The Best Stripe Alternatives & Competitors For Small Businesses
Stripe is a great option for many businesses, but it isn't ideal for everyone. Luckily, there are numerous Stripe alternatives, including Square, Amazon Pay, and more.
Chris has been writing about small business topics since 2003. In 2015, he joined Merchant Maverick, where he writes about business financing, payment processing, and demographic trends in entrepreneurship. Chris has been featured in Fox Business, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates, Newsweek, BizJournals, and other publications. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Writing Arts from SUNY Oswego, and a Masters of Science in Interactive Media from the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
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Chris MotolaChris has been writing about small business topics since 2003. In 2015, he joined Merchant Maverick, where he writes about business financing, payment processing, and demographic trends in entrepreneurship. Chris has been featured in Fox Business, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates, Newsweek, BizJournals, and other publications. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Writing Arts from SUNY Oswego, and a Masters of Science in Interactive Media from the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
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Jason has been writing about small business software platforms, services, and financing since 2015. Jason’s expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Time/NextAdvisor, Home Business Magazine, CreditCards.com, GoBankingRates, TheLadders.com, and other publications. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Jason VissersJason has been writing about small business software platforms, services, and financing since 2015. Jason’s expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Time/NextAdvisor, Home Business Magazine, CreditCards.com, GoBankingRates, TheLadders.com, and other publications. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Although Stripe has developed a reputation for innovation in online and global payments and is one of the best credit card processors for small businesses, you might be interested in Stripe competitors and alternatives to Stripe.
The company boasts an 89% chance that any given credit/debit card has previously been used on the Stripe network. Stripe’s client list includes giant companies in all kinds of industries, from retail to software and so much more, which no doubt plays into that statistic.
But does that mean Stripe is the best option for your eCommerce business? Keep reading to find out!
Depending on your company’s needs, Stripe may or not be your best option. So, how does Stripe work? Stripe’s approach to payment processing is to be a “full stack” payment processor, a complete, all-in-one service for online sales. There are similar companies, but none that take Stripe’s exact approach.
Customizability: Stripe’s API is a big part of why it’s so widespread. If you’re comfortable writing code or have someone in-house who is, you’ll have a great playground to work in with excellent documentation. Not technical? There are tons of prebuilt store pages, configurations, and integrations to choose from.
Global Reach: One of the most significant benefits of eCommerce is the ability to, theoretically, sell anywhere in the world. In practice, there are a lot of complications to doing business outside your borders. Stripe makes it much easier by supporting over 135 currencies in 47 countries and helping you navigate local policies, such as VATs and sales tax.
Competitive Pricing: It’s not the cheapest service, but Stripe’s flat rates are predictable and transparent, and you get a lot of value for what you pay.
Billing & Subscription Management: Stripe supports recurring payments, so offering subscription-based services or products is easy.
No Monthly Fee For Core Services: Stripe’s transaction fees allow businesses to pay as they go. If you’re not using Stripe actively, it costs you nothing.
Weaknesses Of Stripe Payments
Some reasons Stripe may not be the best choice for your business:
Account Stability Issues: Common to all third-party payment processors, Stripe users are more at risk of account freezes and holds than those who use a traditional merchant account. Resolving these issues when they occur can also be challenging.
Scalability: Stripe’s à la carte approach to features can be great for newer businesses, but the costs can add up quickly, at least until you become big enough to negotiate your own deal with Stripe.
Limited Support For In-Person Transactions: Stripe Terminal has come a long way, but it’s mainly a tool for eCommerce-focused businesses that make the occasional in-person sale.
Developer-Centric: Stripe’s developer-friendly approach is great for businesses with the resources to implement it, but non-programmers that want to use Stripe will generally need to get it prebuilt into a sales platform like Shopify.
No Standalone Payment Gateway: Stripe’s payment gateway can only be used with Stripe’s payment processing services, so you can’t mix and match it with your own merchant account.
11 Stripe Competitors & Alternatives You Need To Consider
The best Stripe competitors combine transparency, low processing fees, and excellent support for eCommerce. With the exception of processors catering to high-risk industry, they also offer month-to-month billing.
Here are the best alternatives to Stripe from providers like Square, Helcim, and Treati.io.
