Authorize.net and Stripe are two of the most widely used payment gateways in the world, but they serve very different types of businesses. Authorize.net has been processing payments since 1996 and remains one of the most trusted gateways for traditional merchants. Stripe launched in 2011 and quickly became the default for developers and technology companies building online products.
If you are evaluating payment gateways for your business, the choice between Authorize.net and Stripe comes down to what you need: a stable, proven gateway with deep US merchant banking relationships, or a developer-first platform with modern APIs and global reach. This guide breaks down pricing, features, international support, and which scenarios favour each provider — plus when it makes sense to use both.
Authorize.net vs Stripe: Quick Comparison
Before diving into detail, here is a side-by-side snapshot of the two platforms:
Founded: Authorize.net (1996, now owned by Visa) vs Stripe (2011)
Monthly fee: Authorize.net charges $25/month; Stripe has no monthly fee
Transaction fee (US): Both charge 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction on their all-in-one plans
Gateway-only option: Authorize.net offers a gateway-only plan ($25/month + 10¢ per transaction); Stripe does not
International coverage: Stripe operates in 47+ countries with local acquiring; Authorize.net primarily serves the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia
Developer experience: Stripe is widely regarded as best-in-class; Authorize.net’s APIs are functional but older
Recurring billing: Both support subscriptions; Stripe Billing is more flexible with usage-based and metered plans
Best for: Authorize.net suits traditional merchants who want to choose their own processor; Stripe suits tech companies, SaaS platforms, and international businesses
Pricing: Authorize.net vs Stripe
Pricing is usually the first thing merchants compare, and the Authorize.net vs Stripe pricing structures are fundamentally different. Stripe bundles everything into a single percentage-based fee with no monthly charge. Authorize.net charges a monthly gateway fee but offers a gateway-only plan that can be significantly cheaper at volume.
Stripe Pricing
Online card payments (US): 2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge
Online card payments (UK): 1.5% + 20p for UK cards; 2.5% + 20p for EU cards; 3.25% + 20p for international cards
In-person payments: 2.7% + 5¢ per transaction (Stripe Terminal)
Monthly fee: None on the standard plan
Chargebacks: $15 per disputed transaction
Invoicing: 0.4% per paid invoice (first $1M free per year)
Stripe Billing: 0.5% for recurring payments on the Starter plan; 0.8% on the Scale plan (which adds revenue recovery and analytics)
Authorize.net Pricing
All-in-One plan: $25/month + 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction (includes payment processing)
Gateway-Only plan: $25/month + 10¢ per transaction (bring your own merchant account and processor)
Monthly fee: $25/month on both plans
Setup fee: None
Chargebacks: $25 per disputed transaction
Which Is Cheaper?
For most small businesses processing under $10,000 per month, Stripe is cheaper because there is no monthly fee. The per-transaction rates are identical at 2.9% + 30¢, so the $25/month gateway fee on Authorize.net is a pure cost disadvantage at low volumes.
At higher volumes, the picture changes. Authorize.net’s gateway-only plan at $25/month + 10¢ per transaction lets you pair the gateway with a merchant account that offers interchange-plus pricing. For a business processing $50,000+ per month, interchange-plus rates through a traditional merchant account can drop effective costs well below Stripe’s flat 2.9%. The $25 monthly fee becomes negligible against the per-transaction savings.
Stripe does offer custom pricing for businesses processing more than $100,000 per month, but you need to negotiate directly with their sales team. Authorize.net’s gateway-only approach gives you that flexibility from day one.
Features Compared
Developer Tools and API
Stripe’s developer experience is widely considered the best in the payments industry. The API is RESTful, well-documented, and supported by official SDKs in every major language. Stripe provides pre-built UI components (Stripe Elements, Checkout), webhooks for real-time event handling, and a test mode that mirrors production behaviour exactly.
Authorize.net’s API is older and uses an XML/JSON hybrid approach. It works, but the documentation is less polished and the integration experience feels dated compared to Stripe. That said, Authorize.net integrates with hundreds of shopping carts, ERP systems, and invoicing platforms out of the box — so many merchants never need to touch the API at all.
Dashboard and Reporting
Stripe’s dashboard is modern and data-rich. You get real-time reporting, revenue analytics, customer lifecycle data, and the ability to issue refunds, manage disputes, and configure webhooks from the UI. Stripe also offers Sigma (SQL-based reporting) on higher-tier plans.
Authorize.net’s dashboard is functional but more basic. It covers transaction search, batch settlement reports, and fraud filter management. For merchants who primarily need to look up transactions and process refunds, it does the job. Businesses that want deep analytics or custom reporting will find Stripe’s tooling significantly more capable.
