Authorize.net is one of the longest-running payment gateways still in wide use. It was originally built for businesses that need a straightforward way to accept card payments online, without necessarily bundling in a full merchant account. Here’s what it actually costs across its three plans, and who it still fits in 2026.
Quick Verdict
Authorize.net fits businesses that already have a merchant account relationship and just need a gateway, or that want an established, widely-integrated option with predictable flat monthly pricing. It’s not the cheapest option for a brand-new business starting from zero. The $25/month fee is a fixed cost regardless of volume, and an all-in-one processor with no monthly fee avoids that cost entirely at low transaction counts.
- Capterra rates it 4.5/5 across 215 reviews, and G2 reviewers call it a gateway that “has never disappointed”
- Long-standing, well-tested integrations across major ecommerce platforms
- Trustpilot sits at just 1.4/5, with real complaints of frozen funds and accounts closed without explanation
- Increasingly under-featured for managing subscriptions, per G2 reviewers
Pricing, Verified
| Plan | Monthly fee | Per-transaction | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-in-One | $25 | 2.9% + 30¢ | Businesses needing both a merchant account and gateway together |
| Gateway Only | $25 | 10¢ + 10¢ daily batch fee | Businesses with an existing merchant account elsewhere |
| Gateway + eCheck | $25 | 0.75% (eCheck) / 10¢ + 10¢ batch (card) | Businesses that also need ACH/eCheck processing |
All three plans share the $25 monthly fee, no setup fee, and no early termination fee. The Gateway Only plan’s economics are the interesting one: at 10¢ per transaction plus a 10¢ daily batch fee, it’s dramatically cheaper per-transaction than the All-in-One plan’s 2.9% + 30¢ — but only if you already have a merchant account elsewhere to pair it with, since the gateway alone doesn’t move money into your bank account on its own.
Authorize.net fee calculator
Based on Authorize.net’s published plan pricing: $25/month flat on every plan, plus a per-transaction rate that depends on which plan you pick.
Method: figures use Authorize.net’s published per-plan pricing cited above — $25/month on every plan; All-in-One at 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction; Gateway Only at 10¢ per transaction plus a 10¢ daily batch fee (assumed here as one batch per day, roughly 30 batches/month, added to the monthly fee); Gateway + eCheck at 0.75% per eCheck transaction. Gateway Only and Gateway + eCheck require a separate merchant account whose own fees are not published by Authorize.net and are not included in this estimate — add your merchant account’s rate on top for those two plans.
Real-World Use Cases
- A business with an existing bank merchant account pairs it with the Gateway Only plan at 10¢ per transaction, ending up meaningfully cheaper per-sale than a percentage-based all-in-one processor once volume climbs.
- A store running on an older ecommerce platform with a long-standing Authorize.net plugin keeps the integration rather than migrating to a newer processor, avoiding the integration risk of a less battle-tested plugin.
- A brand-new business processing a handful of transactions a month skips Authorize.net entirely — the fixed $25 monthly fee is a real drag at low volume compared to a zero-monthly-fee competitor.
What Authorize.net Actually Is
Authorize.net is a payment gateway, not necessarily a full payment processor on its own. The Gateway Only plan specifically pairs with a separate merchant account — either your own bank’s merchant services or a bundled option — to move money from customer to business. This is a meaningfully different setup from all-in-one processors like Stripe or PayPal, which combine gateway and merchant account into one product by default. The All-in-One plan above closes that gap if you want Authorize.net without sourcing a separate merchant account.
Where It Still Makes Sense
- Businesses that already have a merchant account. If you have an existing relationship with a bank or merchant services provider, the Gateway Only plan’s 10¢-per-transaction rate is considerably cheaper than a percentage-based fee at any meaningful volume.
- Established ecommerce platforms with built-in Authorize.net support. Many older ecommerce platforms and plugins have long-standing, well-tested Authorize.net integrations, which reduces integration risk versus a newer processor.
- Businesses wanting gateway/merchant-account separation. Some businesses prefer keeping these separate specifically for negotiating leverage on merchant account rates independently of the gateway.
