Merchants look at Adyen alternatives when the fixed fee on every transaction stings on small baskets, when a pricing page without a monthly minimum still hides a sales conversation, or when they want a processor that onboards a small business without an enterprise process. The options below are cheaper per small payment, narrower in scope, or take over tax and chargebacks entirely.
Short answer: The first three alternatives to Adyen in our payment processing software ranking are Mollie, GoCardless and SumUp. Smaller vendors fill the top three places where the category offers them, and the household names start at place 4. Choose Mollie if you want published all-in card rates and an online plan with no monthly fee. Each of the 11 alternatives sits in Best Payment Processing Software in 2026 and is described against Adyen.
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Pricing: Published fixed fee plus a per-method fee; no setup or monthly fee; other products priced separately
Established in: Netherlands
Built for: Larger merchants selling across many countries and channels with one integration.
Not for: Small shops with low-value baskets and few payment methods.
01
Why buyers look past Adyen
01
The fixed fee is paid on every transaction
Adyen's pricing page shows a fixed processing fee of $0.13 on each transaction, added to a fee set by the payment method. iDEAL is $0.13 plus 0.22 euros and SEPA Direct Debit $0.13 plus 0.27 euros. On a basket of a few euros the fixed part is a large share of the cost, so shops with many small orders compare it with flat percentage rates.
02
Card rates depend on interchange and you see the markup, not the total
Cards such as Visa and Mastercard are listed as Interchange++ plus 0.60%, so the final rate follows variable interchange fees. That is transparent for a finance team that reads scheme statements. A small merchant who wants one number to budget with has to estimate it from the card mix.
03
Scope and eligibility sit behind sales
The page says other Adyen products are priced separately and not listed, that some industries or business models carry a minimum invoice, and that restricted and prohibited business types are set out in an eligibility document. Fees shown are indicative, and custom pricing comes through sales, so the page is a starting point rather than a quote.
you sell digital products and accept a product that is in transition
#12
03
What each one does differently
1
Mollie
Netherlands · Published
Mollie, another Dutch processor, lists consumer EEA cards at 1.80% plus 0.25 euros, commercial cards at 2.90% plus 0.25 euros, iDEAL at 0.32 euros and SEPA Direct Debit at 0.35 euros. The page states no minimum costs and no lock-in contracts. Custom rates start at 100,000 euros a month in volume.
Switch from Adyen if you want published all-in card rates and an online plan with no monthly fee.
GoCardless collects from bank accounts. Its Standard plan charges 1% plus 20p domestic with a 4 pound cap, so a large recurring invoice costs far less than a card payment would. Fully custom checkout is a 150 pound monthly add-on, and the custom plan is for businesses with revenue above 1 million pounds. It does not take cards.
Switch from Adyen if most of your revenue is recurring or invoiced and could be paid by direct debit.
SumUp is a UK company that starts with a flat in-person rate of 1.69% for non-SumUp cards and no monthly fee. A Payments Plus plan costs 19 pounds a month or 189 pounds a year, with a 7-day trial, and is aimed at takings from 3,000 pounds a month. A custom plan begins at 10,000 pounds a month.
Switch from Adyen if you run a small shop or service business and take payments at a counter.
Paddle becomes the merchant of record for your sales, so it handles global tax, fraud protection, chargebacks and buyer support. The pay-as-you-go rate is 5% plus 50 cents per checkout, and products under 10 dollars are directed to bespoke pricing. Its use cases are software, apps, games and digital products.
Switch from Adyen if you sell software or digital goods and want someone else to own tax filing.
Checkout.com is a London-based acquirer that publishes no rates. The page names three structures: flat-rate by business profile and risk category, interchange++ with scheme and processor fees shown apart, and free processing for registered charities. It lists no setup or account maintenance fees and domestic coverage in 45 or more countries.
Switch from Adyen if you are at Adyen's scale and want a second quote on interchange++ terms.
Stripe lists EEA standard cards at 1.5% plus 0.25 euros, premium EEA cards at 2.8%, UK cards at 2.5% and international cards at 3.15%, each plus 0.25 euros. iDEAL is 0.29 euros. Billing, Tax and Radar are charged apart, for example Billing at 0.7% of volume, so the total depends on which modules you switch on.
Switch from Adyen if your developers want a large API surface and published rates across modules.
Square is a US point-of-sale vendor with Free and Plus plans, and the Plus plan advertises lower processing fees. The pricing page text we could read did not show the percentage rates, so we cannot quote them. Our category record says online and keyed payments cost more than in-person ones.
Switch from Adyen if you are a US retailer who wants till hardware, software and payments from one supplier.
Worldpay belongs to Global Payments according to our category record. The pricing page we reached is marked indicative and lists a 20 pound monthly terminal fee, a 15 pound minimum monthly service charge and a 20 pound chargeback fee. Its small-business page carries a note about an 18-month minimum on online applications.
