly.

All in all, WePay may not be the best Stripe alternative for every business, but for platforms, marketplaces, SaaS companies, and other similar businesses, it’s certainly worth considering. It’s also important to note, however, that when comparing WePay vs. Stripe, WePay is not well-suited for global commerce and its lack of transparent pricing is not ideal. If you’re interested in using WePay, we’d recommend working with their team to find out exactly how much it will cost your business before making a final decision.

Unlike some of the options on this list, Authorize.Net is a payment gateway provider—and not a merchant account or payment service provider. In essence, this means Authorize.Net facilitates the actual payment process, but doesn’t necessarily provide the merchant account that you need to accept payments and receive your funds. Therefore, unlike Stripe, you’ll either need to use Authorize.Net in conjunction with a third-party merchant account, or you’ll need to opt for the plan in which Authorize.Net sets you up with a merchant account through TSYS or Dharma Merchant Services. This being said, Authorize.Net excels over Stripe in a few areas:

• Flexibility: Although Stripe is perhaps more customizable than Authorize.Net, this payment gateway provider is flexible in a way that Stripe is not. With Stripe, you cannot use a third-party merchant account, and are therefore subject to Stripe’s discretion when it comes to the risk of your account. On the other hand, with Authorize.Net, you have two options. First, you can integrate Authorize.Net with your existing merchant account. Second, you can opt to have Authorize.Net set you up with an account through one of their resellers. If you opt for the first option, you’ll face extremely low fees—only $0.10 per transaction with a $0.10 daily batch fee, plus a $25 per month monthly gateway fee.
• Virtual terminal: If you’re primarily an online-based business but you occasionally want the option to accept payments in-person (or over the phone) through your computer, the virtual terminal included with Authorize.Net allows you to do so. Comparing Stripe vs. Authorize.Net in this way, Stripe does not offer a virtual terminal solution, despite their general flexibility with online payments.
• Fraud detection tools: Even though Stripe includes basic security and fraud prevention tools, Authorize.Net offers advanced, customizable settings to help prevent and detect fraud. With Authorize.Net, you’ll receive 13 different configurable fraud filters that you’ll be able to change based on your business’s top concerns. Plus, all of Authorize.Net’s fraud tools are included with either of their pricing plans, whereas you have to pay additional fees for some of Stripe’s more advanced fraud protection capabilities.

Although Authorize.Net is often criticized for their $25 monthly payment gateway fee, this solution is a worthwhile Stripe alternative if you have your own merchant account or are looking to get one. If you choose to get your own merchant account, you may also find more flexibility in terms of pricing, and you can take advantage of the account security that Stripe and other payment service providers typically lack. This being said, Authorize.Net is often considered one of the top payment gateway providers and is certainly a notable option not only for accepting online payments, but also for virtual terminal capabilities.

In many ways, Braintree is like Authorize.Net—Braintree is a payment gateway provider designed to allow businesses to accept payments online. However, whereas Authorize.Net gives you the option to obtain a merchant account through one of their resellers, Braintree includes a dedicated merchant account as part of their service. In fact, Braintree is actually a PayPal company, offering the merchant account that PayPal’s typical payments platform lacks.

This being said, Braintree serves as a top Stripe competitor in the following ways:

• Merchant account: As we’ve seen with a number of options on this list of Stripe competitors, Braintree’s ability to offer a dedicated merchant account sets their service apart from Stripe. Again, a dedicated merchant account will mean more security and account stability than offered from a payment service provider like Stripe. Additionally, in this case, it’s worth noting that like Stripe, Braintree only charges transaction fees of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction—meaning Braintree is offering more security and stability for the same price.
• Simplicity: Although Stripe excels in customization and advanced development opportunity, Braintree, as part of the PayPal suite, stands out in terms of usability and simplicity. With Braintree, you can either add a full-featured checkout to your app or site with a few lines of code, or you can use their custom UI to build your own checkout page. Overall, Braintree is better-suited to accommodate business owners without significant development experience—plus, all of Braintree’s solutions have PayPal acceptance and support included.

All in all, with the Stripe vs. Braintree comparison, much of the decision doesn’t come down to the types of payments you can accept and how you can accept them, but instead the way the service is set up and how easy it is to use. If you’re interested in PayPal over Stripe, but would prefer a dedicated merchant account for your business, Braintree will be your top option. In this way, it’s also worth noting that if you’re looking to accept in-person payments, you can also integrate your Braintree account with PayPal Here to add that functionality. Moreover, if you’re generally looking for a more stable, easy-to-implement payments solution, Braintree will also be worth considering over Stripe.

Example of a Braintree payment page. Image source: Braintree

So far, with the exception of perhaps Square, most of the Stripe competitors we’ve discussed have been fairly similar—they’re all mostly focused on online payments and facilitating this process for business owners. Although Payline Data can facilitate online payment processing, in comparison to the other solutions we’ve reviewed, they’re much more of a traditional merchant account provider.

