How to Choose a Crypto Payment Gateway: 10 Criteria That Matter
Dozens of services promise crypto payments. Most differences only show up after you integrate. Here are the ten questions to ask before you write a line of code.
1. Which networks and assets?
More is not better. Every extra network is another way for customers to send funds to the wrong place and another set of fees. For everyday payments, USDT on TRON (TRC-20) covers most real demand at the lowest cost. Ask whether the gateway supports the assets your customers actually hold, and how it warns about wrong-network transfers.
2. Fee model
Look for a percentage on successful payments and nothing else. Setup fees, monthly minimums, per-invoice fees and withdrawal fees add up quickly for small merchants. Also check whether the network fee on withdrawal is passed through at cost or marked up.
3. Unique address per invoice
If every customer pays to the same address, the gateway has to match payments by amount, which fails the moment two customers pay the same price. A dedicated address per invoice makes matching exact and removes memo fields, which customers routinely forget.
4. Webhook security
Ask three questions: is the webhook signed with HMAC (not just a shared token in the URL), is the signature computed over the raw body, and are deliveries retried? Without a signature anyone who guesses your endpoint can mark orders as paid. See the webhook security guide.
5. Hosted checkout page
Building a good payment screen takes longer than the API integration: QR code, copy buttons, countdown, live status, mobile layout, network warning. A hosted page that you can redirect to or embed saves that work and gets updated for you.
6. Withdrawals and custody
Where do funds sit and how do you get them out? Look for withdrawals to your own address on demand, a clear minimum and fee, and encrypted key storage. Ask how sweeping from invoice addresses to the main balance works and whether it is automatic.
7. Documentation and examples
You should be able to integrate from the docs alone. Copy-paste examples in Node.js, PHP and Python, an OpenAPI schema, and a clear error table are signs of a gateway that expects developers to succeed without support tickets.
8. Approval and compliance
An approval step (project name, site URL, domain verification) is a good sign: it keeps obvious fraud off the platform and protects you as a merchant. Also confirm that the gateway is honest about regulation differing by country instead of promising universal legality.
9. Reliability and limits
How often is the chain scanned? How long is an invoice valid, and are late payments tracked? Are there rate limits, and are they documented? What happens when all addresses are in use? Predictable answers beat vague ones.
10. Transparency about limitations
A gateway that tells you what it does not do (no Bitcoin, no fiat, no chargeback protection because there are no chargebacks) is more trustworthy than one that claims everything. Read the FAQ and the limits page before the marketing page.
Checklist
- Supported assets match what customers hold
- Percentage-only fee, no monthly cost
- Unique address per invoice
- HMAC-signed webhooks over the raw body, with retries
- Hosted, embeddable checkout page
- Withdrawals to your own wallet on demand
- Docs with runnable examples and an OpenAPI schema
- Approval process and honest compliance language
- Documented scan interval, invoice lifetime and limits
- Clear statement of what is not supported
How KriptoGo answers these
KriptoGo supports USDT (TRC-20) and TRX only, charges 1% on successful payments with no monthly fee, assigns a unique TRON address to each invoice, signs webhooks with HMAC-SHA256 over the raw body and retries three times, provides a hosted checkout page with QR code and countdown, lets you withdraw to your own address, publishes full docs with Node.js, PHP and Python examples plus an OpenAPI schema, and approves projects after domain verification. It does not support Bitcoin, Ethereum tokens or card payments.
Deciding
Weight the criteria by your situation. A Telegram bot cares most about webhook reliability and low fees; an online store about the checkout page and order matching; a SaaS product about withdrawals and documentation. Run a small live test with two candidates before committing.
Next steps
If USDT on TRON fits your customers, the integration guide shows the full flow in under 30 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Should I pick a gateway that supports many coins?
Only if your customers actually pay with them. Each extra network adds wrong-network risk and support load. USDT on TRON covers most payment demand at the lowest cost.
Is a lower commission always better?
Compare the full cost: setup, monthly minimum, per-invoice and withdrawal fees. A 1% flat fee with nothing else is usually cheaper than a lower headline rate with fixed charges.
Do I need chargeback protection?
Crypto transfers are irreversible, so there are no chargebacks. Your remaining risks are wrong-network sends and your own webhook security.
Accept crypto payments in 30 minutes with KriptoGo
No setup fee, no monthly fee. Just 1% on successful payments.