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LeadWave
Checked November 2026

11 Best European Alternatives to Stripe (2026)

Stripe is a payments platform for online businesses, founded by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison. It names two headquarters, South San Francisco and Dublin; the parent company is American, and EEA merchants sign with its Irish subsidiary, Stripe Payments Europe. It's also known as Stripe Payments and Stripe Checkout. The same list works if you're replacing PayPal, Square and Braintree. The European alternatives that replace it best are Mollie (Netherlands) for small and mid-size businesses selling online, Adyen (Netherlands) for large merchants selling online and in stores and Checkout.com (United Kingdom) for high-volume online merchants and marketplaces.

European alternatives
11
From 6 countries
Keep data in Europe
0
By default, no setting needed
With a free plan
0
No time limit
Open source
0
Can run on your own servers

Stripe alternatives from Europe, compared

Best first for someone replacing Stripe. Headcount and founding year come from LeadWave's database; prices, hosting and G2 ratings from each company's own pages and G2, checked in November 2026.

European alternatives to Stripe
AlternativeHeadquartersFoundedEmployeesG2 ratingFree planPaid plans fromYour dataOpen source
1MollieAmsterdam, Netherlands——4.3 (12 reviews)No——No
2AdyenAmsterdam, Netherlands2006—4.0 (44 reviews)No——No
3Checkout.comLondon, United Kingdom20121,001–5,0004.6 (71 reviews)No——No
4PaddleLondon, United Kingdom20123974.5 (239 reviews)No——No
5Viva.comAthens, Greece2000——No——No
6PayplugParis, France2012——No€10/month—No
7WorldlineParis, France———No——No
8NexiMilan, Italy———No——No
9GoCardlessLondon, United Kingdom2011501–1,0004.6 (321 reviews)No——No
10SumUpLondon, United Kingdom20122,741—No——No
11PayoneFrankfurt, Germany———No——No

The 11 alternatives in detail

1. Mollie

Self-serve online payments for European businesses

Dutch payment provider with self-serve sign-up, payment links, invoicing, recurring payments and pay-per-transaction pricing. Licensed by the Dutch central bank; bought GoCardless in September 2026.

Compared with Stripe: Self-serve sign-up and no monthly fee, like Stripe. EEA consumer cards cost 1.80% + €0.25 against Stripe's 1.5% + €0.25, and its product range is smaller than Stripe's.

Headquarters
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
G2 rating
4.3 (12 reviews)
Best for
Small and mid-size businesses selling online

2. Adyen

Payment processing and acquiring for large merchants

Dutch payment platform that processes and acquires online, in-app and in-store payments through one integration. Charges a fixed processing fee plus a payment-method fee, with no setup or monthly fees.

Compared with Stripe: Similar global reach for large merchants, with its own acquiring and in-store terminals. Fixed processing fee plus interchange++ pricing; aimed at bigger businesses, with a heavier integration.

Headquarters
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Founded
2006
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
G2 rating
4.0 (44 reviews)
Best for
Large merchants selling online and in stores

3. Checkout.com

Payment processing for high-volume online businesses

London payment processor for large online businesses, with its own acquiring, fraud tools and payouts. Prices are set per merchant on interchange++ terms.

Compared with Stripe: Processing and acquiring for high-volume online businesses, priced per merchant on interchange++ terms. Not built for small self-serve sign-ups the way Stripe is.

Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Founded
2012
Employees
1,001–5,000
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
G2 rating
4.6 (71 reviews)
Best for
High-volume online merchants and marketplaces

4. Paddle

Merchant of record for software companies

Sells software and apps on the vendor's behalf as merchant of record, so it takes the payment and handles sales tax, VAT, fraud and chargebacks. Charges 5% plus 50¢ per checkout transaction.

Compared with Stripe: Acts as merchant of record, so it also handles VAT, sales tax and chargebacks. Costs 5% + 50¢ per transaction, well above Stripe's fee; built for software sellers.

Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Founded
2012
Employees
397
Funding raised
$93.3M
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
G2 rating
4.5 (239 reviews)
Best for
SaaS and app makers selling worldwide

5. Viva.com

Online and in-store payments with a business account

Greek payment provider, formerly Viva Wallet, offering online checkout, card terminals and phone payments together with a business account. JPMorgan Chase holds a 48.5% minority stake.

Compared with Stripe: Online checkout, card terminals and a business account from one Athens provider. Online EEA consumer cards cost 2.19% + €0.24 on its Irish price list, above Stripe's standard rate.

