5 ms·

Ask HN: What is a good alternative to PayPal?

77 points by NadaAldahleh 15y ago

Requirements: 1- has recurring payments 2- invisible to end user 3- accepts canadian companies 4- (nice to have) easy to set-up 5- (nice to have) does not require a merchant bank account.

tamersalama 15y ago
Samurai from FeeFighters https://samurai.feefighters.com/ https://samurai.feefighters.com/. They seem to be beta-testing their service for Canadian companies.
- NadaAldahleh 15y ago
  their site and APIs say nothing about recurring payments. I don't think they support it.
shiningcat 15y ago
A toilet.
gerasini 15y ago
During my search, I have found that Stripe is the best solution out there. There is even a post with cost comparison (http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-payments-service-wheres-the-catch/ http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-p...) that demosntrates that is also cheap. Unfortunately, Stripe is for USA-only. An alternative is, as some people already mentioned, http://saasy.com/ http://saasy.com/, which is a FastSpring service.
funkyboy 15y ago
6 (nice to have) handles invoicing automatically.
adamlindsay 15y ago
Stripe.com, although not sure about #3.
jimbobimbo 15y ago
How "invisible" is critical? If not really, then Plimus looks nice, share*it also has subscriptions. Both are quite easy to integrate (web callbacks).
- tagawa 15y ago
  I haven't used it, but BMT Micro seems to offer the same kind of service.
cperciva 15y ago
I'm going with "wait for Stripe to arrive" personally.
- abrudtkuhl 15y ago
  We're using Stripe - it's out already. Also check out Dwolla - http://dwolla.com http://dwolla.com
  - NadaAldahleh 15y ago
    Stripe looks good, but its not available for canadian companies. Dwolla doesn't seem to have a way to do invisible recurring payments.
- preinheimer 15y ago
  Ditto. We're with PayPal now, but we'd like to change. The UI for tracking down payments is horrible, plus, it seems like they could just take our money at any point, and we'd need a million people on the Internet to cry out to get it back.
- tpurves 15y ago
  Wait for V.me by Visa to arrive.
  - nreece 15y ago
    Looks like the open beta is out for developers: https://developer.v.me/ https://developer.v.me/ Full service launch due in early 2012.
- dholowiski 15y ago
  Yeah... I'm in Canada and am not-so-patiently waiting.
cdog46 15y ago
Dwollar check it out
- konaaceo 15y ago
  its actually called Dwolla https://www.dwolla.com/ https://www.dwolla.com/
konaaceo 15y ago
One of the best services out there is http://www.braintreepayments.com/ http://www.braintreepayments.com/ but you can also look at http://www.2checkout.com http://www.2checkout.com. Both of them have great solutions depending on what you need. We are migrating from PayPal to BrainTree this spring.
- tagawa 15y ago
  They don't seem to provide an all-in-one service for non-US customers.
  - konaaceo 15y ago
    Contact William Ready, he is the CEO of BrainTree and very accessible. There are many Global companies using their service so it might be worth dropping him a message just to clarify. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/william-ready/b/203/1b1 http://www.linkedin.com/pub/william-ready/b/203/1b1
- kingnothing 15y ago
  Why would you migrate to BrainTree instead of Stripe? The latter costs about the same and seems to have a much nicer API and use case.
- mise 15y ago
  2checkout does not have a great API (they do have an API), and their subscription reporting is lacking.
markshead 15y ago
Do you consider PayPal to be invisible to the end user?
- NadaAldahleh 15y ago
  PayPal standard is not, but PayPal Pro is. With Pro, the user doesn't need a Paypal account, would never get redirected to paypal site, and their credit card doesn't show paypal.
thurn 15y ago
Possibly one of the Amazon payments solutions? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Payments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Payments
- Dysiode 15y ago
  As a consumer I personally prefer Amazon Payments. They already have my information and their checkout is familiar. I can't say if they support international payments though (but they're a good "for US customers" option!)
  - bbrian 15y ago
    I'm in Ireland and pay through Amazon for JungleDisk.
- cperciva 15y ago
  Not available to non-US merchants.
ScottBurson 15y ago
I think WePay deserves mention here, though AFAIK they don't yet support Canadian businesses. They don't require a merchant account, support recurring payments, and can be made fairly though perhaps not completely invisible. I've found their API quite easy to use.
