5 Best Online Payment & Credit Card Processors for 2023

Stripe’s online processing fee is in the median with the others on our list: 2.9% + 30 cents. This includes basic fraud control, a payments page, a virtual terminal, an account updater, and 25 invoices per month.

However, it charges extra for some of its services. Most on our list either provide these free or have a monthly rate. Here are some examples:

• Invoicing and recurring payments: 0.4%-0.5% per transaction fee. Your first 25 invoices are free, so if you don’t often charge this way, it’s a good deal.
• Radar for fraud teams: 7 cents per screened transaction
• Chargeback protection: 0.4% per transaction
• Instant payouts: Access your funds in minutes for 1% of the payout volume, minimum 50 cents

Stripe can do custom pricing for high-volume sales or if you purchase multiple products or have a unique business model. However, in those cases, you may be charged separately for some items, like fraud protection, that Stripe otherwise provides free.

• Integrations: Here is where Stripe shines. It was made for easy integrations and has integrations with nearly 700 software partners in accounting, marketing, sales, operations, payments, and (of course) ecommerce. With its wide range of plug-and-play integrations, it takes mere minutes to set up Stripe as your checkout option. In addition, it has excellent SDK and API functions, with thorough documentation for creating your own integrations. Experienced coders can utilize comprehensive testing tools, over 450 platforms and extensions, and a dedicated developer dashboard.
• Stripe Checkout: Stripe provides a customizable checkout page where you can accept one-time or subscription purchases. You can save information so that forms auto-complete for return customers. If you use Link with Stripe, customers can pay with a single click. There are also card identification and validation tools and descriptive error messages to ensure information is quickly and accurately reported.
• Billing and subscriptions: Stripe’s billing system allows for flat rates, multiple pricing, and usage rates (such as for electricity) and integrates with websites, mobile apps, and CRM systems. It’s a good choice for subscriptions, except that it charges an additional 5% per transaction. Helcim offers subscription and recurring billing free.
• Account updater: Especially important for recurring payments, Stripe’s account updater automatically updates expired or renewed card information. While Helcim can store customer information in its card vault, we did not find automated update tools.
• International sales: With Stripe, you can accept payments in over 135 currencies. It works in 30 languages and can offer local payment options. Stripe says early adopters saw a 46% increase in sales after enabling local payment methods. Like most on our list, it charges extra for processing international credit cards.

Helcim recently removed its monthly fees, but still offers interchange-plus pricing. This makes it the cheapest payment processor on our list, and one reason why it’s a strong second to Stripe.

Other than the reasonable rates, Helcim has few additional charges. Even the chargeback fees are refunded to you if you win the dispute. ACH pricing is 0.5% + 25 cents, also the cheapest on our list. It does not charge for currency conversion on international transactions, as these are subject to your customer’s card network rates.

Helcim lets you brand your payment pages with colors, logos, and images.
(Source: Helcim)

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Helcim offers highly customizable invoices. (Source: Helcim)

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Helcim’s free customer portal lets customers manage their own subscriptions and payment information. (Source: Helcim)

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The free virtual terminal works on computers or mobile devices. (Source: Helcim)

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• Customizable invoices: Like most of the providers on our list, Helcim provides free invoicing (Stripe charges after 25/month). Its invoicing is integrated into your account, so you can easily track invoices. These are customizable, with templates and multiple payment options, and can even include alerts for reminders when payments are due or overdue. You can even request payment through text messages. Invoicing includes automatic tax calculations—something Stripe charges extra for.
• Free recurring billing: With Helcim, you can set up an unlimited number of subscription plans and customize your pricing with add-ons and free trials. Like Stripe, it has a customer portal feature for subscribers to manage their own subscriptions. Stripe, however, charges 0.5%–0.8% per paid invoice for its subscription billing and payment services. On the other side, Square offers a free invoicing tool with recurring options, but no subscription management or customer-facing portal.
• B2B Payment Processing: Helcim is our current leader for the best B2B payment processing solutions. It offers Level 2 processing for all merchant account holders and Level 3 for merchants that accept Corporate, Purchasing, and Government credit cards. Even more, Helcim trains you on accepting these cards and its virtual terminal automates most of the data entry steps for completing these types of transactions. It also provides training and detailed instruction for subscribers.
• Virtual terminal: If you have a mail order company or just want to give customers the option of calling in a payment, Helcim lets you accept payments over the phone through your virtual terminal. You can manually key in your customer’s card information, accept multiple currencies, and store customer information for future reference. Most processors charge extra for keyed-in transactions, but the Helcim markup stays the same.

