Different Products for Different Problems
Primer and Shuttle both connect to multiple PSPs. Both promise to simplify payment complexity. But they're built for different audiences, solve different problems, and integrate differently.
Primer is a payment orchestration platform. It sits between a merchant and multiple PSPs, routing transactions intelligently based on rules, optimising for authorisation rates, and providing failover. Its primary users are individual merchants (or their payment engineering teams) who want to optimise their payment stack.
Shuttle is a payment layer for platforms. It embeds multi-PSP payment infrastructure into software so the platform's merchants can accept payments through any supported gateway — with white-label onboarding, checkout, and management tools.
The question isn't which is better. It's which problem you're solving.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Primer | Shuttle
Category | Payment orchestration | Embedded payment layer
Primary user | Merchant / merchant's payment team | Platform embedding payments for merchants
Core function | Route and optimise transactions across PSPs | Embed multi-PSP payments into platform software
PSP connections | 50+ | 40+
Smart routing / failover | Yes (core product) | Available
White-label merchant onboarding | No | Yes
White-label merchant portal | No | Yes
Voice payments / IVR | No | Yes (PCI-compliant DTMF, agent-assisted, AI voice)
Payment links | No | Yes (SMS, email, chat)
AI agent payment capture | No (Primer Companion is internal analytics AI) | Yes (voice and chat agent payment infrastructure)
Contact centre / CCaaS | No | Yes
Checkout UI | Universal Checkout (merchant-facing) | White-label checkout (platform-branded)
No-code workflows | Yes (drag-and-drop routing builder) | Configuration-based
Network tokenisation | Yes | Available
PCI compliance | PCI DSS Level 1 | PCI DSS Level 1 + ISO 27001 + SOC 2
Pricing | Custom/enterprise (not published) | Transaction-based (POA)
Revenue share model | Not applicable | Yes — platforms monetise payments
Target market | Enterprise merchants (retail, travel, ticketing) | Platforms, CCaaS, SaaS, AI agent providers
Where Primer Wins
Transaction Routing Optimisation
Primer's core strength is intelligent routing. Its Workflows product lets payment teams build visual routing rules — "if the card is European, route to Adyen; if Adyen declines, fallback to Checkout.com." This optimises authorisation rates and reduces costs for high-volume merchants.
For merchants processing millions of transactions across multiple PSPs, the routing optimisation directly improves revenue.
No-Code Workflow Builder
Primer's drag-and-drop workflow builder lets payment teams configure routing logic without engineering involvement. For merchants with dedicated payment operations teams, this is a significant productivity gain.
Payment Method Coverage
Primer's Universal Checkout supports a broad range of payment methods — cards, digital wallets, PayPal, Klarna, and crypto (via Coinbase Commerce). Adding a payment method is a toggle in the dashboard.
Observability
Primer's Observability and Monitors tools give payment teams real-time visibility into payment performance, with alerts when things go wrong. Combined with Primer Companion (their AI analytics agent, launched November 2025), this creates a strong analytics layer for payment operations.
Where Shuttle Wins
Built for Platforms, Not Just Merchants
This is the fundamental distinction. Primer serves individual merchants who want to optimise their own payment stack. Shuttle serves platforms that need to embed payment capabilities for their merchants.
If you're a SaaS platform and your customers (merchants) need to accept payments through your software, Primer doesn't solve that problem. It doesn't provide merchant onboarding, a merchant-facing portal, or the ability for your merchants to configure and manage their own payments within your platform.
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 — all under your brand
Primer has no equivalent. It's infrastructure for a single merchant, not a platform serving many merchants.
Multi-Channel Coverage
Shuttle covers payment channels Primer doesn't:
Voice payments: PCI-compliant DTMF capture, agent-assisted payment during phone calls, AI voice agent payment processing
Payment links: Branded links sent via SMS, email, or chat
AI agent payments: Consumer card capture through AI voice and chat agents
Chat payments: Secure payment within messaging interfaces
Primer focuses exclusively on online checkout and API-based transactions. For platforms with contact centre operations, telephone-based customer interactions, or AI agent deployments, Shuttle covers channels Primer doesn't offer.
Revenue Monetisation
Shuttle enables platforms to earn revenue share on their merchants' transactions — turning payment infrastructure into a revenue stream. Primer doesn't offer a platform revenue model because it's not designed for the platform use case.
Compliance Breadth
Both are PCI DSS Level 1 certified. Shuttle also holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications. Primer does not hold SOC 2, which can be a requirement in regulated sectors.
The Core Architecture Difference
Primer is merchant-out. It starts with a single merchant's payment stack and optimises it. The merchant is the primary user.
Shuttle is platform-out. It starts with a software platform's need to embed payments for many merchants. The platform is the primary user; merchants are the platform's customers.
This architectural difference determines everything else:
Primer has no concept of "platform merchants" — just one merchant and their PSPs
Shuttle is designed around multi-tenant payment infrastructure — one platform, many merchants, many PSPs
Primer's routing logic serves one entity's optimisation goals
Shuttle's routing serves different merchants' PSP requirements across the same platform
If you're a merchant, Primer is built for you. If you're a platform embedding payments for merchants, Shuttle is built for you.
When to Choose Primer
You're a merchant (not a platform) processing high volumes across multiple PSPs
You want to optimise authorisation rates through intelligent routing
You have a dedicated payment operations team that can use the workflow builder
You need advanced routing logic — A/B testing PSPs, cascade failover, rule-based routing
You're in retail, travel, or ticketing and want to improve payment conversion rates
When to Choose Shuttle
You're a platform embedding payments for your merchants
Your merchants need PSP flexibility — different merchants require different gateways
You need white-label tools — onboarding, checkout, portal, all branded as your platform
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, ERP, or AI agent company needing embedded payment infrastructure
FAQ
Is Primer a competitor to Shuttle? Only superficially. They both connect to multiple PSPs, but they serve different audiences and solve different problems. Primer competes with other orchestration layers (Spreedly, Gr4vy). Shuttle competes with platform payment solutions (Stripe Connect, Adyen for Platforms, building in-house).
Can I use both? Technically possible — a platform could use Shuttle for embedding and Primer for routing optimisation. In practice, this adds unnecessary complexity. Shuttle includes routing capabilities, and the marginal value of standalone orchestration diminishes when the payment layer is handling PSP connectivity.
Is Primer's AI Companion the same as AI agent payments? No. Primer Companion (launched November 2025) is an internal analytics tool for payment teams — it helps analyse performance and make recommendations. Shuttle's AI agent support is external — it enables AI voice and chat agents to capture payments from customers. Different products, different use cases.
What about Primer's pricing? Primer doesn't publish pricing. It's enterprise and custom, requiring sales engagement. Shuttle's pricing is transaction-based and available on request.
Building a platform, not optimising a merchant stack? Shuttle embeds multi-PSP payments into your platform — with white-label onboarding, checkout, and merchant portals. Voice, links, and AI agent payments included. PCI DSS Level 1 + ISO 27001 + SOC 2.
[Book a Demo] | [See Platforms]