Key Insights in 60 Seconds
Which gateway to accept payments through — and what it really costs. Skim the highlights, then jump to the section that matches your store.
What You'll Learn
What's New Since Publication: Updated since publication · 2 changes
- Baymard moved payment choice from 10% to 9% of abandonmentsBaymard re-based its cart-abandonment list: too few payment methods is now cited by 9% of checkout abandoners rather than the 10% published when this guide shipped, and the 10% row now belongs to a declined credit card. Payment choice still ranks below cost, delivery and checkout friction, so a second recognizable way to pay is insurance on a small share of sales, not a growth lever.
- Shopify now rules out standalone Stripe as an alternativeShopify's payment-gateway-availability page used to tell merchants who could not activate Shopify Payments to contact Support and have their eligibility for Stripe reviewed. That route is gone: the page now states that “standalone Stripe isn't available as an alternative” and tells you to add a third-party payment provider that supports your business type instead. If Stripe was your fallback, pick a provider from the region-filtered list in your admin.
Every Shopify sale runs through a payment gateway — the piece that takes your customer's card and turns it into money in your bank. Shopify ships with its own gateway, Shopify Payments, but you can also plug in outside providers. The catch is a surcharge that most merchants only discover on their bill. This guide covers the fees by plan, how the leading gateways compare, and how to pick the right one for your country and business.
What a Payment Gateway Is
Key takeaway
Start with the vocabulary, because “gateway,” “processor,” and “Shopify Payments” get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. Shopify's own definition is the clearest place to begin:
“A payment gateway is a mechanism that communicates transaction information between the customer and the merchant.”
Source: Shopify — Payment Gateways
In practice, three roles sit behind every checkout. The gateway captures and passes the card data, the processor settles the money, and — on Shopify — Shopify Payments can play both roles at once so you never wire up a separate provider.
Here is what happens in the couple of seconds after a shopper hits “Pay now.” The flow is the same whether you use Shopify Payments or a third-party gateway — only who runs each step changes.
The Default: Shopify Payments
Key takeaway
For most merchants, the honest answer to “which gateway?” is the one already built in. Shopify Payments is activated from your admin with no separate contract, and crucially it is the only option that carries no third-party transaction fee. You pay the card-processing rate for your plan and nothing extra to Shopify. This article focuses on choosing between gateways and the surcharge math; for the mechanics of setup, eligibility, and payouts, see our dedicated guide to Shopify Payments.
Shopify Payments Online Card Rates by Plan
| Plan | Monthly price | Online card rate |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39/mo | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Grow | $105/mo | 2.7% + 30¢ |
| Advanced | $399/mo | 2.5% + 30¢ |
| Plus | From $2,300/mo | 2.25% + 30¢ |
Source: Shopify pricing (verified September 2026). Online (card-not-present) rates; in-person rates differ.
The other reason Shopify Payments is the default is Shop Pay, its accelerated checkout. Shopify reports as much as 50% better conversion compared to guest checkout for Shop Pay, and merchants feel the speed difference at the point of sale.
With the Shop Pay experience, people are getting through checkout faster than with all of our other payment methods.
Availability is the one real limit. Shopify Payments works only if your business is located in a supported country, and it covers dozens of them — Shopify keeps the current, complete list on its supported countries page. If your country isn't on it, a third-party gateway isn't a downgrade — it's simply how you accept cards, and the rest of this guide is written for you as much as for anyone.
How Much Is Shopify's Third-Party Gateway Surcharge?
Key takeaway
This is the number that surprises merchants. When you accept payments through a provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee on those orders — a percentage that depends entirely on your plan. It sits on top of whatever the gateway itself charges to process the card, so you are effectively paying two fees on the same sale. It's also the only percentage of a sale Shopify itself ever takes — see our FAQ on whether Shopify takes a cut of your sales for how that compares to its flat monthly plan fee.
Third-Party Transaction Fee by Plan
| Plan | Third-party surcharge | On $10,000/mo of volume |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2% | $200 |
| Grow | 1% | $100 |
| Advanced | 0.6% | $60 |
| Plus | 0.2% | $20 |
Surcharge percentages from Shopify's published pricing (verified September 2026); dollar column shown on $10,000 of monthly card volume. The Grow row is our canonical example.
Shopify is upfront about why the fee exists, and it's worth understanding rather than resenting: the surcharge pays for the checkout platform and the integration work that lets an outside gateway plug into your store at all.
Third-party transaction fees cover the cost for Shopify to provide a secure checkout platform and integrate with external payment providers.
When the surcharge is waived
Key takeaway
The fee is not universal. Shopify lists five kinds of orders it doesn't charge the fee on — and it lists them for stores that use Shopify Payments, which is why keeping Shopify Payments active alongside other methods matters:
- Shopify Payments — any order processed through it.
