Nuvei vs Stripe: Guide for Merchants

Note that the information about Stripe and Nuvei found in this article was taken from their respective websites on 13 December 2024. This information is subject to change.

When choosing a payment processor, it’s important to research various providers to find one that best meets the needs of your business.

Stripe and Nuvei are two potential options you might consider. Stripe is well known as one of the largest providers of online and in-person payment processing solutions globally for businesses of all sizes. Nuvei is a fintech company that provides merchants with modular and scalable technology that has one of the industry’s broadest ranges of payment methods.

Which is better Nuvei or Stripe? In this article, we compare Stripe and Nuvei with a focus on the UK and Europe, to help you make you an informed decision. It also suggests Noda as another potential alternative.

Nuvei vs Stripe: Overview

Stripe was founded in 2010 in the US by entrepreneurial Irish brothers, Patrick and John Collison, the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) and president, respectively. Stripe has dual headquarters in San Francisco and Dublin, as well as various offices around the world, including in London and Paris.

One of the world’s largest private companies, its early investors included Tesla CEO Elon Musk and PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

Stripe exceeded $1 trillion in total payment volume in 2023, equivalent to 1% of global GDP, and was valued at $70 billion in July 2024. Its full-stack platform enables merchants to accept a range of payment methods online and in person and embed financial services. To do this, it gives them a range of tools, such as application programming interface (APIs), user interfaces (UIs) and no-code payment links.

Is Nuvei like Stripe?

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Nuvei was founded in 2003 as Pivotal Payments by entrepreneur Philip Fayer, who serves as chairman and CEO. The company launched to offer electronic payment processing and merchant services and has expanded through a series of acquisitions, most recently Payaut in November 2024.

The company rebranded as Nuvei in 2018 and went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in September 2020 followed by the Nasdaq in October 2021. In November 2024, Advent International took the company private in a $6.3 billion acquisition.

Stripe-Nuvei Comparison: Supported Markets & Customer Base

Stripe supports businesses in 46 countries, enabling them to sell anywhere in the world and accept more than 100 international payment methods, although availability depends on the merchant’s country. Stripe supports 135 currencies and 30 languages.

Stripe bills itself as a financial infrastructure provider helping companies to cut costs and increase revenue. The fintech giant serves businesses ranging from startups to enterprises in retail, software as a service (SaaS), ecommerce, marketplaces, embedded finance, cryptocurrency, the creator economy and more.

How Is Nuvei Different from Stripe?

Nuvei is one of the few vertically integrated payment processors, as it also offers merchant acquiring services, authentication, risk management, multi-currency authorisation and cryptocurrencies. Nuvei’s flexible, modular and scalable technology uses smart routing to speed up payment authorisation.

Nuvei’s global payment processing business aims to help ecommerce resellers and other companies simplify their international growth without switching acquirer. Its partner network enables merchants to take payments in more than 200 markets, with local acquiring in 50 markets. Nuvei supports almost every type of payment globally, encompassing 720 local and alternative methods in 150 currencies with one contract.

Nuvei and Stripe Payment Methods

Key Stripe and Nuvei Features

Stripe

Stripe offers a range of plug-and-play features for merchants, including:

• Stripe Elements, a set of pre-built UI components to build optimised, branded checkout flows.
• Stripe Checkout, a ready-made, low-code payment gateway that merchants can integrate into their online stores using APIs or direct customers to a hosted webpage.
• Stripe Connect, which simplifies payment integration into e-commerce platforms and marketplaces.
• Stripe Billing, which allows businesses to automate recurring payments such as subscriptions.
• Stripe Reader, a hardware device to accept in-person pay credit and debit card payments.
• Stripe Atlas, which helps entrepreneurs set up a US company, Stripe account and bank account.

Stripe also offers no-code tools including payment links, checkout and invoicing, allowing merchants to create a payment page without writing any code or even needing a website.

Nuvei

Nuvei offers a robust set of features, including:

• Omnichannel payments through a simple integration to help merchants provide seamless customer experience across touchpoints.
• Real-time processing for faster transactions and improved cashflow, as well as instant payouts for efficient disbursement.
• Customisable payment pages to match merchant branding and customer preferences.
• Currency conversion options to manage global currency exchange and facilitate international transactions.
• Tools for managing recurring payments and subscriptions.
• Authorisation optimisation to maximise transaction approvals.
• On-ramping and off-ramping for more than 200 cryptocurrencies, providing payment solutions for more than 450 exchanges, wallets, brokers, coins, NFT platforms and blockchain game providers through a single API. Merchants can accept crypto payments from consumers that are settled in fiat currencies.

