The 5 best payment gateway and online payment systems in 2026

1 of 3

takepayments: Flexible payment structures

Visit takepayments

2 of 3

Worldpay: International payments

Visit Worldpay

3 of 3

Compare software providers to find the best option

Compare Quotes

Our dedicated research team conducted 45 tests over a total of 22.5 hours in order to determine that takepayments is the best payment gateway solution, due to its flexible payment structure, and fast next-day payouts. takepayments also provides our favourite card machine for small businesses for 2026.

A payment gateway acts as a bridge between your customers’ sensitive card information and your business bank account.

Payment gateways provide a checkout page, and they safely encrypt the payment information entered into it, playing an essential role in accepting credit or debit card payments online. These are our top recommendations for small business owners in 2026.

The best payment gateways: comparison table

0 out of 0

• backward
• forward

		Best for:	Overall score	Transaction fees from	Monthly costs	Payout time	Contract length
BEST OVERALL
takepayments	Stripe	Worldpay	Shopify	Revolut
A flexible payment structure	A simple payment gateway solution	Selling high-value goods	An all-in-one solution	Affordability
4.8	4.6	4.6	4.2	4.1
Quote-based	1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards	1.3% + 20p	1.5% + 25p (Advanced plan)	1% + 20p
Quote-based	None	None for pay-as-you-go plans	From £19	None
Next business day	Up to seven business days	Same day or next day	Two to five business days	Next day
12 months	None	18 months	None	None

Overall rating: 4.8
Price: quote-based
Contract: 12 months minimum
Type of gateway: hosted
Weekend payouts: no
Company overview: takepayments is a leading UK-based card payment provider, which is part of Global Payments, an American multinational fintech company. You can read more in our full takepayments review.

takepayments is the best payment gateway for UK small businesses, thanks to the secure no-code checkout page, tailored fees, and fast next-business-day payouts, along with standout features like:

• Technical assistance from takepayments to get your gateway set up
• Connection with PayPal and the ability to accept mobile wallet payments
• Automated invoicing and multi-currency IBANs
• Detailed reporting for actionable data
• Real-time transaction feed

takepayments’s hosted payment gateway integrates with over 50 shopping carts, and you can customise your secure checkout page to fit your own branding. 

How much does takepayments cost?

takepayments’s negotiable transaction fees will be tailored to your specific business, so you can avoid being stuck in a one-size-fits-all approach that will eat away at your profits.

Who do we recommend takepayments to?

We recommend takepayments to small businesses looking for an all-in-one setup, as it can provide card terminals, POS systems, and online selling all under one-roof.

The bespoke fee structure also makes it best for growing small businesses who have moved beyond the ‘side-hustle’ stage. For those just starting out, Stripe’s set fees may be a better fit.

Overall rating: 4.6
Price: 1.5% + 20p transaction fee for standard card transactions
Contract: no contract
Type of gateway: hosted gateway, as well as API-integrated solutions
Weekend payouts: available through Instant Payouts feature (an additional 1% of the payout amount)
Company overview: Stripe is an Irish-American software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that currently supports over 135 currencies and payment methods

Stripe is the best choice if you’re looking for a simple gateway for online sellers, due to its transparent transaction fees and Stripe Checkout, which is an easy, pre-built payment form you can either embed on your site or have Stripe host.

Stripe has many other standout features for merchants like:

• Stripe Checkout, which supports over 30 languages, more than 150 currencies
• Built-in local compliance automation tools to manage country-specific regulatory requirements
• Stripe Checkout includes Link by Stripe, which auto-fills your customers’ information for a faster checkout
• The suite of payment APIs for more advanced businesses, enabling you to quickly add secure and scalable payment features

Stripe’s advanced fraud feature, Radar, is built directly into your payment flow to prevent unusual activity and give you peace of mind (though it can cost up to 6p per screened transaction).

How much does Stripe cost?

Stripe costs 1.5% + 20p for standard transactions with no monthly fees or contracts, though payments made with EU cards are subject to a higher 2.5% + 20p fee.

