Buying guide, verified June 2026

Payment Gateway Buying Guide

End-to-end framework: profile your volume and mix, pick the right family (flat-rate vs interchange-plus), shortlist by channel, run the comparison (or the RFP), and sign with eyes open. Linked to per-vendor and per-topic detail pages throughout.

  1. 1
    1. Profile
    GMV, AOV, card mix, channel mix, intl share.
  2. 2
    2. Family
    Flat-rate, interchange-plus, or subscription.
  3. 3
    3. Shortlist
    Two published + one quote-only.
  4. 4
    4. Compare
    Worked example on real numbers.
  5. 5
    5. RFP
    Only if mid-market+ and quote-only candidate.
  6. 6
    6. Sign
    ETF, minimum, PCI, account-updater, chargeback.

Vendor map by audience

FeatureUnder $10K/mo$10K-$100K/mo$100K-$1M/moOver $1M/mo
Default publishedSquare / StripeStripe / HelcimHelcimRFP
Add wallet for conversionPayPalPayPal / Amazon PayAmazon PayPayPal Braintree
Quote-only worth a callNoNoAdyen / WorldpayAdyen + 2 others
Recurring billingStripe Billing StarterStripe Billing Scale or BraintreeBraintree / GoCardlessAdyen / Worldpay

Related

RFP template
Field-by-field.
SMB cost
Under $100K monthly.
Enterprise cost
Over $1M monthly.
Last verified June 2026. Next review September 2026. Rates change without notice; always confirm directly with the vendor before signing a contract.