Adyen vs Braintree: Which Payment Gateway Is Right for Your Singapore Business?

Key Takeaways:

• Adyen is a full-stack global payments platform built for enterprise businesses that need omnichannel payment infrastructure — online, in-store, and everything in between

• Braintree, now operating under PayPal, suits businesses that want seamless PayPal ecosystem integration and a reliable platform for online and mobile payments

• For Singapore businesses focused on cross-border payments, local payment methods like PayNow, and avoiding unnecessary FX costs, Airwallex offers a compelling alternative worth considering

Choosing between Adyen and Braintree is a decision that comes up regularly for Singapore businesses looking to upgrade how they accept payments online. Both are well-known names in the payments world — but they're built for different types of businesses, and the "right" answer depends a lot on what you actually need.

This guide breaks down how each platform works, what it costs, and where each one falls short. By the end, you'll have a clear picture of which is the right fit for your business in Singapore.

What is Adyen?

Adyen is a Dutch payments company founded in 2006 and listed on Euronext Amsterdam. It operates as a full-stack payments platform, meaning it handles acquiring, processing, and gateway functions in-house rather than relying on third-party banks or processors.

That single-stack model is a core part of its pitch: one integration, one contract, one place to manage everything.

How Adyen works

When a customer pays through a merchant using Adyen, the entire transaction — from the moment the card is presented to the final settlement — flows through Adyen's own infrastructure. This gives Adyen more control over transaction data, which it uses to power features like payment optimisation, fraud detection, and cross-channel analytics.

Adyen supports payments online, in-app, and in-person. Its online payment tools include a pre-built checkout, hosted payment pages, and pay-by-link functionality for merchants who don't want to build a custom integration.

For businesses with physical stores, Adyen also provides point-of-sale terminals and software, making it one of the few platforms that can genuinely connect your online and offline payment data in one place.

Its client list includes large global brands. Adyen's pricing model charges a fixed processing fee per transaction, plus a variable fee that depends on the payment method — with no setup fees or monthly minimums.¹

Adyen in Singapore

Adyen is active in Singapore and lists Singapore as a supported market on its pricing page.¹ It supports a range of payment methods relevant to the Singapore market, including GrabPay and certain card networks. Adyen holds a Major Payment Institution licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).²

That said, Adyen is primarily designed for enterprise-scale businesses. Onboarding typically involves a sales conversation rather than a self-serve sign-up, and its pricing is structured around custom negotiations for higher-volume merchants. Smaller businesses or those just starting out may find the process more involved than expected.

What is Braintree?

Braintree is a payments platform founded in Chicago in 2007 and acquired by PayPal in 2013. Today it operates as PayPal's enterprise payments arm, marketed as PayPal Braintree. Its core offering is a full-stack payment platform for online and mobile commerce, covering everything from the payment gateway and merchant account to fraud tools and payouts.

Because of its PayPal ownership, Braintree's biggest differentiator is deep integration with the PayPal ecosystem. Merchants using Braintree can accept PayPal, Venmo (in the US), and a range of card payments through a single integration.

For businesses where PayPal is a significant share of their checkout volume, that native connection matters.

How Braintree works

Braintree gives merchants two main integration paths:

• Drop-in UI is a pre-built checkout interface that can be embedded quickly with minimal development work

• Custom UI gives developers more control over the look and feel of the checkout experience.

Both options are built on Braintree's client SDKs and server-side libraries.³

Beyond payments, Braintree supports recurring billing and subscriptions, marketplace payouts via Braintree Payouts, and fraud tools at two tiers: standard Basic Fraud Tools and a more advanced Fraud Protection tier for higher-risk use cases.³ It also offers reporting tools to track and analyse transaction data.

Pricing is custom for enterprise merchants. Braintree advises businesses to contact its sales team to get a quote, noting that custom flat rates, interchange-plus pricing, and discounted rates are available based on business model and processing volume.⁴

Braintree in Singapore

This is where Singapore businesses need to pay close attention. Braintree does operate in Singapore, but its local payment method support is limited compared to what Singapore's payments landscape actually looks like.

PayNow, for instance, is not listed among Braintree's accepted payment methods.⁴ For a market where PayNow is deeply embedded in how both consumers and businesses transact, that gap is significant.

