Shuttle vs Gr4vy

Orchestration vs Embedded Payment Layer

Gr4vy and Shuttle both sit between software and payment processors. Both connect to multiple PSPs. But they're built for different users and solve different problems.

Gr4vy is a cloud-native payment orchestration platform. It provides a hosted vault, smart routing, and a no-code flow builder — deployed as a dedicated cloud instance or multi-tenant SaaS. Its users are individual merchants (or their payment engineering teams) who want to optimise and control their payment stack.

Shuttle is an embedded payment layer for platforms. It gives software companies the ability to offer multi-PSP payment infrastructure to their merchants — with white-label onboarding, checkout, merchant portal, and multi-channel support built in.

Same category on a vendor shortlist. Different products in practice.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Where Gr4vy Wins

Cloud-Native Architecture

Gr4vy was built from scratch as a cloud-native platform — no legacy code, no acquired components stitched together. The architecture supports dedicated cloud instances per customer, meaning your payment data and processing logic can run in an isolated environment rather than shared multi-tenant infrastructure. For merchants with strict data residency or isolation requirements, this is a genuine differentiator.

No-Code Flow Builder

Gr4vy's flow builder lets payment teams visually configure transaction routing, retry logic, and fraud checks without writing code. The drag-and-drop interface makes it accessible to payment operations teams who want to adjust routing rules without engineering involvement.

Modern Vault

Gr4vy Vault is a purpose-built, cloud-native PCI Level 1 vault. It's newer and architecturally cleaner than legacy vault solutions. For merchants who want a modern tokenisation layer decoupled from any single PSP, it's a credible option.

Anti-Fraud Orchestration

Gr4vy integrates fraud detection tools directly into payment flows — merchants can layer multiple fraud providers into routing logic. This keeps fraud decisioning and payment routing in the same workflow rather than bolting on separate fraud tools.

Where Shuttle Wins

Built for Platforms, Not Merchants

This is the same structural distinction as with Primer and Spreedly. Gr4vy is merchant-facing orchestration — it serves a single merchant who wants to optimise their payment stack. Shuttle is platform-facing — it serves software companies that need to embed payment capabilities for their merchants.

If you're a SaaS platform and your customers need to accept payments through your software, Gr4vy doesn't solve that problem. There's no merchant onboarding, no merchant portal, and no concept of one platform serving many merchants with different PSP requirements.

White-Label Merchant Tools

Shuttle provides pre-built, white-label:

• Merchant onboarding — branded signup flows for your merchants

• Checkout components — payment forms branded as your platform

• Management portal — transaction views, refund processing, payment settings under your brand

Gr4vy has no equivalent. Its checkout product (Embed) is for the merchant's own use, not for a platform's merchants.

Multi-Channel Coverage

Shuttle covers payment channels Gr4vy doesn't offer:

• Voice payments: PCI-compliant DTMF capture, agent-assisted payments, AI voice agent processing

• Payment links: Branded links sent via SMS, email, or messaging

• AI agent payments: Card capture through AI voice and chat agents

• Chat payments: Secure payment within messaging interfaces

Gr4vy is online checkout and API-based only. For platforms with contact centre operations, AI agent deployments, or telephone-based payment flows, there's no Gr4vy coverage.

Revenue Monetisation

Shuttle enables platforms to earn revenue share on merchants' transactions — turning payment infrastructure into a revenue line. Gr4vy doesn't offer a platform revenue model because it isn't designed for the platform use case.

Compliance Breadth

Both hold PCI DSS Level 1. Shuttle also holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications — important for platforms in regulated industries where these are procurement requirements. Gr4vy does not hold SOC 2 or ISO 27001.

Enterprise Track Record

Gr4vy was founded in 2020 and has raised over $30M in funding. It's still relatively early-stage compared to established orchestration players like Spreedly (operating since 2008) or Primer. Shuttle has been operating in regulated payment environments with enterprise compliance certifications — a consideration for platforms evaluating production readiness and long-term vendor stability.

The Platform vs Merchant Question

The decision follows the same logic as every orchestration comparison: Are you a merchant or a platform?

If you're a merchant who wants a modern, cloud-native way to manage multiple PSPs — with dedicated infrastructure, smart routing, and a clean developer experience — Gr4vy is built for you.

If you're a platform that needs to embed payment capabilities for your merchants — with white-label tools, multi-channel support, and revenue share — Shuttle is built for you.

Gr4vy's cloud-native approach is genuinely modern, but it's solving the merchant orchestration problem. It doesn't address the platform problem of onboarding, managing, and monetising payments for many merchants through one integration.

When to Choose Gr4vy

• You're a merchant (not a platform) who wants modern, cloud-native payment orchestration

• You want a dedicated cloud instance for data isolation or residency requirements

• You want a no-code flow builder for routing and fraud logic

• You value modern architecture — purpose-built cloud-native vs legacy infrastructure

• You want a modern vault without the baggage of older orchestration platforms

When to Choose Shuttle

• You're a platform embedding payments for your merchants

• Your merchants need PSP flexibility — different merchants using different gateways

• You need white-label tools — onboarding, checkout, portal, all platform-branded

• You need multi-channel payments — voice, links, chat, or AI agent support

• You want to monetise payments through revenue share

• You're a CCaaS provider, insurance platform, or AI agent company needing embedded payment infrastructure

FAQ

Is Gr4vy a competitor to Shuttle? Only at the surface level. Both connect to multiple PSPs, but they serve different audiences. Gr4vy competes with other orchestration layers — Spreedly, Primer. Shuttle competes with platform payment solutions — Stripe Connect, Adyen for Platforms. The overlap is in PSP connectivity; the products are different.

How does Gr4vy compare to Spreedly and Primer? Gr4vy positions itself as a modern, cloud-native alternative to Spreedly's legacy vault and Primer's orchestration. Its dedicated-instance deployment model is a differentiator. But all three — Gr4vy, Spreedly, and Primer — are merchant-facing orchestration tools. None of them provide platform-facing embedded payment infrastructure with white-label merchant tools.

Does Gr4vy's dedicated cloud instance matter for platforms? It's a strong feature for merchants with data residency needs. But for platforms, the question is different — you need multi-tenant infrastructure that serves many merchants, not a dedicated instance for one merchant. The deployment model that differentiates Gr4vy from Spreedly isn't relevant to the platform use case.

Related Reading

• Shuttle vs Primer — the other orchestration comparison (Primer's workflow builder vs Shuttle)

• Shuttle vs Spreedly — the legacy orchestration comparison (Spreedly's vault depth vs Shuttle)

• How to Get Payments Off Your Product Roadmap — why platforms should stop building payment infrastructure

• Payment Orchestration Platforms — the full category overview

Building a platform, not optimising a merchant stack? Shuttle embeds multi-PSP payments into your platform — white-label onboarding, checkout, and merchant portals included. Voice, payment links, and AI agent payments built in. PCI DSS Level 1 + ISO 27001 + SOC 2.

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