Best WooCommerce Payment Gateways 2026 - Stripe vs PayPal vs Mollie vs Square

The payment gateway you choose has a direct impact on WooCommerce store conversion rates. Express checkout options (Apple Pay, Google Pay), the visual design of the payment form, and the friction of 3D Secure authentication all affect whether customers complete their purchase.

This guide covers the gateways that work well for UK and EU WooCommerce stores, with a focus on what actually matters: fees, checkout experience, and developer quality.

What to evaluate in a payment gateway

Transaction fees: The headline rate (e.g., 1.4% + 20p for Stripe's European cards) is not the only cost. Check fees for non-European cards, currency conversion, refunds, chargebacks, and Amex.

Express checkout: Apple Pay, Google Pay, and "Pay Later" options increase conversion by letting customers skip card entry. Not all gateways offer these.

3D Secure handling: European transactions require 3DS2 authentication (PSD2). A gateway that handles 3DS2 poorly - with confusing redirects or frequent unnecessary challenges - increases payment failure rates.

Checkout experience: Does the payment form embed in your checkout page, or does it redirect to a hosted page? Embedded forms have higher conversion rates.

WooCommerce plugin quality: A gateway's WooCommerce plugin must be actively maintained, compatible with current WooCommerce versions, and support subscriptions/pre-orders if you need them.

Dispute handling: How easy is it to respond to chargebacks? What is the chargeback rate for digital goods (which tend to be higher)?

Payout schedule: When does money reach your bank? Daily, weekly, or longer?

Stripe

Best overall choice for most WooCommerce stores.

Stripe is the gold standard for developer-friendly payment processing. The WooCommerce Stripe plugin is officially maintained by WooCommerce (the same team that builds WooCommerce) and is updated regularly.

Fees (UK)

• European consumer cards: 1.5% + 20p
• Non-European cards: 2.5% + 20p
• Amex: 1.5% + 20p (varies)
• Currency conversion: +2%
• Chargebacks: £15 fee (refunded if you win)

What Stripe does well

Embedded payment form: Stripe's embedded card form (Stripe Elements) is hosted within your checkout page without an iframe redirect. Clean, fast, and well-designed.

Express checkout options: Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Link (Stripe's one-click checkout) are available with the official WooCommerce plugin. These appear on the product page, cart, and checkout.

3D Secure handling: Stripe handles 3DS2 correctly and applies exemptions where possible (reducing unnecessary authentication steps for low-risk transactions). This is technical but important - it means customers are not asked to authenticate every transaction.

Radar fraud detection: Machine learning fraud detection is included at no extra cost. Catches fraudulent cards before they cause chargebacks.

Dashboard: Stripe's dashboard is one of the best in the industry. Revenue reports, subscription management, dispute responses, and refunds are all well-implemented.

Subscriptions: WooCommerce Subscriptions + Stripe handles recurring billing correctly, including card updates (Stripe automatically updates card details when a customer's card is reissued by their bank).

Limitations

• Payouts are T+2 by default (money reaches your bank 2 days after the transaction). Instant payouts are available at 1% extra.
• High-risk business types (supplements, digital goods with high refund rates) may have Stripe accounts suspended. Stripe's terms are strict.

PayPal

Essential to offer alongside Stripe - not as a primary gateway.

PayPal is used by over 400 million people globally. Even if you accept Stripe, some customers specifically want to pay with PayPal and will abandon checkout if it is not available.

Fees (UK)

• Domestic transactions: 1.2% + fixed fee (£0.30)
• International: 2.9% + fixed fee
• Currency conversion: 3-4% above mid-market

WooCommerce integration

Install the WooCommerce PayPal Payments plugin (official, maintained by WooCommerce). This enables:

• PayPal Smart Buttons (checkout on product/cart/checkout pages)
• Venmo (US only)
• Pay Later / Pay in 3 instalments

Avoid the older "PayPal Standard" plugin - it redirects customers to PayPal's site to complete payment, which has lower conversion rates.

The case for PayPal as a secondary gateway

Research consistently shows that offering PayPal alongside a card payment option increases total conversion rate by 5-10%, because some customers prefer PayPal regardless of other options. Even if the fees are higher, the incremental revenue from PayPal customers who would otherwise abandon covers the cost.

Mollie

Best for stores needing European local payment methods.

Mollie is a Netherlands-based payment processor with excellent support for European local payment methods that Stripe and PayPal do not handle as well.

Key European payment methods Mollie supports

• iDEAL (Netherlands): Most popular Dutch payment method
• SEPA Direct Debit (Europe-wide): Bank transfer direct debit
• Bancontact (Belgium)
• SOFORT / Klarna Sofort (Germany, Austria)
• Belfius Direct Net (Belgium)
• Przelewy24 (Poland)
• Giropay (Germany)

If your store sells into EU markets, Mollie allows you to offer the local payment method that customers prefer - which significantly increases conversion in those markets.

Fees

Mollie charges per transaction rather than a percentage + fixed fee for most local methods:

• iDEAL: €0.29 per transaction
• Credit cards: 1.8% + €0.25
• Bancontact: €0.30 per transaction

WooCommerce plugin

Mollie for WooCommerce is well-maintained and supports subscriptions, pay later, and embedded checkout.

Square

Best for businesses with both physical (POS) and online sales.

Square's main differentiator is its unified POS and e-commerce inventory management. If you run a physical store and an online store with the same inventory, Square keeps stock counts in sync across both channels automatically.

Fees (UK)

• Online transactions: 1.9% per transaction
• In-person: 1.75% per transaction

WooCommerce integration

The official Square for WooCommerce plugin handles product sync (products and categories sync between Square and WooCommerce), inventory management, and payment processing.

Limitations

• No Apple Pay or Google Pay integration in the WooCommerce plugin currently
• Less suitable for subscription/recurring billing compared to Stripe

Klarna

Best for stores where "Buy Now, Pay Later" would increase average order value.

Klarna allows customers to pay in 3 instalments (Pay in 3) or defer payment for 30 days. For stores with higher average order values (over £100), offering Klarna typically increases conversion and average order value.

How it works

Klarna approves customers at checkout based on a soft credit check. The customer pays nothing upfront (or pays in instalments). You receive the full amount from Klarna immediately (minus Klarna's fee). Klarna handles collections from the customer.

Fees

Klarna charges merchants a percentage + fixed fee, higher than card processing (around 3-5% depending on volume). The ROI comes from higher average order values and conversion on expensive items that customers might otherwise not purchase.

WooCommerce integration

Klarna has an official WooCommerce plugin. Alternatively, Stripe's WooCommerce plugin includes Klarna as a payment method option.

Recommended gateway stack

For a typical UK WooCommerce store:

Primary: Stripe (with Apple Pay/Google Pay enabled) Secondary: PayPal Payments Optional: Mollie (if selling to Netherlands, Belgium, Germany) Optional: Klarna (if average order value is over £100)

This covers the majority of UK and EU customers. Keep payment method selection simple on the checkout - offering 8+ options adds decision fatigue.

Related reading

• WooCommerce Checkout Optimization
• Fix WooCommerce Payment Not Working
• Best WooCommerce Hosting 2026