CompareNOWPayments

A NOWPayments Alternative Built on Your Own Wallet

Paymento is non-custodial payment infrastructure. Customers pay an address in your wallet, and our fee is billed to your account separately, so the full payment is yours.

Start Accepting Crypto See the Comparison

Non-custodial
$15 free credit
No monthly fee

One payment of 1,000 USDT

NOWPaymentsStandard rate, 1%

Customer pays
Held at a NOWPayments deposit address
1% fee deducted
Paid out to you

990.00 USDTless the payout network fee

PaymentoBring your own wallet

Customer pays
An address in your wallet

1,000.00 USDTour $5 fee is billed to your balance

Standard published rates, read 12 October 2026. Network fees excluded. See every assumption

The $1,000 Payment, Line by Line

One 1,000 USDT payment, processed four ways at each company's published standard rate. Every assumption behind the numbers sits right underneath.

Service fee on the payment

NOWPaymentsStandard, no exchange$10.00
NOWPaymentsMulti-currency or fixed rate$15.00
PaymentoBring your own wallet$5.00
PaymentoEmbedded wallet store$5.20

What reaches your wallet

Fee, where it is taken from, and what reaches the merchant's wallet for a 1,000 USDT payment
Option	Taken from	Arrives
NOWPaymentsStandard, same currency	The payment, before payout	990.00 USDTless the payout network fee
NOWPaymentsMulti-currency or fixed rate	The payment, before payout	1.5% lessin the payout currency
PaymentoBring your own wallet	Your Paymento balance	1,000.00 USDTno settlement step
PaymentoEmbedded wallet store	Your Paymento balance	1,000.00 USDTsettlement network fee charged when you settle

Assumptions

One payment of 1,000 USDT, counted as $1,000. Fees are shown in dollars.
Standard published rates, read 12 October 2026. Custom and volume pricing are not modelled, and Paymento's $15 free credit is not applied.
NOWPayments' 1% applies when the payout is in the same currency; 1.5% applies to multi-currency, fixed-rate and "fee paid by user" payments. We assume the merchant pays the fee.
Network fees are excluded. NOWPayments' route has one on the deposit and one on the payout. Paymento's has the customer's transfer, plus one at settlement on an embedded store, which can cover many payments at once.
Where the fee comes from: NOWPayments charges its fee while processing, before the payout. Paymento bills its fee to your Paymento balance, so the payment arrives in full.
Services differ: NOWPayments' rate includes options Paymento does not offer, such as built-in conversion and fiat payouts. Sources: NOWPayments fees, Paymento pricing.

Two Ways Paymento Settles

You choose per store, and you can run both. Neither passes the payment through a Paymento address. The difference is whether a settlement step follows.

Bring your own wallet

0.5%

Payments arrive directly in a wallet you already control. Paymento only ever sees public wallet information.12

You connect your walletAn xPub for Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Bitcoin Cash; a public address for Ethereum, Solana and Tron. Never a private key or recovery phrase.
The customer paysBy address and QR code on Bitcoin-family coins; by connecting a wallet on Ethereum, Solana and Tron.
The payment lands in your walletThat is the end of it. Refunds go out from the same wallet.

Settlement: None needed
Network fees: Only the customer's transfer
Suits: Merchants who already run a wallet

Embedded wallet store

0.5% + $0.20

A store wallet created in Paymento that only your passkey can authorize. Funds wait there until you settle them to your own wallet.11 13

Each order gets its own addressCustomers pay by address and QR code on Ethereum and Solana. Tron still connects a wallet.
Funds collect in your store walletPaymento detects and confirms them, but never moves them on its own.
You start settlementPick the asset, then check the destination, amount and estimated network cost.
You approve with your passkeyFunds go only to the destination wallet you configured. Paymento pays the network fee up front and deducts it from your balance.

Settlement: When you choose, never automatic
Network fees: The customer's transfer, plus each settlement
Exit: Export the wallet with its keys

NOWPayments vs Paymento

Every NOWPayments detail comes from its own pricing, help-centre and legal pages. A check marks the stronger side.