Who do we recommend Stripe to?

Stripe’s transparent pricing and plug-and-play payment options make it the best choice for simple side-hustlers and solopreneurs without development teams.

Stripe’s protection features are also best suited to security-conscious startups, which includes behavioral analytics (like how someone navigates your site) to verify identity instantly and stop sophisticated attacks.

Overall rating: 4.6
Price: 1.3% plus 20p in transaction fees on pay-as-you-go, or custom fees
Contract: 18 months
Type of gateway: hosted gateway, or integrated via SDKs/APIs
Weekend payouts: no
Company overview: Worldpay is a comprehensive online payments service that lets you accept payments directly from your website or app

Worldpay eCommerce is best for businesses handling high-value transactions due to the AI-powered FraudSight, its proprietary multilayered fraud protection software.

Worldpay also has a range of excellent features for online sellers:

• Worldpay Dashboard allows you to view payment activity and gain insights for strategy
• 24/7 phone support
• Access a range of plugins including Shopify, WooCommerce, and OpenCart
• Accept a massive range of payment types including American Express, Alipay, Klarna, WeChat Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
• Accept payments in over 110 currencies
• Worldpay’s payout times are the same or next day

You can get started quickly with a prebuilt hosted checkout, but more sophisticated SMEs can choose a Software Development Kit (SDK) which will allow deep customisation.

How much does Worldpay cost?

Worldpay’s pricing favours high-value transactions rather than large numbers of small-value payments, because of the minimum amounts imposed by its fee structure.

Who do we recommend Worldpay to?

We recommend Worldpay to already established SMEs with infrequent, but high-value, sales due to the fee structure.

Stripe is a better choice if you want to avoid being locked into a contract, and want a simple fee structure geared toward lower volumes of sales.

Overall rating: 4.2
Price: from £19 + VAT  per month, plus 2% + 25p transaction fees
Contract: none
Type of gateway: fully integrated
Weekend payouts: no
Company overview: Shopify is the second-largest publicly traded Canadian company, hosting 5.6 million active stores across more than 175 countries

Shopify is the best all-in-one solution, being one of the best ecommerce website builders for small businesses, with its own hosted native payment gateway: Shopify Payments.

Even on Shopify’s Basic tier you’ll get access to a helpful array of ecommerce features like:

• Abandoned cart recovery via automated follow up emails to customers
• Build an online store in minutes with AI-powered Shopify Magic
• One-click checkout for customers
• Custom reporting and real-time analytics
• Discount codes and gift cards for your online shop

By using Shopify Payments as your gateway you’ll simplify the ecommerce process by keeping everything under one roof, with a unified dashboard, seamlessly managing both in-store and online sales. 

How much does Shopify cost?

Shopify’s monthly costs and relatively high transaction fees can make for a high total cost of ownership, but the simplicity of the all-in-one platform will be worth it for many merchants.

You can try Shopify for free for three days, and then only pay £1 per month for three months, so it’s a good way to test it out and see if it’s the right fit.

Who do we recommend Shopify to?

We recommend Shopify to retailers who sell both in-person and online, thanks to the unified dashboard. With the native Shopify Payments gateway, you won’t have to worry about any technical setup either.

Overall rating: 4.1
Price: 1% + 20p transaction fees
Contract: none
Type of gateway: hosted and fully integrated 
Weekend payouts: yes
Company overview: Revolut is a British financial technology company that offers banking services

Revolut is the cheapest payment gateway choice if your sales come from UK consumer cards, due to its low set transaction fees and lack of monthly fees.

Despite the low price, Revolut provides fast next-day payouts, including weekends, with more pros like:

• One-click checkout through Revolut Pay
• Customisable widget lets you tailor the entire checkout experience for your customers
• Failed payments are re-processed through smart payment retries
• 99.99% platform uptime
• Open Banking and A2A payments

Revolut is an API-based payment gateway that integrates directly into your website, meaning your customers never have to leave your site to check out.

How much does Revolut cost?

