Our methodology

Every comparison and review on WhatPayment follows the same disciplined process. We publish our methodology so you can challenge our conclusions if the inputs were wrong.

How we evaluate platforms

We score every payment processor on five dimensions : effective fee (headline rate plus stacking surcharges, FX margin and payout fees), Merchant of Record status (yes / no / partial), geographic coverage (where sellers can be from, where buyers can be from), payout speed and reliability (cycle, instant options, holds), and use-case fit (what the platform is genuinely built for).

Where our data comes from

Pricing data is sourced from official documentation as of the article's publication or last update date. We cross-reference with independent reviewer sites (Merchant Maverick, Capterra), creator forums, and public earnings reports when available. Where vendors do not publish rates publicly (PaymentCloud, some Adyen contracts), we use range estimates from independent reviewers and flag the uncertainty.

How we test

For featured platforms in our cornerstone articles, we open seller accounts where possible, process test transactions, observe payout cycles, and document onboarding friction. Where account opening is gated (Adyen, PaymentCloud), we rely on documentation, vendor demos, and creator interviews.

How we update

Pricing and feature data evolves. Cornerstone articles carry a "last reviewed" date and we revisit them quarterly. If a fee changes or a vendor adds / removes a feature, we update the article and note the change in the Last reviewed line. If you spot stale data, please tell us.

How we handle conflicts of interest

WhatPayment earns affiliate commissions on some platforms we cover. We disclose every commercial relationship at the article level. We do not adjust rankings to favor higher-commission vendors. When a vendor pays us a commission, we still rank competitors above them when the use case demands it. If we cannot evaluate a product objectively due to a commercial relationship, we say so explicitly in the article and offer alternative sources.