payment gateway cost, verified June 2026
Payment Gateway Cost 2026: Verified Rates From 26 Vendors
Verified headline rates from 26 vendors. From Helcim's interchange + 0.15% + 6c at the cheap end to Klarna's 5.99% + 30c on standard BNPL terms. Six vendors, including Adyen, Worldpay, Checkout.com, NMI, BlueSnap and Fiserv enterprise, refuse to publish rates publicly and are flagged here as quote-only, never inferred.
Headline rate, cheapest published first
Last verified June 2026
23.3x spread between the cheapest published rate (Helcim, Interchange + 0.15% + 6c (in-person, $1M-$5M tier)) and the dearest (2Checkout / Verifone, 3.5% + 35c (2Sell)). 6 vendors quote-only, no published rate.
Published headline rateQuote-only vendorSource: vendor pricing pages, see each vendor page for live URL.
Quick answer
Headline rate cheat sheet
Flat-rate vendors for SMB run 2.4% to 3.5% plus 10c to 49c per transaction. Interchange-plus (Helcim, Stax) lands around interchange + 0.15% to 0.50% plus cents per transaction once you carry the monthly subscription. Quote-only enterprise processors (Adyen, Worldpay, Checkout.com enterprise) typically negotiate to 10 to 30 bps plus interchange and scheme at $50M+/yr GMV.
Where your money goes
Every card transaction stacks five fees: interchange (to the issuing bank), assessment (to Visa or Mastercard), gateway, processor markup, and ancillary (disputes, monthly, PCI, FX). Flat-rate vendors hide the first four behind one number. Interchange-plus exposes them so you can see what is negotiable.
Cross-vendor cost calculator
Enter your GMV, average ticket, international card share and dispute rate. The estimator uses each vendor's published headline rate and per-transaction fixed fee. Quote-only vendors are listed but not estimated, in line with our zero-inferred-rates rule.
| Vendor | Model | Annual cost | Effective bps | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| >Stax | subscription | $39.6k | 198 | $99/mo + IC + 8c (card-present) |
| Helcim | interchange-plus | $40.8k | 204 | Interchange + 0.15% + 6c (in-person, $1M-$5M tier) |
| Shopify Payments | flat-rate | $41.5k | 208 | 1.5% + 25p online (UK Advanced) |
| Authorize.Net | flat-rate | $50.5k | 252 | $25/mo + 10c per tx (Gateway-Only) |
| Square | flat-rate | $54.6k | 273 | 2.4% + 15c (Square Premium tap/dip) |
| Chase Payment Solutions | tiered | $57.1k | 285 | 2.6% + 10c (in-person) |
| Elavon | flat-rate | $57.7k | 288 | 2.6% + 12c (in-person, qualified) |
| Braintree | flat-rate | $70.6k | 353 | 2.89% + 29c (standard) |
| Amazon Pay | flat-rate | $71.7k | 358 | 2.9% domestic processing fee + $0.30 authorization fee (US) |
| Stripe | flat-rate | $72.1k | 360 | 2.9% + 30c (US online card) |
| PayPal | flat-rate | $72.2k | 361 | 2.89% + 29c (Advanced Checkout) |
| 2Checkout / Verifone | tiered | $82.8k | 414 | 3.5% + 35c (2Sell) |
| Mollie | flat-rate | Not directly comparable, see vendor page | n/a | EU-focused. Pricing per payment method (iDEAL flat 0.32 EUR, SEPA 0.35 EUR, Klarna 2.99%-4.99%). Volume pricing above 100K EUR/mo. |
| Razorpay | flat-rate | Not directly comparable, see vendor page | n/a | India-focused. UPI is MDR-free by RBI policy but Razorpay charges a 2% platform fee across all instruments. |
| GoCardless | flat-rate | Not directly comparable, see vendor page | n/a | Direct Debit specialist. No US ACH. UK Bacs and SEPA core markets. Three tiers (Standard, Advanced, Pro) layer in recovery, identity, fraud features. |
| Apple Pay | platform-fee | Not directly comparable, see vendor page | n/a | Apple does not charge merchants a separate fee. Cost equals the underlying card processing rate (typically 2.9% + 30c online). |
| Google Pay | platform-fee | Not directly comparable, see vendor page | n/a | Google's own API FAQ states it plainly: Google Pay does not additionally charge users, merchants and developers additional fees to use the Google Pay API for payments, and merchants continue to pay processing fees to their payment processor. So the cost of accepting Google Pay is whatever your gateway already charges for a card transaction, and the comparison that matters is the processor's rate, not Google's. The pay.google.com business page this entry previously cited carries no fee statement at all, so the citation now points at the FAQ that does. |
| Klarna | bnpl | Not directly comparable, see vendor page | n/a | Most merchants pay 5.99% + 30c. Volume-based pricing down to 3.29% + 30c above $5M/yr. |
| Wise Business | flat-rate | Not directly comparable, see vendor page | n/a | Not a card acquirer. Used to receive international bank payments at mid-market FX. Card acceptance via Wise+Stripe partnership. |
| Adyen | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | n/a | Adyen publishes indicative components ($0.13 processing + interchange + scheme + 0.60% on Visa) but explicitly states the final markup is by quote. Enterprise interchange-plus structure. |
| Worldpay | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | n/a | Worldpay (FIS) does not publish US rates publicly. All pricing components (flat-rate, interchange-plus markup, per-transaction fixed fee, monthly minimums) are negotiated per merchant and disclosed only inside the signed merchant agreement. Treat any third-party rate claim as anecdotal until your own quote arrives. |
| Checkout.com | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | n/a | Checkout.com publishes pricing structure options (flat-rate, interchange++, free for charities) but no specific rates. Tailored quote required. |
| NMI | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | n/a | Sold via ISOs, software partners, banks, and payment facilitators. No public direct-to-merchant pricing. Final cost depends on the reseller. |
| BlueSnap | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | n/a | Pricing distributed via region-specific PDF agreements. No headline rate on the public page. |
| Fiserv / Clover | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | n/a | Clover hardware is made by Fiserv but processing rates depend entirely on the reseller. Bank, ISO, and direct Clover channels all quote different rates for the same hardware. Merchant-reported bands, varies by reseller: roughly 2.3% to 2.6% + 10c in-person and 3.5% + 10c keyed. Treat anecdotal until your own quote arrives. |
| Afterpay | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | n/a | Afterpay does not publish a public US merchant rate card. Merchant-reported bands sit in the 4%-6% range plus per-transaction fee. Clearpay (EU/UK) reported at 4%-6%. |
Estimator uses each vendor's published headline rate plus its published per-transaction fixed fee, scaled to your GMV and ticket size. Disputes priced at the vendor's published per-dispute fee where one exists. Quote-only vendors are not estimated, in line with our zero-inferred-rates rule. Interchange-plus and subscription models use a conservative 1.8% interchange proxy.
