- Payment gateways compared
- Eleven payment gateways to look at
- Where to start for your business
- The card security rules that come with taking payments
- Gateway, processor or merchant of record?
- Questions to ask before you choose a payment gateway
- Signs your checkout needs attention
- My plain advice on choosing a payment gateway
- Frequently asked questions
The best payment gateways let you accept card and wallet payments on your website securely and pass the money to your account. Some are global platforms for large businesses, while others focus on software sellers, European shops or US merchants. Eleven options follow in no particular order.
Your checkout is where all your marketing either pays off or falls apart. A slow, confusing or untrustworthy payment page can undo weeks of work, and you'll rarely hear why a buyer didn't finish.
The eleven gateways below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the provider's own website, read this week. If you're torn between two of the best-known names, my comparison of Stripe and PayPal goes into more depth.
Payment gateways compared
I checked the free plan column on each tool's own website, as of Oct 2026. Yes means the site names a free plan, a free account, a free allowance or an open source version. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to start for free, so check the vendor's page before you sign up.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adyen | Enterprise payments platform | Large, multi-country businesses | Not stated |
| Authorize.net | Long-running online payment gateway | A familiar gateway for US merchants | Not stated |
| Braintree | PayPal's enterprise payment solution | PayPal and cards in one checkout | Not stated |
| Checkout.com | Global payment services provider | Performance-focused online checkout | Not stated |
| Lemon Squeezy | Payments, tax and subscriptions for software | Selling software and digital products | Not stated |
| Mollie | Online and in-person payments platform | European online shops | Not stated |
| NMI | Embedded payments platform | SaaS platforms adding payments | Not stated |
| Paddle | Payments and tax compliance for SaaS and apps | SaaS and app subscriptions | Not stated |
| Payline | Merchant services and payment processing | In-person, online and recurring billing | Not stated |
| Razorpay | Online payments platform for India | Selling to customers in India | Not stated |
| Stripe | Global payment processing platform | Developer-friendly online payments | Not stated |
Eleven payment gateways to look at
Adyen
Best for: Larger businesses selling across many countries and channels that want one enterprise platform for online and in-person payments.
Authorize.net
Best for: US merchants who want a long-established gateway for taking credit card and other online payments on their website.
Braintree
Best for: Online businesses that want cards, PayPal and digital wallets handled by one gateway from the PayPal family.
Checkout.com
Best for: Growing online brands that want a global payment services provider focused on the performance of their checkout.
Lemon Squeezy
Best for: Indie software makers who want payments, sales tax and subscriptions handled for them without building billing themselves.
Mollie
Best for: UK and European small businesses that want a straightforward platform for online and in-person payments.
NMI
Best for: Software companies and resellers that want to embed payments inside their own platform for their merchants.
Paddle
Best for: SaaS and mobile app businesses that want subscriptions, payments and tax compliance handled as a merchant of record.
Payline
Best for: US small businesses that want online, in-person, recurring and ACH payments from one merchant services provider.
Razorpay
Best for: Businesses that sell to customers in India and need a payments platform built around local payment methods.
Stripe
Best for: Online businesses with a developer on hand who want flexible, well-documented payments that can grow into billing and more.
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Where to start for your business
- Selling software or digital products worldwide: Paddle or Lemon Squeezy.
- A UK or European online shop: Mollie.
- Adding payments to your own SaaS platform: NMI.
- Customers in India: Razorpay.
- A global brand focused on checkout performance: Checkout.com.
The card security rules that come with taking payments
The PCI Security Standards Council says its Data Security Standard is intended for entities that store, process or transmit cardholder data, and that includes merchants as well as processors and service providers.
In plain terms, taking cards brings security duties with it. A hosted checkout or payment page from your gateway keeps card details off your own website, which is one of the simplest ways for a small business to reduce what it has to look after.
Gateway, processor or merchant of record?
A gateway passes payment details securely between your checkout and the bank. Many providers now bundle the gateway, the processing and the merchant account together, so you only deal with one company.
A merchant of record goes a step further and sells to your customer on your behalf, handling sales tax and invoices too. That suits software and digital product sellers with customers in many countries.
Questions to ask before you choose a payment gateway
- Does it support the countries and currencies I sell in?
- Can it handle subscriptions as well as one-off payments?
- Which wallets and local payment methods does it offer?
- Does it work with my shop or website platform?
- How quickly does money reach my bank account?
- Who handles disputes and chargebacks?
Signs your checkout needs attention
- Customers ask how to pay you. Add the methods they expect.
- Payments fail for overseas buyers. Check local method support.
- You handle tax by hand. Consider a merchant of record.
- Checkout feels slow on mobile. Test it on your own phone.
Do you make a payment gateway? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on choosing a payment gateway
Choose for where your customers are, not where you're based. A gateway that offers the wallets and local methods your buyers already use will usually lift your checkout far more than a small difference in features.
Then test the checkout yourself on your phone, from start to finish, before you launch. You'd be surprised how often a step that's fine on a laptop breaks on a small screen. Once it's live, keep an eye on your ecommerce metrics so you notice quickly if abandoned checkouts start creeping up.
Frequently asked questions
What is a payment gateway?
A payment gateway is the service that securely sends a customer's payment details from your checkout to the bank and returns whether the payment was approved.
What's the difference between a payment gateway and a payment processor?
The gateway carries payment details securely, while the processor moves the money. Many providers now offer both together.
Do I need a merchant account?
Not always. Many modern providers bundle the merchant account with the gateway, so you can start taking payments with one sign-up.
What is a merchant of record?
A merchant of record sells to your customer on your behalf and handles sales tax and invoicing, which suits software and digital product sellers.
Does a hosted checkout help with card security?
It can. A hosted payment page keeps card details off your own website, which reduces the security work you have to do.
Can I use more than one payment gateway?
Yes. Some businesses offer two options at checkout, or keep a second gateway ready in case the first has problems.
