Checkout
The checkout process is where your customers finalize a purchase, select their billing model, and securely submit their payment information. Airwallex Billing offers several flexible options to integrate this flow into your product but we recommend using the Hosted Billing Checkout.
Hosted Billing Checkout (low-code)
The Airwallex-hosted checkout is the quickest way to integrate billing with the checkout experience. Airwallex provides a secure, pre-built payment page that minimizes your development effort.
- How it works: You create a Billing Checkout object via the API, and then simply redirect your customer to the unique Airwallex-hosted URL.
- Automatic setup: Upon successful payment, Airwallex automatically creates all the required resources for you, including the Customer, secure Payment Source, and either a Subscription or Invoice (depending on the selected mode).
- Modes: When creating the checkout, specify its purpose:
PAYMENT: Collect a one-off charge.SUBSCRIPTION: Start a recurring billing relationship.SETUP: Collect and save a payment method for future use without a charge.
Compare all options below and choose the right method for you.
Choose Billing Checkout, invoices, or Payment Links
Use this guide to pick the right way to collect payment. Billing Checkout, Billing invoices, and Payment Links serve different purposes.
| Your goal | Recommended approach | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer checks out on your website or app right now | Hosted Billing Checkout | Create the checkout on your server when the customer clicks Checkout or Subscribe, then redirect them to the URL. The link expires after 1 hour. |
| Send a specific customer a link to pay later (email, ops workflow, B2B) | Digital invoice | Finalize an invoice and share the digital invoice link. The link remains valid for 35 days after the payment due date. Obtain a new link from the web app or API if needed. |
| Collect a one-off payment without Billing invoices or subscriptions | Payment Links | A Payments product, not Billing. Payment Links are not integrated with Billing and cannot generate Billing invoices or subscriptions. |
Billing Checkout is not a shareable long-lived link. Do not create a Billing Checkout in advance and send the URL to customers later. If the customer does not pay within 1 hour, the checkout expires and you must create a new one.
Choose your checkout integration option
Airwallex Billing offers several flexible ways to integrate your customer checkout. To help you choose the best fit, check out this comparison table detailing the different levels of control and effort required for each option.
Compare integration options
| Hosted Billing Checkout (RECOMMENDED) | Embedded Elements | Native API | Mobile SDK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout experience | Redirects shoppers to a secure, pre-built payment page hosted by Airwallex | Renders embedded pre-built UI elements on the payment page | Renders fully custom UI tailored to your needs | Renders pre-built payment pages into the mobile app |
| Best suited for | Web checkout with minimal tech effort, quick go to market. Built-in support for invoices and subscriptions. | Web checkout with advanced theming, multiple payment methods | Web checkout with custom UI and full control over the payment experience | Mobile apps (iOS/Android) |
| Integration effort | Low coding | More coding | Most coding | More coding |
| UI customization | Basic theming | Advanced theming to match your website | Full control over UI customization | Advanced theming to match your app |
| PCI-DSS requirement* | PCI-DSS SAQ A | PCI-DSS SAQ A | PCI-DSS ROC | PCI-DSS SAQ A |
| Payment method support | Refer to the payment methods overview. Use the Invoices column for one-off payment method support, and the Subscriptions column for recurring price support. | All payment methods | All payment methods | All payment methods |
| Checkout mode | One-off payments Recurring | One-off payments | One-off payments | One-off payments |
*PCI-DSS questionnaire must be renewed regularly according to the specific policy.
Enable Airwallex payments
Enable Airwallex Payments to start accepting payments online through Airwallex Billing. Accepting payments directly helps you get paid faster, reduce manual reconciliation, and deliver a seamless experience for your customers. Once activated, customers can view their invoices online and make payments instantly.
See Get started with payments.