5 Best Payment Processors for Small Business in 2026
After looking at 25 payment processors, I think these five are the best for different business types.
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Updated · 7 min read
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If you want to accept card payments at your business, you’ll need a payment processor.
Below, I’ve listed the top solutions for small businesses. I rated these companies across more than 30 data points to make sure they meet most businesses’ needs.
All of them have these features in common:
- Minimal added costs. Some products sneak in additional fees and don’t disclose them. We value transparency and affordability — our picks don’t charge extra for PCI compliance, setup or termination.
- Competitive rates. I used our payment processing rubric to compare products’ rates side-by-side and identify the most common price range. I consider competitive in-person rates to be around 2.6% plus 10 cents. Fair online rates add up to about 2.9% plus 30 cents. All of the products listed below meet this criteria in most of their plans. While some competitors dip below these ranges, it isn’t common.
- Built-in POS capabilities/integrations. Bundling point-of-sale (POS) features with payment processing services makes life easier for most business owners. That’s why our choices offer in-house POS hardware and software or integrate with popular POS brands.
- Ability to accept online and in-person payments. Payment versatility is a must for most businesses today. Some of our picks excel in accepting one type of payment over the other. But all of them support online and in-person purchases.
If a payment processing company has the features listed above, it’s usually a solid option. But the best fit for you depends on your business’s industry, sales volume and how you typically accept payments (e.g., online or in-person).
Here are the best payment processors and where they stand out.
Our 2026 list of the best payment processors for small business
These are the best of the best in 2026. To see more options, explore our full comparison of the best payment processing companies.
Square: The best for brick-and-mortar sales
If your business has a physical storefront, Square is a solid choice. Brick-and-mortar businesses need more than payment processing alone. Most of them also require countertop POS setups and tools for staff management, marketing or inventory tracking. Square checks all of these boxes, and that’s why I chose it for my husband’s brewery. We also use its in-house payroll services for added convenience.
Square’s low barrier to entry also makes it an easy choice. Its free card reader and POS software mean little upfront costs or commitment. Businesses can turn existing iPads or Android tablets into POS systems, too. Ideally, you'll choose a solution that can grow with your business. But if you decide Square isn’t the right fit for you, it should be relatively easy to switch.
Square’s free plan includes basic reporting, an online store and low-stock alerts. But the Plus plan is a better value for most businesses (including the brewery). It has a significantly larger feature set and less expensive processing rates.
What I like about Square
Supports businesses in a variety of industries. Square has different versions of its POS software for businesses in retail, beauty, services, and food and beverage. It’s not as detailed as more industry-specific competitors. But it’s cheaper, and you still get some customization.
For example, its food and beverage plans include item and menu management. And all of its beauty and services plans feature an online booking page. Its core offerings — like sales reports, invoicing and online ordering — are also generic enough to work across multiple industries.
Easy to use. I helped set up my husband’s brewery menu in Square, and I work with it behind the bar. The system overall is easy to navigate, and it takes just a minute or two to add new items.
Like with any POS system, some aspects could be more intuitive. It’s easy, for example, to accidentally add discounts to every item on an order instead of just one. Other than that, I haven’t heard any complaints from staff members. I’d consider that a win.
Read our full review of Square for more details on its offerings.
👉 See our overview of Square’s fees and other key details
Payment processing rates
- 2.6% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Free plan.
- 3.3% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Free plan.
- 2.5% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Plus plan.
- 2.4% plus 15 cents for in-person transaction with Premium plan.
- 2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Plus and Premium plans.
- 3.5% plus 15 cents for manually keyed transactions.
POS plan pricing
- $0 for Square Free plan.
- $49 for Square Plus plan.
- $149 for Square Premium plans.
Key details
- Deposit timing: Free next-day deposits for payments processed before 5 p.m. PT on weekdays. Instant deposits are available for a 1.75% transaction fee.
- Contract: None.
- Chargebacks: $0.
- Hardware available: Dual-screen countertop registers, iPad POS systems, handheld terminals and card readers.
- Support: Chat and email support in all plans. The free plan includes phone support only for the first 90 days. Plus plan subscribers can access phone support weekdays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Premium plan subscribers get 24/7 phone support.
