As a marketer, you know that choosing a payment gateway for your WooCommerce store is as important to you as it is to the finance department. This is because the payment gateway you choose can significantly impact the customer experience during checkout and, ultimately, your conversions.
In fact, 68% of all ecommerce visitors abandon their shopping carts due to a host of reasons, including poor user experience.
To provide the best checkout experience possible, you want to ensure your gateway supports and securely handles the most popular modes of payment including card, mobile, and physical payments.
Before we look at some of the best WooCommerce payment gateways, let’s walk through the process of adding one to your site using a WordPress plugin.
How to Add a Payment Gateway in WordPress
- Download or purchase your preferred payment gateway WordPress plugin.
- Login as a WordPress admin and click “Plugin” on the sidebar menu, then choose “Add New.”
- Click on “Upload,” then “Choose File” to upload the plugin zip file.
- Press “OK,” then “Install Now” to start the installation.
- Once installed, activate your new plugin.
- Open “Settings” in WooCommerce, then click “Payment Methods.”
- Configure your WooCommerce payment gateway according to your website and needs.
To install any WooCommerce payment gateway plugin in WordPress, you’ll follow this same process. For the sake of this demo, however, I’ll walk through the process using the SEPA payment gateway for WooCommerce.
Let’s take a closer look at each step below.
Step 1: Download or purchase a payment gateway WordPress plugin.
If you’re also opting to use the SEPA payment gateway for WooCommerce, then you can purchase this premium plugin from CodeCanyon.
Otherwise, you can purchase a plugin from another third-party marketplace or download a free one from the WordPress directory. If you opt for a free solution, you can skip to step 5.
Step 2: Add the plugin in your WordPress dashboard.
Login as a WordPress admin and click Plugin on the sidebar menu. Then choose Add New.
Step 3: Upload the plugin zip file.
Click on Upload, then Choose File to upload the plugin zip file.
Step 4: Install the plugin on your site.
Step 5: Once installed, activate your new plugin.
Step 6: Turn on your payment gateway in WooCommerce settings.
Open Settings in WooCommerce, then click Payment Methods. You should see your payment gateway as an option. Toggle it on so that the purple is showing. In the example above, you’ll see two examples of payment methods that have been enabled.
Step 7: Configure your WooCommerce payment gateway.
Now it’s time to configure your WooCommerce payment gateway according to your website and needs. The plugin you choose will offer additional details about how to configure it to your specific needs.
For the sake of this demo, take another look at the screenshot above. You’ll click the Set up button if this is the first time you’re configuring the payment gateway. To make any additional changes after set-up, you’ll click the Manage button.
Now that you understand how to add a payment gateway, let’s look at some of the most popular in the market.
The 11 Best Payment Gateways for WooCommerce
When evaluating different payment gateways for your site, you’ll need to consider their cost, security, design, plugin compatibility, and more. Below, we’ll take a look at 11 payment gateways that range in price and functionality so you can find one that meets the needs of your site.
1. SEPA Payment Gateway
SEPA is a premium plugin that you can use to accept debit payments for your ecommerce store. Once installed, the plugin adds "SEPA direct debit" as a new payment option.
If your customer chooses this payment method, all they have to do is enter their bank account details. They will have the option to store this information so that they don't have to input it every time they are shopping.
To initiate transfers, you download a file containing all new payments (since your last download), then upload it to your online banking platform. The XML files (Extensible Markup Language files, which can be read by both humans and machines) created are fully compliant to the latest standards in online banking.
The plugin also highlights mismatching shipping and account details to help you combat fraud.
Price: $39
2. Innovative Gateway Solutions
Innovative Gateway Solutions offers a secure way to use your merchant account to receive money through all of the major payment merchants including American Express, Visa, MasterCard, JCB, and Diner’s Club. You can also use the Innovative Merchant Account to accept payment.
The plugin comes with advanced fraud-screening tools so you are protected from fraudulent transactions. That way, you can rest assured that any financial information shared through the gateway is protected.
Price: $50
3. QuickBooks Payments API
QuickBooks Payments API offers a secure, quick, and cost-effective solution for small businesses to accept credit card payments. It’s easy to integrate with WooCommerce, ensuring that customers don’t have to leave your site to complete transactions.
A custom title and description for the payment gateway ensures you maintain control of related copy. For instance, instead of having generic "choose a payment method" type of copy, you can write, "How would you like to pay?" which sounds more personal. This helps keep your brand tone of voice all through the buyer journey.
