Two Different Models for Platform Payments
Stripe Connect and Shuttle both enable platforms to embed payments. But they do it differently, serve different needs, and work best in different scenarios.
Stripe Connect is a platform payment solution from Stripe — the world's most popular PSP. It lets platforms onboard merchants (called "Connected Accounts") and process their payments through Stripe's acquiring network.
Shuttle is a PSP-neutral payment layer. It lets platforms embed multi-PSP payments through a single integration — supporting 40+ gateways, multiple channels (checkout, voice, links, AI), and white-label merchant tooling.
The fundamental difference: Stripe Connect makes Stripe your processor. Shuttle lets your merchants choose their processor.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Stripe Connect | Shuttle
What it is | Platform payment solution from Stripe (PSP) | PSP-neutral payment layer
PSP flexibility | Stripe only — all merchants process through Stripe | 40+ gateways — merchants choose their PSP
Enterprise PSP mandates | Cannot support — all transactions route through Stripe | Supported — configure the customer's required PSP
Channels | Online checkout, mobile | Checkout, voice, payment links, chat, AI agents
Voice payments / IVR | No native support | PCI-compliant DTMF, agent-assisted, AI voice
Payment links | Basic (Stripe-branded) | White-label, SMS/email/chat delivery
AI agent payments | x402 (machine-to-machine, USDC/crypto) | Consumer card payments via AI voice and chat agents
Merchant onboarding | Stripe-hosted (Express) or platform-built (Custom) | Pre-built, white-label, branded as your platform
Merchant portal | Stripe Dashboard or Express Dashboard | White-label portal branded as your platform
PCI compliance | Stripe carries PCI for card processing | Shuttle carries PCI DSS Level 1 + ISO 27001 + SOC 2
Geographic coverage | 46+ countries (gaps in MENA, Africa, SE Asia) | Via PSP — use regional acquirers where needed
Pricing | 2.9% + $0.30 + $2/active account/mo + payout fees | Transaction-based (POA)
Revenue model | Platform sets application fees on transactions | Revenue share on transactions
Account types | Standard, Express, Custom (migrating to controller properties) | Unified model — configuration-based per merchant
Developer experience | Industry-leading docs and SDKs | Single API integration, pre-built components
Time to market | Days-weeks (Express), months (Custom) | Weeks
Where Stripe Connect Wins
Developer Experience
Stripe's documentation, SDKs, and developer tools are best-in-class. The developer experience for integrating Connect — especially Express accounts — is smooth and well-supported. If your engineering team has Stripe experience, the learning curve is minimal.
Brand Recognition
Stripe is the most recognised name in payments. Merchants are familiar with the Stripe Dashboard, and saying "we use Stripe" carries credibility in sales conversations. For early-stage platforms, this brand association has value.
Speed for Simple Use Cases
If you need basic marketplace payments — a platform fee on each transaction, payouts to sellers, standard checkout — Stripe Connect Express gets you there fast. The hosted onboarding and Express Dashboard handle most of the merchant-facing experience out of the box.
Mature Ecosystem
Stripe's ecosystem includes fraud detection (Radar), billing, invoicing, tax, terminal (POS), treasury, and issuing. If you want a single vendor for your entire financial stack, Stripe is the most complete option.
Agentic Commerce (x402)
Stripe's Agentic Commerce Suite and x402 protocol are first-mover investments in machine-to-machine payments — AI agents paying for APIs, data, and compute using USDC on Base. For agent-to-agent commerce, Stripe is ahead.
Where Shuttle Wins
PSP Flexibility
This is the structural difference. Shuttle supports 40+ gateways through a single integration. If an enterprise customer says "we use Worldpay," you configure Worldpay for that customer. If you want to route UK transactions through a domestic acquirer, you configure the routing. If you want to offer merchants a choice of PSP, you enable it.
With Stripe Connect, all transactions process through Stripe. Period. There is no mechanism to route a Connected Account's transactions through a different processor.
Enterprise Deal Enablement
Enterprise customers with existing PSP relationships and negotiated rates will not switch to Stripe to use your platform. This is the most common reason platform deals stall or fail. Shuttle removes this obstacle — the enterprise customer's existing PSP works within your platform's payment infrastructure.
