Payment Gateways

PayFast vs Paystack in South Africa (2026): Which Gateway Wins?

Alister

E-commerce Consultant

| 6 Aug 2026 12 min

Quick answer

If you run a South African online store, you are likely choosing between PayFast and Paystack for checkout. It is a decision that quietly decides how much of every sale actually lands in your bank account.

The good news? Both gateways are proven, POPIA-conscious, and trusted by thousands of local merchants in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and beyond. The bad news? They are not interchangeable, and picking the wrong one can cost you hundreds of Rands a month in fees — or worse, lost sales from customers who cannot pay the way they prefer.

This guide compares PayFast and Paystack in South Africa across fees, payment methods, settlement speed, Shopify and WordPress integration, developer experience and support, then runs the numbers at R50,000 and R200,000 of monthly revenue so you can see the difference in Rands.

Quick answer: PayFast (3.2% + R2 per card transaction) is the better choice for most South African SMEs because it offers the widest range of local payment methods — Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred and Capitec Pay — plus a native Shopify integration and no monthly fee. Paystack (2.9% + R1 local, 3.1% + R1 international) is cheaper on card transactions and has a far superior developer API, but supports fewer local payment methods. If you sell on Shopify, remember to add the 2% (Basic plan) third-party provider fee to both before comparing your true all-in cost.

Need help weighing up your options? Talk to the CrazyClicks e-commerce team — we build and optimise stores on both gateways every week.

Why this matters for South African businesses

Payment fees are one of the few costs that scale directly with your revenue. A 0.3% difference sounds small until you are processing R200,000 a month — that is R600 a month, R7,200 a year, just in rate. Add the per-transaction fees and the Shopify third-party fee on top, and the gap becomes real money that could fund ads, stock or better packaging.

South Africa has its own payment landscape too. Buyers here lean on instant EFT, Capitec Pay and scan-to-pay apps far more than in other markets, and POPIA means you need a gateway that handles customer data lawfully. A gateway that is perfect for a US store may be useless in South Africa if it does not support the ways South Africans actually pay.

Key fact: Over 22,000 active South African Shopify stores were running in May 2026, growing about 28% year-on-year, according to Shopify's own merchant data. Almost every one of them uses a local third-party gateway because Shopify Payments is not available in South Africa.

What is PayFast?

PayFast is South Africa's most established online payment gateway. Founded in 2007 and now operating as Payfast by Network after the acquisition by Network International, it was built specifically for the local market and has the widest set of payment methods of any gateway in the country.

Card rate: 3.2% + R2 per transaction (dropped from 3.5% on 1 June 2026 after the Network International acquisition)
Pay-by-Bank / Instant EFT: 2% with a minimum of R2
Monthly fee: none
Key methods: Visa and Mastercard, Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred, Capitec Pay

PayFast's strengths are breadth and reliability. If your customer wants to pay with SnapScan, Mobicred or a bank transfer, PayFast probably supports it out of the box. It also has a well-tested native Shopify app, which matters because Shopify Payments does not operate in South Africa and every local store needs a third-party gateway.

What is Paystack?

Paystack is a Nigerian fintech now owned by Stripe, operating in South Africa since 2018. It positions itself as the developer's gateway: a modern REST API, clean webhooks, seamless subscription billing and a much smoother integration experience than most incumbents.

Card rate: 2.9% + R1 local, 3.1% + R1 international
Pay-by-Bank / EFT: 2%
Monthly fee: none
Key methods: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Capitec Pay, Ozow EFT, Apple Pay

Paystack's weakness in South Africa is local method coverage. It does not natively support Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper or Mobicred the way PayFast does, and its EFT offering relies on partners such as Ozow. For an online-only store with a younger, card-happy customer base, that is usually fine. For a broad SME audience, it is a real gap.

Fees compared: PayFast vs Paystack

Here is the honest, up-to-date fee picture for mid-2026, based on each gateway's published South African pricing (rates exclude VAT):

Fee component	PayFast	Paystack
Local card rate	3.2%	2.9%
International card rate	3.2% (standard)	3.1%
Per-transaction fee	R2	R1
Pay-by-Bank / Instant EFT	2% (min R2)	2%
Monthly fee	None	None
Setup fee	None	None
Refund policy	Fees not refunded on card refunds	Fees not refunded on card refunds

On the surface, Paystack is cheaper on cards — 0.3% and R1 less per transaction. But the honest comparison needs context:

PayFast's 3.2% was cut from 3.5% in June 2026 after Network International bought the company, so the gap is smaller than it used to be.
Paystack charges extra for international cards (3.1%), which matters if you sell to customers in other countries.
EFT costs are identical at 2%, so any cost difference depends entirely on how many of your sales are card versus bank transfer.

