Payment Gateway APIs vs Custom Payment Processing

Developers should learn Payment Gateway APIs when building applications that require online transactions, such as e-commerce sites, subscription services, or donation platforms meets developers should consider custom payment processing when building applications that require unique payment workflows, need to comply with specific regional regulations, or aim to reduce transaction fees by integrating directly with payment gateways. Here's our take.

Payment Gateway APIs

Nice Pick

Developers should learn Payment Gateway APIs when building applications that require online transactions, such as e-commerce sites, subscription services, or donation platforms

Pros

• They are essential for handling secure payment processing, reducing fraud risk, and complying with financial regulations, while saving development time compared to custom solutions
• Related to: stripe-api, paypal-api

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Custom Payment Processing

Developers should consider custom payment processing when building applications that require unique payment workflows, need to comply with specific regional regulations, or aim to reduce transaction fees by integrating directly with payment gateways

Pros

• It's particularly useful for high-volume businesses, subscription models with complex billing logic, or platforms that aggregate payments for multiple vendors
• Related to: payment-gateway-integration, pci-compliance

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Payment Gateway APIs is a platform while Custom Payment Processing is a concept. We picked Payment Gateway APIs based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Payment Gateway APIs wins

Based on overall popularity. Payment Gateway APIs is more widely used, but Custom Payment Processing excels in its own space.