What I don’t like about Square
Free plan processing rates aren’t competitive. Square bumped up its free plan’s processing rates in early 2025. In-person rates rose from 2.6% plus 10 cents to 2.6% plus 15 cents. Online rates jumped from 2.9% plus 30 cents to 3.3% plus 30 cents. The POS system’s free plan and its formerly competitive rates made it a no-brainer for thrifty businesses. Now, it’s a harder sell.
I’m still including Square on this list because its Plus plan meets my rate benchmarks. That said, that plan comes with an extra $49 monthly fee. You do get more for your money. But other flat-rate processors like Stripe and PayPal don’t upsell you to get what are essentially industry-standard processing costs.
» MORE: Learn more about Square’s fees
Stripe: The best for online sales
Stripe is a powerhouse when it comes to online selling. Enterprise companies like Spotify, PepsiCo, Comcast and Instacart use it. But it’s also a great tool for small-business owners. Most of the local small businesses I notice using Stripe are service-based and accept payments mainly online. They include my wedding photographer and local climbing gym.
It’s rare for a product to be able to support such a wide range of businesses and still remain affordable. Yet Stripe does. It has no monthly fee, and online processing costs 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction.
Stripe’s customization options also make it an especially versatile option for online businesses. You can build your own checkout flow from scratch or integrate Stripe’s flow into an existing website. The process is as easy or complex as you want it to be.
What I like about Stripe
Variety of online checkout options. Stripe gives businesses lots of flexibility for accepting online payments. You can use its prebuilt payment form, send payment links or build your own custom checkout experience. This makes it ideal for both experienced coders and business owners who just want to get their site up and running.
You can choose from more than 100 online payment methods, too. These include multiple buy now, pay later options, crypto and standard digital wallet payments.
Global sales support. Stripe supports cross-border payments in 195 countries and in more than 135 currencies. This is huge for online businesses trying to expand their customer base. Just know that it costs an extra 1.5% per transaction to process international card payments.
Stripe also integrates with international shipping solutions. One of those is Parcelcraft, which gives you access to more than 60 carriers around the world.
Read our full Stripe review for more clarification on what it does well (and not so well).
👉 See our overview of Stripe’s fees and other key details
Payment processing rates
- 2.7% plus 5 cents for in-person transactions.
- 2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions.
- 3.4% plus 30 cents for manually keyed transactions.
- 4.4% plus 30 cents for international card transactions.
POS plan pricing
- $0 for standard services.
- $10 for custom domain.
Key details
- Deposit timing: Two business days. Instant payouts are available for an additional 1.5%.
- Contract: None.
- Chargebacks: $15.
- Hardware available: Card readers and handheld terminals.
- Support: 24/7 live chat.
What I don’t like about Stripe
Expensive subscription management software. You need to subscribe to Stripe’s billing management software to set up subscription payments for customers. This costs an extra 0.7% of your billing volume. Paired with its standard online rate (2.9% plus 30 cents), that means each subscription transaction actually costs 3.6% plus 30 cents.
Instead of paying a percentage of sales, you could also opt to pay a monthly fee for subscriptions. But those fees are steep, starting at $620 per month. This option also involves a one-year contract. That means you’re obligated to pay an extra $7,440 per year at a minimum. Competitors, like Helcim, charge just 0.4% extra for subscription billing.
PayPal: The best for mobile sales
PayPal has been a household name among both businesses and consumers for years. Its highlights include free POS software, a $29 card reader and low in-person processing rates. Combine these and you have a very affordable payment system for selling in-person.
It’s especially ideal for solopreneurs who mainly use portable card readers. PayPal comes with enough features for these small retailers, but not too many that you’ll feel overwhelmed. The basics include sales reports, inventory tracking and accounting software integrations.
Established brick-and-mortar businesses often need more support than this. That could mean in-house payroll, marketing tools or advanced inventory. PayPal doesn’t offer these add-ons.
What I like about PayPal
Low in-person processing rates. PayPal’s in-person processing fees come in at 2.29% plus 9 cents. That’s a lower percentage rate and flat fee than most of its competitors offer — even in their top-tier plans.
Brand recognition. PayPal has over 430 million active consumer and merchant accounts. If that doesn’t render it ubiquitous, I don’t know what does. Customers seem to trust the brand and feel comfortable interacting with it. This is a plus. Credit card data is sensitive, and customers should feel rest assured you’re processing it securely.
