Comparison
Enterprise Pay Gateway vs the alternatives
Choose Enterprise Pay Gateway when you want a complete payment stack without engineers and want to keep your own customer relationship. Build directly on Stripe if you have developers and unusual requirements. Use a marketplace if you are buying its demand, not its payments. Open a merchant account if your volume is large enough to negotiate interchange-plus.
Last updated 9 September 2026
| Enterprise Pay Gateway | Building on Stripe yourself | Marketplace platform | Traditional merchant account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who you contract with for processing | Stripe, directly | Stripe, directly | The marketplace | An acquiring bank |
| Time to first payment | Same day | Days to weeks of build work | Same day | 1–4 weeks of underwriting |
| Engineering required | None | Substantial and ongoing | None | Varies, usually some |
| Software cost | $49–$499/mo + 0.20%–0.75% | Your engineering time | Commission, often 10%–30% | Monthly account and gateway fees |
| Processing cost | Stripe's rates, billed to you | Stripe's rates, billed to you | Bundled into commission | Interchange-plus, negotiated |
| Whose name is on the statement | Yours | Yours | The marketplace's | Yours |
| Who owns the customer | You | You | The marketplace | You |
| Dispute liability | You | You | Usually shared or absorbed | You |
| Recurring billing included | Yes | Build it yourself | Sometimes | Usually an add-on |
| Best suited to | Businesses that want a full stack without engineers | Teams with developers and specific requirements | Sellers who want the platform's demand | High volume with negotiating power |
Head-to-head comparisons
Enterprise Pay Gateway vs Square
Square is the simpler choice if you mainly sell in person and want hardware in the box. Enterprise Pay Gateway is the better choice if you take payments online, want your own Stripe account rather than an aggregated one, and need recurring billing, invoicing, multi-location and team access without paying per feature.
Enterprise Pay Gateway vs Stripe on its own
Stripe is the processor in both cases — we build on Stripe Connect. Use Stripe directly if you have developers and unusual requirements. Use Enterprise Pay Gateway if you want a storefront, checkout links, recurring billing, invoicing, team access and reporting running today, without writing code.
Enterprise Pay Gateway vs Shopify Payments
Shopify Payments is excellent if your business is a product catalogue with a cart and shipping. Enterprise Pay Gateway suits service businesses: appointments, packages, memberships, invoices and deposits, where the checkout is a link or an invoice rather than a shopping cart.
Enterprise Pay Gateway vs PayPal
PayPal is the fastest way to accept a one-off payment from someone who already has PayPal. Enterprise Pay Gateway is the better long-term home for a business: your own Stripe account, your brand at checkout, proper recurring billing and reporting, and no reliance on the buyer having an account.
When Enterprise Pay Gateway is the wrong tool
If you already employ engineers who have built on Stripe, our platform fee buys you little. If your entire business depends on a marketplace's built-in demand, the commission is buying customers, not payment plumbing. And if you process several million dollars a year, an interchange-plus merchant account negotiated directly will usually beat any flat-rate arrangement.
When it is the right tool
You want to take card payments this week, you want your own name on the customer's statement, you need recurring billing and a product catalogue, and you would rather pay a predictable software fee than hire a developer.
Costs shown for Enterprise Pay Gateway come from our pricing page. Third-party figures are typical published ranges and change often — verify with each provider before deciding.