5 best payment gateway and online payment systems 2025

You'll need a payment gateway to take card payments online. Based on our latest tests, we rank and review the best payment gateway and online payment systems in the UK.

Our Research

Our expert team of writers and researchers worked to identify the best payment processing and merchant account providers by focusing on the factors small businesses care about most – value for money, including fees and hidden extras; security protocols and fraud protection; customer support, and ease of access across platforms including mobile.
Written and reviewed by:
Ollie Simpson profile photo

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1 of 3

takepayments: Best for a flexible payment structure

4.8
2 of 3

Stripe: Best for strong security features

4.6
3 of 3

Worldpay: Best for selling high-value goods

4.6

Thanks to in the in depth analysis of our research team, we’ve determined that takepayments is the top payment gateway solution, largely due to its flexible payment structure, which lets you negotiate your fees. takepayments also provides our favourite card machine for small businesses for 2025, the takepaymentsplus.

If you’re looking to start taking card payments online, you’ll need a payment gateway. It’s the software that allows you to take your customers’ payment information and authorise the payment – essentially, it should create a smooth transaction experience for your customers, while keeping their card information fully protected. Scroll down to read our definitive roundup of the best ecommerce payment gateways.

Best payment gateway providers at a glance:

  1. takepayments: best for a flexible payment structure
  2. Stripe: best for strong security features
  3. Worldpay: best for selling high-value goods
  4. Shopify: best all-in-one solution
  5. Revolut: best for affordability

Don’t overspend – you can click any of the links above to compare payment gateway fees and setup costs for the size and needs of your own business.

If you do make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn a commission from the retailers of the products we have reviewed. 

Swipe right to see more
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Stripe

Worldpay

Shopify

Revolut

Best for:

A flexible payment structure

Best for:

Strong security features

Best for:

Selling high-value goods

Best for:

An all-in-one solution

Best for:

Affordability

Overall score
4.8
Overall score
4.6
Overall score
4.6
Overall score
4.2
Overall score
4.1
Transaction fees from
Transaction fees from

1.5% + 20p
for standard UK cards

Transaction fees from

0.75%

Transaction fees from

1.5%

Transaction fees from

0.8% + £0.02

Monthly costs

Quote-based

Monthly costs

None

Monthly costs

From £19.95

Monthly costs

From £19

Monthly costs

None

Payout time

Next business day

Payout time

Up to three business days

Payout time

One business day

Payout time

Two to five business days

Payout time

Next day

Contract length

One month minimum

Contract length

None

Contract length

18 months

Contract length

None

Contract length

None

Try takepayments Get Quotes Get Quotes Get Quotes Get Quotes

*Clicking “Get Quotes” connects you with providers through our commercial partners. We may receive compensation if you purchase through these links, at no additional cost to you. Pricing is correct as of May 2025.

How we test payment gateways for small businesses

We tested 26 merchant service providers, evaluating them on the criteria we deemed to be most useful and important to our readers, so we can accurately recommend the right payment gateways to UK-based small businesses.

During the testing process, we conducted 45 tests over 22.5 hours in total, completing a total of 270 different tasks.

Each category was given an appropriate weighting, to ensure the results were as accurate and relevant as possible. The total score derived from each testing category was used to create our ranking of the top payment gateways.

The main categories we test are:
  • Software
    We analysed the provider based on what payment types the gateway can accept, if its able to handle mobile payments, and how fast payout times are. We also assessed the security measures the provider has in place, checking whether it was PCI compliant, holds an ISO 27001 certificate, and the fraud measures in place. We also looked at the data and reporting available, if it can integrate with a POS and more.
  • Help and support
    Strong help and support can be critical to small businesses, especially for new entrepreneurs. We appraised the range and availability of the support the platform provides for its merchants. We also tested the accuracy of each providers knowledge centre, by examining responses to five different test queries.
  • Pricing
    We assess all the possible financial considerations relevant to a merchant looking for a payment gateway. We examined if there is a contract you'll need to agree to, the length of the contract, and if you'll incur an exit fee. We also analysed the transaction fees each provider charges. We researched any monthly fees, or setup costs, and also if there is a free trial or plan offered by the provider.