Read our full PayPal Business Account review to learn more about how it works. More interested in its built-in POS capabilities? Check out our PayPal POS review for details on that.
👉 See our overview of PayPal’s fees and other key details
Payment processing rates
- 2.29% plus 9 cents for in-person card payments and QR code transactions.
- 2.89% plus 29 cents for online card payments through PayPal Expanded Checkout.
- 2.99% plus 49 cents for online card payments through PayPal Checkout.
- 3.49% plus 9 cents for manual-entry card transactions.
- 3.49% plus 49 cents for PayPal and Venmo payments.
POS plan pricing
- $0.
Key details
- Deposit timing: One to three days.
- Contract: None.
- Chargebacks: $20.
- Hardware available: Handheld terminal, card reader and countertop iPad system.
- Support: Phone support every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Chat support from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT on weekends.
What I don’t like about PayPal
Expensive to accept PayPal payments. You would think PayPal wants businesses to accept more PayPal payments from customers. But those cost a hefty 3.49% plus 49 cents per transaction. Compare that rate to the costs of taking payments between Venmo accounts (a PayPal product). Businesses pay just 1.9% plus 10 cents for those.
Businesses can accept online card payments via PayPal for better rates. It charges anywhere from 2.89% plus 29 cents to 2.99% plus 49 cents per online card transaction.
Navigating pricing can be confusing. When it’s time to update our reviews, I dread picking apart PayPal’s fees — especially the online ones. The company’s merchant fees page makes it difficult to figure out which processing fees apply to which transactions. That’s because rates change depending on which online checkout functionality you choose.
I’d be willing to bet all the add-ons give customers decision fatigue, too. You think you’re getting a great deal on online processing, but that’s not necessarily the case if you add on services like chargeback protection.
For example, PayPal’s Expanded Checkout functionality charges 2.89% plus 29 cents per online card transaction. Optional chargeback protection tacks on 0.4%, though. Now, your grand total is 3.29% plus 29 cents per purchase.
» MORE: Best mobile payment apps
Helcim: The best for volume discounts
Unlike the payment processors above, Helcim uses interchange-plus pricing instead of a flat-rate model. Interchange fees vary from one transaction to the next. They can be more or less depending on which payment method and type of card a customer uses.
Companies like Square flatten those differences and charge a consistent rate. Interchange-plus companies like Helcim charge you the actual interchange fees (plus a markup). This can lead to savings in credit card processing fees, especially for high-volume businesses.
For lower-volume businesses, Helcim’s pricing might not be worth the hassle. Interchange-plus can be complicated and make it difficult to predict your monthly processing costs.
Plus, Helcim doesn’t include as many add-ons as its competitors. You can’t upgrade POS plans either. So while we recommend it for high-volume businesses, we don’t recommend it for complex businesses that need advanced inventory tracking or staff management tools.
What I like about Helcim
Automatic volume discounts. Helcim doesn’t make you request volume discounts like some other payment processors. It automatically applies them to your account once you begin processing more than $50,000 in card sales each month.
New additions at no cost. Helcim released a feature called Payment Extension in January 2026. Usually when companies roll out new capabilities, they come with extra fees. That’s not the case with Helcim’s tool.
Payment Extension is a browser extension that lets you use Helcim to process payments in other business software programs. For instance, you could send an invoice to a customer from within QuickBooks Online and process the payment through Helcim. I haven’t seen other companies doing this — and the fact that it’s free (minus standard processing fees) is even cooler.
On top of that, Helcim’s free POS software includes an online ordering page, inventory management and customer tracking.
Read our full Helcim review to learn more about its features and payment processing capabilities.
👉 See our overview of Helcim’s fees and other key details
Payment processing rates
- Interchange plus 0.4% and 8 cents per in-person transaction (if $50,000 or less in monthly card transactions).
- Interchange plus 0.5% and 25 cents per online or manually keyed transaction (if $50,000 or less in monthly card transactions).
- 0.5% plus 25 cents for ACH payments (capped at $6 for transactions less than $25,000).
POS plan pricing
- $0.
Key details
- Deposit timing: Some merchants are eligible for next-day deposits, depending on their bank. Otherwise, money is deposited in one to two business days.