Square’s online transaction fees are the same as those from Stripe and Authorize.net: 2.9% + 30 cents. Its ACH processing fee is 1% with a $1 minimum, which is the highest on our list. If you process more than $250,000 a year and have an average transaction of over $15, you may qualify for custom rates. Call Square to discuss this.

While it pays out in two days, you can arrange an instant transfer for 1.5% of the transaction amount. Square’s basic tools are all free, but this service offers an excellent number of upgrades and add-ons to help you as your business grows. These include advanced POS, payroll, and even banking.

Square makes it easy to create custom buy buttons for your website or social media. (Source: Square)

• Invoicing: You can create, send, and track invoices online or via Square Payments’ iOS and Android apps. Square’s invoicing can also be used to generate estimates and contracts that can be e-signed. It will handle partial payments as well. With Invoices Plus, you can add customizations, batch invoicing and multipackage estimates, and milestone-based payment schedules. While Helcim offers excellent invoicing tools, Square stands out with its estimate and contract functions.
• Ecommerce: Sell your products via web stores or social media and ecommerce stores, manage shipping and delivery, offer curbside pickup, and set up discounts and gift cards. Square has a drag-and-drop website builder that’s easy to use, but it also integrates with popular web builders, such as WordPress and Wix.
• CRM Management: Square’s built-in CRM management holds all the customer information you need for marketing, analytics, and repeat sales. It even holds credit card details for customers who opt in for automatic payments, like subscriptions. You can also receive customer feedback on its platform.
• CBD Sales: Square recently started allowing payment processing for CBD sales, something the others on our list do not allow, as it is a higher-risk transaction. Square’s fees are higher—3.8% + 30 cents for online transactions, but it comes with all the same features Square offers, including bank loans.
• Free POS with inventory management: Square has great online tools, but it is an in-person payment processor first. It ranks No. 1 for best POS systems, with inventory, reports, and some customer management functions (PayPal Zettle is simpler, but also well-rated). The mobile POS also ranks No. 1 on our list, making Square an excellent choice if you want to sell at a flea market, trade show, or other occasional event.

Regardless of whether you use Authorize.net as a payment gateway or a full processing solution, you are paying $25 per month. This is the only credit card processor on our list that charges a monthly fee. Chargeback fees vary by card company.

The All-in-One solution offers a merchant account and payment gateway. It charges 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction, which is average, and 0.75% for ACH transactions, which is cheaper than Square.

If you choose the Payment Gateway only, you will need to get a separate merchant account and pay those processing fees. You then pay an additional 10 cents per transaction and a daily batch fee of 10 cents.

If you process over $500,000 per year, you can get interchange-plus pricing. It also has special pricing for nonprofits. Special plans include data migration as well.

The virtual terminal can take e-checks or credit cards. (Source: Authorize.net)

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Your subscribers or repeat customers can save their card information for convenience. (Source: Authorize.net)

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Like Stripe, Authorize.net has a wide range of developer tools. (Source: Authorize.net)

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• Invoicing: Like Square, Authorize.net’s invoicing can handle partial payments, but also includes discount tools. For subscriptions and repeat customers, Authorize.net’s recurring payments tools save billing and payment information for faster, automatic payments.
• Ecommerce: Authorize.net can integrate with popular ecommerce systems, but does not have an online website builder like Square. It does enable you to create a “buy now” button on your existing website. Nonprofits can use the “donate now” embed option. For a more customized payment page, Authorize.net has a set of tools called Accept Suite, designed for developers—somewhat like Stripe. Stripe, however, also has prebuilt checkout pages.
• Customer information management: Authorize.net has a large customer database, with each profile able to hold up to 10 payments and 100 shipping details that can be used within your merchant interface or on your website through an API. This is great for multiple stores or for letting customers switch cards and is larger than the others.
• Popular and easy to integrate: Authorize.net integrates into more than 140 certified solutions from sales to accounting, kiosks to shopping carts, and even other payment providers like PayPal. This is the most integrations on our list, after Stripe. In addition, it has a list of about 160 authorized developers that can provide prebuilt or custom solutions, a great option if you need special programming.
• Pays within 24 hours: Authorize.net pays within 24 hours, while Stripe and Square charge extra for same-day payouts. Helcim pays out daily but takes two days to process. PayPal pays out the same day, but only into your PayPal account. You can then pay to transfer it within 30 minutes.

