Payment Gateway Fees Comparison
Fee Comparison at a Glance
The following comparison covers the standard online card-not-present transaction rate for each gateway, along with monthly fees, international fees, and notable additional costs. All rates are for US domestic transactions unless stated otherwise.
1. Stripe
Online rate: 2.9% + $0.30
International cards: +1.0%
Currency conversion: +1.0%
In-person rate: 2.7% + $0.05 (Stripe Terminal)
Monthly fee: $0
Chargeback fee: $15
Stripe's pricing is genuinely all-inclusive at the base level. No setup fees, no statement fees, no PCI compliance fees, no monthly minimums. The 2.9% + $0.30 rate covers interchange, assessments, and Stripe's markup. International cards add 1%, and currency conversion adds another 1% on top. For volume discounts, businesses processing more than $100,000 per month can contact Stripe's sales team for custom pricing, which typically reduces the rate to 2.5% to 2.7% + $0.30.
Cost on $10,000/month (333 transactions at $30 average): $390
Cost on $50,000/month (1,667 transactions at $30 average): $1,950
2. PayPal Checkout
Online rate: 3.49% + $0.49
Advanced Credit/Debit Card: 2.99% + $0.49
International: varies by currency, typically +1.5%
In-person (Zettle): 2.29% + $0.09
Monthly fee: $0
Chargeback fee: $20
PayPal has the most complex fee structure of any major processor. The standard PayPal Checkout rate of 3.49% + $0.49 applies when customers pay using their PayPal account. The lower 2.99% + $0.49 rate applies only when customers enter their card directly through PayPal's Advanced Credit and Debit Card processing (powered by Braintree). The high per-transaction fixed fee of $0.49 makes PayPal particularly expensive for low-value items: on a $10 sale, PayPal takes $0.84 (8.4%), compared to Stripe's $0.59 (5.9%).
Cost on $10,000/month at standard rate: $512
Cost on $50,000/month at standard rate: $2,561
3. Square
Online rate: 2.9% + $0.30
In-person rate: 2.6% + $0.10
Keyed-in rate: 3.5% + $0.15
Invoice rate: 3.3% + $0.30
Monthly fee: $0
Chargeback fee: $0 (Square absorbs chargeback costs on qualifying disputes)
Square matches Stripe's online rate and has a notable advantage: no chargeback fees. Square absorbs the cost of qualifying chargebacks through its Chargeback Protection program, which covers disputes up to $250 per month. This is unusual in the industry and valuable for merchants who occasionally face disputes. Square's in-person rate of 2.6% + $0.10 is competitive, and the free POS app with affordable hardware makes it the most cost-effective option for businesses with both online and in-person sales.
Cost on $10,000/month (online only): $390
Cost on $50,000/month (online only): $1,950
4. Shopify Payments
Online rate (Basic plan): 2.9% + $0.30
Online rate (Shopify plan): 2.6% + $0.30
Online rate (Advanced plan): 2.4% + $0.30
In-person rate (Basic): 2.7% + $0.00
Monthly fee: Included in Shopify plan ($39/$105/$399)
Third-party gateway surcharge: 2% / 1% / 0.6%
Shopify Payments rates decrease with higher-tier Shopify plans. The real value is avoiding the surcharge Shopify imposes on external gateways. A store on the Basic plan processing $20,000 per month through Stripe directly (not Shopify Payments) would pay $400 per month in surcharges alone on top of Stripe's fees. Shopify Payments eliminates that surcharge entirely. The Advanced plan rate of 2.4% + $0.30 is one of the lowest flat rates available from any major processor.
Cost on $10,000/month (Basic plan): $390 (same as Stripe, but no surcharge)
Cost on $50,000/month (Advanced plan): $1,700 (savings of $250/month vs Stripe flat-rate)
5. Helcim
Online rate: Interchange + 0.50% + $0.25 (decreasing with volume)
In-person rate: Interchange + 0.30% + $0.08 (decreasing with volume)
Monthly fee: $0
Chargeback fee: $15
Helcim offers interchange-plus pricing without any monthly fees, which is unusual. The processor markup decreases automatically as your monthly volume increases: 0.40% + $0.18 at $25,000/month, 0.35% + $0.15 at $50,000/month, and 0.25% + $0.10 at $100,000/month. For small businesses processing $10,000 or more per month, Helcim is typically the cheapest option available.
Cost on $10,000/month (effective ~2.5%): $333 (savings of $57/month vs flat-rate)
Cost on $50,000/month (effective ~2.3%): $1,400 (savings of $550/month vs Stripe)
6. Authorize.net
All-in-one rate: 2.9% + $0.30
Gateway-only rate: $0.10 per transaction + $25/month (paired with merchant account)
Monthly gateway fee: $25
Chargeback fee: $25
Authorize.net operates in two modes. The all-in-one plan bundles processing and gateway services at 2.9% + $0.30 plus the $25 monthly fee, which makes it more expensive than Stripe for small businesses. The gateway-only mode, where Authorize.net acts as the gateway for your own merchant account, charges just $0.10 per transaction plus the $25 monthly fee. The second mode, paired with a merchant account offering interchange-plus pricing, is how high-volume businesses have used Authorize.net since the 1990s and remains cost-effective at scale.
