Paystack review
Updated September 28, 2026 · ForgeCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026
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Our verdict
Paystack charges a transaction fee of 1.5% on payments, which is a real cost for every sale a small business makes. It suits small businesses and larger enterprise teams that want a free plan for basic payment work, though the fee cuts into margins more than alternatives that charge nothing.
Key facts
- Best for
- Small businesses selling online who can price a per-payment fee into their products.
- Free plan
- Yes (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Transaction fee
- 1.5% (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Legal entity
- Paystack Inc. (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Headquarters
- Nigeria (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Founded
- 2015 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Support channels
- Help-centre, Phone, Email (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Audience
- Small business, Enterprise
- Pricing model
- Free plan
- Official website
- paystack.com
Apps and profiles
Pros and cons
Pros
- A free plan is listed, so a new merchant can start taking payments without a subscription charge
- Support runs on help centre, phone and email, giving a help centre, phone and email
- The audience is listed as small business and enterprise, so both small businesses and enterprise teams are covered
- Founded in 2015, the provider is an established name rather than a new entrant
Cons
- The transaction fee of 1.5% applies to every payment, while Shafrik lists 0% and Mitienda Uruguay lists 0%
- The 1.5% transaction fee sits above the site median of 0%, so a turnover-heavy store pays more per sale than a seller on a plan listed at 0%
Who it suits
- Small businesses that want a free plan while they test their payment setup
- Teams that want support across a help centre, phone and email, since support runs on help centre, phone and email
- Businesses serving small-business and enterprise buyers, matching the listed audience of small business and enterprise
Who should look elsewhere
- Sellers who want no charge per payment, since Ko-fi's transaction fees run 0% to 5% and Shafrik lists 0%
- Businesses already on a local plan such as Mitienda Uruguay, where the transaction fee is 0%
Intro and renewal prices
Paystack lists a free plan, so a new small business can start collecting payments without a subscription charge. The cost to weigh is the transaction fee of 1.5% on each payment. Both figures apply from the first sale, and neither changes at renewal, so the running cost scales with the number of transactions rather than with a plan tier.
The company behind it
Paystack is run by Paystack Inc., headquartered in Nigeria and founded in 2015. The provider serves small businesses and larger enterprise teams, and support runs on help centre, phone and email, so a merchant can pick the channel that suits the moment. Trading history of a few years sits behind the checkout for anyone weighing a newer provider.
How Paystack compares
8.8 vs 9.2
8.8 vs 9.2- 8.8 vs 9.1
- 8.8 vs 9.3
8.8 vs 8.6- 8.8 vs 9.4
- 8.8 vs 9.2
8.8 vs 9.2- 8.8 vs 9.1
- 8.8 vs 9.2
- 8.8 vs 9.1
8.8 vs 8.7
8.8 vs 9.1
8.8 vs 9.3
8.8 vs 9.5
8.8 vs 9.4
8.8 vs 9.4
8.8 vs 9.3- 8.8 vs 9.3
8.8 vs 9.2
8.8 vs 9.2
8.8 vs 9.1
8.8 vs 9.0
Where Paystack is available
- Available
- Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa
Countries from the brand (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
Does Paystack have a free plan?+
Yes, a free plan is listed on the pricing page, so a new small business can start without a subscription charge. The running cost that follows is a transaction fee of 1.5% on each payment, and that is the figure to budget for as sales grow.
What does Paystack charge per transaction?+
The transaction fee is 1.5% on each payment. For context, the site median for this category is 0% and the highest fee on the site is 10%, so turnover matters more here than plan choice.
How does that compare with sellers charged no transaction fee?+
Ko-fi charges transaction fees of 0% to 5%, while Mitienda Uruguay and Shafrik list 0% and 0%. Paystack's 1.5% is a per-sale cost those sellers do not carry, which bites hardest on cheap, high-volume products.
Who runs Paystack and where is it based?+
Paystack is operated by Paystack Inc., headquartered in Nigeria, and was founded in 2015. Its listed audience covers small businesses and enterprise teams, so the same product serves a solo trader and a larger operation.
What support does Paystack offer?+
Support runs on help centre, phone and email, meaning a help centre, phone and email. That mix suits merchants who want a written answer to a repeat question and a phone call for anything urgent, rather than relying on a single route to a person.
Is Paystack aimed at small businesses or larger companies?+
The listed audience is small business and enterprise, covering small businesses and larger enterprise teams. The free plan suits a small business testing payments, while the per-payment fee of 1.5% is the line item to watch as volume rises.
Does the price change at renewal?+
The pricing page is modelled as free plan, and the entries to weigh are the free plan and the transaction fee of 1.5%. Both sit with the merchant from the first payment, so running cost follows transaction volume rather than a plan that renews each year.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paystack checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Founded, Headquarters, Legal entity
“Founded 2015”
- web.archive.org/web/20260205071250/https://paystack.com/p... checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Audience, Free plan, Pricing model, Support channels, Transaction fee
“Paystack is a complete payments solution for businesses of every type, and at every scale.”
Compiled from 2 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.
Not confirmed yet: Price from, E-commerce plan price.
Other rankings
Paystack
Small businesses selling online who can price a per-payment fee into their products.