Switch from Adyen if you already have a bank or acquirer relationship and can negotiate terms.
Braintree, now shown under PayPal, publishes US pricing: 2.89% plus 0.29 dollars for cards, ACH at 0.75% capped at 5 dollars, and Venmo at 3.49% plus 0.49 dollars. Non-USD currency and cards issued outside the US each add 1%, and a chargeback costs 15 dollars. These are US rates, not European ones.
Switch from Adyen if your customers are mostly American and want to pay by Venmo or PayPal.
PayPal's UK fee page gives a standard commercial rate of 2.9% plus a fixed 0.30 pound fee, 1.2% for cards paid without a PayPal account and 3.9% for buy now pay later. An optional tiered plan drops to 2.1% above 8,000 pounds a month. Currency conversion adds 3%, and a standard dispute costs 12 pounds.
Switch from Adyen if wallet checkout reach matters more to you than the lowest fee.
Lemon Squeezy charges 5% plus 50 cents per transaction, consolidating platform fees into one rate, and its pages quote support response times of 24 to 48 hours. A banner points to a 2026 update about Stripe Managed Payments, and the footer shows Link, LLC as the seller. The page does not explain what changes for merchants.
Switch from Adyen if you sell digital products and accept a product that is in transition.
GoCardless: Standard is 1% plus 20p domestic with a 4 pound cap, which beats any card fee on a large invoice; it does not take cards.
02
You want published euro rates without a sales call
Mollie: Consumer EEA cards are 1.80% plus 0.25 euros and iDEAL 0.32 euros, with no lock-in stated.
03
You sell software and want tax and chargebacks taken over
Paddle: Paddle acts as merchant of record at 5% plus 50 cents per checkout.
04
You take payments across a shop counter
SumUp: In-person payments are 1.69% flat, with a paid plan at 19 pounds a month for takings from 3,000 pounds.
05
You have the volume to negotiate interchange++ terms
Checkout.com: It publishes no rates and prices by business profile, with no setup or maintenance fees.
04
When Adyen is still the right choice
Adyen stays the right choice for a larger merchant that sells in several countries and wants one platform for online and in-person payments. Its page lists dozens of local methods with prices, lets you hold bank accounts in several currencies and choose when and in which currency to settle, and passes interchange through for a stated markup. If your baskets are large and your card mix is predictable, the fixed fee is a small part of the bill.
05
What moving off Adyen involves
01
Saved cards and tokens need a migration plan
Stored card details are held by the processor, so moving means a token transfer between two PCI-certified parties, which each supplier must agree to. Ask both sides early, because without a transfer returning customers and subscribers have to enter their card again.
02
Reconciliation and payout files change
Settlement reports, payout timing and reference fields differ between processors. Run both in parallel on a share of traffic for a full month close, and check that your accounting export still matches bank deposits before you switch the rest.
06
Questions about replacing Adyen
6 answers
How much does Adyen charge per transaction?
Adyen's pricing page lists a fixed processing fee of $0.13 plus a fee for the payment method. Cards such as Visa and Mastercard are Interchange++ plus 0.60%, iDEAL adds 0.22 euros and SEPA Direct Debit 0.27 euros. It lists no setup or monthly fee.
Does Adyen have a monthly fee or minimum?
The page says there are no setup, monthly, integration or closure fees. It adds that some industries or business models have a minimum invoice and that you should ask sales about it.
Which Adyen alternative is a European company?
Mollie is Dutch, while GoCardless, SumUp, Paddle and Checkout.com are UK companies. Stripe, Square, Braintree, PayPal, Worldpay and Lemon Squeezy are listed in our records as US companies.
What is the cheapest option for small payments?
For bank-paid recurring invoices GoCardless caps domestic Standard fees at 4 pounds. For iDEAL, Mollie lists 0.32 euros against Adyen's $0.13 plus 0.22 euros. For cards, compare the fixed part per payment.
Who handles sales tax and chargebacks for me?
Paddle and Lemon Squeezy act as merchant of record. Paddle says it handles global tax, fraud protection, chargebacks and buyer support, at 5% plus 50 cents per checkout. With the others you stay the seller and handle those tasks yourself.
Can I keep Adyen for large customers and move small ones?
Nothing on Adyen's page forbids running two processors. Many merchants route low-value or recurring payments to a cheaper provider and keep Adyen for cards across borders. Check your contract for exclusivity terms.
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Sources
Checked 3 November 2026
Adyen pricing: $0.13 fixed fee, Interchange++ plus 0.60%, iDEAL 0.22 euros, SEPA Direct Debit 0.27 euros, no setup or monthly fees, minimum invoice, other products priced separately, eligibility, custom pricing.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Checked and edited by Sebastiaan Smits, last on 3 November 2026. The editorial process explains the method.
