Shopify Payments Alternatives: When Whop Makes Sense (and When It Does Not)

Why sellers look for Shopify Payments alternatives, what third-party gateways cost on Shopify, and how Whop compares on fees, payment methods and upsells.

By the OneClick Upsell team · · 3 min read
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"Shopify payments fees" is one of the fastest rising Shopify searches this year. Most people asking are trying to answer one question: is there a cheaper or more flexible way to take payments? This guide covers why sellers leave Shopify Payments, what it costs to use another provider on Shopify, and where Whop fits.

Why sellers look for an alternative

  • Fees. Card rates add up, especially on international sales.
  • Account holds or shutdowns. Some categories, like coaching, info products or anything Shopify Payments treats as higher risk, run into holds and reviews.
  • Country availability. Shopify Payments is not available everywhere.
  • Payment methods. Sellers want local methods, crypto or financing that their current setup does not offer.

The catch: third-party fees on Shopify

If you keep your Shopify store but use another payment provider, Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee on top of that provider's fees. Shopify's pricing page lists:

Shopify plan Third-party provider fee
Basic 2%
Grow 1%
Advanced 0.6%
Plus 0.2%

So a "cheaper" gateway can end up costing more once Shopify's cut is added. Run the numbers on your real volume before switching.

Add one-click upsells to your Whop

Install OneClick Upsell from the Whop App Store and offer a post-purchase upsell in a few minutes.

Option 1: Stay on Shopify, switch gateway

Works if you need Shopify's store features and your new gateway is cheap enough to absorb the extra fee. You keep themes, apps and inventory tools.

Option 2: Move checkout to Whop

Whop is the merchant of record on Whop Payments, and it can collect sales tax for you as an optional add-on. What you get:

  • Card pricing starting at 2.7% + $0.30 for domestic cards, with optional add-ons. See Whop fees and payouts.
  • Many payment methods that appear automatically: Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Cash App, ACH, crypto, iDEAL, SEPA and more, plus buy now pay later once approved. See Whop payment methods.
  • Payouts to banks, wallets or crypto in over 200 countries.

What to know before you move: Whop says it is still improving support for physical products. Today, sellers handle fulfillment with webhooks or Zapier and collect shipping details through custom fields. That works well for digital products, memberships and simple product lines, and less well for a large catalog with variants and live shipping rates.

Option 3: Hybrid

Many sellers keep Shopify for the catalog and use Whop for specific offers: a membership, a course, a high-ticket bundle or a product that keeps getting flagged elsewhere. Whop checkout links can be shared anywhere, including your Shopify store.

Quick comparison

Shopify Payments Third-party gateway on Shopify Whop
Extra platform fee None 0.2% to 2% None beyond Whop's rate
Merchant of record You You Whop
Local methods and BNPL Varies by country Depends on gateway Many, shown automatically
Physical product tools Full Full Basic, improving
Native one-click upsells Through apps Through apps Through apps such as OneClick Upsell

Keep the average order value you had

Shopify sellers are used to post-purchase upsells from apps like Zipify OCU. If you move offers to Whop, OneClick Upsell gives you the same pattern: order bumps, one-click upsells and downsells charged to the same card. See Zipify-style one-click upsells on Whop.

Moving also means moving customers and email. Our sister product WhopMail can import Shopify customers and connect to Whop, so abandoned checkout and win-back flows keep running. Read how to migrate from Shopify to Whop.

Sources

Ready to raise your order value?

Install OneClick Upsell on Whop and build your first upsell funnel today.

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