Payment Methods
Stripe supports a wide range of payment methods: credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH bank transfers, SEPA direct debit, iDEAL, Bancontact, Klarna, Afterpay, and dozens of local payment methods across 47+ countries. Adding new payment methods typically requires minimal code changes.
Authorize.net supports credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, and eCheck (ACH). The selection is narrower, but it covers the methods that matter most for US-focused merchants. If you need European local payment methods like iDEAL or Bancontact, Authorize.net is not the right choice.
Recurring Billing and Subscriptions
Both platforms support recurring billing, but Stripe Billing is a full-featured subscription management platform. It handles trials, proration, usage-based billing, metered pricing, invoice generation, revenue recovery (smart retries and dunning), and subscription analytics. Stripe Billing adds 0.5–0.8% on top of payment processing fees.
Authorize.net’s Automated Recurring Billing (ARB) handles basic subscription plans: fixed amounts on fixed schedules. It is included in the gateway fee at no extra cost, which makes it a better value for simple recurring use cases. However, it lacks usage-based billing, trial management, and the sophisticated dunning workflows that Stripe provides.
Fraud Prevention
Stripe Radar uses machine learning trained on billions of transactions across the Stripe network to detect and block fraud. It is included by default and adds a layer of protection that most standalone fraud tools charge extra for. Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams (custom rules and manual review queues) is available for an additional 2¢ per screened transaction.
Authorize.net includes its Advanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS) at no additional cost. AFDS provides customisable transaction filters — velocity filters, IP address blocking, shipping/billing address mismatch checks, and transaction amount limits. It is rule-based rather than ML-driven, which gives merchants direct control but requires more manual configuration.
International Support and Multi-Currency
If your business operates internationally, this is where Stripe pulls clearly ahead. Stripe supports businesses in 47+ countries, offers local acquiring in most of them (which improves acceptance rates and reduces cross-border fees), and handles 135+ currencies. You can create connected accounts in multiple countries through Stripe Connect, making it the natural choice for marketplaces and platforms with international sellers.
Authorize.net is available in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia. It supports multi-currency transactions through its DPM (Direct Post Method) integration, but the experience is not as seamless as Stripe’s. For merchants selling primarily in the US or Canada, this is rarely a problem. For businesses expanding into Asia, Latin America, or Africa, Authorize.net will not be sufficient on its own.
Multi-currency settlement is another difference. Stripe can settle funds in the local currency of each supported country, reducing your FX exposure. Authorize.net typically settles in the currency of your merchant account, so cross-border transactions may incur additional conversion fees from your processor.
Which Is Better for Small Businesses?
For most small online stores, Stripe is the easier and more cost-effective choice. There is no monthly fee, the integration is straightforward (especially with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Squarespace), and you get access to Stripe’s full feature set from day one. The flat-rate pricing model means no surprises, and you can start accepting payments within minutes of creating an account.
Authorize.net is a better fit for small businesses that already have a merchant account with their bank, or those that use accounting and point-of-sale software that integrates natively with Authorize.net. The gateway-only plan lets you keep your existing banking relationship while adding online payment acceptance. If your business processes primarily card-present transactions and you are adding an online channel, Authorize.net’s compatibility with traditional merchant services makes the transition smoother.
One area where Authorize.net edges ahead for small businesses: phone and email payments. Authorize.net’s virtual terminal is included in the gateway fee and lets you key in card numbers for phone orders. Stripe offers a virtual terminal through the dashboard too, but businesses that take a high volume of phone orders may find Authorize.net’s workflow more established.
For businesses that want to collect payments via payment links without building a full checkout, both platforms support hosted payment pages. Stripe Checkout is more modern and customisable; Authorize.net’s hosted form is more basic but functional. You can also explore payment links for Authorize.net through third-party tools if the built-in option does not meet your needs.
Which Is Better for Platforms and SaaS?
For platforms, marketplaces, and SaaS companies that need to move money between multiple parties, Stripe is the clear winner. Stripe Connect lets you onboard sub-merchants, split payments, handle KYC, manage payouts, and issue 1099s. It is the foundation that companies like Shopify, Lyft, and DoorDash use to power their payment flows.
Authorize.net does not offer an equivalent to Stripe Connect. It is a gateway, not a platform payments solution. If you need to onboard sellers, split transactions, or manage multi-party payouts, Authorize.net cannot do this natively. You would need to layer additional services on top — a payment facilitator, a ledger, and separate KYC tooling — which adds cost and complexity.
That said, some platforms use Authorize.net as one gateway option among several, giving their merchants the choice of which processor to connect. This is a valid approach, but it requires building your own payment routing and merchant management layer — or using a payment infrastructure provider like Shuttle to handle it.
When You Might Need Both
The Authorize.net vs Stripe debate assumes you have to pick one, but many businesses end up using both — and for good reasons.