- Shop Pay — the accelerated checkout counts as Shopify Payments.
- Shop Pay Installments — the pay-over-time option on Shop Pay.
- PayPal Express Checkout — the version auto-added to new stores. Shopify excludes PayPal from the fee only if Shopify Payments is activated; without it, Express runs as a third-party gateway and its orders carry the surcharge. Merchants in the United States or France who use Shopify Payments get PayPal Wallet instead.
- Manual methods — cash on delivery, bank transfers, and similar. Shopify's fee page also exempts them in a separate line with no Shopify Payments condition attached.
A worked example
Key takeaway
Make it concrete. Take a store on the Grow plan doing $10,000 a month in card sales through a third-party gateway, with a $50 average order. Grow's surcharge is 1%, so Shopify adds $100 a month — purely for using an outside provider, before the gateway's own processing fees. That is the number we'll carry through the calculator and the chart below. The same $10,000 costs $200 on Basic and just $20 on Plus, which is why high-volume stores that need a third-party gateway often justify a higher plan.
Source: Shopify third-party transaction fees by plan (verified September 2026), applied to $10,000 of monthly volume.
The mixed-provider premium
Key takeaway
There is a subtler cost if you run a third-party gateway and Shopify Payments together. In that mixed setup, Shopify Payments transactions — including Shop Pay and local payment methods — are charged at standard rates plus a 1.25% premium. In other words, adding an outside gateway can quietly raise the cost of the Shopify Payments orders you were already taking. One exception runs the other way: stores on the Shopify Plus plan that use Shopify Payments as their sole provider have their third-party transaction fees waived entirely.
Not every store can run the mixed setup in the first place. Shopify's page on using Shopify Payments with a third-party provider states that merchants on the Shopify Plus plan with signed contracts — including new merchants and merchants renewing their contracts — aren't eligible to use Shopify Payments alongside a third-party provider at this time, and that the feature isn't available in multi-entity setups, where only Shopify Payments can be a direct provider. If either describes your store, confirm the route is open to you before you plan around it.
Gateway Comparison Matrix
Key takeaway
If Shopify Payments isn't the answer, you have plenty of company: Shopify supports a large catalog of outside providers. The six below are among the most commonly shortlisted. Every rate is observed from each provider's own pricing page and shown in that provider's currency — headline rates drift and several vendors quote only custom pricing, so treat this as a starting map, not a contract.
Common Third-Party Gateways for Shopify
| Provider | Published rate (observed) | Pricing model | Region & best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal | 3.49% + 49¢ (US Checkout) | Published | US-first; global consumer reach |
| Authorize.net | $25/mo + 2.9% + 30¢ (All-in-One) | Monthly + per-transaction | US-focused |
| Braintree | 2.89% + 29¢ | Published | US rates shown; PayPal-owned |
| Mollie | 1.80% + €0.25 (EEA consumer cards); 2.90% + €0.25 (EEA commercial) | Published (EUR) | Europe/EEA-first |
| Adyen | $0.13 + Interchange++ 0.60% (indicative) | Custom / interchange++ | Global, enterprise |
| Worldpay | Custom quote (not published) | Custom | Global, custom pricing |
Rates observed on each provider's official pricing page, September 2026 (mixed currencies). Remember to add Shopify's third-party surcharge on top of these figures.
Which Gateway Setup Fits You?
Key takeaway
You now know the default, the surcharge, and the field of providers. Still weighing it up? Answer five quick questions for a personalized read — Shopify Payments, Shopify Payments plus a method or two, or a dedicated third-party gateway. The first question is the gate that decides everything else.
Which payment setup fits your store?5 questions → Shopify Payments, a hybrid, or a third-party gatewayStart the quiz
Want Shopify's own walkthrough on choosing a provider? This official video covers the same ground in a bit more depth.
Calculate Your Surcharge
Key takeaway
Numbers beat intuition here. The calculator starts pre-filled on the canonical example — a Grow store doing $10,000 a month — and shows the $100 surcharge, then lets you swap in your own plan, volume, and average order. It compares the all-in monthly cost of staying on Shopify Payments against moving to a third-party gateway and paying the surcharge.
The surcharge is the extra Shopify charges on top of your gateway's own processing fee. Orders paid via Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, PayPal Express, or manual methods are exempt.
Estimate only. Surcharge percentages and Shopify Payments rates are Shopify's published figures (verified July 2026); the third-party processing line is prefilled with Authorize.net's US All-in-One published rate ($25/mo + 2.9% + 30¢) and adjustable to the rate you actually negotiate — your gateway may cost more or less, and a rate below your plan's Shopify Payments rate is where a third-party gateway comes out ahead. Excludes chargebacks, currency conversion, and refunds (the surcharge is not returned on refunded orders).
