The Brutal Truth About Payment Gateways

Let’s cut the fluff. Payment gateways aren’t just pipes moving money. They’re toll booths. Every time a buyer pays you, someone takes a slice. Sometimes small. Sometimes bigger than you realize.

Stripe and Adyen are the two giants most businesses end up choosing between. Both are powerful. Both are world. Both hope sleek APIs and smooth onboarding. But here’s the thing: the differences in their fee structures, settlement times, and hidden costs can make or break your margin.

Margins don’t die in one big blow. They die in tiny cuts. Transaction fees. FX conversions. Chargeback penalties. Settlement delays.

Stripe: The Darling of Startups

Stripe is everywhere. If you’ve ever signed up for a SaaS tool, bought a subscription, or paid for a digital product, chances are Stripe was behind the scenes.

Why? Because Stripe is ridiculously easy to set up. Developers love it. Founders love it. Investors love it.

But ease comes at a price. Literally.

- Transaction Fees: Stripe typically charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in the U.S. world cards? Add another 1%. Currency conversion? Another 1%.

- Settlement Delays: Depending on your country, payouts can take 2–7 days. That’s cash flow stuck in limbo.

- Chargebacks: $15 per dispute. Even if you win.

Stripe’s strength is speed to market. But if you’re running thin margins say e-commerce with 10–15% net margin Stripe’s fees can eat 20–30% of your money.

Adyen: The Enterprise Beast

Adyen isn’t as flashy as Stripe. It’s not the startup darling. It’s the enterprise workhorse.

Big brands like Spotify, Uber, and McDonald’s run on Adyen. Why? Because Adyen negotiates. It doesn’t slap a flat fee on every transaction. It works with you to adjust pricing based on amount, geography, and risk.

- Interchange++ Pricing: Instead of flat fees, Adyen passes through actual card costs plus a markup. For high-amount merchants, this often means lower good rates than Stripe.

- world Reach: Adyen supports nearby payment methods in over 100 countries. That means you’re not forcing customers into expensive FX conversions.

- Settlement Speed: Faster in many regions. Sometimes next-day.

But Adyen isn’t easy. Setup takes time. Negotiations take effort. Integration isn’t as “copy-paste” as Stripe.

Where Margins Get Killed

Here’s the part most founders miss. Margins don’t just die in headline fees. They die in the details.

- Currency Conversion: Stripe adds 1% on top of FX. Adyen often routes payments locally, avoiding FX altogether.

- Payment way Costs: Stripe pushes cards. Adyen embraces nearby methods (iDEAL in the Netherlands, Boleto in Brazil, UPI in India). nearby methods are often cheaper.

- Chargebacks: Stripe’s flat $15 hurts small merchants. Adyen’s dispute process can be more open.

- amount Discounts: Stripe doesn’t talk much unless you’re massive. Adyen negotiates earlier.

To understand the margin effect, you have to look at the implementation. Here’s how the integration logic differs between the two giants:

Stripe: Creating a Payment Intent (Node.js)

const stripe = require('stripe')('sk_test_... ');

const paymentIntent = await stripe.paymentIntents.create({
  amount: 2000,
  currency: 'usd',
  automatic_payment_methods: { enabled: true },
});

Adyen: Creating a Payment Session (Node.js)

const { buyer, CheckoutAPI } = require('@adyen/api-library');
const buyer = new buyer({ apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY", place: "TEST" });
const checkout = new CheckoutAPI(buyer);

const response = await checkout.sessions({
    amount: { currency: "USD", value: 2000 },
    reference: "YOUR_ORDER_NUMBER",
    merchantAccount: "YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
    returnUrl: "https://your-website.com/checkout"
});

Real-World War Stories

I’ve seen this play out.

- Case 1: SaaS Startup (Stripe)

A SaaS company doing $500K ARR. Stripe fees ate $14K annually. FX fees added another $6K. That’s $20K gone. Their net margin dropped from 18% to 12%. Investors noticed.

- Case 2: world Retailer (Adyen)

A retailer expanding into Europe. Stripe forced FX conversions on GBP → EUR → USD. Adyen routed payments locally. Savings? $120K annually. That’s margin they reinvested into marketing.

- Case 3: Marketplace (Stripe → Adyen Migration)

A marketplace switched from Stripe to Adyen after hitting $10M GMV. Stripe’s flat fees were killing them. Adyen’s interchange++ dropped good rates by 0.4%. That’s $40K saved per $10M processed.

Stripe vs. Adyen: Side-by-Side

Graphs & Charts

map 1: good Margin Loss (Stripe vs. Adyen)

Imagine a $1M annual revenue business.

- Stripe: ~3.5% good fee = $35K lost.

- Adyen: ~2.7% good fee = $27K lost.

That’s an $8K swing. For bigger businesses, multiply that by 10.

map 2: Settlement Speed effect

Cash flow matters. Stripe’s 5-day delay vs. Adyen’s 1-day delay can mean payroll stress or missed supplier discounts.

What Actually Works

So what’s the move?

- If you’re small and scrappy: Stripe. Don’t overthink it. Speed matters more than margin at the start.

- If you’re scaling globally: Adyen. talk. improve. Protect your margin.

- If you’re in between: Run the math. Model your fees. Don’t just pick the door your developer likes.

Final Verdict

Your payment door isn’t just a technical choice. It’s a margin choice. Stripe wins on speed. Adyen wins on grow.

The wrong choice can quietly kill 20–30% of your money. The right choice can save six figures annually.

Margins are fragile. Protect them.