# Best Bitcoin payment gateways in 2026: 6 compared, and 2 free alternatives

A gateway is a company: your customer pays it, and it pays you. Here are six,
compared on who holds your money, what they charge and what they accept, checked
against each provider's own pages on 23 October 2026.

OpenReceive and BTCPay Server are not gateways. They are free software that makes
the invoice in your own wallet, so no company takes the payment. They are compared
here as a separate group. [Accept crypto with OpenReceive](/): free and open
source, no account, no KYC.

## Quick picks

| If you want | Pick |
|---|---|
| No account, in your own app, stablecoins too | OpenReceive (software) |
| Your own Bitcoin server | BTCPay Server (software) |
| Dollars in a US or Canadian bank | BitPay or OpenNode |
| Bitcoin and cash in one app | Strike |
| A regulated EU gateway | CoinGate |
| Hundreds of coins, outside the US, UK and EU | NOWPayments |

## Who holds your money?

Two different kinds of thing:

- **Software, not a gateway: OpenReceive, BTCPay Server.** The software makes the
  invoice in your own wallet and the customer pays it there. Nobody approves you,
  takes a cut or can close an account. (With OpenReceive, a USDT or USDC payment
  goes through the swap provider you pick, which sends Bitcoin on to your wallet.)
- **Gateways, which are companies: BitPay, OpenNode, Strike, CoinGate, NOWPayments,
  CoinPayments.** The company receives the payment first, takes its fee, and pays
  you out or keeps a balance you withdraw. It can hold a payment or close your
  account. NOWPayments can pay out to a wallet you name, but the customer pays an
  address it controls first, and it holds payments it flags.

## Features

Software, not gateways:

| | Paid to your wallet | No KYC | Lightning | On-chain BTC | USDT | USDC | Bank payout | Open source | WooCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenReceive | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, settles in BTC | Yes, settles in BTC | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| BTCPay Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin, on Tron | No | Through plugins | Yes | Yes | Yes |

Gateways:

| | Paid to your wallet | No KYC | Lightning | On-chain BTC | USDT | USDC | Bank payout | Open source | WooCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BitPay | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| OpenNode | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Strike | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| CoinGate | No | No | Yes | Yes | No (dropped) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| NOWPayments | No, paid to its address first | No, can ask for ID and hold a payment | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | EUR only | No | Yes | Old workaround |
| CoinPayments | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |

## Fee per payment

What each gateway takes from a payment:

| Gateway | Fee |
|---|---|
| Strike | 0% kept as bitcoin, 1% spread to convert to cash |
| OpenNode | 1% typical |
| CoinGate | 1% |
| CoinPayments | 1% |
| NOWPayments | 1%, or 1.5% with conversion |
| BitPay | 2% + 25¢ under $500k a month |

Network fees come on top everywhere.

Not applicable: OpenReceive and BTCPay Server are software, so nothing in them takes
a share of a payment. OpenReceive is free (MIT); USDT and USDC swaps carry the swap
provider's fee. BTCPay Server is free; you pay for the server it runs on.

## Software, not gateways

- **OpenReceive:** a free MIT library inside your own app, paid straight to your
  wallet over Lightning. Customers can pay in USDT, USDC, ETH or SOL, which a swap
  provider you choose converts to Bitcoin. No on-chain Bitcoin, no bank payouts and
  no Shopify app yet. [Get started](/).
- **BTCPay Server:** free, open source and self-hosted; on-chain and Lightning;
  plugins for WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento and more. You run and update the server.
  [btcpayserver.org](https://btcpayserver.org/). Already run it? The
  [OpenReceive plugin](/integrations/btcpay-server) adds stablecoin payments.

## The six gateways

- **BitPay:** hosted, pays out daily in eight fiat currencies or crypto. Full
  business verification and a non-refundable application fee. New merchants in the
  EEA, UK and Australia are paused. [Pricing](https://www.bitpay.com/pricing).
- **OpenNode:** hosted, Bitcoin and Lightning only, registered businesses only;
  free Lightning payouts. [Pricing](https://www.opennode.com/pricing/).
- **Strike:** a Bitcoin and cash account with business payments and a Shopify app.
  No bitcoin refunds; not for payers in New York or Hawaii.
  [Strike Business](https://strike.me/business/).
- **CoinGate:** an EU gateway licensed under MiCA; dropped USDT; 50 EUR minimum
  withdrawal; the US is not on its country list.
  [Pricing](https://coingate.com/pricing).
- **NOWPayments:** about 300 coins. The customer pays an address NOWPayments
  controls; it takes its fee and pays out, and it can hold a payment it flags and
  ask for ID. Its terms dated 19 October 2026 exclude residents of the US, UK, EU,
  UAE and Russia.
  [Fees](https://nowpayments.io/help/about-nowpayments/about/what-are-your-fees).
- **CoinPayments:** custodial, full verification, fiat payouts; stopped serving the
  EU and EEA on 1 July 2026. [Fees](https://www.coinpayments.net/coins-fees).

## What happened to Coinbase Commerce?

Coinbase Commerce merchants had to move to Coinbase Business by 31 March 2026.
Coinbase Business holds your funds, needs a registered business in the US or
Singapore, and accepts USDC and USDT only, not Bitcoin.
[Coinbase's notice](https://help.coinbase.com/en/transitioning-from-coinbase-commerce-to-coinbase-business).

## Stablecoins can be frozen

USDT and USDC can be frozen at any time by the companies that issue them
([Circle](https://www.theblock.co/post/162172/circle-freezes-usdc-funds-in-tornado-cashs-us-treasury-sanctioned-wallets),
[Tether](https://blocksec.com/blog/1-26-billion-frozen-usdt-blacklisting-on-ethereum-and-tron-in-2025)).
OpenReceive takes them at checkout and settles in Bitcoin, in your own wallet.

## Questions

### Are OpenReceive and BTCPay Server payment gateways?

No. A gateway is a company that receives your customer's payment and pays you
later. OpenReceive is a library inside your own app, and BTCPay Server is a server
you run. Both make the invoice in your own wallet; neither one ever holds the money,
approves you or charges per payment.

### Which Bitcoin payment gateway has the lowest fees?

Of the six gateways, Strike charges nothing to keep bitcoin; most others charge 1%,
and BitPay 2% + 25¢ under $500,000 a month. OpenReceive and BTCPay Server have no fee
per payment because they are not gateways: they are free software.

### Which ones need no KYC?

OpenReceive and BTCPay Server: they are software, so there is no account to verify.
Every gateway here can ask who you are. NOWPayments says it asks crypto-only
merchants only when it flags a payment, and it holds that payment until you pass.

### Which work for US merchants?

Of the gateways: BitPay, OpenNode, Strike and CoinPayments. NOWPayments excludes US
residents and CoinGate does not list the US. OpenReceive and BTCPay Server are
software with no country list; the wallet and swap provider you pick have terms of
their own.

### Which have a Shopify app?

BitPay, OpenNode and Strike, and BTCPay Server has a Shopify plugin. OpenReceive
does not have one yet.

### Can I get paid in dollars?

Not with OpenReceive: you receive Bitcoin. BitPay, OpenNode, Strike, CoinGate and
CoinPayments pay out to a bank.

More: [How to accept crypto payments on your website](/learn/how-to-accept-crypto-payments).

[Get started with OpenReceive](/): free, open source, and paid straight to your own
wallet.