Payment Processing
Getting paid without giving away the margin: card processors, invoicing, subscriptions, and the crypto payment gateways that settle without a middleman. The honest math on fees is the whole game.
Start here: comparisons
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Best payment processors for small business (2026): card and crypto, with the honest fee math
We priced the leading card processors and crypto gateways at the tiers a real small business lands on. Stripe, Square, PayPal, and BTCPay compared on exact 2026 fees, the surcharges the headline rate hides, and who each one actually fits.
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Stripe vs PayPal vs Square: the honest fees
The real per-transaction cost of Stripe, PayPal, and Square in 2026 - online and in-person - plus the international, manual-entry, and payout fees the headline rates hide.
Reviews
BTCPay Server
BTCPay Server is a free, open-source, self-hosted crypto payment processor. Payments in Bitcoin, Lightning, and altcoins land straight in your own wallet with 0% fees and no third party. The cost is the technical setup, the settlement risk, and the tax paperwork.
Free and open-source, 0% transaction fees; optional VPS hosting from about $8/mo, or $0 self-hosted; buyer pays the blockchain network fee
PayPal
PayPal wins on buyer trust and near-universal recognition, and it converts well as a checkout button. But at 3.49% + $0.49 for the wallet it is one of the most expensive processors, the $20 chargeback fee and ~4% conversion spread add up, and its hold-and-freeze reputation is real.
PayPal Checkout (wallet) 3.49% + $0.49; standard card 2.99% + $0.49; Advanced Checkout card 2.89% + $0.49; +1.5% international; ~4% currency conversion; $20 chargeback fee; instant transfer 1.5% (min $0.50)
Square
Square pairs free POS software with card processing, so a counter, market stall, or salon can take payments the same day. In-person is 2.6% + 15 cents on the free plan; the online rate quietly rose to 3.3% + 30 cents in 2026, and the fund-hold reputation is the real catch.
Free plan $0/mo: in person 2.6% + 15c, online 3.3% + 30c, keyed 3.5% + 15c; Plus $49/mo and Premium $149/mo lower the rate; instant transfer 1.95%
Stripe
Stripe is the developer-first payment processor most online businesses should start with. Flat 2.9% + $0.30 per online card, no monthly fee, and the deepest toolkit for subscriptions, invoicing, and platforms - just know what the add-ons and the instant-payout button cost.
No monthly fee; 2.9% + $0.30 per online card, 2.7% + $0.05 in person, ACH 0.8% (capped at $5); +1.5% intl card, +1% conversion; $15 dispute fee; Instant Payout 1.5% (min $0.50)