How do I choose the right payment gateway for my business?

If you’re still unsure about what a payment gateway is, essentially it works like this: it acts as a bridge between your customer’s sensitive card information, and your business bank account. It safely encrypts the payment information, playing an essential role in accepting credit or debit card payments online.

If you’re not clear on what key features you should be keeping an eye out for when choosing a payment gateway, then our detailed list will help you out:

1. Security

Security is the number one concern for your customers, which naturally makes it a top priority for your business as well. Given the number of high-profile cases of buyers’ personal data being stolen, it’s a good idea to thoroughly research what protections are in place to ensure you and your customers are safe from fraudsters. You should check the gateway has:

  • Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): guaranteed security controls on cardholder information
  • Card Verification Value (CVV): checks a customer card’s CVV code to provide an additional layer of security
  • Address Verification Service (AVS): verifies the billing address provided by the customer
  • Encryption: scrambles all cardholder details so that bad actors can’t access the original information
  • Other advanced fraud protection tools: most providers have their own ways of detecting fraud for additional reassurance

2. Data portability

Who owns your customer’s data if you choose to leave your gateway provider? It’s very important you are able to properly store, access, and download the data you need to sustain your merchant services without breaking GDPR. Here are the key features to look for to ensure data portability:

  • Ensure the provider adheres to PCI standards for secure data exchange
  • Check that the provider has documents explaining how to manage and export data
  • Look for a provider with reporting functions; this will make it easy to view data
  • Be aware of export fees – some providers will charge you to download data

3. Hosted vs. integrated gateways

Hosted gateways are hosted by the provider, and so will redirect your customers to its own platform to make a payment. These are the simplest form of payment gateway to set up and are best suited to those who don’t have a complex purchasing process (such as dropshippers) or don’t want to hire a third-party developer. One drawback is that customers will have to leave your site to pay – this can confuse the process and lead to cart abandonment.

Worth knowing: what's an API?

An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a type of software that allows two separate applications to interact with each other. For payment gateways, an API allows you to integrate and host your own checkout experience, and so have a lot of control over it. Just be aware that advanced technical knowledge is needed to implement it.

An integrated gateway connects to your ecommerce website via the gateway’s provided API (Application Programming Interface), meaning that your customers will never leave your site to input payment information. It requires a fairly advanced technical knowledge to implement and so it’s best for those with an in-house tech team or software knowledge. Most integrated APIs will give you more detailed customisable options for your checkout page than a hosted gateway.

4. Cards accepted

It’s standard for payment gateways to accept all major credit and debit cards, but always double-check. If the gateway accepts American Express (AMEX), that’s a bonus – be sure to check the credit card processing fees though, as these can be higher for AMEX. Other payment methods that customers might expect from your store include:

  • Bank transfer
  • Gift cards
  • Regional e-wallets
  • Pay by Link
  • PayPal or Amazon Pay

5. Fees

Each payment gateway charges a different fee for credit, debit, and overseas transactions – and sneakier providers will not reveal these upfront. Be sure to read up on what the transaction fees are to avoid a nasty surprise on your next invoice.

Examples of hidden fees that some providers charge include:
  • Statement fees
    A charge for accessing transaction reports.
  • Batch fee
    A charge for processing a batch of transactions.
  • Non-qualified transactions
    A charge for incorrect card information being submitted.
  • Chargebacks
    When a customer requests a chargeback, you may be charged a fee.
  • Security fees
    A fee for carrying out security checks.
  • Termination fees
    A charge if you terminate your agreement early.