PayPal’s pricing is complex, with different rates for everything from in-person transactions to QR codes, plus different flat rates depending on your country. Online rates for the US are reasonably competitive: 2.59% + 49 cents. Comparing this to the average (2.9% + 30 cents), you’re better off with PayPal if your average ticket is more than $61.30.

However, if you take ACH payments, any of the others are better. PayPal does not accept ACH, but does take echecks—charging you according to payment venue. So, for online sales, you could be charged 2.59% + 49 cents, as opposed to 1%, which is Square’s rate. Further, while others cap ACH payments at $5 (except Square), PayPal caps it at $300.

PayPal also charges $30 per month for virtual terminals and $10 per month for recurring payments.

PayPal’s button generator provides you with a pre-built code that you can paste on your product page or social media. (Source: PayPal)

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PayPal offers two ways for customers to spread out payments. (Source: PayPal)

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PayPal works with over 100 currencies and many credit card options. (Source: PayPal)

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• Social media selling: Like others on our list, PayPal has a payment button generator that lets you post links on Facebook, Twitter, and most online marketplaces. However, you can also connect PayPal Business to Facebook and Instagram; PayPal hosts your listings, so you can create and share this on social media using a shareable link, without the need for an ecommerce platform.
• Buy Now, Pay Later Options: While the other processors on our list have BNPL options for four payments, PayPal gives your customers more choices. They can choose four interest-free installments or use PayPal Credit. Both options appear on your checkout page and you get paid upfront even though your customers pay over time.
• Hosted checkout: PayPal’s hosted prebuilt and highly customized checkout pages are easy to integrate into your product, cart, and payment pages. Choose an integration format that presents the most relevant payment type to your customers, depending on your business needs. Checkout pages can also include Venmo and PayPal’s Pay Later tool.
• International payments processing: PayPal is available in over 200 countries and supports 100+ currencies. It’s a strong second to Stripe, which works with 135 currencies and 30 languages.
• Integrations: PayPal offers a wide range of integrations for ecommerce, accounting, customer management, and more. In addition, it has developer tools, including a new interactive Integration Builder for developing different buttons to use on your website. For sheer number and versatility, Stripe is best—but PayPal makes a good showing.

Online credit card processing is simply the ability to accept credit card payments online—on your website, through an invoice sent by email, or even via social media sites like Instagram. Most merchant services can process credit cards online as well as in person.

In general, the steps are the same—submission, authorization, and funding. However, the main difference is that you never see the actual credit card. Also, there is a higher risk of credit card fraud (because you are not able to verify the user in person) and of friendly fraud, where someone may forget an online purchase or not recognize your business name on their bill. Thus, it’s important to look for strong fraud prevention tools and low chargeback rates.

Rates for in-person payment transactions are usually cheaper than online or keyed-in rates, as well.

You need a credit card processor that handles online payments. Then you need the tools for accepting payments online, such as an ecommerce site or digital invoicing. Most online payment processors offer such tools, but their exact offerings vary widely.

Most provide the basics: a payment button you can code onto your website or ecommerce platform or an actual checkout page. Nearly all have invoice software that lets you send an invoice with a link or button to pay online; a few charge for this, however. The best also have tools for recurring billing, website or web page creation, and of course, integrating into other software that take payments online.

The price varies by processor, but in our research, we’ve seen prices from around 2.4% + 8 cents to 3.49% + 49 cents. Some payment processors charge monthly fees in return for lower rates, while others have fees for specific services like invoicing or virtual terminals.

When considering price, do your research. Those that charge fees, like Stax (not on our list), offer lower rates that save you more than the fee. Others, like Square, offer an excellent range of free tools that can make the slightly higher rate worthwhile. Regardless, always check the fine print for contract obligations and “hidden fees” like cancellation fees, batch processing, and the like. The services on our list do not have these.

Learn more about credit card processing fees.