Payment Gateway Fee Comparison: Every Processor Pair, Side by Side
Compare payment processing fees across every combination of the six gateways in FeeStack's database: Stripe, PayPal, Square, NowPayments, Dodo Payments and PayRam. Each comparison covers published list rates per payment rail, monthly fee scenarios at your volume, feature matrices, and eligibility verdicts for high-risk merchant categories. Fiat-only and crypto-capable processors appear side by side so you can see the true cost difference, not just the headline rate.
For a fully interactive comparison that models your specific volume and payment mix, use the fee calculator. The static comparisons below are useful when you already know which two processors you are evaluating and want a clean side-by-side reference.
Frequently asked questions about comparing payment gateways
How do I compare payment gateway fees effectively?
Start with your actual payment mix — the percentage of card vs crypto transactions — not just the headline rate. A gateway charging 1% on crypto-only volume looks cheaper than 2.9% + $0.30, but if 80% of your sales are by card, that provider covers less than a fifth of your revenue. Then compare effective rates (total cost divided by total volume) across providers that cover 100% of your mix. FeeStack's calculator handles this automatically.
Is Stripe cheaper than PayPal for merchants?
In most card-payment scenarios, yes. Stripe's standard rate is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction vs PayPal's 3.49% + $0.49. At $10,000/month in card volume, the difference is roughly $840/year in favour of Stripe. At higher volumes, that gap grows. The exception is international and cross-border transactions, where rates and currency conversion fees can shift the picture. See the Stripe vs PayPal comparison page for a full breakdown.
Which payment processor has the lowest fees overall?
It depends on your payment mix. For card-only merchants, Stripe and Helcim (interchange-plus) typically produce the lowest effective rates. For merchants with meaningful crypto volume, NowPayments (0.5–1%) and PayRam can be substantially cheaper than card rails alone. For high-risk merchant categories that mainstream processors won't serve, the question is less about cost and more about who will onboard you. The eligibility quiz on the fee calculator page covers this.