Best Shopify Payment Gateways for Faster Checkout & Growth
Best Shopify Payment Gateways: Choosing the Right Payment Stack for Growth
Choosing the right Shopify payment gateways is about much more than accepting a credit card. Your payment setup influences how smoothly customers move through checkout, which payment choices they see, how you manage transactions and whether your store can support customers across different markets.
Shopify gives merchants access to Shopify Payments and more than 100 third-party credit-card payment providers, but the exact options available depend on store location, plan and payment configuration.
From an ecommerce SEO perspective, bringing qualified visitors to a store is only one part of the job. If those visitors reach checkout but find the payment experience confusing or unsuitable for their market, valuable organic traffic can fail to turn into revenue.
That is why the best strategy is not to activate every provider available. It is to build a focused payment stack around your customers, markets and business requirements.
The Best Shopify Payment Gateways
For many eligible Shopify stores, Shopify Payments is the most logical starting point because it is integrated directly into the Shopify admin. When used as the sole payment provider, Shopify says third-party transaction fees do not apply to orders processed through it, although normal payment-processing rates still vary by plan and market.
A practical payment stack can then include additional options where they serve a clear customer need:
| Payment Option | Type | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Payments | Native payment provider | Most eligible Shopify stores |
| PayPal | Alternative/accelerated payment option | Customers who prefer PayPal |
| Stripe | Third-party provider in eligible regions | Stores where Shopify Payments isn't available |
| Klarna | Flexible/local payment method | Eligible markets wanting payment flexibility |
| Shop Pay | Accelerated checkout | Faster checkout |
| Amazon Pay | Accelerated checkout in current eligible setup | Eligible US merchants |
| Adyen | Enterprise gateway | Large, international businesses |
The right combination depends on country availability, transaction costs, customer expectations and operational requirements.
Why Your Payment Gateway Choice Matters
Your payment setup sits at the final stage of the ecommerce journey.
A customer may discover your website through SEO, visit a product page, add an item to their cart and proceed to checkout. At that point, payment becomes one of the final barriers between interest and revenue.
A good Shopify payment gateway strategy should therefore focus on four areas:
Customer convenience: Customers should be able to use appropriate payment methods without unnecessary steps.
Market compatibility: Different countries can have different payment-provider and local-payment availability. Shopify recommends checking provider availability by country or region.
Cost control: Third-party providers can involve both provider processing charges and Shopify third-party transaction fees, depending on the configuration.
Scalability: International stores may eventually need local payment methods, currency support or more advanced payment infrastructure.
For an SEO team, this matters because traffic alone is not the final commercial KPI. The full journey is:
How Shopify Payment Gateways Work
When a customer enters payment information during checkout, the payment system securely passes the transaction information to the relevant provider and financial network so the payment can be authorised or declined.
Shopify supports both direct and external third-party payment providers. With direct providers, customers complete payment on the store. With external providers, customers complete payment on a separately hosted payment page.
It is also important to distinguish between a gateway and an accelerated checkout option.
For example, Shop Pay is an accelerated checkout that stores eligible customer payment, billing and shipping information to make future checkouts quicker; it is not simply another standalone gateway.
Shopify Payments
For most eligible merchants, Shopify Payments deserves to be evaluated first.
It is Shopify's integrated payment solution, meaning payment information, payouts and transaction management can be handled from the Shopify admin. Shopify Payments also works with Shop Pay and supported local payment methods.
One major consideration is cost structure. Shopify states that when Shopify Payments is the sole provider, there are no third-party transaction fees on orders processed through it. Standard credit-card processing rates still apply and depend on the merchant's plan and location.
From an operational perspective, this makes Shopify Payments attractive to stores that want fewer external systems to manage.
PayPal
PayPal can be valuable when customers actively prefer paying through an existing PayPal account instead of entering card information directly.
Shopify currently supports several PayPal configurations. PayPal Express Checkout is available in many locations, while merchants in the United States and France use PayPal Wallet through Shopify Payments instead.
The SEO/CRO lesson is simple: do not activate PayPal merely because it is popular, but do not remove it if analytics and customer behaviour show that it is important to your audience.
Stripe
Stripe requires a slightly different explanation.
In countries where Shopify Payments is supported, Shopify says Stripe isn't generally available as a separate payment gateway, because Stripe acts as Shopify Payments' banking partner and reporting is managed through Shopify.
This is an important point because many comparison articles list Stripe and Shopify Payments as two equally available choices when that is not necessarily how Shopify currently works.
In regions where Shopify Payments isn't available, merchants should check Shopify's payment-gateway directory to see which third-party providers, including Stripe where applicable, can be activated.
Klarna
Klarna adds payment flexibility rather than functioning simply as another card gateway.
Shopify supports Klarna through Shopify Payments in certain eligible European countries. Depending on the market, customers can be offered options such as immediate payment, invoice or instalments.
From a conversion perspective, flexible payments are most useful when there is a genuine reason customers may want to spread or delay payment.