The Shopify catch (crucial for South Africans)

Because Shopify Payments is not available in South Africa, Shopify charges an extra third-party payment provider fee on every sale: 2% on the Basic plan, 1% on the Grow plan, 0.6% on the Advanced plan (as of July 2026, per shopify.com/za/pricing). This stacks on top of your gateway fee:

Scenario	Gateway fee	+ Shopify Basic fee (2%)	True all-in
PayFast card	3.2% + R2	2%	~5.2% + R2
Paystack local card	2.9% + R1	2%	~4.9% + R1
Paystack international card	3.1% + R1	2%	~5.1% + R1

Key fact: According to Shopify's official South African pricing (2026), merchants on the Basic plan effectively pay about 5.2%–5.5% on PayFast card transactions once the third-party provider fee is included. That is why cutting your gateway rate matters.

The takeaway: Paystack is cheaper per card sale, but the gap on a Shopify Basic store is roughly 0.3 percentage points plus R1 — meaningful at volume, not a reason to switch alone.

Payment methods compared

This is where the two gateways genuinely diverge. South African shoppers expect choice at checkout.

Payment method	PayFast	Paystack
Visa / Mastercard	✅	✅
American Express	❌ (via card scheme)	✅
Instant EFT (Pay-by-Bank)	✅ 2%	✅ 2% (via Ozow)
Capitec Pay	✅	✅
SnapScan	✅	❌
Zapper	✅	❌
Mobicred	✅	❌
Ozow EFT	❌ (own EFT product)	✅
Apple Pay	❌	✅

PayFast's coverage wins for South African SME audiences. SnapScan and Zapper are used daily at coffee shops, markets and small retailers in Cape Town and Joburg, and Mobicred is the go-to buy-now-pay-later option for local fashion and electronics stores. If any meaningful share of your customers is not card-first, PayFast is the safer bet.

Paystack's Apple Pay support is genuinely useful for international customers and mobile-first shoppers, and its Ozow-based EFT covers Capitec, Absa, Nedbank, FNB, Standard Bank and other banks through Pay-by-Bank.

Settlement speed

Cash flow decides whether a small business survives the month, so settlement speed deserves real attention.

PayFast: Typically settles within 1–2 business days. PayFast also offers a settlement-on-request feature that lets you push your available balance to your bank account when you need it, plus instant-settlement options on some accounts.
Paystack: Pays out into your South African bank account roughly 1–2 business days after funds are confirmed. Funds are held until the payment is verified, then settled in batches.

Neither gateway offers the real-time ~90-second payouts that Peach Payments introduced in early 2026, but both are predictable enough for planning stock orders and supplier payments. If you live or die by next-morning cash, build a one-to-two-day buffer into your forecasting regardless of which you choose.

Shopify and WordPress integrations

Shopify

PayFast has a native, long-established Shopify app that most local developers consider the most reliable path. One-click install, no API keys to copy, and it surfaces Instant EFT, SnapScan and Capitec Pay at checkout automatically.
Paystack also has an official Shopify app and a newer checkout extension, but because it is not native to Shopify's payment processing the setup involves pasting API keys and, occasionally, a bit more care with rounding on taxes and shipping.

WordPress / WooCommerce

Both offer official WooCommerce plugins.
Paystack's plugin and webhooks give developers cleaner control over subscription flows and custom post-payment logic.
PayFast's plugin is simpler and very reliable for standard storefronts, which is why many WordPress developers default to it for small business sites.

Note: Not sure whether Shopify or WooCommerce is right for you? Read our full Shopify vs WooCommerce showdown before you commit.

Developer experience

If you have a developer, this is the section to read carefully.

Paystack is widely considered the superior developer platform. Its API is modern, clean and well documented; its webhooks are precise; and its subscription billing and customer-verification endpoints are a pleasure to integrate. Because Paystack is Stripe-owned, it inherits Stripe's engineering culture and release cadence. For a custom build, a React or Next.js storefront, or a SaaS billing loop, Paystack is the better tool.

PayFast is simpler but more constrained. It has a workable API and webhooks, but the documentation and endpoints feel older, and some advanced flows (subscriptions, split payments, wallet-style balance handling) require more workarounds. For a standard store with occasional custom touches, it is perfectly fine.