The plugin also supports refunds to enhance customer service. The QuickBooks (Intuit) Merchant Account allows you to accept payment from all card types.
Price: $50
4. Payment Express PxPost Gateway
Payment Express is one of the leading payment gateway solutions for WordPress sites. This system works with all major credit cards. It is also one of the best payment gateway solutions for retail businesses to offer real-time payments.
DPS, the company behind the Payment Express brand, is a reputable payments technology provider popular in Australia and Asia. It provides PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant payment solutions and is certified with mainstream card schemes.
Price: $30
5. Privat24
Privat24 is another quick, secure, and easy payment gateway solution for WooCommerce. Once you create a merchant account and download the plugin, your customers will immediately be able to send credit card payments to your account. The plugin allows payments through the Privat24 Merchant Account.
The payment service is popular in Ukraine and Russia, having more than 3 million daily active users in Ukraine alone as of 2013.
Price: $15
6. 2Checkout Direct Payment Gateway
2Checkout Direct Payment Gateway is one of the most user-friendly payment gateways for WooCommerce stores. This plugin works as a secure overlay iframe that collects your customer’s payments and keeps your site visible throughout the entire duration of the transaction.
To complete a transaction, the customer only has to input payment information, which makes the checkout process shorter. You enter relevant shipping and contact information before getting to the payment process.
This payment system offers support for 26 different currencies and 15 different languages.
Price: $15
7. Authorize.Net
Authorize.Net is a popular payment processor that provides easy and safe credit card and eCheck processing services. It’s one of the most popular tools in its category and the integration with WooCommerce is one of the most powerful, offering full support for subscriptions, pre-orders, and Accept.js (a JavaScript library for securely sending payment data to Authorize.Net).
Other features include:
- An in-store payment option so users don’t have to leave your site when buying.
- The ability to save customer payment information so they don’t have to input it every time.
- Mobile-friendly design for your customers using mobile devices to shop.
- Acceptance for all major credit and debit cards.
Price: $25
8. PayPal Pro Payment Module
As you might know, PayPal is one of the most popular WooCommerce payment gateways. Not only is it popular, it's also one of the most secure options. Most online merchants worldwide use the platform to conduct business every day.
PayPal Pro is an API-based solution for developers and merchants to accept payments directly on their websites. These payments can be made in the form of credit cards, debit cards, or PayPal transactions.
The payment solution is only available to holders of a PayPal Pro merchant account in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom.
Price: $30
9. WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway
Stripe integration extends your WooCommerce store, letting you accept payments using Stripe’s API. It provides a simple and secure way to accept payment via Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express, Discover, and Diner’s Club. You can even take Bitcoin!
Recently, Stripe began supporting Apple Pay which allows your customers to pay using their Apple ID.
Other features include:
- Support for WooCommerce Subscriptions extension.
- The ability for customers to save their payment details.
- Mobile-readiness.
Stripe is available in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.
Price: Free to download, but there are charges for transactions
10. Cryptoniq
Cryptoniq is a WooCommerce payment gateway that allows you to safely accept cryptocurrency as payment. The lite version only allows you to accept Ethereum, but with a Pro account you can accept all major coins including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Tron, Zcash, DASH, and Dogecoin.
It comes with an admin panel you can set up according to your store’s payment options. You can set wallet addresses, choose coins, and add coin prices to items.
Price: $19
11. PesaPress
If you’re located or have customers in East and Southern African countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, you can safely accept e-wallet and mobile wallet payments such as MPesa, Airtel Money, and mVisa using PesaPress.
PesaPress is a bit different from the previously mentioned WooCommerce payment gateways. It offers an alternative solution for integrating various payment gateways with your WooCommerce store.
You can set up as many credentials as you need and process payments across different integrations, bringing all your payment handling under a single roof. You can also set up reminders to help track your sales.
Currently, PesaPress includes two gateways: PesaPal and MPesa PayBill. Soon to be integrated gateways include PayPal, Stripe, Alipay, Africa’s Talking, Paystack, 2Checkout, PayFast, Authorize.Net, and SecurePay.
Price: Free
Get Paid on Your WooCommerce Site
A payment gateway is one of the most important features on an ecommerce site. You can’t conduct business if you can’t accept payments from your customers.
When reviewing your options, consider what kinds of payment methods your customers are likely to use and the security of each payment gateway. By narrowing down your selection according to the needs of your site and site visitors, you’ll pick a solution that’s best for your business.