Multi-Channel Coverage
Shuttle covers channels Stripe Connect doesn't:
Voice payments: PCI-compliant DTMF capture, agent-assisted payments, AI voice agent payments
Payment links: White-label links sent via SMS, email, or chat
AI agent payments: Consumer card capture through AI voice and chat agents (not machine-to-machine crypto)
Chat payments: Secure payment capture within messaging interfaces
For platforms with contact centre operations, voice-based customer interactions, or AI agent deployments, Shuttle covers these channels through the same integration used for checkout.
White-Label Depth
Shuttle's merchant onboarding, checkout, and management portal are white-labelled to your platform. Merchants never see Shuttle's brand. With Stripe Connect Express, merchants interact with Stripe-branded experiences — the Express Dashboard, Stripe-hosted onboarding, and Stripe-branded communications.
Custom Connect accounts offer more branding control but require the platform to build all merchant-facing UI.
PSP Negotiating Leverage
With Stripe Connect, you have no leverage over processing rates — Stripe sets the terms. With Shuttle, you can route volume between PSPs based on pricing, availability, or performance. This creates structural negotiating power that improves your payment economics over time.
No PayFac-Lite Burden
Stripe Connect Custom accounts make the platform responsible for significant compliance, onboarding, and risk management functions — effectively operating as a PayFac-lite. Shuttle handles these aspects within the payment layer. The platform's compliance burden is minimal.
The Enterprise PSP Problem
This deserves emphasis because it's the single most common reason platforms seek Stripe Connect alternatives.
Enterprise customers — insurance carriers, travel operators, large retailers, BPOs — have existing PSP relationships. These relationships include:
Negotiated interchange-plus rates based on years of processing history
Compliance certifications tied to the specific processor
Treasury integrations configured for the PSP's settlement files
Multi-year contracts with volume commitments
Asking an enterprise customer to abandon these relationships to process through Stripe is a non-starter. It's not a technical question — it's a business one.
Shuttle's PSP-neutral architecture means the enterprise customer's existing PSP works within your platform. No relationship disruption. No rate renegotiation. No compliance re-certification.
When to Choose Stripe Connect
You're early-stage and need marketplace payments fast
All your merchants are comfortable with Stripe (no PSP mandates)
You only need online checkout (no voice, links, or AI agent channels)
Stripe's geographic coverage meets your needs (46+ countries)
You want a single-vendor financial stack (billing, tax, treasury, issuing)
You're building for developers first and Stripe's DX matters more than PSP flexibility
When to Choose Shuttle
Enterprise customers mandate their PSP (or you expect they will)
You need multi-channel payments (voice, links, chat, AI agents)
You want deep white-label control (your brand, not Stripe's)
You operate across regions where Stripe's coverage is limited
You want PSP negotiating leverage (ability to route between gateways)
You don't want PayFac-lite obligations from Custom Connect accounts
You want to go live in weeks with pre-built, white-label merchant tools
FAQ
Can I use Shuttle and keep Stripe as one of my PSPs? Yes. Stripe is one of the 40+ gateways Shuttle supports. Merchants currently on Stripe continue processing through Stripe. New merchants — or those requiring different PSPs — process through whatever gateway they need. Shuttle adds flexibility without removing Stripe.
Is Shuttle's developer experience as good as Stripe's? Stripe's developer documentation is the industry benchmark. Shuttle's integration is simpler in scope — a single API rather than the full Connect framework — but Stripe's DX ecosystem (SDKs, docs, community) is more mature.
What about Stripe's Instant Checkout in ChatGPT? Stripe's Agentic Commerce Suite powers consumer purchases within ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot — exciting for retail and e-commerce. Shuttle's AI agent support is different: it enables AI voice and chat agents to capture card payments from consumers in PCI-compliant environments (e.g., an AI agent collecting an insurance payment over the phone). Different use cases, different channels.
Can I migrate from Stripe Connect to Shuttle? Yes. The migration is additive — you connect Shuttle (which includes Stripe as a supported gateway) alongside your existing Connect setup. New merchants route through Shuttle. Existing merchants can migrate incrementally. Card tokens need re-tokenisation since Stripe tokens are proprietary.
Need more than Stripe Connect offers? Shuttle gives your platform 40+ PSPs, multi-channel payments (including voice and AI), and white-label merchant tools — through a single integration. Enterprise customers bring their own gateway.
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