Last verified 12 October 2026

Feature	PaymentoEither wallet option	NOWPaymentsStandard flow
Money flow
Where the customer paysThe address on the checkout page.	An address in your own wallet, stronger hereNo intermediate address, no payout step.8	A NOWPayments deposit addressThen paid out to your wallet.2
While the payment is in transitBetween the customer and your wallet.	Already in your wallet, stronger hereNo in-transit stage; you never depend on Paymento to reach your funds.	Held at an address its service provider generatesIts terms let that provider delay, refuse or cancel a pending transaction, and suspicious payments are put on hold.3 6
How the fee is takenWhat it does to the amount you receive.	Billed to your balance, stronger hereThe payment arrives in full.8	Deducted from the paymentBefore the rest is paid out.1 3
Network fees in the routeBlockchain fees along the way.	The customer's transfer, stronger herePlus one when you settle an embedded store.	Deposit and payoutOne for each step.1
CustodyHow each describes itself.	Non-custodial, no custody optionEmbedded wallets export with their keys.	Describes itself as non-custodialAn optional Custody feature keeps funds on a NOWPayments balance.2
Cost and coverage
Service feePublished standard rate.	0.5%, stronger herePlus $0.20 on embedded wallet stores. No monthly fee.8	1%1.5% multi-currency, fixed-rate and "fee paid by user".1
CoinsWhat customers can pay with.	BTC, ETH, TRX, SOL, LTC, DOGE, BCHUSDT on Ethereum and Tron, USDC on Solana.9	350+ currencies listed, stronger hereOn its pricing page.4
Conversion and fiatChanging what you receive.	Not offeredYou receive the coin the customer paid.	Conversion, fiat, off-ramp, stronger hereBuilt into the account.2
Integration
ToolsHow it connects to your store.	API, payment links, hosted checkoutWooCommerce, WHMCS, OpenCart. Signed callbacks and a verify endpoint.10	API, IPN, plugins, invoices, widget, POSPlugins include WooCommerce and WHMCS.7
RefundsWhere the refund is sent from.	From your own walletOr by passkey for unsettled embedded funds.	From your own walletPer its refund policy.5

Network fees vary by chain and are paid to the blockchain, not to either company.

Which One Fits Your Business?

Both accept crypto for online stores. They are built on different ideas about where a payment should go first.

Choose NOWPayments if

Customers need to pay in a very long list of coins. NOWPayments lists 350+ currencies.
You want each payment converted into a different coin before it reaches you.
You need fiat payments, off-ramp payouts or mass payouts in the same account.

Choose Paymento if

Customers should pay an address in your own wallet, not a processor's deposit address.
You want the full payment, with fees billed to your account instead.
You want USDT and USDC checkout by QR code on Ethereum and Solana embedded stores.

Moving Over From NOWPayments

Run both side by side first: add Paymento as a second option at checkout, watch real orders arrive, then switch the old one off.

350+currencies are listed by NOWPayments. Check your last 90 days of orders against Paymento's supported list first.

Create a store

Connect your own wallet or create an embedded wallet store. Your free credit covers the first fees.

Free credit$15
Swap the integration

Install the WooCommerce or WHMCS plugin, or call the API, and map your IPN handler to Paymento's signed callback and verify call.

CallbacksHMAC-SHA256
Reissue links and compare

Replace shared payment links, run both for a few weeks, and compare what lands in your wallet.

CheckoutBoth, side by side

Check supported assets

NOWPayments Alternative: Common Questions

Custody and fees

Is NOWPayments custodial?

NOWPayments describes its standard processing as non-custodial, and its terms say it does not act as your intermediary. The payment still reaches you second-hand: customers pay a deposit address generated by its service provider, the fee is deducted there, and the rest is paid out to you. In our view, that means NOWPayments temporarily takes custody of the payment. Until then, its terms allow that provider to delay, refuse or cancel a pending transaction, and its help centre says suspicious payments are put on hold until identity is verified. It also offers an optional Custody feature. With Paymento, customers pay an address in your own wallet, so there is no in-between stage.

Is Paymento cheaper than NOWPayments?

On published standard rates, Paymento charges 0.5% and NOWPayments charges 1%, or 1.5% for multi-currency and fixed-rate payments. Compare what you use, though: Paymento does not convert currencies or pay out in fiat, so if you rely on those features the comparison is not like for like.

Does Paymento ask for KYC?

Paymento does not require KYC to open a merchant account, because it never holds your funds. Your own regulatory and tax obligations in your jurisdiction are unchanged.

Checkout and integration

Do my customers need an account or a connected wallet?

Customers never need a Paymento account. Bitcoin and the other UTXO coins are paid by address and QR code. On an embedded wallet store, Ethereum and Solana are too. Bring-your-own-wallet stores on account-based chains, and Tron on either store type, ask the customer to connect a wallet.

How do refunds work?

You send the refund from your own wallet and Paymento validates it on-chain against the order. Funds still in an embedded wallet store can be refunded with your passkey from the dashboard. Each order can be refunded once, in full or in part.

Can I build my own checkout page with the API?

Not today. Your backend creates the payment through the API and the customer completes it on Paymento's hosted checkout, then returns to your site. Payment links and the plugins use the same hosted page.

Keep the Full Payment, and Your Keys

Set up a store in minutes. Customers pay an address in your wallet; our fee is billed separately.

Start Accepting Crypto Compare Other Gateways

1,000.00arrives from a 1,000 USDT payment
$5.00Paymento fee, billed to your balance
$15free credit to start

Sources & Methodology

Last verified 12 October 2026
13 references
Primary sources only
How we compare

Show all 13 referencesHide references

NOWPayments

Pricing

Settlement & custody

Integrations

Payment tools and pluginsnowpayments.io

Legal & policies

Paymento

Pricing

Fees and pricingdocs.paymento.io

Settlement & custody

Integrations

API overview and payment callbacksdocs.paymento.io

Documentation

Supported networks and assetsdocs.paymento.io

Competitor details come only from each company's own pricing, help-centre, documentation and legal pages, read on the date above. Numbers in the comparison link to these references. If something is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

Accept Crypto Payments

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Invoicing

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