Comparing Crypto Payment Gateways in 2026: How to Choose Yours

Introduction

There is no "best" crypto gateway. There is the gateway that fits your business. Fee tables hide the real differences: verification requirements, withdrawal terms, and the fine print behind headline rates. We compared five gateways so you can choose based on your priorities.

Full disclosure: we are Cryptonly, one of the gateways in this comparison. Keep that in mind as you read.

What changed by 2026

The gateway market matured under two pressures: regulation (MiCA in the EU, MSB registration elsewhere) and merchant demand for stablecoin settlement. Yet most comparisons still skip the cost layers that matter most:

• KYB/KYC friction — when verification is required, and what happens if it triggers at the moment of withdrawal.
• Withdrawal terms — instant or batched, with limits or without.
• Regulatory footprint — where the gateway is registered, and what that means for your own compliance obligations.

The comparison

Sources

The fee column was checked on 15 October 2026 against each gateway's own page. Fees change. Open the page before you decide.

• Cryptonly — Pricing. 0.5% for a verified account, 1.3% without verification.
• NOWPayments — Fees, updated 14 October 2026. 1% for a same-currency payment, 1.5% when the currencies differ or a fixed rate is on. KYC plus business KYB can lower a same-currency payment to 0.5%.
• CoinGate — Pricing. 1% on the standard plan. Signup asks for KYC/KYB.
• Cryptomus — Payment fees. 2% for new users, from 0.4% by request.
• Plisio — Pricing. Gateway API 0.5%. The fee table lists higher rates for some assets, including BEP-20 USDT and TON.

How to read this table

Every gateway has a genuine strength — and a price attached to it.

NOWPayments — the published service fee is 1% for a same-currency payment and 1.5% when the payment is converted. KYC and business KYB can bring a same-currency payment down to 0.5%. Check the effective settlement rate on conversions before scaling.

CoinGate — the choice if MiCA compliance is a hard requirement. Full KYB here is not a flaw; it is a condition of the model. It also settles to EUR/USD bank accounts, which matters if your accounting runs in fiat.

Cryptomus — negotiated rates become competitive at volume. The standard 2% is steep for smaller merchants.

Plisio — the Gateway API fee is 0.5%. Some assets cost more; their fee table lists them. Run a test transaction and verify the actual settlement amount before committing.

Cryptonly — the service fee is 0.5% to 1.3% by verification level. No mandatory KYB, and withdrawals are instant without verification. Built for merchants whose priority is fast, unconditional access to their funds.

How to decide

Choose based on your constraint, not the ad copy:

1. Operating in the EU under strict compliance? Pick a regulated, MiCA-registered gateway.
2. High volume and ready to negotiate? Compare negotiated rates, not list prices.
3. Need instant access to funds? Check withdrawal terms first, fees second.
4. Integrating into an existing stack? Verify API quality, webhook reliability, and plugin support for your platform before signing anything.
5. In every case: run a small live transaction and measure the effective rate you actually receive.

The takeaway

The right gateway is the one whose trade-offs match your priorities. Fees are the visible cost; verification gates and withdrawal friction are the real ones. Test before you commit, negotiate when you have volume, and read the withdrawal terms before the fee schedule. If your priorities are instant withdrawals and no KYC barriers, that is exactly the problem Cryptonly was built to solve.