Top 7 Adyen alternatives: Compare fees, features, and benefits

Adyen is a world-class payments platform, but it’s not always the best fit for UK businesses. If you want faster onboarding, simpler pricing, or strong multi-currency without enterprise overhead, you have options. In this guide, we show where Adyen works, why some UK teams are looking elsewhere, what to evaluate, and the top providers to compare.

What is Adyen? 

Adyen is an all-in-one payments platform built with large enterprises, marketplaces and global retailers in mind. With a single contract and one set of APIs, businesses can accept payments worldwide. Acting as the acquirer, it processes card payments directly rather than routing them through another bank.

The platform connects to major card networks like Visa and Mastercard and supports a broad range of local payment methods, including iDEAL, Bancontact, Bacs Direct Debit, and Klarna. Designed for scale, it also delivers fraud controls, risk scoring, smart routing to improve approval rates, and reporting for finance teams.

Pricing is usually Interchange ++ (IC++). In practice, you pay three parts:

1. The interchange set by the cardholder’s bank,

2. The card network fee,

3. Adyen’s processing fee.

Adyen also has a minimum monthly invoice in some industries, so you pay at least a set amount if your volume is low.

Before we get into the article, here are two quick definitions for terms we're using:

• Acquiring is the behind-the-scenes bit that actually moves the card's money to your account.

• Local payment methods are non-card options popular in a country, for example, Bacs Direct Debit in the UK.

Read more: From click to confirmed: the journey of a payment gateway

Why UK businesses are looking beyond Adyen in 2025

Short answer: You can get to revenue faster, forecast costs more easily, and keep more of each cross-border sale.

1) Faster onboarding and lighter build

Enterprise setups can mean sales calls, KYB checks, and custom configs before you take a live payment. If you’re launching next week, look for self-serve sign-up, instant test keys, hosted checkout, and ready-made plugins.

2) Simpler, more predictable pricing

Adyen often uses IC++ which passes through card and scheme fees plus a processor markup. It’s transparent, but your effective rate moves with card mix, regions, and card brands. Many SMEs prefer a blended rate (such as 1% plus a fixed fee) to make forecasting and reconciliation easier.

3) SME-friendly thresholds

Adyen has a minimum monthly invoice for some industries. If your volume dips, you still pay up to that floor. Pay-as-you-go providers usually have no minimums.

4) Multi-currency and FX control

Selling to the EU and beyond from the UK adds costs if you process cross-border in GBP and convert later. Look for like-for-like settlement (charge in EUR, settle in EUR), transparent FX margins, and local acquiring routes that lift approval rates and reduce scheme surcharges.

5) The day-to-day toolkit

If you don’t have a big engineering team, prioritise hosted checkout, no-code payment links, clear dashboards, webhooks that just work, and responsive support.

Read more: Payment gateways vs payment processors: What's the difference?

The top alternatives to Adyen

• Airwallex

• Stripe

• Checkout.com

• Mollie

• Square

• Payoneer

• Wise Business

Compare the top 7 alternatives to Adyen

A closer look at Adyen’s main competitors

Here are the top Adyen alternatives UK businesses are comparing in 2025.

Airwallex

Airwallex (that’s us) is an all-in-one payments and financial platform that brings together online acceptance (cards and 160+ local methods), multi-currency accounts, payouts, and transparent FX in a single stack. UK businesses can get started quickly with payment links, hosted checkout, or APIs, then expand into treasury and payouts as they grow. Unlike many providers, Airwallex publishes all fees and supports like-for-like settlement in multiple currencies.

Prices: Cards: UK Visa/Mastercard 1.30% + £0.20; EEA 2.40% + £0.20; international 3.15% + £0.20; Amex 2.40% + £0.20; UnionPay 3.15% + £0.20. Local methods: £0.20 + method fee. FX on conversions typically 0.5–1.0% over interbank. Plans: Explore £0 or £19/mo (free if you deposit or hold £10k+), Grow £49/mo, Accelerate £999/mo.

See more information on Airwallex’s hassle-free Business Accounts and Airwallex pricing. Or see how Adyen and Airwallex compare on fees, features, and benefits.

Stripe

Stripe is a developer-led payments platform best known for its wide method catalogue, powerful APIs, and subscription-friendly tools. UK teams often use it for rapid go-live via Checkout or Elements, with strong documentation and plug-ins. It’s a good fit for product-led companies that value speed and customisation. The drawback is pricing: UK card fees are competitive, but international cards, FX, and some add-ons can add complexity and push costs higher. 