Every vendor at a glance
| Vendor | Model | Headline rate | Quote only | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | flat-rate | 2.9% + 30c (US online card) | Published | Global, all sizes |
| PayPal | flat-rate | 2.89% + 29c (Advanced Checkout) | Published | Global, all sizes |
| Square | flat-rate | 2.4% + 15c (Square Premium tap/dip) | Published | SMB and SaaS, low-volume |
| Adyen | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | Quote only | Enterprise, custom volume |
| Braintree | flat-rate | 2.89% + 29c (standard) | Published | Global, all sizes |
| Authorize.Net | flat-rate | $25/mo + 10c per tx (Gateway-Only) | Published | SMB and SaaS, low-volume |
| Worldpay | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | Quote only | Enterprise, custom volume |
| Checkout.com | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | Quote only | Enterprise, custom volume |
| Helcim | interchange-plus | Interchange + 0.15% + 6c (in-person, $1M-$5M tier) | Published | SMB and SaaS, low-volume |
| Stax | subscription | $99/mo + IC + 8c (card-present) | Published | SMB and SaaS, low-volume |
| Shopify Payments | flat-rate | 1.5% + 25p online (UK Advanced) | Published | SMB and SaaS, low-volume |
| 2Checkout / Verifone | tiered | 3.5% + 35c (2Sell) | Published | Global, all sizes |
| Mollie | flat-rate | 1.8% + 0.25 EUR (EEA consumer cards) | Published | Regional, local payment methods |
| Razorpay | flat-rate | 2% platform fee (domestic, India) | Published | Regional, local payment methods |
| GoCardless | flat-rate | 1% + 20p domestic (UK Standard, capped at 4 GBP) | Published | Direct Debit and bank-to-bank |
| NMI | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | Quote only | Enterprise, custom volume |
| BlueSnap | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | Quote only | Global, all sizes |
| Elavon | flat-rate | 2.6% + 12c (in-person, qualified) | Published | Enterprise, custom volume |
| Chase Payment Solutions | tiered | 2.6% + 10c (in-person) | Published | Enterprise, custom volume |
| Fiserv / Clover | quote-only | Quote only, contact reseller | Quote only | Enterprise, custom volume |
| Apple Pay | platform-fee | No merchant fee from Apple (pays underlying processor rate) | Published | Wallet rail (uses underlying card rate) |
| Google Pay | platform-fee | No merchant fee from Google (pays underlying processor rate) | Published | Wallet rail (uses underlying card rate) |
| Amazon Pay | flat-rate | 2.9% domestic processing fee + $0.30 authorization fee (US) | Published | Wallet rail (uses underlying card rate) |
| Klarna | bnpl | 3.29% + 30c (negotiated, $5M+/yr) | Published | Buy now pay later, credit-risk priced |
| Afterpay | quote-only | Quote only, contact vendor | Quote only | Buy now pay later, credit-risk priced |
| Wise Business | flat-rate | $31 one-off + per-currency receive fees | Published | Direct Debit and bank-to-bank |
Which gateway for which profile
SaaS subscription
Stripe Billing or Braintree IC+ at scale. Recurring billing rails, dunning, SCA support.
Ecommerce SMB
Shopify Payments if you are on Shopify (1.5%-2% online), Square for in-person + online, Helcim for true IC+.
Marketplace / platform
Stripe Connect, Adyen for Platforms (quote-only), Braintree Marketplace. Layered split-payment fees apply.
High-risk vertical
Specialist high-risk processors at 3.5%-7%+ plus rolling reserves of 5%-10% held 90-180 days.
International / cross-border
Adyen, Checkout.com, Worldpay for local-method coverage. Wise Business for receiving in mid-market FX.
SMB in-person
Square Free or Helcim. No monthly fee, simple pricing, no contract.
What this site does differently
- Quote-only vendors flagged as quote-only on every page. No invented starting at rate.
- Zero inferred rates. If it is not in the vendor's own published schedule, it is not on the page.
- Every numeric claim has a source link and a verification date.
- Independent of every vendor listed. No affiliate links. No sponsored placements.
See methodology, the full quote-only vendor list, or our independence statement.
verified Last verified June 2026