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Pros
No account setup fee
High risk specialist
Free credit card terminal available
Cons
No publicly disclosed pricing
Why We Chose PaymentCloud For Best Stripe Alternative
PaymentCloud is among the best in the business when it comes to placing high-risk businesses with quality merchant accounts. Unlike many other high-risk payment processors, PaymentCloud minimizes unnecessary fees. While pricing can be highly variable depending on the backend processor PaymentCloud pairs you with, most high-risk businesses will pay less with PaymentCloud than they would with most of its competitors.
Stripe’s account aggregator model is designed for low-risk businesses (international sales notwithstanding), which comes with the drawback of being more prone to account holds and freezes. These can be very difficult to resolve. In contrast, PaymentCloud provides high-risk businesses with an account manager who acts as your advocate in dealing with your merchant account provider and bank.
PaymentCloud Features
High-risk credit and debit card processing
eCheck and ACH processing
Shopping cart integration
Customized application guidance
Cryptocurrency processing
QR code payments
Merchant cash advances
PaymentCloud Pricing
As a high-risk processor, PaymentCloud’s rates vary by customer profile.
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Pros
Predictable flat-rate pricing
Large feature set
Affordable chip card readers
Cons
Account stability issues
Limited international reach
Why We Chose Square For Best Stripe Alternative
Square offers online transactions at a similar price point to Stripe and is much easier for the average person to set up. This comes at the cost of Stripe’s international reach and support and certain eCommerce-focused features.
With that said, Square’s documentation and APIs allow you to build a system that can easily accommodate online and in-person sales, reporting, inventory, and more, using Square’s already robust tools. The APIs aren’t limited to payments; they also include inventory and catalog management, employee management, and customer database management. That adds serious value because you don’t need to pay for third-party add-ons to handle inventory, customer engagement, and other tasks.
Square doesn’t match Stripe in the number of available integrations. However, the ease with which non-technical users can set up an online store with Square gives it an edge over Stripe in some circumstances.
Square Features
Credit and debit card processing
Invoicing
ACH payment processing
Location management software
Inventory management software
Free online store
Restaurant ordering and delivery
Buy now, pay later options
Bank-like services
Financing
Square Pricing
Square’s standard pricing is as follows:
2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
2.6% + $0.30 per card present transaction
2.9% + $0.30 per invoice paid by credit or debit card
Helcim is now available with NO MONTHLY FEE. Start Here!
Why We Chose Helcim For Best Stripe Alternative
Helcim is one of the few payment processors to offer a full merchant account with no monthly fee. On top of that, it offers interchange-plus pricing. This makes Helcim a great choice for small businesses that are beginning to scale up their sales volume.
Helcim’s feature set may not look quite as polished as Stripe’s, but it is certainly competitive with it. You’ll get comprehensive international support, an online store, and solid developer tools. If you’re making sales offline, you’ll be able to use Helcim’s point of sale features, which can be run off a computer or mobile device.
Further, Helcim avoids Stripe’s scaling issues by offering interchange-plus pricing from the start.
Very little merchant feedback available at this time
Why We Chose Clearly Payments For Best Stripe Alternative
Clearly Payments is a relative newcomer to the payment processing scene, but so far it’s borrowing ideas from the right places. It offers transparent pricing in both interchange-plus and membership pricing forms, making it a great option for high-volume businesses looking to save some money.
Stripe’s flat rate pricing system is great for low volume businesses, but can become quite expensive for higher volume businesses. While high volume businesses can negotiate interchange-plus pricing with Stripe, Clearly Payments offers two excellent pricing options with full transparency.
Clearly Payments doesn’t offer quite the international reach or breadth of features that Stripe does, but with support for 65 currencies, it’s no slouch.
Why We Chose Host Merchant Services For Best Stripe Alternative
While Host Merchant Services provides traditional merchant services with your own, dedicated merchant account, it also offers a wide range of supplemental functionality not too far off from what you’d find with a third party processing platform like Stripe. Host Merchant Services also features excellent transparency, competitive interchange-plus pricing, and free web hosting.
Host Merchant Services provides full merchant accounts to its clients, so you won’t have to worry about freezes and holds as much. This comes at the cost of $14.99/month, but businesses that process over $10,000 should be able to make up that cost in transaction savings. Additionally, Host Merchant Services has excellent support for brick-and-mortar businesses, particularly restaurants. As far as eCommerce goes, Host Merchant Service’s free web hosting is a distinct advantage over Stripe for businesses that need it.