- konaaceo 15y ago
  WePay is good for selling tickets or selling items through their web store, not for general ecommerce. Its not useful for developers.
  - ScottBurson 15y ago
    Have you actually looked at their API? I'm using it for something quite different from that. (My site isn't live yet or I'd show you.)
jblesage 15y ago
Go with Beanstream as the payment gateway, and either Chargify or Recurly for the recurring payments. I've personally had no problem with this combination on many projects, and all of my clients are canadian companies.
- NadaAldahleh 15y ago
  It's not my clients are canadian, it's my company is canadian and Beanstream does not work with non-US. I'll take a look at chargify though :)
  - sjs 15y ago
    His clients are the ones accepting payments though, so they need Canadian merchant accounts. Beanstream accepts Canadian merchants. We just started the sign up process with them last week, from Victoria BC. We're going with Beanstream + Chargify. You might want to take a look at this: http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-payments-service-wheres-the-catch/ http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-p...
thinkcomp 15y ago
I've said this before (for which I've been roundly criticized), and I'll say it again. The reason there is no good alternative to PayPal, and especially an alternative that works internationally, is the regulatory environment around money transmission in the United States. If startups expect to solve this problem, there needs to be a coordinated effort to change that environment just as there was a coordinated effort to combat SOPA. Exhibit A - http://www.thinkcomputer.com/corporate/whitepapers/heldhostage.pdf http://www.thinkcomputer.com/corporate/whitepapers/heldhosta... Exhibit B - http://www.plainsite.org/flashlight/case.html?id=716056 http://www.plainsite.org/flashlight/case.html?id=716056 Exhibit C - http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=1 http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=1 Exhibit D - http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fin&group=01001-02000&file=2000-2003 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fin&#3... To head off the most common objections: PayPal is grandfathered in at this point. You can only get away with breaking the law and hoping no one will notice for so long. The penalties for violation are criminal (federal felony), not civil. And yes, I'm biased as the head of a payments company affected by the law, but I'm not the only one, and I'm not wrong.
- jbseek 15y ago
  Hi Aaron I'm interested in this space too, especially around the latter. The issue with money transfers U.S & regulatory practices hindering any innovative development on the international front. What have your experiences been with facecash in that area?
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- dholowiski 15y ago
  What happened to the Visa Personal Payments reply to this? It seemed like a pretty big deal.
pbreynolds 15y ago
Since you mention recurring payments as a priority, I'd recommend Chargify. They give a list of gateway options here: http://chargify.com/payment-gateways/ http://chargify.com/payment-gateways/ One of my businesses is an online retailer. We use PayPal Standard (but don't require a PP account) simply because the UI for generating postage and tracking shipments is very easy. USPS has an open API, but I've yet to find a payment processor that integrates shipping.
- Nomlab 15y ago
  I second this, http://chargify.com http://chargify.com has many more features than Braintree, Spreedly, and Recurly. Also, they work with international merchant accounts/gateways.
chromedude 15y ago
Wait for Stripe. It should be there soon. Just wait for it. It is hands down the best option out there.
meow 15y ago
I like Saasy (http://saasy.com/ http://saasy.com/). It's frictionless and supports international merchants but a little pricier than other options.
- NadaAldahleh 15y ago
  looks like it has all the requirements. I'll dig in deeper and see. thanks.
- dholowiski 15y ago
  Using them right now - pretty easy to implement. Sadly, my product has not seen any purchases yet so I can't comment on the whole money part of it yet.
melvinng 15y ago
Bitcoin is the best!
DiabloD3 15y ago
Consider Bitcoin yet?
rzbn 15y ago
Dwolla, Stripe, WePay. These are all paypal alternatives but none of them is good as paypal...yet
iamandrus 15y ago
Stripe is the best right now. Great user interface, great API, and awesome staff. Give it a try.
pbreit 15y ago
You won't find anything quite like PayPal but some nice options include Payfirma, Versapay and Intuit GoPayment.

