The checkout is where your website either earns money or quietly leaks it. Global retail e-commerce sales hit an estimated $6.4 trillion in 2025, per eMarketer — and every one of those transactions passes through a payment gateway on its way to someone’s bank account.
The way people pay has changed fast, too. Digital wallets now account for 56% of global e-commerce transaction value, per Worldpay’s Global Payments Report (2026) — which means your gateway needs to handle Apple Pay and Google Pay as gracefully as it handles a Visa card.
This guide explains what a payment gateway actually does, how to choose one, and compares the 10 best options for a small-business website, with current published pricing where available, verified in July 2026.
What Is a Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway is the service that securely captures a customer’s card or wallet details at checkout, encrypts them, and passes the transaction to payment processors and banks for approval. It’s the online equivalent of a card terminal, and most modern providers bundle the gateway, processing, and fraud protection into one service.
You’ll sometimes see “payment gateway” and “payment processor” used interchangeably. Technically, the gateway collects and encrypts the payment details, while the processor moves the money between banks. In practice, the services most small businesses use — Stripe, PayPal, Square, and the rest of this list — handle both jobs under one roof, one contract, and one fee.
Why not just email an invoice? Because a good gateway does three things you don’t want to do yourself: it keeps you on the right side of PCI DSS security standards, it screens for fraud, and it lets customers pay the way they prefer — card, wallet, or bank — without leaving your site.
How To Choose a Payment Gateway
Evaluate every candidate against the same five factors:
Security
Every gateway on this list is PCI DSS compliant and encrypts payment data end to end, so the real differences are in fraud tooling: look for machine-learning fraud screening (like Stripe Radar or Authorize.net’s Advanced Fraud Detection Suite), 3D Secure support, and clear chargeback processes. People won’t hand card details to a checkout that feels sketchy — and neither should you.
Cost
Most gateways charge a percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction — around 2.9% + 30¢ is the standard flat rate for online card payments in the US. But the headline rate isn’t the whole bill: check for monthly gateway fees, dispute and chargeback fees, international card surcharges, and payout timing. If you process serious volume, interchange-plus pricing (like Helcim’s) usually beats a flat rate.
Accepted Payment Methods
The easier you make it to pay, the more sales you close — and with digital wallets now more than half of global e-commerce value, “cards only” is leaving money on the table. Make sure your gateway supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and — depending on your audience — PayPal, Venmo, buy-now-pay-later, and local payment methods for the countries you sell into.
Compatibility
Your gateway should plug into your platform with an official, maintained integration. If you run WordPress with WooCommerce, nearly every option below has an official plugin — one of them (WooPayments) is built directly into the WooCommerce dashboard, and only enterprise-tier Worldpay expects a sales conversation instead.
Payment Location
Some gateways complete the transaction on your site; others redirect customers to a hosted payment page and back. On-site checkout feels more seamless and on-brand; hosted checkout shifts more of the security burden to the provider. Cart abandonment averages just over 70% of all started checkouts, per Baymard Institute (2026) — every extra step or surprise works against you.
The 10 Best Online Payment Gateways, Compared
Here’s the short version — published standard rates for online card payments in the US, as listed on each provider’s pricing page in July 2026. (Rates change; always confirm on the linked pricing pages.) These aren’t ranked best to worst: they’re ordered roughly from most broadly useful for a typical small-business site to the most specialized.
| Gateway | Standard online rate* | Monthly fee | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 2.9% + 30¢ | $0 | Custom checkouts, subscriptions |
| PayPal | 3.49% + 49¢ (PayPal checkout) | $0 | Buyer trust, fast setup |
| Square | 3.3% + 30¢ (free plan) | $0 (paid plans lower the rate) | Selling online + in person |
| WooPayments | 2.9% + 30¢ | $0 | WooCommerce stores |
| Braintree | 2.89% + 29¢ | $0 | Cards + PayPal + Venmo in one stack |
| Amazon Pay | 2.9% + 30¢ | $0 | Express checkout add-on |
| Authorize.net | 2.9% + 30¢ | $25 | Existing merchant accounts |
| Helcim | Interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ | $0 | Higher-volume savings |
| 2Checkout (Verifone) | 3.5% + 35¢ | $0 | Global digital goods |
| Worldpay | Custom quote | Varies | Enterprise / omnichannel |
1. Stripe
Stripe is the default choice for anyone who wants full control over the checkout experience. Its developer tools and documentation are the best in the business, and the feature set runs deep: subscriptions, marketplace payments, machine-learning fraud screening (Radar), 135+ currencies, and even stablecoin payments (USDC) at 1.5%.
