Ecommerce Crypto Payments: Choose a Checkout You Can Run

Which checkout should an ordinary online store consider?

If nobody on your team can maintain payment software, start with a managed provider. Consider BTCPay when receiving Bitcoin directly is worth the extra responsibility. The processor selection checklist starts with the goods you sell, the customers you serve and the money your suppliers accept. To gauge how many shoppers pay with crypto at all, our 2026 crypto payments research explains what the usage figures do and don't show.

BitPay takes applications from US and Canadian merchants, with state and product restrictions, and has paused new onboarding in the EEA, UK and Australia.^[1] CoinGate's list includes Germany, Canada and the UK but not the US. That's a list of where CoinGate takes merchants, not a statement about legality.^[2]

CoinGate asks for company documents, ID for directors and significant owners, proof of your operating address and a questionnaire about your business.^[3] BitPay also checks the business, owners and payout details, and the bank account must belong to the applicant business.^[30]

BitPay's terms split prohibited businesses from restricted categories that need express approval. CoinGate's terms prohibit certain financial, weapons and other activities, and opening an account depends on its checks.^[5][4]

How should you compare the provider cards?

The order and scores on these cards follow our global methodology, not ecommerce approval or payment success. The full BitPay, CoinGate and BTCPay reviews have more.

The price references on these cards assume three small stationery shops, each approved by its provider. We haven't verified that such accounts exist. One is a Delaware LLC owned by US citizens in Delaware, selling only to US customers on BitPay Acceptance, with Bitcoin on its main network, USD credit and settlement to its approved US business bank account at BitPay's entry volume rates. Another is a Berlin GmbH owned by German citizens in Germany, selling to customers in Germany and France on CoinGate Standard through UAB Decentralized, with Bitcoin converted to EUR and withdrawn by SEPA to its own German bank account. The third is a second Berlin GmbH like it that runs BTCPay itself and receives Bitcoin on its main network into a company wallet with external spending keys.

The MIT licence lets the BTCPay shop use the software, and doesn't approve any merchant activity, host or bank partner.^[9] Converting to EUR and receiving it in a German company bank account would need a partner's approval, agreement and pricing.

BitPay's entry fee, CoinGate's Standard fee and BTCPay's software-only charge are priced on different bases. BitPay's pricing includes cumulative-volume bands and higher-risk charges with no quoted price.^[6] CoinGate publishes Standard fees apart from withdrawals and other services, and its payment quotes also include a risk margin with no listed price.^[7][8]

The prices leave out custom and high-risk pricing, minimums and fee floors, network and conversion costs, bank and partner charges, application and account fees, and the cost of refunds and exceptions. BTCPay's zero software fee also leaves out hosting, staff, maintenance and backups. Unknown isn't zero. A zero software fee still leaves you with running costs, and it doesn't put money in your bank.

1. 1

   CoinGate

   Managed checkout for approved businesses in listed countries

   81/100

   1%
   • Published payment states and settings for short payments
   • Full and partial refund tools
   • The quote margin has no listed price, plugin compatibility needs checking, and its refund-fee wording conflicts.
   Read review ↗Visit site
2. 3

   BitPay

   Managed checkout for a qualifying US or Canadian shop

   73/100

   2% + $0.25
   • Published standard fee bands
   • A published WooCommerce checkout plugin to check
   • Onboarding is paused in some regions, the application fee has no listed price, and receiving costs depend on your account.
   Read review ↗Visit site
3. 12

   BTCPay Server

   Bitcoin software for a shop with someone able to run it

   57/100

   0%
   • An external wallet can sign spending away from the checkout server
   • A published WooCommerce flow, plus a Shopify flow with conditions
   • Hosting, maintenance, approving refunds and any conversion or bank service stay your job.
   Read review ↗Visit site

What must happen before you ship or release a download?

Before you ship, look up the payment in the provider's own record. A wallet screenshot, an order that's been created or a notification isn't enough, and a browser redirect isn't a warehouse instruction. Match the order reference, amount, coin and network, and look for any shortfall or other exception.

At BitPay, a paid invoice means the customer broadcast a transaction. Your confirmation policy decides when to fulfil, and complete means the money has been credited to your account.^[15] CoinGate treats confirming (network confirmation) and paid (merchant credit) as different stages. Its published flow gives two hours to pick a method and then a twenty-minute payment window, which have nothing to do with bank, hold or refund timing.^[16] In BTCPay, your wallet settings set how many confirmations count as settled.^[10]

1. 
   01

   Reserve the order

   Record the goods, the delivery promise, the stock you're holding and the payment request. Tell the buyer which coin, network and payment window apply.

2. 
   02

   Confirm the payment

   Check the provider's own record against the order. Send short, late, excess, invalid, wrong-network and duplicate payments to whoever handles exceptions.

3. 
   03

   Fulfil once

   Ship, or grant access to the download, under your agreed rule. Your developer needs to make sure delayed or repeated notifications can't deliver the order twice.

4. 
   04

   Reconcile and return

   Match credits and transfers to orders. For a return, track the refund amount, where the money comes from, who approves it and the finished refund against the same order.

