The NOWPayments alternative without the extra hop
NOWPayments routes every payment through its own address before forwarding it to you, charging network fees twice. 402pay pays your wallet directly.
- 0%
- of every crypto payment, against 0.5% with NOWPayments
- No middleman
- no server, no forwarding hop
- Cards + crypto
- in one checkout, into one wallet
NOWPayments at a glance
NOWPayments supports hundreds of coins and charges 0.5% a payment, or 1% when it converts. It's a popular pick for businesses that want breadth.
The catch is the route. Each payment lands on a NOWPayments address first and is then forwarded to your wallet, so the network is paid twice and the money is out of your hands until the forward goes through. Card payers are sent to a third-party page to buy crypto first.
Why businesses switch from NOWPayments
The reasons businesses give for leaving NOWPayments come back to the same few things: who holds the money, what it costs as sales grow, and which customers can pay at all.
Network fees, twice
Every payment lands on a NOWPayments address and is then forwarded to you, so it pays the network on the way in and again on the way out.
A fee that grows with every order
0.5% to 1% of each payment. On a $1,000 order that's up to $10; 402pay takes no percentage at all.
Cards sent off-site
Card payers are handed to a third-party page to buy crypto first, a detour where customers drop off.
402pay vs NOWPayments, side by side
- Percentage of every crypto payment
402pay
0%NOWPayments
0.5%, 1% when it converts- Payments go straight to your own wallet
402pay
AlwaysNOWPayments
Forwarded after a hop- Money is yours the moment it confirms
402pay
InstantlyNOWPayments
After forwarding- Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay in the same checkout
402pay
3%, in betaNOWPayments
A third-party page- USDT on Tron
402pay
YesNOWPayments
Yes- Nothing to host or maintain
402pay
Fully hostedNOWPayments
Yes- Open beyond the US
402pay
YesNOWPayments
Some services exclude EU, UK and US residents- Available today
402pay
YesNOWPayments
Yes- Networks
402pay
Solana, Polygon, Ethereum, Tron, Bitcoin
NOWPayments
350+ coins
What you keep with 402pay
Percentage fees grow with every order. Pick your average payment and your volume to see what NOWPayments would take out at its list price.
NOWPayments would take out of your payments every month
$100
That's $1,200 a year. 402pay takes out nothing.
- NOWPayments
- $100.00
- 402pay
- $0.00
The bottom line
NOWPayments is cheap on paper, but every payment takes a detour through its own address before it reaches you, so the network gets paid twice and your money spends time somewhere else. 402pay sends each payment to an address that already belongs to your wallet. One transfer, one network fee, no forwarding.
With 402pay
- Who holds the money
- You, in a wallet only you hold the keys to
- When it's yours
- The moment the network confirms it
- What it costs
- 0% of a crypto payment
With NOWPayments
- Who holds the money
- Payments pass through a one-time NOWPayments address, then are forwarded to your wallet
- When it's yours
- After forwarding
- What it costs
- 0.5%, 1% when it converts
Here's what you can do in 30 minutes
Time is money, and with 402pay, it's yours from the very first payment.
- 5 mins
- Create your account
- Set up a self-custody wallet, or connect yours
- Pick the coins and networks checkout offers
- 15 mins
- Swap your NOWPayments links for 402pay payment links
- Turn on cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, in beta
- Let customers pay the fees, if you want
- 29 mins
- Create payments from your server with one API call
- Get a signed webhook for every payment
- Hand the setup prompt to your AI coding assistant
- No. Every payment goes straight to a wallet only you hold the keys to. 402pay never has your recovery phrase, so we can't freeze, hold or move your funds.
- 0% on crypto payments at an introductory rate and 3% on cards, and nothing is taken out of a payment. The pricing page lists every fee.
- Most businesses are accepting payments the same day: create an account, set up your wallet, and share a payment link or swap in one API call.
- Yes. Nothing ties you to one processor: send new orders through 402pay while anything open finishes on NOWPayments, then switch over completely when you're ready.
- No. They pay on the hosted checkout by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or from any crypto wallet, without signing up for anything.
- Yes. Connect it by its public keys and every payment goes there, for $15.00 a month.
More comparisons
NOWPayments details from NOWPayments pricing, NOWPayments fees explained. Names and logos belong to their owners and are shown to identify them.