The gap between the two paths isn't one fee — it's two stacked on top of each other: the third-party gateway's own processing rate, plus Shopify's surcharge on top of it. That surcharge is what moves the most as you change plans: it shrinks from 2% on Basic to 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, and just 0.2% on Plus, so the same third-party volume adds far less on Advanced and Plus than it does on Basic, where the full 2% applies to every dollar. The charts show the surcharge across plans and that all-in comparison side by side.
Source: Shopify Payments rates and third-party surcharge (verified September 2026); third-party line uses Authorize.net's US All-in-One published rate as one reference.
When a Third-Party Gateway Wins
Key takeaway
The surcharge is not always a reason to say no. Sometimes an outside gateway is the only way to trade, and sometimes it earns its keep. Here is the honest go/no-go — find the row that matches you.
Which Setup Wins, by Situation
| Your situation | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Payments is available and your needs are standard | Stick with Shopify Payments | No surcharge, lower rates, and Shop Pay speed |
| Shopify Payments isn't offered in your country | Use a compatible gateway | It's the only way to accept cards — the surcharge is unavoidable |
| You're high-risk or need a specific processor | Third-party gateway | Access to specialized underwriting the surcharge can't replace |
| You hold a merchant account with better rates | Model the all-in cost | Only wins if the rate gap beats Shopify's surcharge |
| You need local methods Shopify Payments lacks | Consider a regional gateway | Higher in-market conversion can outweigh the fee |
The pattern is simple: if Shopify Payments is available and your needs are ordinary, its zero surcharge and lower rates are hard to beat. A third-party gateway wins on necessity (no Shopify Payments in your region), capability (high-risk or specialized processing), or a rate gap wide enough to survive the surcharge. If none of those apply, the math usually says no.
Two things the surcharge maths does not settle at all. The first is the compliance side: what decides your questionnaire is not which gateway you use but whose page renders the field the customer types into, and our guide to which parts of PCI compliance are yours on Shopify sets out what changes on each route. The second is whether any gateway will take your category at all — a catalogue can clear the platform rulebook and still fail at the money, as our answer on selling adult or NSFW art on Shopify works through.
PayPal on Shopify
Key takeaway
PayPal deserves its own note because it blurs the line between “gateway” and “payment method.” On new Shopify stores outside France and the United States, PayPal Express Checkout is set up automatically as an additional way to pay — surcharge-free while Shopify Payments is active, as covered above. What's less obvious is that PayPal plays two roles at once: that express method, and a fuller gateway of its own (via Braintree) that some merchants run instead of, or alongside, Shopify Payments.
If your business is based in France or the United States, that first role works differently. Shopify's own PayPal page carries a caution that Express Checkout isn't available to merchants in those two countries, and that you offer PayPal at checkout through PayPal Wallet in Shopify Payments instead. Its setup guide scopes that to merchants who use Shopify Payments, and the US PayPal Wallet page still describes adding PayPal Express as a third-party gateway for a store that doesn't — with the surcharge on those orders. That same page names this route as a way to offer Venmo without Shopify Payments.
PayPal Wallet is not a separate provider you shop for. Shopify describes it as a payment method within Shopify Payments — a US store receives the account when it sets Shopify Payments up, and its PayPal transactions, disputes and payouts are then handled in the Shopify admin. In those two countries, once Shopify Payments is active, PayPal is no longer listed in the admin's Additional payment methods section, so there is nothing separate to add and those orders sit on the Shopify Payments line of the waiver list above. Currency conversion is still charged, though: a PayPal Wallet payment in a currency other than your payout currency carries its own 3% conversion fee, listed apart from the standard Shopify Payments one.
Offering more than one recognizable way to pay isn't just convenience — it protects the sale. In Baymard Institute's checkout research, 9% of checkout abandoners cited too few payment methods. Pairing Shopify Payments with PayPal — Wallet in the US and France, Express everywhere else — covers the two options most buyers look for without adding a surcharge to either.
Switching Gateways Safely
Key takeaway
Changing gateways is low-risk if you follow the order of operations. Shopify keeps sensible guardrails — only one credit-card provider is active at a time, and only the store owner can make the change — so the main job is sequencing it cleanly.
Getting Paid: Payouts
Key takeaway
Choosing a gateway also chooses your payout path. With Shopify Payments, approved funds settle and land in your bank on Shopify's schedule, visible right inside the admin. With a third-party gateway, that provider owns the payout timing and reporting, so you reconcile in two places. If payout speed and cash flow are part of your decision, our guide to how Shopify pays you walks through the schedules and holds in detail.
The Bottom Line
Key takeaway
Picking a Shopify payment gateway comes down to one question with a clear default. For most stores, Shopify Payments is the right answer: it's built in, it charges no third-party surcharge, and Shop Pay lifts conversion. You reach for an outside gateway when you have to — no Shopify Payments in your country, a high-risk model, a committed processor — or when the numbers genuinely favor it.
Frequently Asked Questions
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