Nuvei vs Stripe: Integration

Which offers the most integrations, Nuvei or Stripe?

Stripe provides a set of integrations, or plugins, to accept non-card payments with Stripe-owned connectors Shopware, Adobe Commerce (Magento 2) and PrestaShop, as well as the Stripe WooCommerce Extension, WebToffee Stripe Payment Gateway and WHMCS Stripe tokenised payment gateway third-party connectors.

Stripe's pre-built UI components and API enable developers to integrate its payment functionalities into their websites and applications to collect customers’ details securely.

There are 263 partners in the Stripe App Marketplace, offering third-party integrations across ecommerce platforms, subscription management, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), point of sale (POS) systems and more.

Nuvei offers ecommerce integration tailored to merchants’ needs, ranging from a low-code hosted payment page to software development kits (SDKs) and Rest API for deeper integration and control.

It also has a growing network of third-party integrations with a directory of 84 plugins, platforms and partners. This includes billing, CRM, digital marketing, ERP, fraud management, invoicing, POS, sales platforms and software development.

Merchant Dashboard Usability

Comparing Stripe versus Nuvei when it comes to ease of use, both provide accessible analytics dashboards with detailed reporting.

Stripe’s dashboard provides insights into products, online and in-person payments and customer retention to give businesses a clear view of their finances.

Nuvei’s dashboard provides granular transaction reports including real-time authorisation and batch data by card brand, payment method, geography and more.

Security and Compliance

Payment processors operating in the UK and Europe must prioritise security and regulatory compliance for consumer fraud protection. Is Stripe safer than Nuvei?

Stripe and Nuvei are registered electronic money institutions in the UK and European Union and comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level 1. Both companies use advanced authentication methods to detect and prevent fraud.

Stripe Radar is an AI-powered tool designed to improve transaction approval rates. It uses machine learning and vast amounts of data from its millions of customers to block fraudulent transactions. Meanwhile, Nuvei’s Shields Up suite of tools includes customizable rules, smart 3DS routing and chargeback dispute management.

Stripe vs Nuvei Pricing

Is Nuvei cheaper than Stripe?

When it comes to comparing Stripe vs Nuvei fees, Nuvei doesn’t publish pricing information on its website, so merchants need to contact its sales team for a quote.

In contrast, Stripe breaks down its charges on its pricing page. There are no setup, monthly or cancellation fees.

Stripe Fees

Stripe vs Nuvei Customer Support

Stripe provides an online help centre and users can request assistance through their account dashboard. Stripe also offers paid Growth, Premium and Enterprise support plans, which provide customers with 24/7 phone, email and chat help as well as access to support centre resources and Stripe’s developer Discord server.

Although customers can request callbacks, only the largest enterprises have dedicated account managers. This can result in an inconsistent experience for customers who speak to different staff each time.

Stripe has a low rating on Trustpilot of 2.1/5 stars, although this is based on more than 15,000 reviews. Positive comments refer to the service’s ease of use and helpful support staff, whereas negative feedback centres on difficulties for small businesses in particular caused by verification requirements, account blocks and withheld funds. Stripe’s responses to this note that it is unable to support certain businesses for risk, compliance or regulatory reasons, a potential drawback for Stripe vs Nuvei for small business.

Nuvei bills itself as providing fully human, on-demand customer support 24/7/365 with local offices worldwide to help customers within their region.

However, while its technical support is available via phone numbers for the US, Canada and Latin America around the clock, its Digital Payments Gateway Support is available via a UK phone number from 8:00am until 7:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Monday to Friday and customer service hours are 8:00am until 8:00pm EST on Monday to Friday, according to the Nuvei website. This can present a challenge for businesses operating in European time zones.

Nuvei gets a 4.2/5 rating at Trustpilot from 681 reviews with customers praising its attentive and knowledgeable customer service staff. However, negative reviews cite excessive and hidden fees, including high contract termination charges.

Consider Noda Payment Processing

Should you use Nuvei or Stripe? If you're looking for a payment processor, Noda is an alternative that offers open banking payments.

Noda’s platform enables customers to pay directly from their bank accounts with a simple checkout across multiple markets. bypassing the card networks and reducing processing fees. Noda supports more than 2,000 banks across 28 countries, including the UK and EU. And, like Nuvei, Noda supports instant payments and payouts.

Noda’s pay-by-bank solution integrates easily with various ecommerce platforms and offers a simple API for customisation.

Noda provides personalised support through dedicated account managers. Contact us to find out how Noda can fulfil your payment processing requirements.