Redundancy and uptime. No payment provider has 100% uptime. If Stripe goes down and it is your only gateway, you cannot process payments. Running Authorize.net as a backup (or vice versa) means you can fail over and keep revenue flowing during outages.
Optimising acceptance rates. Different processors have different relationships with issuing banks. A transaction that declines on Stripe might succeed through Authorize.net’s processing partner, and vice versa. Routing retries across gateways can recover 2–5% of otherwise lost revenue.
Cost optimisation. Interchange-plus pricing through Authorize.net’s gateway-only plan may be cheaper for domestic debit transactions, while Stripe’s flat rate may be simpler and competitive for international cards. Smart routing lets you send each transaction to whichever gateway offers the best rate.
Merchant preference. If you run a platform and your merchants already have Authorize.net accounts, forcing them onto Stripe creates friction. Supporting both gateways lets merchants bring their existing processor relationships.
The challenge with a multi-gateway approach is complexity. You need unified reporting, consistent webhook handling, a single view of transactions, and routing logic that decides which gateway handles each payment. Building this in-house is expensive. That is exactly the problem a payment orchestration layer solves.
How Shuttle Works With Both Authorize.net and Stripe
Shuttle sits between your application and your payment processors. You integrate once with Shuttle’s API, and we route payments to Stripe, Authorize.net, or any other gateway you connect — all through a single integration.
This means you do not have to choose between Authorize.net and Stripe. You can use both simultaneously, with intelligent routing that optimises for cost, acceptance rates, or redundancy based on rules you define. You get a unified dashboard, consistent webhooks, and a single reconciliation feed regardless of how many processors sit behind the scenes.
For platforms, Shuttle’s embedded payments let you offer your merchants the choice of which processor to use. Some merchants may prefer Authorize.net because they have existing banking relationships; others may want Stripe for its developer tools and international reach. With Shuttle, you support both without building separate integrations.
If you are evaluating your payment stack and want to see how Authorize.net and Stripe fit together, schedule a discovery call and we will walk through your setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Authorize.net cheaper than Stripe?
It depends on your volume and setup. At low volumes (under $10,000/month), Stripe is typically cheaper because there is no $25 monthly fee. At higher volumes, Authorize.net’s gateway-only plan ($25/month + 10¢ per transaction) paired with a merchant account on interchange-plus pricing can be significantly cheaper than Stripe’s flat 2.9% + 30¢. For example, a business processing $50,000/month with an average transaction of $100 would pay roughly $1,475 on Stripe versus around $75–$1,100 through Authorize.net gateway-only (depending on their negotiated interchange-plus rates). The breakeven point varies by transaction size and card mix.
Can I use both Authorize.net and Stripe?
Yes. Many businesses run multiple gateways for redundancy, cost optimisation, or to give their customers and merchants a choice of processor. The main challenge is managing two separate integrations, dashboards, and reporting streams. A payment orchestration layer like Shuttle simplifies this by giving you a single API and unified reporting across both gateways.
Which is more secure?
Both Authorize.net and Stripe are PCI DSS Level 1 compliant, which is the highest level of payment security certification. Stripe’s tokenisation and client-side libraries (Stripe.js, Elements) mean card data never touches your servers, simplifying your PCI compliance. Authorize.net offers Accept.js and its hosted payment form for the same purpose. In terms of raw security, both meet the same standards. The difference is in fraud prevention: Stripe Radar’s ML-based detection is more sophisticated out of the box, while Authorize.net’s AFDS gives you more manual control over fraud rules.
Does Authorize.net work outside the US?
Authorize.net is available in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia. However, its strongest coverage and deepest integrations are in the US market. If you are a US-based business selling to international customers, you can accept international cards through Authorize.net, but you will not get local acquiring in those markets. For businesses headquartered outside these regions, Stripe is the better option.
Which is better for ecommerce?
For most ecommerce businesses, Stripe is the stronger choice. It integrates natively with major ecommerce platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento), supports more payment methods (including buy-now-pay-later options like Klarna and Afterpay), and offers a better checkout experience through Stripe Checkout and Payment Links. Authorize.net is a solid option if you are already using a shopping cart that supports it and you want to pair it with a merchant account for better rates at scale.
The Bottom Line
Authorize.net and Stripe are both excellent payment gateways, but they are built for different use cases. Authorize.net is the right choice for traditional merchants who want gateway-only flexibility, existing processor relationships, and proven reliability in the US market. Stripe is the right choice for technology companies, international businesses, and anyone who values developer experience and a modern feature set.
For growing businesses, the real question is not which one is better — it is whether you should lock yourself into just one. A multi-gateway approach gives you cost optimisation, higher acceptance rates, and resilience against outages. If that sounds like the right direction for your business, explore how Shuttle’s payment infrastructure works or book a discovery call to talk through your payment stack.