Braintree also does not appear in MAS's Financial Institutions Directory as a licensed payment institution in Singapore in the way that Adyen does, meaning merchants should verify the current regulatory status directly with Braintree before onboarding.

Worth knowing: Braintree's strongest use cases and deepest integrations are primarily designed around US and European markets. Singapore merchants may find that some features, pricing structures, or payment methods described on Braintree's global site do not apply to them.

Adyen vs Braintree: Key differences

Both platforms can process online payments at scale, but they make quite different decisions about who they're building for, how they price, and what they support.

Here's how they compare across the dimensions that matter most to Singapore businesses:

The information in this table has been reviewed to be accurate as of 26 March 2026.

Pricing and fees

Adyen charges a fixed processing fee of US$0.13 per transaction, plus a variable fee that depends on the payment method:

• For GrabPay transactions in Singapore, the fee is US$0.13 + 2.8% for online payments.¹

• For Visa and Mastercard, Adyen uses Interchange++ pricing — meaning you pay the actual interchange cost set by the card network, plus 0.60%.¹

Adyen has no monthly fees or setup costs.

Braintree's pricing is custom and requires a conversation with its sales team. According to its official pricing page, it offers custom flat rates, interchange-plus pricing, and volume-based discounts depending on your business model and transaction volume.⁴

Standard published rates exist but are not broken out publicly for Singapore: you'll need to request a quote.

Payment methods and local coverage

This is where the two platforms diverge most noticeably for Singapore merchants.

Adyen supports GrabPay in Singapore (both online and in-person) and lists Singapore as a supported market for multiple payment methods.¹ It supports 100+ payment methods globally across its network, including PayNow.

Braintree accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, and select local payment methods depending on region.³ For Singapore specifically, its local payment method coverage is limited, and PayNow is not listed as a supported option.³

For Singapore businesses where local payment methods drive a meaningful share of conversions, this is a genuine gap in both platforms.

Global reach and currencies

Adyen operates across multiple markets globally, with Singapore listed as a supported country on its pricing page.¹ Its FX and settlement model gives merchants some flexibility over when and in which currency they settle funds.

Braintree supports payments in multiple currencies and operates in a range of countries across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and beyond. It does not publicly state how many currencies and how many countries it covers.

Integration and developer experience

Both platforms offer SDKs, APIs, and pre-built UI components for faster integration.

Adyen provides a range of integration options: a pre-built checkout page, hosted payment pages, and a pay-by-link tool for no-code payment acceptance.¹ It also maintains a single API across all channels — online, in-app, and in-store — which simplifies the integration for businesses running across multiple surfaces.

Braintree offers a Drop-in UI for quick implementation and a Custom UI for developers who want more control.³ It integrates with most major eCommerce platforms and billing tools, and its developer documentation is widely regarded as thorough and well-maintained.

Fraud prevention and security

Both platforms are PCI DSS compliant and offer fraud detection tools.

Adyen's fraud tooling is built on machine learning and includes customisable risk controls, dynamic 3D Secure authentication, and automated risk assessments.¹ Some advanced risk features are reserved for higher-tier or enterprise clients.

Braintree offers two tiers of fraud protection: Basic Fraud Tools included in the standard offering, and Fraud Protection Advanced — a more sophisticated layer using machine learning and analytics — available as an additional product for enterprise merchants.³

In-person payments

Adyen has a fully developed point-of-sale offering — terminals, countertop devices, and mobile readers — that connects to its online payment infrastructure. This is one of Adyen's genuine strengths: if you run both an online store and a physical retail presence, Adyen can unify the data from both in one dashboard.¹

Braintree also supports in-person payments, but its terminal offering is less developed than Adyen's and is not its primary focus.³

Should you choose Adyen or Braintree?

Neither Adyen nor Braintree is a one-size-fits-all answer. Here's a practical way to think through the decision.

Adyen makes sense if:

• You're a large business that needs omnichannel payments (online, in-app, and in-store) managed from one platform

• You process high transaction volumes and want interchange-plus pricing

• You need point-of-sale terminal infrastructure alongside your online payments

However, Adyen is sales-led, pricing is negotiated rather than published, and it's designed around enterprise clients. Smaller businesses may find the onboarding slow and the volume expectations higher than they're ready for.