Cost on $10,000/month (all-in-one): $415 ($390 processing + $25 monthly fee)
Cost on $50,000/month (gateway + merchant account, effective ~2.3%): $1,342 ($1,150 interchange/markup + $167 gateway fees + $25 monthly)
7. Braintree
Online rate: 2.59% + $0.49
Monthly fee: $0
Chargeback fee: $15
Braintree is owned by PayPal and powers PayPal's Advanced Credit and Debit Card processing. Its standalone rate of 2.59% + $0.49 has a lower percentage than Stripe but a higher per-transaction fee. On a $100 transaction, Braintree costs $3.08 versus Stripe's $3.20, saving $0.12. On a $20 transaction, Braintree costs $1.01 versus Stripe's $0.88, costing $0.13 more. Braintree becomes cheaper than Stripe when your average transaction exceeds approximately $35. It also supports PayPal natively and offers a clean developer experience that is generally considered better than PayPal's own APIs.
Cost on $10,000/month (333 transactions at $30 avg): $422
Cost on $50,000/month (1,000 transactions at $50 avg): $1,785
8. Adyen
Online rate: Interchange++ (interchange + scheme fees + $0.13 processing fee)
Monthly fee: $0 (but minimum monthly invoice of $120)
Chargeback fee: varies by region
Adyen uses interchange++ pricing, which separates interchange, card scheme (assessment) fees, and Adyen's per-transaction processing fee. The processing fee starts at $0.13 per transaction. There is no percentage markup from Adyen, only the flat per-transaction fee on top of interchange and assessments. This makes Adyen one of the cheapest processors per transaction at high volumes. The $120 minimum monthly invoice means you need to process at least $4,000 per month to avoid paying for unused capacity. Adyen powers payments for major companies like eBay, Spotify, and Uber, and is increasingly accessible to growing mid-market businesses.
Cost on $10,000/month (effective ~2.2%): $263
Cost on $50,000/month (effective ~2.1%): $1,267
9. Payment Depot
Online rate: Interchange + $0.15 per transaction
Monthly membership fee: $79 (Starter) / $99 (Growth)
Chargeback fee: $25
Payment Depot uses a membership pricing model: you pay a flat monthly fee and get wholesale interchange-plus rates with zero percentage markup, only a small per-transaction fee. This model is extremely cost-effective at high volumes because the per-transaction cost drops toward raw interchange as your volume increases. At $50,000 per month, Payment Depot's effective rate can be as low as 2.0% to 2.2%, saving hundreds per month compared to flat-rate processors. The tradeoff is the fixed monthly fee, which makes it expensive at low volumes.
Cost on $10,000/month: $379 ($250 interchange + $50 per-transaction fees + $79 membership)
Cost on $50,000/month: $1,429 ($1,100 interchange + $250 per-transaction fees + $79 membership)
10. Stax (formerly Fattmerchant)
Online rate: Interchange + $0.15 per transaction
Monthly membership fee: $99 (Growth) / $199 (Pro)
Chargeback fee: $25
Stax uses the same membership model as Payment Depot: monthly subscription plus wholesale interchange rates. The Growth plan at $99 per month includes processing up to $150,000 per month, invoicing, and basic analytics. The Pro plan at $199 per month adds advanced reporting, multi-location support, and higher volume limits. Stax's technology platform is more polished than Payment Depot's, with better reporting and a cleaner dashboard, but the higher monthly fee means you need more volume to break even compared to flat-rate processors.
Cost on $10,000/month: $399 ($250 interchange + $50 per-transaction + $99 membership)
Cost on $50,000/month: $1,449 ($1,100 interchange + $250 per-transaction + $99 membership)
Which Gateway Is Cheapest for You
Processing under $5,000/month: Stripe or Square. Zero monthly fees and simple pricing beat everything else at this volume. Helcim is also free monthly but the savings per transaction are minimal at this scale.
Processing $5,000 to $15,000/month: Helcim. The interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fees saves $30 to $100 per month compared to flat-rate processors, with no added complexity.
Processing $15,000 to $50,000/month: Helcim, Payment Depot, or Stax. All offer interchange-plus with savings of $100 to $500+ per month compared to flat-rate. Helcim has no monthly fee, making it the simplest to evaluate. Payment Depot and Stax have lower per-transaction markups but higher monthly fees.
Processing over $50,000/month: Adyen, or custom pricing from Stripe. Adyen's interchange++ with $0.13 per transaction is hard to beat at scale. Stripe's enterprise pricing team offers competitive rates for high-volume businesses. Consider a traditional merchant account with Authorize.net as the gateway for maximum flexibility.
On Shopify: Shopify Payments, regardless of volume. The surcharge elimination alone makes it cheaper than any alternative on the Shopify platform.