Pricing: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction, with no setup or monthly fees. Caution: the deepest features assume you (or a plugin) can work with its API, and flat-rate pricing isn’t the cheapest at high volume. WordPress: official WooCommerce Stripe extension.
2. PayPal
PayPal is still the gateway your customers already trust — and letting shoppers pay from an existing PayPal (or Venmo) account can measurably lift conversions. Setup is instant, with no underwriting wait.
Pricing: 3.49% + 49¢ for PayPal-branded checkout; 2.99% + 49¢ for standard card payments. No monthly fee, but disputes cost $15 each. Caution: the priciest headline rate on this list, and merchant account holds are a recurring complaint. WordPress: official PayPal Payments plugin for WooCommerce.
3. Square
Square shines when you sell both online and in person: one dashboard, one inventory, and free point-of-sale hardware options that sync with your website automatically.
Pricing: 3.3% + 30¢ online on the free plan (in-person: 2.6% + 15¢); the online rate drops to 2.9% + 30¢ on paid Plus and Premium plans. Caution: that free-plan online rate is higher than Stripe or PayPal’s card rate, and risk-based account holds happen. WordPress: official Square for WooCommerce plugin with inventory sync.
4. WooPayments
WooPayments is WooCommerce’s first-party gateway, built on Stripe’s infrastructure. If your store runs on WordPress, it’s the shortest path to taking payments: everything — transactions, disputes, deposits — lives inside your WordPress dashboard.
Pricing: 2.9% + 30¢ per online US card transaction (+1.5% for international cards), pay-as-you-go with no monthly fees. Caution: WooCommerce-only, and because it runs on Stripe rails it’s subject to similar risk-based holds. WordPress: it is the official WooCommerce gateway.
5. Braintree (PayPal Braintree)
Braintree, PayPal’s developer-oriented platform, accepts cards, PayPal, Venmo, and Apple/Google Pay through a single integration — a nice consolidation play for stores that are outgrowing a basic setup.
Pricing: 2.89% + 29¢ for card and third-party wallet transactions, no monthly fee (Venmo transactions are priced separately, at 3.49% + 49¢). Caution: requires an application and PayPal underwriting — not instant like its parent — and it’s more than a simple store needs. WordPress: supported through PayPal’s official WooCommerce extensions.
6. Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay (the successor to the old “Amazon Payments”) lets shoppers check out on your site using the cards and addresses already saved to their Amazon account — a strong trust shortcut for first-time visitors.
Pricing: 2.9% processing + 30¢ authorization per domestic web transaction, no monthly fee. Caution: it only helps buyers who have Amazon accounts — treat it as an express-checkout add-on that runs beside your primary gateway. WordPress: official Amazon Pay for WooCommerce plugin.
7. Authorize.net
Authorize.net, owned by Visa, is the veteran of this list. It’s a stable gateway that works with almost any merchant account, which makes it the flexible pick if you already have processing relationships.
Pricing: 2.9% + 30¢ all-in-one, or 10¢ per transaction (plus a 10¢ daily batch fee) if you bring your own merchant account — but every plan carries a $25 monthly gateway fee. Caution: that fixed monthly cost is exactly what low-volume sellers avoid by choosing Stripe, Square, or PayPal. WordPress: official WooCommerce extension.
8. Helcim
Helcim is the value pick for growing stores: instead of a flat rate, it charges interchange-plus pricing with automatic volume discounts, and it charges no monthly, PCI, or cancellation fees at all.