Braintree makes sense if:

• PayPal is a significant share of your checkout volume and you want native integration

• You run a subscription business and need recurring billing tools out of the box

• Your development team wants flexibility in how they build the checkout experience

That said, if you're based in Singapore and PayNow or other local payment methods matter to your customers, Braintree's coverage falls short.

The honest assessment

For most Singapore SMEs and growth-stage companies, both platforms are primarily built for larger, globally-oriented businesses. The onboarding process — custom pricing, sales-led conversations, enterprise contracts — reflects that.

If you want something easier to get started with that's built around the realities of running a business in Singapore and across Southeast Asia, both have meaningful gaps.

Why businesses choose Airwallex over Adyen and Braintree

If you've been comparing Adyen and Braintree and finding that both feel like they're built for someone else's business, Airwallex is worth considering. Unlike both platforms, Airwallex is a full financial platform — not just a payment gateway — built for businesses that operate across borders.

Here's what you can do with Airwallex:

Payments and local methods

Accept payments from customers globally, with support for 160+ payment methods across 180+ countries. That includes PayNow and GrabPay for Singapore.

Multi-currency without the conversion costs

Hold funds in 20+ currencies without converting everything back to SGD. When you pay suppliers or contractors in the same currency you collected in, you skip the conversion entirely — and avoid the fees that come with it.

Spend management in one place

Multi-currency Corporate Cards and international transfers mean you can manage both inbound payments and outbound costs without switching between platforms.

Easier to get started

Self-serve onboarding, eCommerce plugins for Shopify and WooCommerce, and transparent pricing — no enterprise sales process required.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Adyen available in Singapore?

Yes. Adyen operates in Singapore and holds a Major Payment Institution licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Payment Services Act 2019.² It supports several payment methods in Singapore, including GrabPay, and can process both online and in-person transactions.

Does Braintree work in Singapore?

Braintree does list Singapore among its supported markets, but its local payment method coverage for Singapore is limited. PayNow is not listed as a supported payment method, and the platform's strongest features and integrations are primarily built around US and European markets. Singapore businesses should verify current availability and supported payment methods directly with Braintree before committing.

What is Adyen's pricing model?

Adyen charges a fixed processing fee of US$0.13 per transaction, plus a variable fee based on the payment method used.¹ For Visa and Mastercard, it uses Interchange++ pricing. There are no setup fees or monthly costs. Other Adyen products — such as point-of-sale terminals and capital products — are priced separately.

Is Braintree free to use?

Braintree does not charge monthly or setup fees for its standard offering, but it does charge per-transaction fees.⁴ Exact rates for Singapore merchants are not published publicly — you'll need to contact Braintree's sales team to get a quote tailored to your business model and volume.

What's the difference between a payment gateway and a payment processor?

A payment gateway is the technology that securely captures and transmits payment information from the customer to the payment network. A payment processor handles the actual movement of funds between the customer's bank and the merchant's account. Platforms like Adyen and Braintree act as both: they combine gateway and processing functions in a single integration. To learn more, read our article on payment processors vs payment gateways.

Are there alternatives to Adyen and Braintree for Singapore businesses?

Yes. Several payment platforms serve Singapore businesses, ranging from global solutions like Stripe to locally-focused options. For businesses that need cross-border payment capabilities alongside local payment methods like PayNow, Airwallex is one option worth evaluating — it combines payment acceptance with multi-currency accounts, FX transfers, and corporate cards in a single platform built for internationally active businesses.

Sources:

1. https://www.adyen.com/accept-payments

2. https://www.adyen.com/press-and-media/adyen-now-licensed-under-payment-services-act-as-a-major-payments-institution-in-singapore

3. https://www.paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/what-is-paypal-braintree-and-how-do-i-get-started-help1172

4. https://www.braintreepayments.com/braintree-pricing

This publication does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice from Airwallex, nor does it substitute seeking such advice, and makes no express or implied representations / warranties / guarantees regarding content accuracy, completeness, or currency. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]]. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (201626561Z) is licensed as a Major Payment Institution and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.