What Payment Gateways Can You Use with WooCommerce
The great thing about WooCommerce is that it supports the two most popular (and my two favourite) payment gateways, however, there are some other options too:
Stripe
PayPal
WooCommerce Payments
So, let’s look at these in more detail…
#1 Stripe
Stripe is great for new businesses as it’s transparent, straightforward and the one size fits all transaction fees makes it really easy to understand.
In the UK right now the transaction fee is 1.4% plus a 20 pence transaction fee and there are no set-up or monthly costs.
With Stripe, the customer can complete the payment using their credit card right within their website. When you enable Stripe, you’ll get a little credit card box on your checkout that allows your customer to just fill in their details – they won’t be redirected to a third party site to complete their payment.
Another great thing about Stripe is that you can easily set up Google Pay or Apple Pay on your Woo Commerce, and you can also set up subscriptions and recurring charges.
#2 PayPal
The other popular payment gateway, built into Woo Commerce is PayPal, and it’s just as easy to set up a Stripe.
You do need a dedicated business account, you can’t just use your personal account. This is a good thing anyway, as it means you won’t mix up your business and personal payments and receipts.
Using PayPal your customer will be redirected away from your website to make a payment. Most people will be familiar with this, but it can be confusing for people without a PayPal account.
And yes, even if your customers don’t have a PayPal account they can still easily checkout.
The transaction fees aren’t as simple, as it depends on your location and transaction levels. But as a guide, it’s 2.9% and 30 cents (which works out around 22 pence). However, you are best having a look at their pricing page to get your head around exactly how much it is going to cost you in your area.
PayPal also offers both subscription and recurring payments. However one of the additional benefits that it offers is a credit facility. So, if you would like to offer the option to pay by credit, then PayPal will allow you to do that.
The major downside is that you can’t add Apple Pay and Google Pay with PayPal, so if you need that then I’d recommend Stripe.
#3 WooCommerce Payments
The third easy option within Woo Commerce is Woo Commerce Payments, which is basically Stripe in a Woo Commerce wrapper.
This is great if you only need to take payments on your website, however, if you have recurring bills or other payment needs outside your website then I wouldn’t recommend it as you’ll have to log in to two places.
There are many other payment gateways, and WooCommerce integrates with things such as Sage Pay, so if you are set on using something or your accountants want you to use a particular one then you probably can.
However, the ones that I’ve mentioned in this video are the simplest to set up, and are integrated with WooCommerce right out the box ie. no need for coding or development. Plus, they have so many features that make them a great payment platform.
To sum everything up, Stripe has the lowest fees and can integrate with Apple Pay and Google Pay on your website.
Whereas PayPal is a better-known name, it allows them to check out quickly by logging in, and it can facilitate credit.
However, ultimately it comes down to personal choice, and if you can’t choose, then add them both – Woo Commerce allows for this and it means you aren’t forcing customers to use a payment platform they don’t want to use.
