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Best Payment Gateways for E-commerce
The best payment gateways for e-commerce — processors and gateways compared on fees, checkout conversion, fraud protection and multi-currency support.
An e-commerce payment gateway is the last step of the funnel, and it is where the largest single drop-off in a store usually happens. The gateway determines which payment methods appear, how long the checkout takes, and whether a bank decides the transaction looks risky.
Beyond the processor, the checkout itself matters more than most merchants expect. Shoppers abandon checkouts that ask for an account, that fail to show the total until the last step, or that do not offer the payment method they trust. A gateway that supports several local methods routinely outperforms one with a slightly lower headline fee.
Optimising checkout conversion
Enable as many methods as you can, keep the form short, show the total including tax and shipping from the first step, offer accelerated wallets for returning customers, and make sure the mobile experience is genuinely good. These changes typically produce more revenue than negotiating a fraction of a percent off your processing fee.
Compare the top productivity at a glance
Every option below is hand-picked and currently active. Compare pricing, platform and the job each one is genuinely best at before you commit.
| Tool | Pricing | Platform | Best for | Our take |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Checkout | ~2.9% + $0.30 | Global | Fast, high-converting hosted checkout | Best overall checkout experience |
| Stripe Payment Links | ~2.9% + $0.30 | Global | Quick selling on social and email | Best for selling without a website |
| PayPal Checkout | ~2.9% + $0.30 | Global | Buyer-trusted checkout | Best for consumer audiences |
| Shopify Payments | ~2.5% + $0.30 | Global | Stores built on Shopify | Best for Shopify merchants |
| Square Online | ~2.6% + $0.10 | Global | Combined online and in-person sellers | Best omnichannel small business |
| Adyen | Custom | Global | International enterprise stores | Best for global enterprise |
| Mollie | ~1.8% + $0.25 | Europe | European e-commerce | Best for European markets |
| Klarna Checkout | Merchant discount rate | Europe, US | Increasing average order value | Best pay-later integration |
| Checkout.com | Custom | Global | Enterprise and platform businesses | Best modular enterprise gateway |
| Braintree | Custom | Global | Tokenised repeat payments | Best vaulting and tokenisation |
| 2Checkout | ~3.5% + $0.30 | Global | Selling internationally without entities | Best merchant of record |
| Authorize.net | Custom | Global | Recurring billing at scale | Best subscription gateway |
| WooPayments | ~2.9% + $0.30 | Global | WordPress stores | Best for WooCommerce stores |
| Razorpay | ~2% | India | Indian e-commerce | Best for the Indian market |
| Paystack | ~1.5% + fixed | Africa | African e-commerce | Best for African markets |
| Lemon Squeezy | ~5% + $0.50 | Global | Digital goods and SaaS | Best for digital products |
| Paddle | ~5% + $0.50 | Global | SaaS and software subscriptions | Best for SaaS subscriptions |
| Gumroad | ~10% flat | Global | Creator and digital goods sales | Easiest creator storefront |
| Worldpay | Custom | Global | High-volume enterprise acquiring | Best enterprise acquiring scale |
| Spreedly | Custom | Global | Multi-gateway routing and failover | Best payment orchestration |
Lemon Squeezy
Merchant of record for digital products with automatic VAT handling.
Frequently asked questions
Which payment gateway is best for e-commerce?
Stripe is the best overall e-commerce gateway because it combines competitive pricing with the widest payment method support and a checkout that converts well. Shopify Payments is the best choice if your store is on Shopify, Square if you also sell in person, and PayPal if your customers are broad, international, or buyer-side-first.
What is the best payment gateway for small e-commerce stores?
For a small store, Stripe and PayPal are the two to compare — both have no monthly fee and charge only on transactions, and both have no setup cost. Shopify Payments is cheaper still if you are on Shopify. The deciding factor is usually which payment methods your customers want to use, not the fee.
Do payment gateways affect conversion rates?
They do, and often significantly. Wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal complete in a couple of taps, and shoppers abandon checkouts that ask them to create an account or type a card number on a phone. Adding one local method and enabling express checkout is usually the single biggest checkout conversion win available.
What is a merchant of record and do I need one?
A merchant of record is a provider that becomes the legal seller to your customer, handling sales tax, VAT, chargebacks and compliance. You need one when you sell into many countries without a local entity. For domestic sales with an established business, a standard gateway is simpler and cheaper.
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