Pricing: interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ for online transactions up to $50K/month, with the margin shrinking automatically as volume grows. Caution: interchange-plus statements are harder to read than a flat 2.9%, which can throw beginners. WordPress: official WooCommerce integration.
9. 2Checkout (now Verifone)
2Checkout (acquired and rebranded by Verifone) specializes in global selling: many currencies, local payment methods, and a merchant-of-record model that handles international tax and compliance for digital goods and SaaS.
Pricing: 3.5% + 35¢ per sale on the base 2Sell plan; 4.5% + 45¢ on the subscription-focused 2Subscribe plan. Caution: noticeably pricier than US-focused gateways — worth it for global digital sellers, overkill for a US-only shop. WordPress: official WooCommerce plugin.
10. Worldpay
Worldpay became part of Global Payments in a deal that closed in January 2026. It remains the enterprise workhorse: massive scale, omnichannel processing, and support for practically every payment method and market.
Pricing: custom-quoted; there’s no simple published rate card. Caution: built for enterprise contracts; most small businesses will be happier higher up this list. WordPress: integrations exist, but this is an enterprise sales conversation, not a plugin install.
What Happened to WePay, Dwolla, and the Other Old Names?
Earlier versions of this guide compared several gateways that no longer make sense for a small-business website. If you’re researching an older recommendation, here’s where they ended up:
- WePay: acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2017; Chase wound down WePay during 2024, with payment processing ending mid-year. Effectively gone as an independent gateway.
- Dwolla: pivoted to a business-to-business, account-to-account payments API. No longer a checkout option for consumer websites.
- Merchant e-Solutions: sold to private-equity firm Integrum in 2022; survives as a niche merchant acquirer, not a mainstream small-business gateway.
- Simplify Commerce (Mastercard): closed to new merchants in 2025 and removed as a WooCommerce payment option.
- Masterpass and Android Pay: folded into Click to Pay and Google Pay, respectively.
- Stripe’s Bitcoin support: ended in 2018; Stripe’s current crypto play is stablecoin (USDC) payments at 1.5%.
Payment Gateway FAQs
What’s the difference between a payment gateway and a payment processor?
The gateway securely captures and encrypts payment details at checkout; the processor moves the money between banks. Modern providers like Stripe, Square, and PayPal bundle both into one service with one fee, so most small businesses never deal with them separately.
Do I need a merchant account to accept payments online?
Not anymore. Providers like Stripe, Square, PayPal, and WooPayments are payment aggregators: they supply the underlying merchant account, so you can sign up and start selling the same day. A dedicated merchant account (paired with a gateway like Authorize.net) mainly makes sense for high-volume or higher-risk businesses.
What’s the cheapest way to accept payments on a website?
For low volume, any no-monthly-fee flat-rate gateway (Stripe, WooPayments, PayPal’s card rate) keeps costs simple at roughly 2.9%–3% plus 30¢–49¢ per sale. Once you process a few thousand dollars monthly, interchange-plus pricing like Helcim’s usually works out cheaper.
Can I offer more than one payment gateway?
Yes, and you probably should: a primary card gateway plus express options like PayPal and Amazon Pay is a common, conversion-friendly combination. WooCommerce lets you enable several gateways side by side and let customers pick at checkout.
Is Stripe or PayPal better for a small website?
Stripe wins on price, flexibility, and checkout control; PayPal wins on buyer familiarity and instant setup. Many stores run both — Stripe (or WooPayments) for card payments, PayPal as the express option — and let the data decide which earns its place.
Pair Your Gateway With Hosting That Keeps Checkout Online
A payment gateway can only close the sale if your site is up and fast when the customer’s ready to buy. Choose the gateway that fits how you sell, offer an express option beside it, and revisit the math as your volume grows.
Whichever gateway you choose, DreamHost’s web hosting keeps the storefront side covered: unmetered bandwidth, free SSL certificates (essential for any checkout), daily automated backups, and one-click WordPress, with WooCommerce just a plugin away.
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