The honest framing: Paystack wins if you are building something bespoke; PayFast wins if you want the least-friction standard integration with the widest local coverage.

Account approval and support

PayFast: Approval is generally fast for a standard South African business — a few working days with your ID, bank details and business information. Support is local, responsive and well regarded in South African merchant communities.
Paystack: Account creation and verification are also quick for legitimate businesses, and Paystack's support and documentation are excellent. Because Paystack's local operations sit under Stripe, some merchants report slightly more automated hoops for unusual use cases such as high-risk categories.

Both gateways take POPIA and card-security compliance seriously, so you will be asked to verify your identity and business. Neither should block a legitimate South African business for more than a few days.

Pros and cons

PayFast

Pros:

Widest local payment method coverage (Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred, Capitec Pay)
Native, one-click Shopify integration
No monthly fee and a simple, predictable pricing model
Local support and settlement-on-request
Card rate dropped to 3.2% in June 2026

Cons:

Higher card rate and per-transaction fee (3.2% + R2)
No Apple Pay
Older, less flexible API for custom builds
International card pricing less competitive

Paystack

Pros:

Cheaper local card rate (2.9% + R1)
Developer-first API, webhooks and subscriptions (Stripe-owned)
Apple Pay and American Express support
Clean dashboard and strong documentation
Great for custom and SaaS-style builds

Cons:

Fewer local methods (no SnapScan, Zapper or Mobicred)
EFT depends on Ozow partnership
International cards cost 3.1%
Slightly more setup friction on Shopify

Decision tree: which gateway should you pick?

Follow this decision tree to reach your answer in four steps.

Step 1 — Are you building a custom solution or SaaS?
Yes → Paystack (the API is a differentiator).
No → continue.
Step 2 — Will a meaningful share of customers pay via EFT, SnapScan, Zapper or Mobicred?
Yes → PayFast (it is the only one of the two covering all of them).
No → continue.
Step 3 — Are you on Shopify, or planning to move to Shopify?
Yes → PayFast for the one-click native app; Paystack if lower card fees matter more and your audience is card-heavy.
No → continue.
Step 4 — Do you sell internationally?
Yes → Paystack (Apple Pay, Amex, international card support).
No → PayFast for local coverage and simplicity.

In short: PayFast = broad local coverage, simplest path. Paystack = cheaper cards and developer power.

After the comparison tables, the natural next question is which platform to run them on. If you have not chosen your storefront yet, Shopify's current introductory offer gives you a low-cost way to start — and both gateways integrate with it cleanly.

Worked examples in Rands

Let us put real numbers on the table. Assume an average order value of R200, all-local card payments, and roughly 250 orders at R50,000/month and 1,000 orders at R200,000/month.

Scenario 1: R50,000 monthly revenue, ~250 orders

Cost line	PayFast	Paystack
Rate (3.2% vs 2.9%)	R1,600	R1,450
Per-transaction fee (R2 vs R1 × 250)	R500	R250
Gateway total	R2,100	R1,700
Shopify Basic third-party fee (2%)	R1,000	R1,000
True all-in cost	R3,100	R2,700

At R50,000/month, Paystack saves you R400 a month (~R4,800 a year) on an all-card Shopify Basic store.

Scenario 2: R200,000 monthly revenue, ~1,000 orders

Cost line	PayFast	Paystack
Rate (3.2% vs 2.9%)	R6,400	R5,800
Per-transaction fee (R2 vs R1 × 1,000)	R2,000	R1,000
Gateway total	R8,400	R6,800
Shopify Basic third-party fee (2%)	R4,000	R4,000
True all-in cost	R12,400	R10,800

At R200,000/month, Paystack saves you R1,600 a month (~R19,200 a year) — real money, but it assumes your customers happily pay by card.

Scenario 3: The realistic mix (70% card, 30% Instant EFT, R200,000/month)

Cost line	PayFast	Paystack
Card portion (R140,000)	R4,480 + R1,400 = R5,880	R4,060 + R700 = R4,760
EFT portion (R60,000 at 2%)	R1,200	R1,200
Gateway total	R7,080	R5,960
Shopify Basic third-party fee (2%)	R4,000	R4,000
True all-in cost	R11,080	R9,960

The blended gap is R1,120/month. But notice: if your mix is 50% EFT or worse, the difference shrinks because EFT is 2% on both. The more your customers use Pay-by-Bank, the less Paystack's card-rate advantage matters.

