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How to accept payments online for your business

To accept payments online you need a payment processor, also called a payment gateway, that takes card and wallet payments and pays the money into your bank. Then you give customers a way to pay: a checkout on your website or online store, a payment link, or a pay button on your invoices. A website builder or e-commerce platform is only needed if customers should browse and buy on their own.

By Bill Belcamino · Page updated September 19, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team

Price this for my team See the software it takes

How to accept payments online, step by step

Decide how customers will pay online: a store checkout, a booking or order form, payment links or invoices.
Open an account with a payment processor and complete its business verification.
Connect the processor to your website builder, online store or invoicing tool, or create payment links.
Turn on the payment methods your customers expect, such as cards and digital wallets.
Place a test order and refund it to check the whole flow, including receipts.
Match payouts to orders in your accounting software every week.

Why it matters

QuickBooks 2026: 49% of owners say standard payment processing times create cash-flow gaps. Source

The software this job takes

Which categories a job needs is Editorial assessment; the tools, prices and dates are Verified data.

Prices are each vendor’s published entry plan, recorded from its own pricing page and dated. The example column prices a team of 10: only per-user prices are multiplied; flat and per-account prices are shown as published. Change the team size in the finder.

You need this

Online Payment Processing

A payment processor lets customers pay by card or online and moves the money to your bank.

Tool	Entry price (as published)	Billing unit	Example: team of 10	Free plan	Verified
Stripe	2.9% + 30¢	Per transaction	Per transactionNo monthly fee on this plan; the vendor charges per transaction	No monthly fee	Jul 29, 2026Vendor pricing
PayPal	3.49% + 49¢	Per transaction	Per transactionNo monthly fee on this plan; the vendor charges per transaction	No monthly fee	Jul 29, 2026Vendor pricing

Compare all Payment Processing pricing →Head to head:Stripe vs PayPal2 switching guides Build a decision brief for these →

Often added

Website Builders

A website builder gets a professional site live without hiring a developer.

Tool	Entry price (as published)	Billing unit	Example: team of 10	Free plan	Verified
Wix	Free (Wix branding); paid plans for a custom domain	Not stated in our record	$0 to startFree (Wix branding); paid plans for a custom domain	Yes	Sep 12, 2026Vendor pricing
Squarespace	From $19/mo	Per site per month, billed annually	$19/moFlat per site per month, billed annually; includes 2 logins, so more logins need a higher plan or extra users	No	Aug 26, 2026Vendor pricing
WordPress	Free software; hosting, themes and plugins cost extra	Not stated in our record	$0 to startFree software; hosting, themes and plugins cost extra	Yes	Sep 12, 2026Vendor pricing

Compare all Website Builders pricing →Head to head:Wix vs WordPress Wix vs Squarespace4 switching guides Build a decision brief for these →

Often added

E-commerce Platforms

An e-commerce platform runs your online store: products, checkout and orders.

Tool	Entry price (as published)	Billing unit	Example: team of 10	Free plan	Verified
Shopify	From $29/mo	Per store per month, billed yearly	$29/moFlat per store per month, billed yearly	NoNo free tier (3-day trial, then $1/mo for 3 months intro offer)	Jul 8, 2026Vendor pricing
WooCommerce	Free plugin	Not stated in our record	$0 to startFree plugin	YesYes — WooCommerce itself is free forever; only supporting infrastructure costs money	Jul 8, 2026Vendor pricing

Compare all E-commerce Platforms pricing →Head to head:Shopify vs WooCommerce2 switching guides Build a decision brief for these →

What to look for

Editorial assessment

Works with your site or store Check that the processor connects to the website builder or e-commerce platform you use, so checkout works without custom code.
Payment links If you do not have a store, payment links or invoice pay buttons let you get paid online without building a checkout.
Fees on online payments Read the processor's pricing for online card payments, international cards and currency conversion, since those are the fees you will pay on each sale.
Payout speed Check when money reaches your bank. Slow payouts can squeeze cash flow even when sales are good.
Fraud and dispute handling Online payments carry chargeback risk. Look at what fraud screening and dispute tools the processor offers.
Recurring billing If you sell subscriptions or memberships, confirm the processor can charge customers on a schedule.

Common mistakes to avoid

Building a checkout from scratch Custom payment code is hard to secure and maintain. Use the processor's hosted checkout, payment links or a platform integration.
Too few payment methods If a customer's preferred way to pay is missing at checkout, the sale can stall. Turn on the common card and wallet options.
Never testing refunds A refund you have never tried becomes a problem the day an unhappy customer asks for one. Test it before launch.
Choosing the platform without asking about payments Check whether your website or store platform limits which processors you can use, or charges extra for outside ones, before you build on it.

What to settle before you buy

What are customers paying for: products, bookings, services, subscriptions or invoices?
Do you already have a website or online store, and which platform is it on?
Will you sell to customers in other countries or currencies?
Who handles refunds, disputes and customer payment questions?
Which accounting software should payouts flow into?

Ready to take it to whoever signs off?Turn your shortlist into a one-page decision brief with verified prices, or price the whole job for your team size.

Build a decision brief Open the finder

Frequently asked questions

How do I accept payments online without a merchant account?

Some payment processors sign you up under their own merchant account, so you do not need to apply for one separately. Check each processor's terms for how it handles this and how quickly it pays out.

How can I accept payments online for free?

None of the 2 payment processing tools we track lists a free plan in our records; check each vendor for a trial. A plan with no monthly fee can still charge on each payment, so check the per-transaction fees on the processor's pricing page.

What payment gateway fits a small business?

Look for one that works with your website or store, supports the payment methods your customers use and has fees you can live with at your volume. The table above shows each tool's verified entry price and billing unit. You can also start from the finder for this job.

Do I need a website to accept payments online?

No. Payment links and pay buttons on invoices let you take payments online without a site. A website or online store matters once customers need to browse and buy on their own.

How we built this page

We start from the job, not the product. The phrasings people search for this job (for example “how to accept payments online for my business”) come from our research into how small and mid-size teams describe it. Which software categories the job takes is our editorial judgment. Every tool, entry price, billing unit and date comes from HelpCompare’s open dataset, recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page; nothing is estimated, and where a vendor publishes no price we say so. We take no affiliate commissions and publish no scores of our own. See our methodology or download the data from Open Data.

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How to accept payments online for your business

How to accept payments online, step by step

The software this job takes

Online Payment Processing

Website Builders

E-commerce Platforms

What to look for

Common mistakes to avoid

What to settle before you buy

Frequently asked questions

How do I accept payments online without a merchant account?

How can I accept payments online for free?

What payment gateway fits a small business?

Do I need a website to accept payments online?

How we built this page

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Bill Belcamino