Payment processing companies compared

How to choose a payment processor

Start with how you sell, then compare what you'd really pay. There's no single best payment processing company: the best credit card processing company for a coffee shop is rarely the best one for an online store or a software business. The cheapest headline rate isn't always the cheapest provider once monthly fees, dispute fees, reserves and contract terms are counted.

If you sell in person

Pick a provider with card readers and in-person rates: Square, Helcim and Stax all publish theirs. Candor doesn't offer in-person payments yet.

If you're looking for a Square alternative

Square suits shops and restaurants that sell in person. If you sell only online, compare Stripe, Helcim and Candor on the effective rate for your average sale. If you sell in person at higher volume, Stax and Helcim publish interchange-plus pricing for card-present payments.

If your store runs on Shopify

Shopify Payments is usually the natural choice, because Shopify adds 2% (on its Basic plan) to every sale that goes through another processor.

If your buyers want PayPal or Venmo

Some buyers prefer to pay with PayPal or Venmo. Braintree combines cards, PayPal and Venmo in one integration.

If you're building a platform or marketplace

Stripe's developer tools and platform features are hard to beat. Adyen suits very large businesses that can meet its minimum invoice.

If you want to pay what each card costs

Interchange-plus pricing passes on each card's real cost and adds a fixed markup. Helcim, Stax, Payment Depot, Adyen and Candor's Clear plan all work this way. Clear isn't open yet, so every account starts on Simple for now. Compare the markup, the monthly fee and the per-payment fee together.

If your business is higher-risk

The high-risk specialists in this table don't publish prices, so ask for every fee, the reserve size and release dates, and the hold policy in writing before you sign. Candor publishes its standard fees and how reserves and holds work, and puts higher-risk pricing in writing before you agree to it. Stripe processes Candor's payments, so its list of restricted businesses applies. How our review works.

How to compare quotes fairly

1. Work out the effective rate. Total monthly fees divided by monthly card sales, using your own average sale. The fee calculator does this.
2. Ask for every fee in writing. Monthly, PCI, statement, batch, chargeback, dispute, refund, cancellation and early-termination fees.
3. Ask about reserves and holds. How much can be held, for how long, and what triggers it.
4. Check the contract. Its length, whether it renews on its own, and what leaving costs.
5. Check payout timing. When money from a Monday sale reaches your bank.
6. Ask about your saved cards. Whether the provider will export them if you leave.

When Candor isn't the right choice

We'd rather say it here. Pick someone else if you need in-person card readers, if your business is outside the US, if you need currencies other than US dollars, or if you process tens of millions a month and can negotiate enterprise pricing directly. And because Stripe processes Candor's payments, Candor can't help if Stripe has closed your account or doesn't support your type of business.

If the lowest price matters most, Stripe on its own costs less than we do for almost every business: our Simple plan is Stripe's standard price plus 1%. Square's and Braintree's published online rates are lower than ours too, Helcim's top volume tiers are cheaper than our pricing, and enterprise providers such as Adyen negotiate custom rates.

Sources