77 points by NadaAldahleh 15y ago

Requirements: 1- has recurring payments 2- invisible to end user 3- accepts canadian companies 4- (nice to have) easy to set-up 5- (nice to have) does not require a merchant bank account.

tamersalama 15y ago

Samurai from FeeFighters https://samurai.feefighters.com/ https://samurai.feefighters.com/. They seem to be beta-testing their service for Canadian companies.

NadaAldahleh 15y ago
their site and APIs say nothing about recurring payments. I don't think they support it.

shiningcat 15y ago

A toilet.

gerasini 15y ago

During my search, I have found that Stripe is the best solution out there. There is even a post with cost comparison (http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-payments-service-wheres-the-catch/ http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-p...) that demosntrates that is also cheap. Unfortunately, Stripe is for USA-only. An alternative is, as some people already mentioned, http://saasy.com/ http://saasy.com/, which is a FastSpring service.

funkyboy 15y ago

6 (nice to have) handles invoicing automatically.

adamlindsay 15y ago

Stripe.com, although not sure about #3.

jimbobimbo 15y ago

How "invisible" is critical? If not really, then Plimus looks nice, share*it also has subscriptions. Both are quite easy to integrate (web callbacks).

tagawa 15y ago
I haven't used it, but BMT Micro seems to offer the same kind of service.

cperciva 15y ago

I'm going with "wait for Stripe to arrive" personally.

abrudtkuhl 15y ago
We're using Stripe - it's out already. Also check out Dwolla - http://dwolla.com http://dwolla.com
- NadaAldahleh 15y ago
  Stripe looks good, but its not available for canadian companies. Dwolla doesn't seem to have a way to do invisible recurring payments.
preinheimer 15y ago
Ditto. We're with PayPal now, but we'd like to change. The UI for tracking down payments is horrible, plus, it seems like they could just take our money at any point, and we'd need a million people on the Internet to cry out to get it back.
tpurves 15y ago
Wait for V.me by Visa to arrive.
- nreece 15y ago
  Looks like the open beta is out for developers: https://developer.v.me/ https://developer.v.me/ Full service launch due in early 2012.
dholowiski 15y ago
Yeah... I'm in Canada and am not-so-patiently waiting.

cdog46 15y ago

Dwollar check it out

konaaceo 15y ago
its actually called Dwolla https://www.dwolla.com/ https://www.dwolla.com/

konaaceo 15y ago

One of the best services out there is http://www.braintreepayments.com/ http://www.braintreepayments.com/ but you can also look at http://www.2checkout.com http://www.2checkout.com. Both of them have great solutions depending on what you need. We are migrating from PayPal to BrainTree this spring.

tagawa 15y ago
They don't seem to provide an all-in-one service for non-US customers.
- konaaceo 15y ago
  Contact William Ready, he is the CEO of BrainTree and very accessible. There are many Global companies using their service so it might be worth dropping him a message just to clarify. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/william-ready/b/203/1b1 http://www.linkedin.com/pub/william-ready/b/203/1b1
kingnothing 15y ago
Why would you migrate to BrainTree instead of Stripe? The latter costs about the same and seems to have a much nicer API and use case.
mise 15y ago
2checkout does not have a great API (they do have an API), and their subscription reporting is lacking.

markshead 15y ago

Do you consider PayPal to be invisible to the end user?

NadaAldahleh 15y ago
PayPal standard is not, but PayPal Pro is. With Pro, the user doesn't need a Paypal account, would never get redirected to paypal site, and their credit card doesn't show paypal.

thurn 15y ago

Possibly one of the Amazon payments solutions? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Payments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Payments

Dysiode 15y ago
As a consumer I personally prefer Amazon Payments. They already have my information and their checkout is familiar. I can't say if they support international payments though (but they're a good "for US customers" option!)
- bbrian 15y ago
  I'm in Ireland and pay through Amazon for JungleDisk.
cperciva 15y ago
Not available to non-US merchants.

