How to choose between common A vs B options—using decision briefs that show who each product fits, what breaks first, and where pricing changes behavior.
Most buyers compare feature lists first, then discover the real decision is about constraints: cost cliffs, governance requirements, and the limits that force redesigns at scale.
Common pitfall: Developer Experience vs Simplicity: Advanced API capabilities and customization come at the cost of technical complexity, while simple, integrated solutions sacrifice flexibility for ease of deployment.
If you only have two minutes, do this sequence. It’s designed to get you to a confident default choice quickly, then validate it with the few checks that actually decide fit.
Start with your non‑negotiables (latency model, limits, compliance boundary, or operational control).
Pick two candidates that target the same abstraction level (so the comparison is apples-to-apples).
Validate cost behavior at scale: where do the price cliffs appear (traffic spikes, storage, egress, seats, invocations)?
Confirm the first failure mode you can’t tolerate (timeouts, rate limits, cold starts, vendor lock‑in, missing integrations).
Developer Experience vs Simplicity: Advanced API capabilities and customization come at the cost of technical complexity, while simple, integrated solutions sacrifice flexibility for ease of deployment.
Transparent Pricing vs Cost Variability: Flat-rate pricing offers predictability but may be expensive at scale, while Interchange++ provides transparency but introduces cost variability.
This is an editorial collection page. Each link below goes to a decision brief that explains why the pair is comparable, where the trade‑offs show up under real usage, and what tends to break first when you push the product past its “happy path.”
This hub isn’t a feature checklist or a “best tools” ranking. If you’re early in your search, start with the category page; if you already have two candidates, this hub is the fastest path to a confident default choice.
Both are excellent choices for similar use cases. Braintree edges ahead for PayPal ecosystem integration and charity pricing. Stripe wins on developer experience, feature depth, and ecosystem breadth. Most businesses choose based on technical team preferences and specific feature needs rather than pricing alone.
These target different buyers. Stripe dominates for developer-first teams, startups, and businesses needing ecosystem features. Adyen wins for enterprises prioritizing cost transparency, global scale, and custom pricing. Choose based on your organizational size, technical capabilities, and pricing philosophy.
Braintree fits growth-stage companies wanting PayPal integration with predictable pricing. Adyen suits large enterprises needing cost transparency and global customization. Choice depends on your need for PayPal ecosystem vs enterprise-grade cost management.
These target completely different markets. Square excels for brick-and-mortar SMBs needing simple, integrated solutions. Stripe dominates for online businesses, SaaS, and developer-focused teams. Choice is straightforward: in-person retail → Square; online/API needs → Stripe.
PayPal wins when consumer checkout conversion justifies 3.9% international fees and account hold risks. Stripe dominates for technical teams needing API quality, subscription billing, or platform features. Most businesses choose based on customer payment preferences versus technical requirements.
PayPal wins for simple e-commerce needing trusted checkout with minimal development. Braintree dominates when merchant control, customization, and developer experience matter. Both owned by PayPal but target different merchant sophistication levels.
Authorize.Net wins for established businesses prioritizing stability, US phone support, and extensive e-commerce plugins. Stripe dominates for developer-first teams, modern APIs, and pay-as-you-go pricing. Choice reflects organizational philosophy: traditional vs innovation.
Checkout.com wins for high-volume merchants ($50K+/month) prioritizing cost optimization and payment performance. Stripe dominates for developer experience, fast integration, and comprehensive ecosystem. Economics favor Checkout.com at scale; ease-of-use favors Stripe.
Checkout.com wins for mid-market merchants ($50K-$5M/month) needing enterprise features at accessible minimums. Adyen dominates for large enterprises ($10M+/month) requiring proven global scale and unified commerce. Both offer IC+ pricing but serve different volume tiers.
Finix wins for established platforms (500+ merchants, $100M+ GMV) where payment revenue share justifies PayFac complexity. Stripe Connect dominates for faster launch, lower commitment, and broader payment coverage. Economics favor Finix at scale; simplicity favors Stripe.
Pick Square when you run in-person or omnichannel retail and want POS, hardware, and back-office workflows tightly integrated. Pick PayPal when your core problem is online checkout conversion and you benefit from PayPal’s wallet trust and one-click flows. Total cost differences usually show up in cross-border volume, dispute rates, and how much you value an all-in-one stack versus a wallet-first checkout.
Pick Braintree when you need an API-first gateway with PayPal/Venmo adjacency and you’re building a custom checkout or platform experience. Pick Square when you want a packaged commerce stack (payments + POS + hardware + basic operations) and speed-to-live matters more than deep payment optimization. The deciding constraint is usually whether you’re building a payments layer or buying a commerce system.
Pick Adyen when you’re an enterprise merchant optimizing authorization rates, multi-region acquiring, and cost transparency at scale. Pick PayPal when you want to increase online conversion via a widely adopted wallet and keep implementation simple. For many stacks, PayPal is an additional payment method while Adyen is the core acquiring/payment processing layer.
Pick Checkout.com when you’re a higher-volume merchant where authorization optimization, local acquiring, and global payment method coverage materially move revenue. Pick Braintree when you want a reliable developer-first gateway and PayPal/Venmo adjacency without an enterprise optimization program. The decision is usually driven by volume, geographic footprint, and how much incremental authorization lift is worth to you.
Pick Finix when you’re a software platform that wants to become (or migrate toward) a payment facilitator model and capture more of the payment margin, with the operational responsibilities that come with it. Pick Braintree when you want to process payments as a capability (not a business line) and you value speed-to-market and simpler compliance. The real decision is whether you’re building a payments business or enabling payments.
Pricing and availability may change. Verify details on the official website.
Start with a product decision brief, then come back here to compare once you have two candidates.