- Contract: None.
- Chargebacks: $15 or free if you win the dispute.
- Hardware available: Handheld smart terminal and card reader.
- Support: Phone and email support available weekdays from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT.
What I don’t like about Helcim
Limited hardware options. Helcim only offers a handheld terminal and a credit card reader. You can download the POS software to a tablet or computer for increased functionality. But there are no countertop POS systems for brick-and-mortar spaces.
Finix: The best for quickly growing businesses
Finix earns high marks in lots of categories. It doesn’t require long-term contracts, and it offers free trial periods. Finix also has 24/7 emergency support and pairs each business with a dedicated implementation specialist. However, its pricing model isn’t for everyone.
Finix pairs a sizable $250 monthly fee (it's $79 for NerdWallet readers) with very low interchange-plus rates. This is cost-effective for larger businesses in the long run, but not necessarily for very small ones. That’s why we recommend it for growing, high-volume businesses.
What I like about Finix
Personalized approach. Finix stands out as a top choice for quickly growing small businesses because of its personalized approach. After chatting with some of its representatives, it seems like it may be more willing to consider your business’s evolution than other big-name processors. Maybe that means lower processing rates as your volume increases. Obviously there are no guarantees, but I got this impression from the representatives.
Low interchange-plus rates. Finix charges a monthly fee for its payment processing services. This makes it seem expensive on the surface. But its lower interchange-plus fees could make up for it.
For example, you don’t pay a percentage of each transaction with Finix. Instead, it charges 8 cents per card-present purchase. Helcim’s base rate is 0.4% plus 8 cents for in-person transactions. That makes Finix a better deal than Helcim if you process more than $19,750 in in-person transactions each month.
Read our full review of Finix for more information on how it works.
👉 See our overview of Finix’s fees and other key details
Payment processing rates
- 8 cents plus interchange for card-present transactions.
- 15 cents plus interchange for card-not-present transactions.
POS plan pricing
- $79 and up.
- One-month free trial for NerdWallet readers.
Key details
- Deposit timing: Free next-day deposits. Instant ACH payouts are available for an extra 1.5% of the total.
- Contract: None.
- Chargebacks: $30.
- Hardware available: Handheld terminals and card readers.
- Support: 24/7 emergency phone, email and live chat support.
What I don’t like about Finix
No direct accounting software integrations. Finix’s team told me in 2025 that out-of-the-box accounting software integrations are in the works. But they haven’t released them yet. This makes Finix a little less approachable for businesses without coding expertise.
You can access Finix’s API, but building an integration doesn’t seem simple. And if you can’t integrate your payment processing system with your accounting software, you face more manual data entry.
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Methodology
NerdWallet independently reviews payment processing companies before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Our editorial team reviews information on a regular basis for consistency and accuracy.
We also periodically update our scoring system to reflect changing industry norms and business needs. For instance, in 2026, we dropped the “free trials” category from our rubric. Payment processing systems can be time-consuming to set up. Testing out multiple products isn’t an ideal approach. Instead, we recommend taking cost and features into consideration.
NerdWallet’s ratings of payment processing providers rewards companies whose products and services are priced well and work in a variety of payment scenarios, among other criteria.
Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including overall cost, hardware and software options, system capabilities, customer service, contract requirements and integrations. Learn more about how we rate payment processing providers.
These ratings are a guide, but fees, hardware, software and contract requirements can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several providers.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
FEATURED
Best Payment Processing Companies
| Product | Payment processing fees | Monthly fee | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Square Nerdwallet Rating on Square's website | 2.6% + 15¢ in-person; 3.3% + 30¢ online. | $0 for Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan. | on Square's website |
 Helcim Nerdwallet Rating on Helcim's website | 0.40% + 8¢ plus interchange, in-person; 0.50% + 25¢ plus interchange, online. | $0 | on Helcim's website |
 Stripe Payments Nerdwallet Rating on Stripe's website | 2.7% + 5¢ in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online. | $0 | on Stripe's website |
 Shopify POS Nerdwallet Rating on Shopify's website | 2.6% + 10¢ in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online (Basic plan). | $39 and up for e-commerce plans with POS Lite; Can upgrade to POS Pro for an extra $89. | on Shopify's website |
