Stripe vs. Authorize.net: Which Is Right for Your Business?
Stripe and Authorize.net vary in monthly fee and international capabilities, but other differences stand out, too.
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Stripe and Authorize.net are payment service providers, or PSPs, that help small businesses take payments in person and online. Stripe may be better for small businesses with an international customer base, but small businesses that don’t want to deal with multiple add-ons and customizations may prefer Authorize.net.
Here's how the two companies compare.
What to look for in a PSP
Payment service providers offer a way for small businesses to take online payments through a payment gateway and a merchant account. Here’s what to think about as you shop for a PSP:
- What kind of pricing structure do you want: interchange-plus, flat rate or tiered? Your industry, revenue and priorities will influence your answer.
- Do you need an integrated POS system? If you’re selling online, this may be less important.
- What industry are you in? This could affect pricing and features.
» MORE: Best POS systems
Stripe pros and cons at a glance
Pros
Highly customizable.
Competitive pricing.
Cons
Prioritizes online merchants.
Developer experience may be necessary to unlock product's full potential.
Pros
You can use Authorize.net with a wide range of merchant account providers.
Transparent, flat-rate pricing.
No contracts or early termination fees.
24/7 customer support through phone, chat or online form.
Cons
You’ll pay a $25 monthly fee regardless of usage.
Authorize.net doesn’t have a robust POS system for in-person transactions.
Signing up directly through Authorize.net may be more expensive than going through your merchant services provider.
Merchant account isn’t directly with Authorize.net.
Stripe features overview
Stripe Payments is a well-known payment processor. It accepts dozens of payment methods and currencies, and its developer tools let users customize their checkout flows — if they're knowledgeable and confident enough to use the tools. Stripe also accepts payments through Stripe Terminal if you do business in person.
With flat-rate pricing and no monthly surcharges, Stripe’s fees are straightforward. In addition, you can cancel at any time. There are two primary payment processing products:
Stripe Connect
Stripe Connect can process over 135 currencies and can handle transactions in 30-plus countries. Connect is customizable, and small businesses can change sign-up, onboarding and payout timing and get financial reporting. There are pre-made user-interface components, but you can also customize things using the Stripe API.
Stripe Checkout
Stripe Checkout handles mobile checkout with an API that creates a Stripe-hosted payment page. It works on desktop and mobile, as well as with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Buttons and background color are customizable, and it supports discounts, sales tax and email receipts. Also, it works in over 30 languages.
Visa owns Authorize.net. It offers payment options for e-commerce, point of sale, mobile payments and over-the-phone payments. It also offers billing, e-check and mobile card readers. The company can process Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, JCB, PayPal, Visa Click to Pay, Apple Pay and ACH transactions.
For U.S. and Canadian businesses, Authorize.net only supports U.S. and Canadian currency. For U.K. and European businesses, it supports eight currencies, and it supports three currencies for Australian businesses.
Authorize.net integrates with Shift4Shop, BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) and about 140 other platforms. The company also sells card readers and has virtual point-of-sale software that can turn computers into POS systems.
There are two plans for payment processing.
All-in-One
This plan is for small businesses that want a merchant account and a payment gateway. It includes automated recurring billing, which can be useful if you sell subscriptions. Processing e-check payments (through ACH) costs extra.
Payment Gateway Only
This plan is for small businesses that already have merchant accounts. Essentially, you pay the company to aggregate your transactions from the previous 24 hours into a batch that goes to the processing networks. This plan also includes automated recurring billing, and processing e-check payments (through ACH) still costs extra.
Both providers have various fees. Here’s how they compare.
| Authorize.net | Stripe |
|---|---|
| Monthly fees | |
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| Transaction fees | |
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| Other fees | |
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Authorize.net may be your best option if you want a relatively simple setup. But if international capabilities are more important, you may want to go with Stripe.
See how Stripe and Authorize.net stack up against these other PSPs
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