Headquarters
Athens, Greece
Founded
2000
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
Best for
Small and mid-size merchants selling online and in store

6. Payplug

Online and in-store payments for French SMEs

French payment provider for small and mid-size merchants, with online checkout, payment links and in-store payments. Part of BPCE Merchant Services, the payments arm of a French banking group.

Compared with Stripe: French provider for small and mid-size merchants, online and in store. Charges 1.5% + €0.25 for euro-zone consumer cards online, like Stripe, plus a €10 monthly Starter fee.

Headquarters
Paris, France
Founded
2012
Owned by
Groupe BPCE (France)
Your data
Not stated
Price
From €10/month
Free plan
No
Best for
French small and mid-size online shops

7. Worldline

Merchant acquiring, terminals and online payments

French payments group offering in-store terminals, online payment gateways and omnichannel acceptance to merchants of all sizes across Europe.

Compared with Stripe: Large French acquirer with online gateways and card terminals across Europe. Suits established merchants wanting one acquirer for shops and web rather than a developer-first, self-serve start.

Headquarters
Paris, France
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
Best for
Established retailers wanting one acquirer for every channel

8. Nexi

Card acquiring, terminals and ecommerce payments

Italian payments group that merged with Denmark's Nets and Italy's SIA. Offers merchants card terminals, ecommerce payment gateways and acquiring, and runs card services for banks.

Compared with Stripe: Italian payments group, merged with Nets and SIA, offering acquiring, terminals and ecommerce gateways. Products and pricing vary by country.

Headquarters
Milan, Italy
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
Best for
Merchants wanting one acquirer for shop and web

9. GoCardless

Direct Debit and pay-by-bank payments

Collects recurring and one-off payments straight from bank accounts through Direct Debit and open banking, for subscriptions and invoices. Part of Mollie since September 2026.

Compared with Stripe: Bank payments instead of cards: Direct Debit and pay-by-bank for subscriptions and invoices. Not a card processor, so most online shops pair it with another provider.

Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Founded
2011
Employees
501–1,000
Owned by
Mollie (Netherlands)
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
G2 rating
4.6 (321 reviews)
Best for
Subscription and invoice-based businesses

10. SumUp

Card readers and payments for small businesses

Card readers, point-of-sale apps, payment links and online checkout for small merchants. The default pay-as-you-go plan has no monthly fee; Payments Plus lowers fees for €19 a month.

Compared with Stripe: Card readers, payment links and simple online checkout for small businesses, with no monthly fee on pay-as-you-go. Far fewer developer and platform features than Stripe.

Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Founded
2012
Employees
2,741
Funding raised
$1.4B
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
Best for
Small shops, cafés and market traders

11. Payone

Payment acceptance for German merchants

Frankfurt payment provider owned by Worldline and DSV, the German savings banks' service group. Offers online payments, card terminals and acquiring for merchants in Germany.

Compared with Stripe: Frankfurt provider owned by Worldline and the savings banks' DSV Group, covering online payments, terminals and acquiring. Online starter package costs €29 a month; built for merchants in Germany.

Headquarters
Frankfurt, Germany
Owned by
Worldline and DSV Group (France and Germany)
Your data
Not stated
Price
On request
Free plan
No
Best for
German merchants selling online and in store

Why look for a European alternative to Stripe?

Stripe is headquartered in South San Francisco, United States. These are the reasons buyers in Europe most often give for looking elsewhere:

  • Stripe's parent company is American, so US law, including the CLOUD Act, applies to it even though European merchants contract with its Irish subsidiary.
  • Its privacy policy says personal data may be transferred to other countries, including the United States and India.
  • To be fair, Stripe's standard EEA card price is 1.5% + €0.25 with no monthly fee, so switching is usually about jurisdiction, local support or fit rather than cost.

How this list was made

A company counts as European if it's headquartered in Europe: the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the UK, or elsewhere in geographic Europe, never Russia or Belarus. Headquarters means where it's run from, not a registered office. Companies founded in Europe but headquartered elsewhere today are listed separately, and a non-European owner is always named.

Each company was checked against its own legal notice, pricing page and data-processing terms, and its G2 page. Headcount, funding and founding year come from LeadWave's database of SaaS companies. No company paid to be listed or ranked.

More European alternatives

Frequently asked questions

It depends on what you use Stripe for. Mollie (Netherlands) for small and mid-size businesses selling online, Adyen (Netherlands) for large merchants selling online and in stores and Checkout.com (United Kingdom) for high-volume online merchants and marketplaces. All 11 on this page are headquartered in Europe; the table compares their hosting, prices and G2 ratings.