Prices: UK cards 1.5% + 20p; EEA cards 2.5% + 20p. Conversion fee starting at 2% when local prices are presented via Adaptive Pricing. No setup or monthly platform fees on standard pricing. International cards incur a fee of 3.25% + 20p, and when the customer's payment is processed in one currency and settled in another, an additional 2% FX conversion fee applies.

Checkout.com

Checkout.com is an enterprise-focused acquirer focused on performance, smart routing, and granular controls. Large UK merchants use it to optimise approval rates across markets, often with custom reporting and tailored support. It works best if you want dedicated account management and high-volume global processing. The flip side is that onboarding and pricing are sales-led, so smaller businesses may find it less transparent and slower to implement.

Prices: Pricing is custom by arrangement (IC++ available). No public UK rate card or plan tiers.

Mollie

Mollie is common among SMEs because of its straightforward, per-method pricing and quick integration into ecommerce platforms. UK merchants often use it to add card acceptance and EU methods like iDEAL or Bancontact without much complexity. It’s an uncomplicated option with fees clearly published online. The trade-off is that it doesn’t offer the broader treasury and payout functionality that a more complete stack like Airwallex or Wise provides.

Prices: UK Visa/Mastercard (consumer) 1.20% + £0.20; UK commercial + European cards 2.90% + £0.20; all other cards 3.25% + £0.20; Amex 2.50% + £0.20. No monthly platform fee on standard pricing.

Square

Square is built for simplicity, with POS hardware, online checkout and invoicing all bundled into one easy-to-use platform. UK businesses use it to unify in-store and online payments without heavy technical setup. It’s ideal for domestic sellers, hospitality and services. The limitation is that UK accounts only settle in GBP, so if you plan to sell cross-border or manage multi-currency, Square won’t scale with you.

Prices: Online 1.4% + 25p (UK cards) and 2.5% + 25p (non-UK cards). In-person 1.75%; manually keyed or invoices 2.5%. Plans: Square for Retail Plus £49/mo per location; Square for Restaurants Plus £69/mo per location; Square Online plans from £20/mo (Plus) and £64/mo (Premium).

Payoneer

Payoneer is best known for cross-border payouts and multi-currency receiving accounts, and it’s widely used by marketplaces and exporters. UK sellers use it to get paid in multiple currencies and withdraw locally, with a growing checkout option for SMBs. It’s good for collections and payouts, but its checkout product is not as developed or consistently available as dedicated gateways, so it may need to be paired with another provider.

Prices: Payoneer charges in USD for all customers. Receiving a local-currency account in your primary location (e.g., GBP in the UK): free, other currencies: fixed fee or 1%. Client card payments up to 3.99% + £0.49. UK direct bank payment 1%. Annual account fee $29.95 if you receive under $2,000/year; some regions use an Annual Plan instead.

Wise Business

Wise Business offers multi-currency accounts with mid-market FX and local bank details, which makes it great for reducing FX costs on receivables and supplier payments. Many UK companies pair Wise with a payment gateway, then settle into Wise accounts to avoid hidden spreads. It’s good for finance control, but it doesn’t handle card acceptance at checkout, so you’ll still need a separate acquirer for sales.

Prices: One-off £45 setup, no monthly fee. Transfers and conversions from ~0.33%, mid-market FX. Local receiving free in major currencies, with small fixed fees for some SWIFT receipts.

Why choose Airwallex over Adyen?

Why Airwallex is a top Adyen alternative in 2025

Like Airwallex, Adyen supports companies around the world to move money globally and streamline financial operations.

Both providers offer additional services to help ambitious businesses unlock opportunities, including corporate and employee cards, FX capabilities, expense management, and data analytics.

But if you’re a small or medium size business eyeing global expansion, Adyen’s complex pricing model and minimum invoice requirements may not be the best fit for you. Its products are mostly designed for large global enterprises with a high volume of payments.

Airwallex offers more a flexible, transparent, and affordable cross-border financial solution.

Our costs are simple and transparent: We use a simple blended pricing model or interchange++ for card acceptance. Our coverage extends to 180+ countries and we charge a flat 1% fee per foreign transaction.

Sources and disclaimer

Disclaimer:  We wrote this article in Q3 2024. The information was based on our own online research and we were not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

• Adyen: https://www.adyen.com/pricing | https://www.adyen.com/payouts | https://www.adyen.com/capital | https://docs.adyen.com/api-explorer/

• Stripe: stripe.com/pricing

• Checkout.com: checkout.com/pricing

• Mollie: mollie.com/pricing

• Square: squareup.com/gb/en/pricing

• Payoneer: payoneer.com/about/pricing/

• Wise: wise.com/gb/pricing/business