6. Customer support

If your gateway goes down, you won’t be able to accept payment for your products, which is bad news for business. Make sure your payment gateway provider has an efficient customer support network that can help out with any problems, at any time. Look for features like:

  • Email support
  • Phone support
  • Live chat support
  • Knowledge centre
  • Forum

1. takepayments: best for a flexible payment structure

takepayments
4.8
  • Starting software price: Quote-based
  • Transaction fees from: Quote-based
  • Custom, quote-based transaction fees
  • Extensive reporting that provides actionable insights
  • Next day payouts
Summary takepayments is a UK-based company offering payment solutions including card terminals, online payments, and POS systems. It currently serves over 750,000 customers and is one of the fastest-growing card payment providers in the UK. We recommend takepayments to small businesses looking for flexible payment solutions.
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Suitable if:
  • You're a business on the grow and want actionable data from real-time sales reports
  • Strong brand identity is key and you want to customise your payment gateway to fit with your branding
  • You're a brick-and-mortar retailer who's just starting with ecommerce and need a quick cashflow with fast next day payouts
Not suitable if:
  • You're a pre-revenue business that wants a set pricing structure for clear budgeting
  • You're a more established business that doesn't want your customers redirected to a separate page for payment
  • You're a new businesses, or you operate round-the-clock, and need 24/7 support

How much does it cost?

Contract length One month minimum
Processing feeQuote-based
Monthly feesQuote-based
Setup feesNone
Free trial or planNone

takepayments has a quote-based fee structure, with transaction fees that are tailored to your specific business.

While there might be a lack of initial transparency, the benefit is that you’ll potentially be getting fees that are tailored to your businesses specific needs, rather than being stuck with a one-size-fits-all approach.

What are takepayments’ strengths?

takepayments offers a hosted payment gateway that provides a secure, customisable checkout page, so you can make it match your site’s branding. Helping create a more seamless checkout experience, even if your customers are re-directed to a different page.

A quick cash flow can be critical for SMEs, especially newer businesses who don’t have a large store of cash to rely on, but takepayments’ lightning fast next-business-day payouts will have you covered. takepayments will also provide you with extensive, actionable, data via detailed reports.

What could takepayments do better?

While it does offer extremely fast next-day payouts, if having payouts over the weekend is a deal breaker, you should consider looking at Revolut instead.

What security measures does takeypayments have in place?

  • The payment gateways provided by takepayments have 3D secure technology built-in, to prevent fraud. The payment gateways are all also SSL certified.
  • takepayments is PCI compliant, and uses tokenization, Address Verification System (AVS) and Credit Verification Value (CVV) to keep its online payments secure.
  • Using its Security+ package, takepayments can perform quarterly secure transactions reviews for you, and you’ll receive regular cyber security updates directly to your inbox.

Read next: find out more about the pros and cons in our full takepayments review for 2025.

What's takepayments' help and support like?

takepayments has an impressive range of support via phone, email, live chat, and a knowledge centre (all it’s missing is a user forum).

What we would recommend you keep in mind: it’s not available 24/7 (contact hours are 8am to 7pm on weekdays, 8am to 6pm on Saturdays, and 9am to 5pm on Sundays). If you take sales at all hours, you’ll want to cast your eye over to Worldpay.

2. Stripe: best for strong security features

Stripe
4.6
  • Monthly fees: None
  • Transaction fees from: 1.5% + 20p
  • Advanced fraud detection
  • Option for weekend payouts
  • 24/7 customer support
Summary Stripe is an Irish-American software as a service company, which currently supports over 135 currencies and payment methods. We think Stripe is well suited to security conscious startups, due to the fraud radar built directly into the payment flow.
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Suitable if:
  • Your business relies on a steady cashflow seven days a week, and you need weekend payouts
  • You're a newer business that's just getting started and you want a standard transaction fee rate
  • Your business deals in high value transactions and you’re especially concerned about security
Not suitable if:
  • You're looking to avoid high transaction fees, but you're selling overseas and taking international payments
  • You're an early stage startup that needs next day payouts at no extra cost
  • You're a less advanced SME that lacks technical knowledge to integrate some of Stripe's APIs

How much does it cost?