The transaction fee jumps up to 2.8% for any international or commercial card, so if your business takes a large number of payments from overseas or operates B2B, then Worldpay will be a better option.

Who do we recommend Revolut to?

We recommend Revolut to new, simple businesses that take sales mainly from UK residents and are looking for an affordable payment gateway solution.

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

You should decide whether you want a hosted or integrated gateway:

• Hosted gateways: quick to set up and require minimal technical knowledge, but your customer will be redirected off your site to the provider, so this could lead to cart abandonment.
• Integrated gateways: connect directly to your ecommerce site via the provider’s API, allowing customers to stay on your site and giving you greater customisation, but requires technical experience to setup and maintain.

Hosted vs. integrated gateways: what are the security and compliance differences?

With a hosted gateway, the provider typically manages encryption and fraud checks, and they often come with built-in safety tools. Because your website never directly handles card details, PCI DSS requirements are much lighter.

An integrated gateway keeps the checkout on your website, and places more responsibility on the business owner. Even if card details are only on your site for a few seconds, you must meet higher PCI DSS requirements,.

What security measures should I consider?

Given the number of high-profile cases of buyers’ personal data being stolen, you should check that 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

What is data portability, and what should I look for to ensure it?

You must be able to properly store, access, and download the data you need to sustain your merchant services without violating the General Data Protection Regulation (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

What fees will I need to pay?

Be sure to read up on what credit card processing fees you’ll be charged to gain a full understanding, and you can use our helpful calculator to work out what kind of fees you’ll be paying.

Step-by-step: how to get your payment gateway set up

Most small UK businesses can set up a payment gateway in one to five working days:

• 1. Compare providers and check requirements: examine fees, payout times, contract requirements, and make sure to check that the provider covers your business (some industries, such as gambling, may face extra scrutiny in certain regions).
• 2. Submit your application: some providers approve applications within minutes, while others take up to two days to run extra checks to confirm your business is safe to work with.
• 3. Set up your dashboard: once you’ve set up your gateway, you’ll get access to an online dashboard where you can set payment schedules, enable security checks, and connect tools such as invoicing or accounting software.
• 4. Run test payments: run trial payments with test card numbers before going live, ensuring that payments, emails, and refunds work correctly.
• 5. Simulate fraud-style activity: simulate lots of quick transactions, mismatched billing details, or unusually large orders – so you can check that your fraud filters and alerts are working without blocking genuine customers.
• 5. Go live and accept real payments: most providers send payouts within one to three working days, although the first transaction may take slightly longer.

How we test and review payment gateways

In order to accurately recommend the right payment gateways for UK-based small businesses, we developed a testing framework based on audience research which identified four key user priorities.

We then tested 26 payment gateway providers against this framework.

Each criterion was given an appropriate weighting to ensure the results are as relevant to your genuine needs as possible, and each provider was given a score for each criterion. These scores were then used to rank the top payment gateways.

The main criteria we test are:

Pricing (35%): is this a good long-term financial decision for my company?

We assessed the cost of using each payment platform, the setup costs involved, whether you’ll need to agree to a contract, the length of the agreement, and whether you might incur an exit fee. We also analysed the transaction fees each provider charges, and whether it offers a free trial or plan.

Help and support (30%): what assistance does the platform provide if I face an issue?

We evaluated the range and availability of each platform’s user support channels. We also tested the accuracy of each provider’s knowledge centre by examining responses to five different test queries.

Software (20%): how well designed is the payment gateway?

We analysed each payment gateway based on the payment types it accepts, whether it supports mobile payments, and payment times. We also assessed the security measures the provider has in place, including whether it’s PCI-compliant, holds an ISO 27001 certificate, and has fraud-prevention measures. We also looked at the data and reporting features available, and whether the gateway can integrate with a POS.

Hardware (15%): will I be able to use a card reader with my payment gateway?

While payment gateways are used for ecommerce, we understand that many small business owners will be taking both in-store and online sales. We explored whether the payment gateway provider also offered a physical card machine, which types were available, and the type of connection it uses.