Rather than activating Klarna simply because competitors use it, consider average order value, customer location and payment behaviour.
Shop Pay
Shop Pay should be viewed primarily as a checkout-speed tool.
It allows eligible customers to save information including their email address, payment method, billing address and shipping information. That information can then be reused to make future eligible Shopify checkouts quicker.
Shop Pay is included as part of Shopify Payments and transactions are processed at Shopify Payments rates.
For SEO-led ecommerce businesses, faster checkout is relevant because every qualified visitor who reaches this point already represents marketing effort. Reducing unnecessary friction helps make better use of that traffic.
Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay needs particularly careful treatment because its Shopify integration has changed.
Shopify says the previous Amazon Pay third-party integration stopped being supported on January 6, 2025. The current Amazon Pay with Shopify Payments setup requires the merchant to be based in the United States, sell in USD and have Shopify Payments activated, alongside other eligibility requirements.
For eligible merchants, Amazon Pay allows customers to use their Amazon payment details within the supported checkout setup. Transactions follow the merchant's Shopify Payments pricing agreement under the current integration.
Adyen
Adyen is not positioned as a normal starting option for a small Shopify store.
Shopify currently describes Adyen as a payment gateway for Enterprise businesses, and new access requires eligibility, an existing Adyen account and Shopify approval.
For larger international businesses, Adyen can support more complex payment operations and can integrate with Shopify's international selling tools for eligible local-currency processing.
This makes Adyen more relevant when a company's payment infrastructure has genuinely reached enterprise complexity.
Other Gateways Worth Considering
Not every payment need requires replacing the primary gateway.
Shopify supports over 100 third-party credit-card providers, and availability depends on country and store configuration.
Other options worth evaluating can include:
Authorize.net: An established third-party credit-card provider available in supported countries.
Apple Pay: An accelerated checkout option processed through supported underlying payment infrastructure.
Google Pay: Another accelerated wallet-based checkout option.
Local payment methods: Shopify Payments can support region-specific methods depending on the merchant's and customer's location.
The important point is that these should not automatically be treated as interchangeable “gateways.” Some are processors, some are wallets, and some are accelerated or local payment methods.
How to Choose the Right Gateway
Instead of asking only, “Which is the best payment gateway for Shopify?”, ask which option solves the most important problems for your store.
1. Check Country Availability
Provider availability differs by country. Always check Shopify's current payment-gateway directory before building a strategy around a provider.
2. Calculate Total Payment Cost
Compare more than the headline processing rate.
Consider:
- processing charges
- third-party transaction fees
- international payment costs
- currency conversion
- chargeback-related costs
- provider-specific fees
Shopify confirms that third-party transaction fees can apply in addition to the external provider's processing fees.
3. Match Customer Preferences
The payment methods displayed should reflect your real audience.
A UK, US and European customer base may have different expectations, particularly around local and flexible payment options.
4. Reduce Checkout Friction
Accelerated methods such as Shop Pay can reduce repeated information entry for eligible customers.
5. Think About Future Markets
If international expansion is part of the strategy, investigate local currencies, payment methods and gateway compatibility before expansion rather than afterwards.
Using Multiple Payment Gateways
A Shopify store does not always have to rely on only one type of payment experience.
Shopify currently allows eligible merchants to use Shopify Payments alongside one direct third-party payment provider in supported configurations. In this model, the third-party provider can remain primary for card transactions while Shopify Payments handles payment methods the provider does not support, such as Shop Pay and eligible local payment methods. Different fee rules apply to this setup.
This does not mean that adding as many payment providers as possible is a good strategy.
Track which payment methods customers actually use, which markets have weaker checkout completion and whether new options improve commercial performance enough to justify their complexity.
FAQs
What are the best Shopify payment gateways?
For many eligible merchants, Shopify Payments is the strongest starting point because it is integrated with Shopify. Additional providers or methods should be selected based on country, customer preferences, fees and specific business requirements.
How many Shopify payment providers are available?
Shopify states that merchants can choose from more than 100 third-party credit-card payment providers, although availability depends on region and store configuration.
Is Shop Pay a payment gateway?
Shop Pay is primarily an accelerated checkout option. It saves eligible customer information to make future checkout faster and is included with Shopify Payments.
Can I use Stripe with Shopify?
It depends on location. In countries where Shopify Payments is available, Shopify says Stripe generally isn't available to activate separately because it is Shopify Payments' banking partner.
Can I use PayPal with Shopify?
Yes, in supported configurations. PayPal Express Checkout is used in many markets, while merchants in the United States and France can use PayPal Wallet through Shopify Payments.
Is Klarna available on every Shopify store?
No. Klarna through Shopify Payments is available only in supported markets and configurations. Eligibility also depends on factors including merchant region, customer location and currency.
Is Amazon Pay available on Shopify?
Under Shopify's current setup, Amazon Pay with Shopify Payments is available to eligible US merchants that sell in USD and meet the required conditions.