Key fact: A rule of thumb used by South African agencies (including ours): on a Shopify Basic plan, budget 6–8% of revenue as the total platform cost — subscription, gateway fees, Shopify's third-party fee and essential apps — before marketing spend.

Step-by-step: setting up your gateway on Shopify

Whether you choose PayFast or Paystack, the setup follows the same shape. Here is the proven path.

Create your business account. Sign up on payfast.co.za or paystack.com and choose the South African business account type.
Complete verification. Upload your ID or company registration, confirm your trading details and add your payout bank account. Most legitimate businesses are approved within a few working days.
Generate your API keys. In Paystack, open Settings → API Keys. In PayFast, use the integration panel in your dashboard to get your merchant ID, merchant key and passphrase.
Open Shopify and navigate to Settings → Payments. You will see the third-party provider options.
Connect your gateway. For PayFast, install the official app from the Shopify App Store. For Paystack, select it as a provider and paste your API keys.
Run a test order. Place a low-value order through the checkout and confirm the money, status and settlement flow correctly in both dashboards.
Go live and track. Record your baseline fee percentage, then review settlement reports monthly so you can spot drift and renegotiate at volume.

Want a store that converts from the start instead of learning the hard way? CrazyClicks offers Shopify development services and WooCommerce development for exactly this.

Beginner mistakes to avoid

Ignoring the Shopify third-party fee. Every SA merchant pays it (2% on Basic). Forgetting it makes the gateway comparison look 2% better than reality.
Choosing by rate alone. A 0.3% rate saving is worthless if 20% of your customers abandon checkout because their preferred method is missing.
Not checking international pricing. Paystack charges 3.1% on international cards — if you sell to tourists or export, run those numbers.
Skipping a test transaction. Gateway failures usually surface at checkout, costing you sales on launch day. Always test.
Ignoring refund fees. Neither gateway refunds the fee on refunded card transactions, so high-return categories pay twice.
Forgetting POPIA compliance. Your checkout collects personal data. Make sure your privacy policy and data handling are POPIA-compliant before you take real payments.
Running a single gateway without a backup. If PayFast or Paystack has an outage, a second gateway (or manual invoice fallback) keeps you selling.
Neglecting settlement timing. If you assume money lands the same day and spend against it, a two-day settlement can put you in the red. Buffer for one-to-two business days.

Expert tips

Track your card-to-EFT mix monthly. Your real cost depends on it. Pull the report from your gateway dashboard and recompute your blended rate every quarter.
Move heavy EFT users to Pay-by-Bank. Instant EFT is 2% on both gateways versus 3.2% on PayFast cards — encourage bank payment for high-value orders with a small discount.
Re-shop your gateway at R100k+ revenue. Volume gives you leverage. PayFast has published tiered options and Peach Payments (2.95%, ~90-second payouts) is worth a quote at that level.
Use Paystack for subscriptions. If you sell memberships or recurring billing, Paystack's subscription API beats PayFast's older recurrence tools.
Put Mobicred on high-ticket items. For fashion and electronics over R500, PayFast's Mobicred integration reduces cart abandonment among credit users.
Keep international cards on Paystack. If you get occasional foreign buyers, route them to Paystack's 3.1% international card lane rather than PayFast's standard rate.
Test checkout speed on mobile. South Africans shop on phones. Slow, heavy checkouts destroy conversion; run your gateway's mobile checkout on a real device.
Pair your gateway with conversion optimisation. A cheaper gateway does not matter if your store converts poorly. CrazyClicks runs conversion optimisation audits that cover checkout UX end to end.

The quick-start checklist

Compared PayFast and Paystack fees using your real card-to-EFT mix
Added the Shopify third-party provider fee (Basic 2%, Grow 1%, Advanced 0.6%) to the true cost
Confirmed the gateway supports the payment methods your customers actually use
Checked international card pricing if you sell outside South Africa
Verified POPIA compliance and a lawful basis for processing customer data
Created and verified the gateway business account
Connected the gateway to Shopify or WooCommerce
Ran a test order end to end (card + EFT)
Set a settlement buffer of 1–2 business days in your cash-flow forecast
Booked a monthly review of fees and settlement reports

South African case study

Illustrative example for educational purposes — names and figures are fictional but realistic.

The store: "Karoo & Co", a Cape Town-based homeware brand selling R200–R400 products online, ~R180,000/month in revenue across ~650 orders. Roughly 55% of orders pay by card, 30% by Instant EFT, 15% via SnapScan/Zapper from Instagram traffic.