Say two buyers start checkout for your last item. Decide which order holds it, when that hold ends and who releases it when the payment request expires. If another payment arrives, someone has to sort out availability, an agreed alternative or a refund. A late notification shouldn't quietly sell the same item twice.

Shopify warns that slow settlement can contribute to overselling in flash sales.^[21] In WooCommerce, when stock is released depends on configuration. Its Processing status means paid and awaiting fulfilment, Completed means fulfilled and On hold means awaiting confirmation, so check how your gateway maps onto those.^[13] These products don't share a stock timer.

Will the integration fit your store?

Before you pay for integration work, have your developer test the package and settings you'd use on your store. Published instructions show what to try, not that the package works once installed, that it's secure, that payments succeed or that anyone has promised a support response.

BitPay's WooCommerce listing describes configurable order updates and dashboard refunds.^[17] CoinGate's listing describes confirmations and adjustable status mappings, but its metadata says 2.3.0 while its changelog lists 2.3.1, and it carries a warning about the latest three major WordPress releases.^[18] That warning doesn't mean the plugin has been abandoned, so pin down which package your developer is checking.

BTCPay's WooCommerce package connects the store to the payment server. Its published twenty-four-hour order-return link helps the customer find the order again and doesn't extend the invoice's payment expiry.^[19] BTCPay's Shopify method is a custom, manual payment option at checkout, with later order updates and a refund-claim setup that comes with conditions. We haven't installed it, so check the plan, host, app, fragment and email requirements.^[20]

Coinbase Business is another option for approved US or Singapore companies, with conditions.^[22] Its payment links and invoices accept a set list of stablecoins and credit your Business account in USDC, and you only see current payment fees once you have account access.^[23] The closed Commerce package isn't a current Business connector, and migration pricing isn't a quote for a new shop. The Business review explains the difference.

How much does accepting a short payment cost?

If you accept a short payment, your shop absorbs the missing sales value, and the fee can still be charged on the full order amount. The processor isn't giving you a discount. The CoinGate fee guide and BitPay fee guide list the other charges, and the calculator guide explains why a fee estimate isn't bank cash.

How do you finish a customer return?

A return has several jobs: working out what the customer is owed, funding the refund and sending it. Restocking a parcel, recording a partial refund and sending money are three different tasks. WooCommerce's manual refunds are bookkeeping, so changing a status to Cancelled or Refunded doesn't return any money. Automatic refunds need a compatible gateway.^[14]

CoinGate describes refunds paid from your balance, with the customer's details and an email confirmation, valued at the merchandise price and the current crypto rate, so the customer may not get back the same amount of coin. Its summary says refunds are free otherwise, which conflicts with its fixed-fee wording, so check the refund preview and your account terms before promising free refunds.^[25] In BTCPay, a claim comes first, then approval, signing, sending and blockchain confirmation.^[26] Neither guarantees that the original fee is returned.

What does a UK consumer order illustrate?

A UK consumer sale needs its own return and digital-delivery policy. As we read GOV.UK on 18 October 2026, faulty goods and change-of-mind returns are treated differently. For a distance sale, the buyer generally has fourteen days from receipt to cancel and another fourteen to send the goods back, and you then refund within fourteen days of getting them back, including standard delivery. Personalised and perishable goods are exceptions, but they don't remove faulty-goods rights or let you deduct gateway costs automatically.^[27]

Before purchase, tell the customer who the seller is, what the goods are, the price including tax, the delivery terms and the cancellation conditions, and give them that information in a form they can keep.^[28] For instant downloads or streaming, get the customer's agreement to immediate supply and their acknowledgement that they lose the cancellation right before delivery, and include both in the contract confirmation.^[29] That doesn't remove every remedy for faulty digital content. These are UK consumer examples, not rules for other countries or business buyers. This is general information, not legal advice.

Who maintains checkout and makes sales usable for bills?

Before you rely on crypto sales, work out who looks after payments and cash. A balance at your provider, a transfer being released and money arriving in your company bank account are three different milestones, so keep supplier money available in case an account check or transfer delays access.

With an external Bitcoin signer, spending approval happens away from the checkout server. A server hot wallet keeps spending keys online. A host can control its server and your future payment instructions.^[11] A host's shared Lightning wallet receives funds before passing them on, and capacity and service charges apply.^[12] The BTCPay versus BitPay comparison goes through the choice.

Someone needs to own updates, backups, cover for when staff are away, payment checks, refund approval and escalation when something breaks. Agree your host's or processor's support coverage too, since public documentation isn't a contracted response time. Reusable links, recurring invoices and prepaid-credit renewals don't let you debit an outside wallet. For repeat access, see our SaaS and membership guide.

1. 
   01

   Keep the old obligations

   Give old unpaid orders, customer credits, returns and open payments to someone. Keep the records and access you need.

2. 
   02

   Check the new provider

   Make sure approval, store compatibility, customer payment methods, how you're paid out and the full costs all work before you switch checkout.

3. 
   03

   Settle up

   Settle remaining funds and close the account under your agreements. Credentials, customer permissions and refund obligations don't carry over on their own.

Ecommerce crypto payments FAQ