Contract length No contract
Processing fee1.5% + 20p
for standard UK cards

2.5% + 20p
for EU Cards
Monthly feesNone
Setup feesNone
Free trial or planFree plan

Stripe offers a completely free plan, making it an attractive online payment option for small businesses – and it doesn’t charge setup or monthly fees.

Keep in mind, though, that while Stripe’s standard transaction fee might seem highly competitive at 1.5% + 20p, its other tiers could end up stinging you in the long run. For example, payments made with EU cards are subject to a much heftier 2.5% + 20p fee, so keep this in mind if you depend on a large amount of international payments.

What are Stripe’s strengths?

Stripe doesn’t take half-measures when it comes to security – its advanced fraud feature, Radar, is built directly into the payment flow and uses machine learning to detect unusual patterns in your payments. Just keep in mind it can cost up to 6p per screened transaction, depending on factors like your account type.

Stripe offers an easy, pre-built, customisable payment form called Stripe Checkout to embed on your site (or hosted by Stripe). Stipe has a wide suite of payment API’s, so you’ll have a decent rang of options to choose from (just be aware each will be subject to its own costs and fees). Stripe can also provide SMEs with weekend payouts thanks its Instant Payouts feature.

What could Stripe do better?

Just be aware Stripe charges 1% per transaction for using Instant Payouts, unlike other providers that give next-day payouts at no extra cost like takepayments. Without Instant Payouts, it can take up to three working days to receive your funds.

What security measures does Stripe have in place?

  • Stripe is PCI compliant, and can even provide its own Stripe PCI wizard which can analyse your setup and advise you on how to reduce your own compliance burden.
  • A variety of Stripe’s integrations, including Stripe Checkout, use tokenization to avoid you having to handle sensitive card data directly.
  • Both Stripe Checkout and Stripe Element handle all customer payment data in a payment field that comes directly from its PCI DSS–validated servers.
What help and support does Stripe offer?

We were impressed by the variety of customer support options provided by Stripe, including email, live chat and a knowledge centre. Best of all though, is that Stripe provides of all this support 24/7.

3. Worldpay: best for selling high-value goods

Worldpay
4.6
  • Monthly fees: From £19.95
  • Transaction fees from: Worldpay eCommerce payment gateway: 1.3% plus 20p
  • Low transaction fees, depending on your processing volume
  • Wide range of help and support options, including a forum
  • Worldpay Dashboard gives you insights into your sales
Summary Worldpay is a complete online payments service that gives you the ability to take payments directly from your website or app. We would recommend Worldpay to businesses who mostly deal in infrequent but high value sales. This is due to its fee structure with minimum amounts.
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Suitable if:
  • Your businesses relies on an efficient cashflow and you want fast payout times
  • You want the reassurance of robust help and support
  • You're more established business that deals in high value transactions
Not suitable if:
  • You're a smaller business that has a lower annual turnover (less than £75,000 per year)
  • You're a newer, less established business, and you don’t want to be locked into a long contract
  • You’re a newer business that needs a simple fee structure geared toward lower volumes of sales

How much does it cost?

Contract length 18-month contract
Processing feeSimplicity payment gateway: 1.5%

Worldpay eCommerce payment gateway: 1.3% plus 20p
Monthly feesFrom £19.95
Setup feesNone
Free trial or planNone

Worldpay offers two online payment services: Simplicity and Worldpay eCommerce. With Worldpay eCommerce, you’ll get a reasonably competitive transaction rate of 1.3% plus 20p for Mastercard and Visa consumer cards.

Worldpay’s pricing tends to favour high value transactions as opposed to large numbers of small value payments, because of the minimum amounts imposed by the fee structure.

If you choose the Simplicity payment gateway, you won’t be subject to any upfront costs, authentication fees, or premium charges, but it does cost £19.95 per month. Not all providers charge a monthly fee for payment gateways, so this is something to be aware of.

Why are Worldpay’s strengths?

