01The four main options
| Option | Best for | Setup | Typical US fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment links or buttons (Stripe, PayPal) | A few products, services, donations | Minutes, no code | About 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe) |
| Embedded checkout | Custom sites wanting a smooth flow | Some code | Same processor fees |
| Store platform (Shopify, Wix, Squarespace) | Product catalogs | Hours | Plan plus about 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Invoices or booking tools | Services, appointments | Minutes | Processor fees, sometimes a platform fee |
03Fees compared
Stripe's standard US pricing is 2.9% plus 30 cents for domestic online card payments, with extra charges for international cards and currency conversion, per its US pricing page. PayPal's US business fees list 3.49% plus a fixed fee for PayPal Checkout and 2.99% plus a fixed fee for standard card payments, with a fixed fee of 49 cents for US dollar transactions. Stripe vs PayPal compares them in detail.
04Services, bookings and subscriptions
For services, the cleanest flow is often a booking tool that takes payment or a deposit when someone books, or an invoice sent after a consultation; processors support both. For memberships and software, subscription billing handles recurring charges, failed payments and cancellations automatically. Choose the flow that matches how customers already expect to pay for what you sell, rather than forcing a cart onto a service.
05When to use a store platform instead
If you sell many products with variants, stock and shipping, a store platform's built-in checkout handles carts, taxes, shipping rates and order emails. Is Shopify worth it? and how much does Shopify take per sale? cover the most common choice, and how to start an online store covers the setup.
06Security and trust
Never build your own form that collects card numbers; use the processor's hosted page or embedded components, which keep card data off your servers. Serve your site over HTTPS, show clear prices including shipping before checkout, and state your refund policy. Distrust of a site with card details is one of the top reasons shoppers abandon checkout, according to Baymard Institute; how to reduce cart abandonment covers the fixes.
- Use hosted or embedded checkout; never handle raw card numbers.
- HTTPS everywhere, and recognizable payment logos.
- Prices, shipping and refund terms visible before payment.
- A real contact method on the site.
What people who tried it say
Founders on Hacker News and Indie Hackers generally recommend hosted checkout from Stripe or PayPal for small sites, warning against handling card data yourself and noting that payment providers can freeze accounts with high dispute rates.
- Ask HN: What is your favorite way of setting up online store in 2018?Hacker News
Commenters discuss checkout options from hosted platforms to processor-hosted payment pages, favoring solutions that keep card handling with the processor.
Looking for more first-hand opinions? Search Reddit for “how to accept payments on a website”. We link the live threads rather than summarizing them, so you read them in full.
Our take
start with a payment link. It takes minutes, keeps you out of card security, and you can move to an embedded checkout or a store platform when volume justifies it.
Where this falls short
Fees vary by country, card type and business; the rates here are US standard pricing as published in October 2026. Some products and industries face extra rules or are restricted by processors.
Orlume builds the site around your payment flow: describe the product and it designs a page with a clear buy button you can point at your Stripe or PayPal checkout link.
Free to start · No card required · Live in one click
Sources
- 1.Stripe pricing (US) · Stripe
- 2.PayPal business fees (US) · PayPal
- 3.Cart abandonment rate statistics · Baymard Institute
Researched and written by the Orlume team · Updated October 2026
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