Finally, Host Merchant Services is willing to work with high-risk businesses that Stripe won’t touch. Just be aware that you’ll be looking at less favorable terms than the ones above.
Host Merchant Services Features
Credit and debit card processing
Mobile processing
Shopping cart integration
Web hosting
Merchant cash advances
Host Merchant Services Pricing
Host Merchant Services starting eCommerce fees are as follows:
Interchange + 0.35% + $0.10 per transaction
Additionally, there’s a $14.99 monthly fee to use Host Merchant Services.
Why We Chose Braintree & PayPal For Best Stripe Alternative
Braintree is a PayPal-owned company, although it operates separately in many respects. I’m combining these two because they share most of the same architecture for online payments, and you can fully integrate PayPal into your Braintree setup if you choose.
While PayPal’s recent price hikes have softened its competitive edge, it’s still the most comprehensive online payment service out there.
Braintree looks similar to Stripe at a glance, right down to its developer-centric approach to payment processing and support for overseas markets. The biggest difference between them is that Braintree offers merchant accounts, whereas Stripe is a third-party processor.
PayPal also offers a suite of developer tools for businesses interested in a custom setup. In addition to providing access to Checkout with contextual commerce tools, PayPal offers tools for invoicing, mass payouts, and marketplaces.
Despite its relatively small customer base, Adyen processes massive amounts of payments. That’s because Adyen built its business by chasing after the big fish. For example, Adyen’s first major client was Groupon. It currently powers payments for the crafting marketplace Etsy and even wooed eBay away from PayPal.
However, now that Adyen has established itself, the company is starting to court smaller businesses. Small businesses looking to sell overseas will find an excellent platform for international sales.
You’ll find that Adyen is most similar to Stripe in its global reach and support for localized payment methods across Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and North and South America. Adyen even supports PayPal transactions, which is something rarely available from companies not owned by PayPal.
There’s a decent list of supported partners and integrations, though unsurprisingly, you’ll find many of them are tailored to enterprise-scale businesses.
Why We Chose 2Checkout For Best Stripe Alternative
Businesses looking for global reach will want to consider 2Checkout, a third-party payment processor focused on eCommerce. 2CO only processes card-not-present transactions, so brick-and-mortar businesses will probably want to look elsewhere. 2CO offers incredibly robust support for CNP transactions and optimizing your eCommerce pages, including A/B testing, global tax support, subscription management, conversion rate optimization, and fraud protection.
2Checkout is reportedly easier to set up than some other processor/gateway combinations, including Stripe.
Because it deals with higher-risk payments (in the international sense), the pricing kicks in at a relatively steep 3.5% + $0.35 flat fee, though keep in mind that international sales on Stripe cost an additional 1.5% per transaction, 2.5% higher if currency conversion is needed). High-volume retailers may be able to negotiate a lower price. There are, however, no contracts or termination fees.
Why We Chose Amazon Pay For Best Stripe Alternative
Amazon sellers will find Amazon Pay an extremely convenient way to handle online transactions. Nevertheless, Amazon Pay does still have a lot to offer merchants outside Amazon’s ecosystem.
Amazon Pay is easy to set up and integrate into your website. Of particular note is Amazon Pay’s above-average fraud protection, which won’t cost you anything extra.
Amazon Pay’s rates are similar to Stripe’s. Like Stripe, it uses a flat-rate pricing scheme that starts at 2.9% + $0.30 for domestic transactions. The service is month-to-month with no monthly or annual fees. This is handy if your business is largely seasonal. Just remember it’s not the cheapest option around, particularly for high-volume businesses.
Tends to be cheaper when bundled with a payment processor
Why We Chose Authorize.Net For Best Stripe Alternative
Unlike the other entries on this list, Authorize.Net is not a payment processor but rather a payment gateway.
As a standalone payment gateway, Authorize.Net can be combined with various merchant services to expand its functionality into eCommerce, international payments, and alternative payment methods. Just remember, you’ll still need a payment processor in addition to Authorize.Net.
Authorize.Net can grant businesses that are happy with their merchant account some of the platform functionality associated with Stripe, particularly in international sales and online security.
Unlike Stripe, however, Authorize.Net is not a standalone payment processor. We usually suggest merchants who want to use Authorize.Net get it through their payment processor rather than as a standalone option, as it’s generally much more cost-effective that way.
