Authorize.Net

Name: Authorize.Net
Brand: Authorize.net
Rating: 3.5 (317 reviews)

Leader

Accept payments online, over the phone, or in-store. Everything you need to sell more, sell faster, and sell securely.

Est 1996|Valuation $654.8M|Raised $38M|24 Ref Customers

LinkedIn 12K|Web traffic 2.6M|FTEs 51|HQ San Francisco, California, US

MarketsInvoicing & Payment Processing

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

Where Authorize.Net tends to perform comparatively well: - Bring-your-own-processor flexibility (Gateway Only): merchants that have negotiated interchange-plus pricing with a processor may prefer a gateway that does not require a bundled PSP. - Ecosystem maturity: many platforms and legacy ecommerce systems include native support for Authorize.Net. - PCI-scope management options: hosted and client-side tokenization integration modes can reduce merchant PCI burden if implemented correctly. Where alternatives often have comparative advantages: - Stripe: often preferred for modern developer experience, faster iteration, and integrated subscription/billing tooling depending on product selection. The lack of a monthly gateway fee can be decisive at low volume. - Square: strong for omnichannel POS and simple pricing and setup; often better when a unified POS plus online solution is required. - Braintree (PayPal): wallet acceptance (PayPal/Venmo) and competitive pricing can be advantageous where consumer wallet options affect conversion. Market adoption signals: - Vendor claims indicate substantial merchant counts and payment volume, consistent with a long-standing gateway presence. - Historical materials related to Visa’s acquisition of CyberSource indicate CyberSource and Authorize.Net had extensive merchant bases at acquisition time, supporting long-term scale.

	Authorize.Net	Stripe	PayPal (Checkout / Cards)
Starting Price	Monthly gateway fee (plans advertised)	No monthly gateway fee on common plans	Typically no gateway fee; per-transaction fees apply
Best For	Merchants needing a traditional gateway, broad processor compatibility, and Visa-owned platform	Developer-first builds, fast onboarding, modern APIs and ecosystem	Merchants seeking PayPal/Venmo wallet options and broad consumer familiarity
Key Strength	Gateway-only flexibility and mature integrations; hosted options to reduce PCI scope	Strong developer tooling; modern product suite	Strong consumer payment options (PayPal wallet), extensive merchant tools
Key Weakness	Subscription management limitations; UI/reporting friction; monthly fee may disadvantage very low volume merchants	Some advanced features add costs; can be centered on Stripe-native workflows	Fees can be higher for certain checkout types; platform policies and holds can frustrate sellers

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

Where Authorize.Net tends to perform comparatively well:

Bring-your-own-processor flexibility (Gateway Only): merchants that have negotiated interchange-plus pricing with a processor may prefer a gateway that does not require a bundled PSP.
Ecosystem maturity: many platforms and legacy ecommerce systems include native support for Authorize.Net.
PCI-scope management options: hosted and client-side tokenization integration modes can reduce merchant PCI burden if implemented correctly.

Where alternatives often have comparative advantages:

Stripe: often preferred for modern developer experience, faster iteration, and integrated subscription/billing tooling depending on product selection. The lack of a monthly gateway fee can be decisive at low volume.
Square: strong for omnichannel POS and simple pricing and setup; often better when a unified POS plus online solution is required.
Braintree (PayPal): wallet acceptance (PayPal/Venmo) and competitive pricing can be advantageous where consumer wallet options affect conversion.

Market adoption signals:

Vendor claims indicate substantial merchant counts and payment volume, consistent with a long-standing gateway presence.
Historical materials related to Visa’s acquisition of CyberSource indicate CyberSource and Authorize.Net had extensive merchant bases at acquisition time, supporting long-term scale.

	Authorize.Net	Stripe	PayPal (Checkout / Cards)
Starting Price	Monthly gateway fee (plans advertised)	No monthly gateway fee on common plans	Typically no gateway fee; per-transaction fees apply
Best For	Merchants needing a traditional gateway, broad processor compatibility, and Visa-owned platform	Developer-first builds, fast onboarding, modern APIs and ecosystem	Merchants seeking PayPal/Venmo wallet options and broad consumer familiarity
Key Strength	Gateway-only flexibility and mature integrations; hosted options to reduce PCI scope	Strong developer tooling; modern product suite	Strong consumer payment options (PayPal wallet), extensive merchant tools
Key Weakness	Subscription management limitations; UI/reporting friction; monthly fee may disadvantage very low volume merchants	Some advanced features add costs; can be centered on Stripe-native workflows	Fees can be higher for certain checkout types; platform policies and holds can frustrate sellers