NOWPayments
Cryptocurrency payment gateways
Blockchain software
Cryptocurrency software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is NOWPayments
NOWPayments is a cryptocurrency payment gateway that lets merchants and platforms accept crypto payments and receive settlements in supported cryptocurrencies. It targets e-commerce merchants, SaaS providers, marketplaces, and donation use cases that want to add crypto checkout via hosted invoices, plugins, or API integrations. The service supports a broad set of cryptocurrencies and includes options such as payment links, invoices, and recurring payments, with custody and settlement handled through the provider’s infrastructure.
Broad cryptocurrency coverage
NOWPayments supports payments across a large number of cryptocurrencies and networks, which can reduce the need to maintain multiple payment providers. This is useful for merchants serving international customers who prefer different assets. The product also includes tools (e.g., invoices and payment links) that work across many of the supported assets.
Multiple integration options
The platform provides an API and prebuilt integrations such as e-commerce plugins and hosted payment flows. This supports both developer-led implementations and faster deployments for smaller merchants. It also offers embeddable or shareable payment experiences (e.g., invoices/links) that can be used outside a full checkout build.
Merchant-focused payment features
NOWPayments includes features commonly required for merchant acceptance, such as invoices, payment notifications, and tools for handling under/overpayments. It also supports recurring payments in certain configurations, which can be relevant for subscriptions or membership models. These capabilities align with typical operational needs for crypto checkout and reconciliation.
Limited enterprise custody tooling
The product is primarily positioned as a payment gateway rather than an institutional-grade custody and treasury management platform. Organizations needing advanced wallet governance (e.g., granular policy controls, complex approvals, and deep treasury workflows) may require additional systems. This can increase integration effort for larger enterprises with strict controls.
Crypto volatility and settlement risk
If settlement occurs in cryptocurrency rather than fiat, merchants remain exposed to price volatility between payment and conversion. Even with operational tools, accounting and treasury processes can be more complex than card or bank payments. This is a structural limitation of crypto acceptance that can affect budgeting and reporting.
Compliance and jurisdiction constraints
Crypto payment acceptance can involve varying regulatory and compliance requirements depending on merchant location, customer location, and supported assets. Merchants may need to perform additional due diligence on transaction monitoring, tax treatment, and prohibited jurisdictions. These requirements can limit rollout scope or add ongoing operational overhead.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go Free tier/trial (short summary): Integration is free (no setup/monthly fees). No permanent "free plan" or ongoing free-transaction tier clearly advertised on the official site. No current time-limited free trial clearly advertised on the official site.
Example costs / fees (official site sources):
- Service fee (standard): 0.5% per transaction for single-currency payments (merchant receives same crypto the customer paid in).
- Multi-currency / Exchange fee: 1.0% total when a swap is required (0.5% service fee + 0.5% exchange fee charged by the exchange partner).
- Fixed-rate exchange option: rounds overall transaction fee up to 1.0% (when chosen).
- Conversions within Custody: 0.5% service fee per conversion (no network fee for internal custody conversions).
- Mass payouts: 0% NOWPayments service fee (only blockchain network fees apply).
- Integration cost: $0 (no setup fee).
- Fiat withdrawal fee (when using fiat on-/off-ramp): shown as 1.5%–2.3% depending on volume (official fiat page).
Discounts / volume: The official fiat page and pricing/help pages state that customized discounts are available for large volumes and that merchant-specific/customized pricing can be provided on request (contact sales).
Notes: Minimum payment amounts depend on coin pair and network conditions; some coins support minimum payments under $2. See official "minimum payment amount" help page or Status Page for per-pair minimums.
(These items are taken only from NOWPayments official website pages: pricing, help, custody, fiat pages, and related docs.)
