Choosing a payment gateway for WooCommerce: the buying guide
How to choose a payment gateway for WooCommerce: 8 criteria, a comparison of WooPayments, Stripe, PayPal, Square, Mollie and Whop, and how to add one.
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The best payment gateway for WooCommerce is the one that approves your business, supports the payment methods your buyers use, keeps them on your own checkout and pays you out on a schedule you can live with. For most stores that means one card gateway plus PayPal, with two providers enabled at the same time.
This guide gives you the criteria first, then a comparison of the main options, then how to add a gateway.
8 criteria that actually matter
| Criterion | What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eligibility | The provider’s prohibited and restricted business lists | A gateway that later closes your account costs more than any fee difference |
| 2. Fees | Domestic card rate, international card surcharge, currency conversion, payout fees, dispute fee | The headline rate is rarely what you pay |
| 3. Checkout experience | Embedded form on your checkout, or redirect to the provider’s page | Every redirect loses some buyers and breaks your design |
| 4. Payment methods | Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, local bank methods, buy now pay later, crypto | Buyers abandon if their usual method is missing |
| 5. Currencies | Can you charge in your store currency natively? | Forced conversion adds a fee and surprises buyers |
| 6. Payouts and reserves | Payout delay, payout methods, reserve policy for new accounts | Cash flow, especially for stores that pay suppliers upfront |
| 7. Order reliability | Is the order created before payment? Is payment verified server-side and by signed webhook? | Paid orders without an order, or orders marked paid without payment, are the expensive bugs |
| 8. WooCommerce fit | HPOS support, Checkout Block support, subscriptions, refunds from the WooCommerce admin | Decides how much manual work remains |
Score each option on these eight before you compare fees.
The main options compared
| WooPayments | Stripe (official extension) | PayPal Payments | Square | Mollie | Whop (WhopForWoo) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published US card rate | 2.9% + $0.30 | Check Stripe pricing | 2.99% + fixed fee (cards), 3.49% + fixed fee (PayPal Checkout) | Check Square pricing | Check Mollie pricing | 2.7% + $0.30 |
| Checkout | On your page | On your page | PayPal buttons + card fields | On your page | On your page or hosted | Embedded Whop form on your page; hosted redirect for the Checkout Block |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay | Yes | Yes | Depends on setup | Check plugin | Check plugin | Yes (Apple Pay needs domain verification) |
| Crypto | No | No | No | No | No | Yes (1.5%) |
| Subscriptions with WooCommerce Subscriptions | Yes | Yes | Check plugin | Check plugin | Check plugin | No, one-time payments |
| Best for | All-in-one inside WooCommerce | Stripe users who want direct control | Buyer trust, wallets | Online + in-person | EU local methods | Digital products, international buyers, a second processor |
Fees from published pricing on 2026-11-11, sources at the bottom. WooPayments adds 1.5% for international cards and 1% for currency conversion; Whop adds 1.5% and 1% respectively, and its optional add-ons and payout fees are detailed on Whop fees.
Short reviews
WooPayments. Built by WooCommerce on Stripe. Everything (payments, disputes, payouts) appears in the WordPress admin. Good default for a US or EU store. It is still Stripe underneath: if Stripe refuses your business, WooPayments won’t help.
Stripe (official extension). Same processor, managed from Stripe’s dashboard. Choose it if you already run Stripe elsewhere.
PayPal Payments. Adds PayPal, Venmo in the US, and card fields. Worth enabling alongside any card gateway because some buyers only trust PayPal. Wallet payments cost more than cards.
Square. Makes sense if you also sell in person. Check country availability first.
Mollie. European provider with local methods such as iDEAL and Bancontact. Strong choice for a store selling mainly in the EU.
Whop. A payments platform that acts as merchant of record. With WhopForWoo, Whop’s payment form loads inside the WooCommerce payment box, the order is created before any charge, and the order is only marked paid after the payment is read back from Whop’s API or arrives in an HMAC-signed webhook with matching amount and currency. Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, crypto and local methods (ACH, Cash App, Bancontact and others, depending on the buyer’s country). Limits to know: new accounts are capped at $2,500 per checkout until approved for more, iDEAL doesn’t show in embedded checkouts, refunds are issued from the Whop dashboard, and recurring billing through WooCommerce Subscriptions isn’t supported. Whop decides eligibility and prohibits categories such as adult, vapes, CBD, unregulated supplements, gambling, weapons and IPTV.
Which gateway for which store
- US store selling physical products: WooPayments or Stripe, plus PayPal. Add Whop as a second card processor if you want crypto or protection against an account review.
- EU store: Mollie or WooPayments, plus PayPal.
- Digital products, courses, software: Whop or Stripe, plus PayPal. Whop’s history is digital products; see Whop for digital products.
- Stripe closed or refused you: read Stripe account closed first, then Stripe alternatives for WooCommerce.
- Subscriptions are your core model: a gateway that supports WooCommerce Subscriptions (WooPayments, Stripe).
How to add a payment gateway in WooCommerce
- Install and activate the gateway’s plugin from Plugins → Add New (or upload the zip).
- Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments and enable the gateway.
- Paste the API credentials from the provider’s dashboard.
- Add the webhook URL to the provider’s dashboard if the plugin shows one. Without webhooks, orders paid after a closed browser tab may stay “pending”.
- Exclude the checkout page from page caching.
- Place a test order in test or sandbox mode, including a refund.
- Switch to live and place one real low-value order.
For Whop specifically, the step-by-step is in how to get your Whop API key and Whop webhooks.
Custom payment gateway for WooCommerce
If your provider has no plugin, a custom gateway is a PHP class extending WC_Payment_Gateway, plus webhook handling, server-side payment verification, idempotency, refunds and Checkout Block support. It’s a real maintenance commitment. Look for an existing, maintained plugin before writing one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best payment gateway for WooCommerce?
The one that accepts your business, covers your buyers' countries and payment habits, and keeps the customer on your checkout. For most stores that means a card gateway (WooPayments, Stripe or Whop) plus PayPal, with two gateways enabled so one outage or account review never stops sales.
What is the cheapest payment gateway for WooCommerce?
On published US domestic card rates, Whop (2.7% + $0.30) is slightly below WooPayments (2.9% + $0.30), and PayPal Checkout is higher. The real cost depends on international cards, currency conversion, add-ons and payout fees, so compare on your own order mix.
How do I add a payment gateway in WooCommerce?
Install the gateway's plugin, open WooCommerce → Settings → Payments, enable the gateway, paste the API credentials from the provider's dashboard, set up the webhook if the plugin asks for one, and place a test order in sandbox or test mode.
Can I use more than one payment gateway in WooCommerce?
Yes. WooCommerce shows every enabled gateway at checkout and the customer chooses. Running two is the simplest protection against an account review or outage.
Do I need a custom payment gateway for WooCommerce?
Rarely. If your provider has no WooCommerce plugin, a custom gateway means writing and maintaining a PHP payment class, webhook handling and payment verification. Check for an existing plugin first.