Payment Gateways

Stripe vs GoCardless

Both are payment gateways. The short answer: choose Stripe if you are online businesses and SaaS companies taking card payments internationally; choose GoCardless if you are businesses collecting recurring payments by bank debit.

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Stripe logo StripeGoCardless logo GoCardless
Best forOnline businesses and SaaS companies taking card payments internationallyBusinesses collecting recurring payments by bank debit
Free planVerifyVerify
PricingSee providerSee provider
Built for IndiaGlobalGlobal
CategoriesPayment GatewaysPayment Gateways
Strengths
  • Excellent API and documentation
  • Subscriptions, invoicing and tax tools
  • Available in dozens of countries
  • Lower fees than cards for recurring payments
  • Automatic retries for failed payments
  • Integrates with Xero and QuickBooks
Watch out for
  • Pay-per-transaction fees add up at scale
  • Account reviews can delay payouts for new businesses
  • Bank payments take days to settle
  • Not for one-off card checkouts
Visit StripeVisit GoCardless

Which should you choose?

Stripe: Global payments platform for accepting cards, wallets and local payment methods online, with subscriptions, invoicing and strong developer tools.

GoCardless: Payment platform for direct debit and bank payments, popular for subscriptions and recurring invoices in the UK and Europe.

The best way to decide is to run the same week of real work through both — most offer a free plan or trial — and compare how long tasks take, what your team prefers, and the total cost for your number of users including renewal pricing.

Not sure either fits? See all payment gateways compared.