Your payment gateway is invisible when it works and catastrophic when it doesn't. The wrong choice costs you in three ways: fees that eat margin, declined transactions that kill conversions, and frozen funds when a processor's risk team gets nervous. Here's how the seven major gateways actually compare in 2026.
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Two things to know before comparing fees. First, the sticker rate (~2.9% + 30¢ almost everywhere) matters less than authorization rates — a gateway that approves 2% more of your legitimate transactions is worth far more than one that charges 0.1% less. Second, offering multiple payment options isn't either/or: most successful stores run a primary card processor plus PayPal plus a buy-now-pay-later option, because each one captures customers the others would lose.
The developer-darling that became the default for internet businesses. Stripe's real advantages in 2026: the best documentation and API in payments, adaptive machine-learning fraud protection (Radar) that improves authorization rates, and a product line that grows with you — subscriptions, invoicing, tax handling, and in-person terminals all under one account. If your platform is Shopify you'll use Shopify Payments (which is Stripe under the hood); everywhere else, Stripe is the first name to test.
Deep dive: read our full Stripe review.
Not the best gateway — but the one your customers trust most. PayPal's 400+ million active accounts mean a meaningful slice of shoppers will only buy if they see the PayPal button, especially internationally and for first-time purchases from unknown brands. Fees run higher than Stripe's and the seller-protection disputes lean buyer-friendly, but as a secondary option next to your main processor, it reliably lifts checkout conversion.
The winner when you sell both in person and online. Square built the best small-business point-of-sale system, then extended it to e-commerce — so your inventory, customers, and reporting stay unified whether the sale happens at a market stall or on your website. The free Square Online store builder is genuinely usable. Pure online stores are better served by Stripe; hybrid retail is where Square is unbeatable.
PayPal's developer-focused gateway, and the quiet way to get cards, PayPal, Venmo, and digital wallets through a single integration. Braintree's rates match Stripe's, and its marketplace tooling (split payments, sub-merchant onboarding) remains strong. The developer experience trails Stripe's — documentation and dashboard both feel a generation older — but if PayPal and Venmo are big for your audience, one integration covering all of it is a real argument.
The veteran of the list — processing online payments since 1996, now owned by Visa. Authorize.net works differently: it's a gateway that connects to your own merchant account, which means you can negotiate processing rates directly as volume grows, instead of being stuck on flat-rate pricing forever. The $25 monthly fee and dated interface make it a poor fit for new stores, but high-volume merchants often save real money with this structure.
The gateway the giants use — Spotify, Uber, and McDonald's run on Adyen. Its single platform handles local payment methods worldwide (iDEAL, SEPA, Alipay, and dozens more) with authorization-rate optimization that measurably beats generic processing at scale. Interchange++ pricing means large merchants pay less than flat-rate processors charge. There's a monthly invoice minimum, so this only makes sense once you're processing serious international volume.
Not a full gateway — a buy-now-pay-later layer you add on top of one. Klarna lets customers split purchases into four interest-free payments while you get paid in full upfront, with Klarna absorbing the repayment risk. For stores with average orders above ~$75 (fashion, furniture, electronics), adding BNPL consistently lifts conversion and order size. The merchant fees are the highest on this list, so measure the lift against the cost — for most higher-ticket stores it pays for itself.
| Gateway | Online Rate (US) | Monthly Fee | Standout Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 2.9% + 30¢ | None | Developer tools & ecosystem |
| PayPal | ~3.49% + fixed | None | Consumer trust |
| Square | 2.9% + 30¢ | None | Online + in-person unity |
| Braintree | 2.89% + 29¢ | None | PayPal + Venmo in one API |
| Authorize.net | 2.9% + 30¢ | $25 | Own merchant account rates |
| Adyen | Interchange++ + ~13¢ | Minimums | Global scale & auth rates |
| Klarna | 3.29–5.99% + 30¢ | None | BNPL conversion lift |
The stack we'd set up for most stores: Stripe as the primary processor, PayPal as the second button, and Klarna once your average order tops ~$75. That combination covers card payments at fair rates, captures PayPal-only shoppers, and gives price-sensitive buyers a way to say yes — without any monthly fees until Klarna's per-transaction costs kick in.
The exceptions: selling in person too → Square. Heavy Venmo audience → Braintree. Negotiating-scale volume → Authorize.net with your own merchant account, or Adyen once you're global.
Create Your Stripe Account →Payments are one piece of the stack. See our picks for e-commerce platforms, dropshipping & fulfillment tools, and marketing & CRO tools — or browse everything on the My Seven Stars homepage.