CoinGate holds both a MiCA CASP license and a Payment Institution license, a combination that matters more than it used to now that the EU's MiCA transitional period closed on July 1, 2026. That licensing baseline is worth keeping in mind against every name below, since not every alternative clears the same bar.
How we compared these
- Regulatory standing right now, not what a provider held a year ago.
- Fee structure and coin coverage.
- Settlement speed and currency options.
- Ownership and independence, since one commonly-discussed name in this space recently changed hands entirely.
At a glance
| Provider | Regulatory standing | Fee | Settlement | Best for |
| CoinGate (baseline) | MiCA + PI licensed (Lithuania) | 1% flat | EUR/USD/GBP via SEPA | EU merchants needing regulatory clarity |
| NOWPayments | Lighter/no formal licensing disclosed | 0.3%–1.5% | Fiat or crypto | Lowest fees, broadest coin list |
| BitPay | US-regulated, established since 2011 | Tiered, 1–2% + $0.25 | Multi-currency fiat or crypto | High-volume US merchants |
| Coinbase Business / Shopify USDC | US/Singapore for Business; 34 countries via Shopify | 1% for Commerce migrants | USDC-focused, ~2 second settlement | Merchants already in Coinbase's or Shopify's ecosystem |
| CoinPayments | Established 2013, broad licensing history | 0.5–1% | Crypto or wallet-based conversion | Merchants prioritizing coin coverage |
NOWPayments: the most commonly cited CoinGate alternative
NOWPayments consistently tops independent comparisons of CoinGate alternatives, largely on the strength of its fee range, as low as 0.3% for standard transactions, and its broad coin support. It settles in either fiat or crypto and integrates with the usual e-commerce platforms.
The trade-off versus CoinGate is regulatory clarity: NOWPayments' own licensing picture is less publicly documented than CoinGate's MiCA and PI combination, worth confirming directly if that specifically matters for your business.
BitPay: the established alternative, at enterprise pricing
BitPay has run since 2011 and remains one of the most recognized names in this space, with tiered pricing that rewards volume: 2% plus $0.25 below $500K in monthly volume, dropping to 1% plus $0.25 above $1 million. It integrates with QuickBooks and supports a broad range of cryptocurrencies.
The trade-off versus CoinGate is straightforward: BitPay's fee advantage only shows up at real volume. A smaller merchant pays meaningfully more here than CoinGate's flat 1%.
Coinbase Business and Shopify's USDC checkout: the Coinbase Commerce successors
Coinbase Commerce, long a fixture on "CoinGate alternatives" lists, was discontinued for merchants outside the US and Singapore on March 31, 2026. Coinbase Business replaced it for those two countries specifically, while Shopify's native USDC checkout, built on Coinbase's Base network, covers merchants in 34 other countries.
Either path settles in USDC in roughly two seconds, a genuinely different speed profile than CoinGate's next-business-day SEPA settlement, at the cost of being limited to a single stablecoin rather than CoinGate's 70-plus supported assets.
CoinPayments: the widest coin list, the longest track record
CoinPayments launched in 2013 and still supports one of the broadest coin lists in the industry, over 1,300 assets, at fees between 0.5% and 1% depending on the asset. Its GAP600 risk-scoring engine clears roughly 85% of payments instantly, with the remainder falling back to standard on-chain confirmation.
Worth knowing: ++the platform disclosed a security breach in 2017++. That's a long time ago in a fast-moving industry, and it hasn't stopped CoinPayments from remaining one of the most established names in crypto payments, but it's a fair data point for a merchant weighing "longest track record" against "spotless track record."
Other crypto payment competitors worth knowing, even if you won't find them on most "alternatives" lists
Three names came up repeatedly in our own competitive tracking that don't actually surface in independent "CoinGate alternatives" comparisons:
- CoinsPaid / CryptoProcessing.com built real credibility processing crypto for online casinos specifically, with over 500 casino clients and more than 70% of its revenue tied to gambling. The reason it isn't a typical "CoinGate alternative" search result is specialization: it's built for a narrower niche than CoinGate's broader e-commerce focus. It's also worth a direct licensing check before considering it: since July 1, 2026, ++the group holds no EU crypto authorization++, operating through non-EU entities while a MiCA CASP application remains under review.
- Rapyd is a general payments platform, not a crypto specialist, offering direct card acquiring and hundreds of local payment methods with crypto as one option among many. It's a real competitor to consider if you want crypto folded into a broader payments stack, but it's not competing for the same "dedicated crypto gateway" search intent CoinGate serves.
- BVNK built genuine enterprise infrastructure credibility before Mastercard's $1.8 billion acquisition closed in August 2026. It's now part of Mastercard's broader roadmap rather than a standalone alternative a merchant picks independently. Our ownership tracker covers this in more depth.
Which one for which reason you're leaving CoinGate
| Why you're switching | Better fit |
| Want the lowest fees and broadest coin list | NOWPayments |
| Need enterprise-volume pricing that rewards scale | BitPay |
| Already in the Coinbase or Shopify ecosystem | Coinbase Business / Shopify USDC |
| Want the widest possible coin list with the longest track record | CoinPayments |
No single "best CoinGate alternative" exists, because the five names here aren't really competing with each other in the way a flat feature table implies. NOWPayments wins on fees, BitPay wins on enterprise volume pricing, Coinbase Business and Shopify's USDC checkout win on raw settlement speed, and CoinPayments wins on coin coverage. What actually separates them is regulatory standing right now, not a year ago, which is exactly why CoinsPaid's current licensing gap matters more than its casino-specific track record might suggest on its own.
Related reading: Pay-by-Crypto for B2B · Best Crypto Payment Gateways for Merchants (2026, Ranked)