ScottBurson 15y ago

I think WePay deserves mention here, though AFAIK they don't yet support Canadian businesses. They don't require a merchant account, support recurring payments, and can be made fairly though perhaps not completely invisible. I've found their API quite easy to use.

konaaceo 15y ago
WePay is good for selling tickets or selling items through their web store, not for general ecommerce. Its not useful for developers.
- ScottBurson 15y ago
  Have you actually looked at their API? I'm using it for something quite different from that. (My site isn't live yet or I'd show you.)

jblesage 15y ago

Go with Beanstream as the payment gateway, and either Chargify or Recurly for the recurring payments. I've personally had no problem with this combination on many projects, and all of my clients are canadian companies.

NadaAldahleh 15y ago
It's not my clients are canadian, it's my company is canadian and Beanstream does not work with non-US. I'll take a look at chargify though :)
- sjs 15y ago
  His clients are the ones accepting payments though, so they need Canadian merchant accounts. Beanstream accepts Canadian merchants. We just started the sign up process with them last week, from Victoria BC. We're going with Beanstream + Chargify. You might want to take a look at this: http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-payments-service-wheres-the-catch/ http://expletiveinserted.com/2011/10/02/stripes-new-online-p...

thinkcomp 15y ago

I've said this before (for which I've been roundly criticized), and I'll say it again. The reason there is no good alternative to PayPal, and especially an alternative that works internationally, is the regulatory environment around money transmission in the United States. If startups expect to solve this problem, there needs to be a coordinated effort to change that environment just as there was a coordinated effort to combat SOPA. Exhibit A - http://www.thinkcomputer.com/corporate/whitepapers/heldhostage.pdf http://www.thinkcomputer.com/corporate/whitepapers/heldhosta... Exhibit B - http://www.plainsite.org/flashlight/case.html?id=716056 http://www.plainsite.org/flashlight/case.html?id=716056 Exhibit C - http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=1 http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=1 Exhibit D - http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fin&group=01001-02000&file=2000-2003 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fin&#3... To head off the most common objections: PayPal is grandfathered in at this point. You can only get away with breaking the law and hoping no one will notice for so long. The penalties for violation are criminal (federal felony), not civil. And yes, I'm biased as the head of a payments company affected by the law, but I'm not the only one, and I'm not wrong.

jbseek 15y ago
Hi Aaron I'm interested in this space too, especially around the latter. The issue with money transfers U.S & regulatory practices hindering any innovative development on the international front. What have your experiences been with facecash in that area?
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
dholowiski 15y ago
What happened to the Visa Personal Payments reply to this? It seemed like a pretty big deal.

pbreynolds 15y ago

Since you mention recurring payments as a priority, I'd recommend Chargify. They give a list of gateway options here: http://chargify.com/payment-gateways/ http://chargify.com/payment-gateways/ One of my businesses is an online retailer. We use PayPal Standard (but don't require a PP account) simply because the UI for generating postage and tracking shipments is very easy. USPS has an open API, but I've yet to find a payment processor that integrates shipping.

Nomlab 15y ago
I second this, http://chargify.com http://chargify.com has many more features than Braintree, Spreedly, and Recurly. Also, they work with international merchant accounts/gateways.

chromedude 15y ago

Wait for Stripe. It should be there soon. Just wait for it. It is hands down the best option out there.

meow 15y ago

I like Saasy (http://saasy.com/ http://saasy.com/). It's frictionless and supports international merchants but a little pricier than other options.

NadaAldahleh 15y ago
looks like it has all the requirements. I'll dig in deeper and see. thanks.
dholowiski 15y ago
Using them right now - pretty easy to implement. Sadly, my product has not seen any purchases yet so I can't comment on the whole money part of it yet.

melvinng 15y ago

Bitcoin is the best!

DiabloD3 15y ago

Consider Bitcoin yet?

rzbn 15y ago

Dwolla, Stripe, WePay. These are all paypal alternatives but none of them is good as paypal...yet

iamandrus 15y ago

Stripe is the best right now. Great user interface, great API, and awesome staff. Give it a try.

pbreit 15y ago

You won't find anything quite like PayPal but some nice options include Payfirma, Versapay and Intuit GoPayment.