If you deal in high-risk, high-value transactions, Worldpay’s excellent security options are definitely worth your attention. You’ll have access to FraudSight – Worldpay’s own multilayered fraud protection solution – and 3DS Flex basic, an additional layer of authentication when processing payments.

You’ll get access to the Worldpay Dashboard, which allows you to see payment activity and source insights for sales strategies.  Worldpay’s payout times are as fast as one business day – good for those who rely on quick cash flow. It also allows you to customise your deposit schedule, so you can decide when you’ll receive your funds.

What could Worldpay do better?

The key thing to note about Worldpay: you’re looking at an 18-month contract and early exit fee. If you don’t want to be locked in, check out Revolut instead. On the basis of the contract length and fee structure, we wouldn’t recommend Worldpay to newer businesses, or those with an annual revenue under 75k.

What security measures does Worldpay have in place?

  • In addition to FraudSight and 3DS Flex basic, which we covered above, Worldpay can provide the Worldpay SaferPayments program. This provides 24/7 support to manage your PCI/DSS compliance and payments security.
  • Worldpay is compliant with high levels of security and privacy standards, including: PCI level 1, NACHA, CMMI level 2, FISMA and NIST.
What help and support does Worldpay offer?

We were thoroughly impressed by Worldpay’s extensive help and support via phone, email, live chat, and knowledge centre. It even has a forum on which you can discuss issues with fellow online merchants. Not only that, but it’s in operation 24/7, so you’ll never be left high and dry.

4. Shopify: best all-in-one solution

Shopify
4.2
  • Starting software price: £5
  • Transaction fees from: 1.5% + 25p on the Advanced plan
  • Plans starting from as low as £5 per month
  • 24/7 support
  • Forum to get advice from other merchants
Summary Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Shopify is the second largest publicly traded Canadian company. It hosts 5.6 million active stores across more than 175 countries. We recommend Shopify as an all-in-one solution for combining you in-store and online sales.
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Suitable if:
  • You’re already a Shopify merchant, or you want to build your online shop with Shopify
  • Less experienced business owners who want a variety of help and support options
  • Retail owners who want a purpose built ecommerce platform for taking online sales
Not suitable if:
  • You're a more advanced business that wants customisable transaction fees
  • Your business relies on fast payouts; such as retailers who need frequently restock an inventory
  • You're trying to keep overheads as lean as possible and want to avoid monthly fees

How much does it cost?

Contract lengthNone
Processing feeBasic plan: 2% + 25p

Grow plan: 1.7% + 25p

Advanced plan: 1.5% + 25p
Monthly feesBasic plan: £19 per month

Grow plan: £49 per month

Advanced plan: £259 per month
Setup feesNone
Free trial?Yes

Shopify Payments is only available to Shopify merchants – those who’ve built their online store with Shopify using one of the three plans we’ve listed above.

Basic will be the plan to look at for one-person-bands, while small businesses with a handful of core staff will be better suited to the Grow plan. The more aggressively-priced Advanced plan is suitable if you’re making enough sales that the cheaper transaction fees would save you enough money to justify the monthly charge.

What are Shopify’s strengths?

If you’re looking to launch an online shop, then Shopify is the go to name for the best ecommerce website builders. Shopify Payments is its native payment gateway, meaning you can build a website, then take payments through it, all under one roof.

Shopify is PCI compliant and provides the option for 3D secure checkouts, giving merchants peace of mind. When we tested out the online store functionality, we also felt confident that it could handle wide range of products, if needed.

What could Shopify do better?

Just keep its payout times in mind – it can take anywhere from two to five working days for funds to arrive. This could be a deal breaker if you rely on a quick and steady flow of cash. You might want to take a look at a much faster payout provider like takepayments instead.

What security measures does Shopify have in place?

  • In addition to being certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, Shopify has been issued SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 reports. This stands for Service Organization Control, and is an independent assessment of risks.
  • Shopify also provides fraud analysis, to help identify fraudulent orders and prevent chargebacks. You can also use Shopify Flow to help manage high risk orders.
What kind of help and support does Shopify offer?

