Payment Gateway Alternatives to Stripe

Stripe is the go-to payment gateway for many startups, and for good reason: it offers powerful APIs, a sleek dashboard, and broad support for global payments. But as companies grow or expand into new regions, many start to ask: are there better options out there?

In this guide, we break down the top Stripe alternatives—why you might consider them, what they offer, and which types of businesses they’re best suited for.

Why Look Beyond Stripe?

Stripe is a fantastic choice for many, but it's not perfect for everyone. Here are a few common reasons companies seek alternatives:

• High fees for non-card payments (e.g., ACH, SEPA, wallets)
• Limited support for certain local payment methods outside North America
• Tax compliance and invoicing complexity, especially for global SaaS
• Strict fraud detection rules that may block legitimate users
• Desire for simpler, all-in-one solutions for billing and tax handling

Whether you're scaling internationally or looking to optimize costs and operations, it's worth exploring what other gateways bring to the table.

What to Consider When Evaluating Payment Gateways

Before picking a provider, evaluate them based on these key dimensions:

• Geographic coverage: Do they support the countries where your customers live?
• Pricing structure: Transparent fees, setup costs, and monthly minimums
• Developer experience: Quality of APIs, docs, SDKs, and sandbox environment
• Integration capabilities: How well does it work with your tech stack?
• Compliance features: Tools for tax, fraud, invoicing, and regulation

Top Stripe Alternatives at a Glance

Deep Dives

Adyen: The Enterprise-Grade Solution

Features:

• 250+ payment methods and 150+ currencies
• Built-in risk and optimization tools
• Local acquiring in major markets
• Designed for scale and efficiency

Best for: Large global companies with high volume and complex payment needs.

Braintree: The PayPal Native

Features:

• Owned by PayPal, with seamless integration
• Recurring billing support
• Advanced fraud protection
• Drop-in UI components

Best for: US and Europe based businesses or those with lots of PayPal users.

Mollie: The European Specialist

Features:

• Supports iDEAL, SEPA, SOFORT, Bancontact, and more
• Simple, transparent pricing
• Great dashboard and API for developers

Best for: European SaaS and ecommerce startups that need strong local coverage without long-term contracts.

Authorize.net: The Industry Veteran

Features:

• 20+ years of reliability
• Built-in subscription tools
• Strong fraud detection and reporting

Best for: US-based businesses in regulated industries or with legacy systems.

Paddle: The Merchant of Record

Features:

• Handles global tax compliance (VAT, sales tax)
• Built-in subscription billing
• Hosted checkout and customer portal
• Acts as your Merchant of Record

Best for: SaaS companies that want to offload tax, compliance, and billing complexity.

Checkout.com: The Customizable Challenger

Features:

• Advanced fraud prevention tools
• Global acquiring with local routing
• High customizability for checkout flows
• Supports modern wallets and APMs

Best for: Scale-ups and enterprise businesses needing global coverage with fine-grained control over UX.

Paystack: The African Leader

Features:

• Fast-growing gateway in Africa
• Supports local mobile money and bank transfers
• Owned by Stripe (but separate product)

Best for: Businesses operating in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, or expanding into Africa.

Razorpay: The India-First Gateway

Features:

• Built-in subscription billing and invoicing
• Strong support for UPI, wallets, and cards
• Offers APIs for payroll, lending, and more

Best for: Indian startups and SMBs that need an all-in-one financial platform.

Wise / Revolut Business: Bank Transfers at Scale

Features:

• International bank transfers with transparent FX
• Easy-to-use interfaces for invoicing and batch payouts
• Ideal for enterprise businesses with high ACV

Best for: Lean SaaS or services businesses focused on bank-to-bank transfers and international expansion.

Migration Considerations

Thinking of moving off Stripe? Here are key things to plan for:

1. Card data migration: Most providers support secure card vault migrations
2. Subscription transitions: You’ll need to recreate active plans
3. Webhook updates: Re-map payment and invoice event triggers
4. Dual-run testing: Run new gateway in parallel to minimize risk

Choosing the Right Alternative

Here’s a quick decision guide based on your needs:

Geographic Focus

• Global → Adyen, Checkout.com
• Europe → Mollie
• US → Braintree or Authorize.net
• Africa → Paystack
• India/SEA → Razorpay
• Lean global ops → Wise / Revolut Business

Business Type

• SaaS with international customers → Paddle, Checkout.com
• Marketplace → Adyen or Stripe Connect
• E-commerce → Braintree, Mollie, Razorpay

Development Resources

• Lean team → Paddle, Braintree, Paystack
• Strong dev team → Adyen, Checkout.com

Final Thoughts

Stripe is an excellent payment gateway, especially for developers and fast-growing startups. But depending on your business model, geography, and needs around tax and compliance, there might be a better fit.

• Adyen: Enterprise-level global coverage with payment optimization
• Braintree: Great for PayPal and recurring billing
• Mollie: Ideal for European SMBs and SaaS
• Authorize.net: Reliable choice for US businesses
• Paddle: Full-stack billing + tax solution for SaaS
• Checkout.com: Enterprise-ready, high customizability
• Paystack: Go-to for African businesses
• Razorpay: India-first all-in-one payment solution
• Wise / Revolut: Ideal for enterprise focused companies with high ACV

Before switching, consider running a test environment with a small % of traffic through your chosen alternative to evaluate real-world performance.