Authorize.Net Features
Credit and debit card processing (with merchant account)
Why We Chose Treati.io For Best Stripe Alternative
Treati.io offers merchant accounts to high- and low-risk businesses, with interchange-plus pricing offered exclusively. Though it’s a new processor, it’s run by payment industry veterans who know how to navigate the rapidly evolving payments market. CBD merchants, in particular, will be happy to hear that Treati.io will work with them and give them a fair shake.
Treati.io can accommodate a wider variety of businesses than Stripe, including high-risk businesses. While Treati.io can’t compete with the sheer number of features Stripe has, it can handle most of the basics when paired with a quality payment gateway.
Treati.io Features
Credit and debit card processing
High-risk accounts
Next-day funding
Choice of first- and third-party payment gateways
POS and mobile support
Shopping cart integration
ACH and eCheck processing
Chargeback mitigation
Treati.io Pricing
Treati.io’s transaction fees start at:
Interchange + 0.75% + $0.20 (eCommerce)
Interchange + 0.4% + $0.10 (in-person)
Additionally, there’s a $20 monthly fee for eCommerce transactions, and a $10 monthly fee for in-person transactions.
Methodology: How We Chose Our Top Stripe Competitors
When reviewing payment processors, Merchant Maverick considers factors like contract terms, maintenance fees, transactions, features, and user feedback. These factors are given individual scores, which are then factored into an aggregate rating that we use to compare similarly situated companies.
For this list, we considered the strengths and weaknesses of Stripe as an eCommerce solution. We then considered a number of different scenarios in which a particular high-ranking competitor would be a viable or superior option to Stripe. Keep in mind that no competitor exactly mirrors Stripe’s features or pricing, so make sure the one you select offers excellent value relative to your small business’s needs.
Stripe VS The Competition: Read Our In-Depth Comparisons
The list above should give you a good start when it comes to finding an alternative to Stripe. If you’re looking for a deeper dive into how Stripe compares to specific competitors, check out our in-depth comparison guides:
Which Stripe Alternative Is Right For Your Business?
Stripe Payments is a great option for many businesses. The fact that there are no monthly minimums makes it great for startups, and the number of supported countries, payment options, and currencies makes it a serious contender for global businesses, in particular.
The available features make Stripe especially well-suited to high-tech businesses that aren’t satisfied with the standard fare in a payments processor. And the company’s developer resources are second to none.
However, Stripe isn’t ideal for everyone, especially if you have concerns about account stability or your technical prowess. You will also pay more to access some of Stripe’s premium features, which isn’t unreasonable — but it does mean you might be able to more competitive pricing from some of the cheapest credit card processing companies available.
Stripe’s direct competitors include Square, PayPal, PayPal’s subsidiary Braintree, Authorize.Net, and Amazon Payments. However, given the breadth of Stripe’s services, most online payment processors can be considered competitors.
Are there cheaper alternatives to Stripe?
Stripe has no monthly fees and charges on a pay-as-you-go basis. For low-volume businesses, Stripe is one of the cheapest payment processors.
However, for businesses processing more than $5,000/month in credit card sales, opening a merchant account is a cheaper alternative in most cases.
Is Stripe the best payment gateway?
Stripe is among the best payment gateways in terms of features and integrations. However, Stripe is a third-party payment processor, which comes with an inherent risk of account instability. Not all businesses will be a good fit for Stripe.
How is Stripe different from competitors?
Stripe bills itself as a full-stack payments platform and seeks to offer a complete suite of eCommerce payment services within its brand.
How many currencies does Stripe offer?
Stripe supports over 135 currencies.
Is PayPal a Stripe competitor?
PayPal and Stripe are competitors within the eCommerce payments niche.
Why is Stripe so popular?
Stripe is a versatile eCommerce payments solution with excellent developer resources and transparent pricing.
What are the cons of Stripe?
Stripe offers very limited support for in-person transactions and cannot support high-risk businesses.
In Summary: 11 Stripe Competitors & Alternatives You Need To Consider
Chris has been writing about small business topics since 2003. In 2015, he joined Merchant Maverick, where he writes about business financing, payment processing, and demographic trends in entrepreneurship. Chris has been featured in Fox Business, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates, Newsweek, BizJournals, and other publications. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Writing Arts from SUNY Oswego, and a Masters of Science in Interactive Media from the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
View Chris Motola's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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