You’ll get access to Shopify’s excellent 24/7 support system, which includes phone, email, live chat, a knowledge centre, and it hosts a forum where you can discuss pain points and issues with fellow Shopify merchants. We particularly liked the helpful AI chatbot which gave us speedy answers to our questions.

5. Revolut: best for affordability

Revolut
4.1
  • Monthly fees: None
  • Transaction fees from: 1% + 20p
  • Next-day settlements
  • No contract and low transaction fees
  • Customisable checkout process
Summary Revolut is a British financial technology company that offers banking services. Headquartered in London, it was founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko. We recommend Revolut for businesses who are looking for an affordable payment gateway solution.
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Suitable if:
  • You're newer, untested business that wants to keep monthly costs low
  • You're an early stage SME that wants to prioritise low transaction fees
  • You're micro-business needing flexibility, and want to avoid getting locked into contracts
Not suitable if:
  • You don’t already bank with Revolut and you don’t want the hassle of switching
  • You're a more sophisticated enterprise that needs extensive reporting for actionable data
  • You're an international business that needs to take a lot of multi-currency payments

How much does it cost?

Contract lengthNone
Processing feeUK consumer cards: 1% + 20p

All international and commercial cards: 2.8% + 20p
Monthly feesNone
Setup feesNone
Free trial or plan?Free plan

Revolut’s rock bottom transaction fee of 1% + 20p is an incredible deal if most of your sales come from UK consumer cards. The transaction fee jumps up to 2.8% for any international or commercial card, so if your business will take a large number of payments from overseas, you’ll feel the pinch.

What are Revolut’s strengths?

Revolut is an API-based payment gateway that can be integrated onto your website, meaning your customers won’t be directed to a third-party site to check out. While you might find this tricky to set up, Revolut does offer its own support system of engineers to help you through the process.

You also get the added benefit of its customisable widget, so you can build your checkout process exactly the way you want it and make it as smooth as possible for your customers. Another benefit is that Revolut can offer extremely fast next-day payouts, including over weekends.

What could Revolut do better?

While the costs might be low, this does come at the expense of detailed sales reporting. If you’d like to use extensive sales data to strategise future plans, we’d say to opt for takepayments instead.

What security measures does Revolut have in place?

  • Revolut’s API and integrations are all PCI compliant, and Revolut is also fully compliant with Strong Customer Authentication procedures.
  • Revolut provides an automated security system that monitors your transactions for any signs of potential fraud, and triggers an in-app warning notifying you of any suspicious activity so you can act.
What kind of help and support does Revolut offer?

Revolut has a very impressive stable of support options: phone, email, live chat, a knowledge centre and even a forum. Even more impressively, Revolut’s support is available 24/7.

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Written by:
Eddie is resident Reviews Expert for Startups, focusing on merchant accounts, point of sales systems and business phone systems. He works closely with our in-house team of research experts, carrying out hours of hands-on user testing and market analysis to ensure that our recommendations and reviews are as helpful and accurate as possible. Eddie is also Startups video presenter. He helps create informative, helpful visual content alongside our written reviews, to better aid customers with their decision making. Eddie joined Startups from its sister site Expert Reviews, where he wrote in-depth informational articles and covered the biggest consumer deals events of the year. And, having previously worked as a freelancer providing screenplay and book coverage in the film and television industry, Eddie is no stranger to the demands of the sole trader.
Reviewed by:
Ollie Simpson profile photo
After three years of refining my skills in data analysis, I transitioned to a role as a researcher to help understand our readers' preferences and needs. My professional journey started as a researcher in law enforcement, where I developed strong analytical abilities. Later, I moved into operations, strengthening my understanding of quantitative data. Now, I blend my quantitative analysis skills with qualitative research to explore both audience preferences and product nuances. Armed with a UX design diploma, I translate research findings into actionable insights that facilitate informed decision-making. Whether enhancing Startups offerings or delivering research presentations, I am driven by a relentless pursuit of improvement and results.
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