The problem: Karoo & Co launched on Paystack because of the lower card rate, then noticed checkouts dropping from Instagram. Tracking showed customers bounced when they could not use SnapScan, Zapper or Instant EFT.

The fix: The team added PayFast as the primary gateway and kept Paystack as a backup for international orders and Apple Pay. After the switch, the checkout-to-order rate rose ~9%, and the mix shifted to 45% card / 35% EFT / 20% scan-and-pay.

The numbers: At ~R180,000/month, the blended gateway cost on PayFast was roughly R6,000 versus the old Paystack-era mix of ~R5,500 — an extra R500 a month. But the extra ~45 completed orders from the wider methods (at ~R220 average order value) added about R9,900 in monthly revenue.

The lesson: Karoo & Co chose the "cheaper" gateway on rate alone and lost more in abandoned checkouts than the rate difference ever saved them. For their broad, Instagram-driven audience, PayFast's method coverage paid for itself many times over.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the PayFast per-transaction fee?

A: PayFast charges R2 per card transaction on top of the 3.2% rate. Instant EFT is 2% with a minimum of R2 per transaction.

Q: What is the Paystack per-transaction fee?

A: Paystack charges R1 per card transaction on top of the 2.9% local rate (3.1% for international cards).

Q: Does PayFast support Mobicred?

A: Yes. PayFast is one of the few South African gateways with a native Mobicred integration, letting credit users pay over time at your checkout.

Q: Does Paystack support Apple Pay in South Africa?

A: Yes. Paystack supports Apple Pay, which is useful for mobile shoppers and international customers, something PayFast does not currently offer.

Q: Which gateway is better for a WordPress or WooCommerce store?

A: Both have official WooCommerce plugins. Paystack's webhooks and subscription API are more flexible for custom builds; PayFast's plugin is simpler for standard stores.

Q: Which gateway should a dropshipping store in South Africa use?

A: PayFast is the safer default for dropshipping because of its wide local method coverage and no monthly fee. See our dropshipping in South Africa guide for the full picture.

Q: Are PayFast fees refunded if I refund a customer?

A: No. Neither PayFast nor Paystack refunds its transaction fee when you refund a card payment, so factor that into high-return product categories.

Q: Can I accept American Express with PayFast or Paystack?

A: Paystack supports American Express. PayFast's card processing focuses on Visa and Mastercard.

Q: Do PayFast and Paystack comply with POPIA?

A: Both process personal data with South African law in mind, but compliance is ultimately your responsibility. Your store needs a privacy policy and a lawful basis for processing customer data.

Q: Which gateway settles faster?

A: They are broadly equal at 1–2 business days. PayFast's settlement-on-request is the main speed advantage if you need money quickly.

Q: What happens to my fees on a Shopify Grow plan?

A: The Shopify third-party fee drops to 1% on the Grow plan, making both gateways cheaper in total. On Advanced it drops to 0.6%.

Q: Should I choose PayFast or Paystack for international customers?

A: Paystack is better for international sales: Apple Pay, American Express and a dedicated 3.1% international card rate.

Summary

PayFast and Paystack are both excellent South African payment gateways, but they serve different profiles. PayFast is the broad-coverage, low-friction default for most SMEs, offering Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred and Capitec Pay at 3.2% + R2, with no monthly fee and a native Shopify app. Paystack is the developer's gateway, cheaper on local cards at 2.9% + R1, with Apple Pay, American Express and a Stripe-grade API — at the cost of fewer local payment methods. Run your real card-to-EFT mix through the worked examples above, remember Shopify's 2% third-party fee on Basic, and you will know exactly which one saves your business the most Rands.

Key Takeaways

PayFast wins on local payment method coverage and simplicity; Paystack wins on card fees and developer experience.
On a Shopify Basic store, add the 2% third-party provider fee to both — true card costs are ~5.2% on PayFast vs ~4.9% on Paystack.
At R200,000/month all-card, Paystack saves about R1,600/month on Shopify Basic; at R50,000/month it is roughly R400/month.
A wider method mix (Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred) often beats a lower card rate for South African audiences.
Use PayFast as the primary and Paystack as a backup (Apple Pay, international cards, subscriptions) to get the best of both.

Ready to Launch Your Online Store?

Whichever gateway you choose, you still need a store that converts. South African merchants on Shopify benefit from clean templates, a fast checkout and built-in local features, and right now Shopify's current introductory offer makes starting inexpensive. If you would rather not build it yourself, CrazyClicks is a full-service digital agency in Cape Town — see our services, view our case studies, or start a project today.

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