This being said, Payline Data provides all of their users with an merchant account and can provide payment services in a number of ways—with a payment gateway, virtual terminal, physical credit card terminal, or through a payment API. With this in mind, this distinction largely illustrates Payline Data’s benefits over Stripe:

• Merchant account provider: As a more traditional merchant account provider, Payline Data not only offers the security of a dedicated merchant account, but also the breadth of services you see with many of these processors. With Payline, you have the option to accept in-person payments, online payments, as well as use a virtual terminal. Plus, unlike some merchant account providers, Payline is very transparent with their services and pricing. Although you’ll have to pay a monthly fee, Payline does not charge many of the extraneous fees you often find with these types of providers.
• Pricing: Although Stripe’s flat-rate pricing may be appealing to many business owners due to its simplicity and approachability, you very well may find that Payline Data is a more affordable solution. Payline charges monthly fees for both of their subscription plans; however, they also operate on an interchange-plus pricing system for transaction fees, which is typically more affordable than flat-rate pricing.

All in all, Payline Data may not offer the advanced customization and developer-friendly tools that Stripe includes in their platform; however, this alternative is likely worthwhile for businesses that aren’t strictly online-based—especially if they’re looking for a merchant account as part of their payment processing service. Along these lines, even ecommerce businesses may find that the interchange-plus pricing and options Payline offers are worth considering as a Stripe competitor.

Like Stripe, PayJunction is a payment service provider. However, they offer a handful of specific features that help you streamline the payment process, particularly in regards to storing digital information. Overall, PayJunction gives you the ability to accept payments through their POS terminal, payment gateway, and mobile app,  as well as through ACH. This being said, PayJunction may be the right Stripe alternative for you for the following reasons:

• Smart terminal: In comparison to Stripe’s limited in-person payment options, PayJunction offers a unique smart terminal that allows you to accept all types of in-person payments—and do so in an eco-friendly way. The PayJunction smart terminal eliminates the need for paper receipts—allowing customers to sign for purchases through the terminal and send digital receipts, plus all receipt information is stored in the cloud.
• Pricing: Not only does PayJunction give you a variety of ways to accept payments, but they also offer interchange-plus pricing, and do not charge monthly, annual, PCI-compliance, payment gateway, or other similar fees. If you do process under $10,000, however, you will face a $35 monthly fee. This being said, PayJunction only charges 0.75% per transaction for ACH payments and with interchange-plus pricing, your online transaction fees are more likely going to be cheaper than Stripe’s flat-rate pricing. Moreover, if you already have a payment processor and are thinking of switching to PayJunction, they’ll match or beat your existing rates.
• Digital tools: In addition to the features included with the smart terminal, PayJunction offers a variety of other tools that can help you automate the payment process. For example, Pay Junction allows you to store credit card and ACH data, take phone orders, offer one-click refunds, and set up recurring billing, as well as run future transactions. Where Stripe excels in the customization of their online payments platform, PayJunction excels in their digital-first, secure payment optimization tools.

On the whole, PayJunction is a great alternative to Stripe for businesses that regularly accept both in-person and online payments, especially if they’re looking to streamline their processes and stay away from paper receipts and data storage. Furthermore, PayJunction is also a worthwhile option for businesses looking for the cheapest credit card processing, as their interchange-plus pricing will likely be more affordable than Stripe, especially for high-volume merchants.

Finally, we’ve reached the last option on our list of Stripe competitors. In many ways, Fattmerchant is similar to Payline Data—however, with their 0% markup on interchange-plus pricing, they’ll be one of the most affordable options in terms of transaction fees, as long as you can afford the subscription fee. This being said, like Payline, Fattmerchant is a more traditional merchant account provider—all of their customers receive a dedicated merchant account and can choose from a variety of solutions—mobile, virtual terminal, ecommerce shopping cart, etc.—to accept payments in the way that works best for them.

With this in mind, Fattmerchant stands out against Stripe in terms of:

• Subscription service: Unlike many of the other options on this list, Stripe included, Fattmerchant requires a monthly subscription fee, and a relatively high one—either $99 or $199 depending on your processing volume. However, for this subscription price, you have access to advanced analytics tools and customer support, on top of the capabilities you need to accept payments. Of course, as a merchant account provider, your subscription also gives you access to your own dedicated merchant account and the stability that comes with it.
• Direct cost of interchange pricing: As we mentioned above, and directly related to the subscription-service model of Fattmerchant’s service is their direct cost of interchange pricing. Unlike other processors that charge their own markup on top of the cost of interchange, Fattmerchant charges the direct cost of interchange. In this way, despite the subscription fee, your transaction fees will not only be lower than Stripe’s, but you’ll likely find that Fattmerchant offers some of the lowest transaction fees on the market.

All in all, compared to Stripe and many of the alternatives on this list, Fattmerchant is probably best-suited for larger businesses with higher transaction volumes. This being said, however, if you are a larger business looking to save on transaction fees—as well as receive significant security, customer support, and analytics tools—there’s no doubt that Fattmerchant is worth considering as your credit card processing company.

Fattmerchant’s payment analytics platform. Image source: Fattmerchant

At the end of the day, choosing the best payments solution for your business isn’t always easy. Between Stripe and their competitors, there are a variety of options that may suit your business’s needs. When it comes down to it, however, there’s no doubt that Stripe is an ideal solution for accepting online payments, especially for larger businesses that can take advantage of the impressive customization capabilities, developer tools, and add-on options that Stripe offers.

However, if you think there’s another solution that can better serve your business—including any of the Stripe competitors we’ve explored here—it’s always worth looking into what they can offer, especially if you can test the service for yourself without paying a monthly fee. Ultimately, due to the complexities associated with payment processing and any of these solutions, we’d recommend creating a list of your top requirements for any merchant service provider and taking the time and effort necessary to compare multiple solutions to that list, researching and asking questions, and testing platforms until you find the best options for your business.