Payment processing software helps merchants accept online payments, choose checkout integration paths, manage payment methods and payouts, and handle refunds, disputes, and fraud workflows.
Relevant software
| Software | Best for | Free trial | Free plan | Pricing note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Payments Payment platform with hosted, embedded, no-code, and API-based paths for accepting online and in-person payments. | Merchants and software teams that want flexible checkout options, broad payment-method support, and room for custom integration. | Not applicable | Not applicable | Standard pricing is pay-as-you-go by payment method, with custom pricing available for higher-volume or specialized businesses. Confirm current domestic, international, currency conversion, dispute, payout, and add-on fees. |
| PayPal Checkout Online checkout product for accepting PayPal payments, major cards, and eligible alternative methods through hosted, platform, API, or no-code paths. | Merchants that want PayPal at checkout alongside card acceptance and a choice of ecommerce-platform, developer, or payment-link setup paths. | Not applicable | Not applicable | PayPal publishes no monthly or setup fee for Checkout and charges transaction-based merchant fees. Rates vary by checkout option, payment method, location, currency, and optional protection services; confirm current fees. |
Payment platform with hosted, embedded, no-code, and API-based paths for accepting online and in-person payments.
Best for: Merchants and software teams that want flexible checkout options, broad payment-method support, and room for custom integration.
View profileOnline checkout product for accepting PayPal payments, major cards, and eligible alternative methods through hosted, platform, API, or no-code paths.
Best for: Merchants that want PayPal at checkout alongside card acceptance and a choice of ecommerce-platform, developer, or payment-link setup paths.
View profileCompare hosted checkout, payment links, ecommerce plugins, embedded components, and custom APIs based on your team's implementation capacity and desired checkout control.
Model total cost beyond the headline transaction rate, including international cards, currency conversion, disputes, refunds, accelerated payouts, subscriptions, and optional fraud tools.
Confirm supported countries, currencies, payment methods, payout timing, account requirements, dispute workflows, and subscription or marketplace support for your business model.
A gateway securely passes payment information for authorization, while a processor coordinates the transaction through financial networks and settlement. Many modern providers bundle both functions, so merchants should compare the complete checkout, processing, payout, and dispute workflow.
No. Payment-method coverage, checkout conversion, international fees, payout timing, dispute handling, fraud controls, reliability, integration effort, and support can matter as much as the published domestic card rate.
Build the rest of your stack
Merchants evaluating Payment Processing often need to coordinate these adjacent parts of the commerce stack.
Storefront and commerce engines for selling online.
Risk scoring, order review, chargeback protection, and fraud workflows.
Bookkeeping, reconciliation, tax, and financial reporting tools.
In-person checkout, retail hardware, payments, inventory, and store operations.