Authorize.net vs. All-in-One Processors
| Authorize.net | Stripe / PayPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | $25 flat, every plan | Typically none |
| Per-transaction (All-in-One) | 2.9% + 30¢ | Comparable published rates, no monthly fee added on top |
| Setup | Gateway, optionally + separate merchant account | All-in-one, faster to start |
| Best for | Existing merchant banking relationships, or established platform integrations | Businesses starting from scratch with no existing infrastructure |
The practical math: at low volume, a $25/month fixed cost is a real drag compared to a processor with no monthly fee. You’re paying $25 whether you process one transaction or a thousand. At higher volume, especially on the Gateway Only plan paired with a competitively-priced merchant account, Authorize.net’s per-transaction economics can beat an all-in-one processor’s percentage-based fee outright.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Gateway Only’s 10¢-per-transaction rate beats percentage-based fees at real volume, if you already have a merchant account | Flat $25/month fee applies on every plan regardless of transaction volume |
| No setup fee and no early termination fee on any plan | Gateway Only and Gateway + eCheck require a separate merchant account whose own fees aren’t published by Authorize.net |
| Long track record and deep integration support across older ecommerce platforms | Not the cheapest starting point for a business with no existing merchant infrastructure |
| All-in-One plan removes the need to source a merchant account separately | Percentage rate on All-in-One (2.9% + 30¢) is comparable to newer processors with no added monthly fee |
Detailed Analysis
The $25 monthly fee is the whole decision at low volume
At low transaction counts, the flat $25/month fee is a fixed tax on every plan Authorize.net offers, one that a zero-monthly-fee all-in-one processor like Stripe simply doesn’t charge. Run the calculator above at a modest monthly revenue and the effective fee rate climbs noticeably higher than the headline 2.9% + 30¢ suggests, purely because that $25 is being spread across fewer transactions. This is the single biggest reason a brand-new business with no existing merchant relationship should default to a no-monthly-fee competitor rather than Authorize.net, regardless of its integration pedigree.
Gateway Only only wins if you’re doing the math correctly
The Gateway Only plan’s 10¢-per-transaction rate looks dramatically cheaper than the All-in-One plan’s percentage-based fee, and at real volume it genuinely is. That’s only true once you add back the cost of the separate merchant account it requires — a cost Authorize.net doesn’t publish and that varies by provider. Anyone comparing Gateway Only against an all-in-one processor needs to price in that merchant account’s own rate before concluding Authorize.net is cheaper. Skip that step and the comparison is misleading in Authorize.net’s favor.
Our Rating, and How We Reached It
| Criteria | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 8/10 | All three plans and their fee structures are clearly published, though Gateway Only’s required merchant account cost is not. |
| Value at low volume | 4/10 | The flat $25 monthly fee is a real drag for a business with modest transaction counts, versus zero-fee competitors. |
| Value at high volume with existing merchant account | 8/10 | Gateway Only’s 10¢-per-transaction rate is genuinely competitive once volume is real and a merchant account is already in place. |
| Integration maturity | 9/10 | Long-standing, well-tested support across many established ecommerce platforms and plugins. |
Overall: 7.25/10. Scored highest for businesses with existing merchant banking relationships or established-platform integrations, and lowest for brand-new, low-volume businesses starting from zero. Pricing verified directly against Authorize.net’s own pricing page at the time of writing.
PROOF Score
Overall: 6.6 / 10 — Conditional. Scored under our PROOF methodology — five checkable pillars, not a vibe.
Should You Buy Authorize.net?
- Buy Gateway Only if you already have a merchant account and expect real transaction volume — its per-transaction rate beats percentage-based fees at scale.
- Buy All-in-One if you want Authorize.net’s integration pedigree without sourcing a separate merchant account.
- Skip it if you’re a brand-new, low-volume business with no existing merchant infrastructure — the flat $25/month fee outweighs the benefits until volume grows.
- Price in the merchant account cost before assuming Gateway Only is cheaper than an all-in-one processor — that cost isn’t published by Authorize.net and varies by provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a separate merchant account to use Authorize.net?
Not necessarily — the All-in-One plan bundles both for $25/month plus 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. The Gateway Only plan, at a lower per-transaction rate, does require you to already have or separately obtain a merchant account.
Is Authorize.net still relevant compared to newer processors?
Yes for a specific case: businesses that already have merchant banking relationships, or that are integrating with an established ecommerce platform with long-standing Authorize.net support. For a business starting completely from scratch with no existing infrastructure, a no-monthly-fee all-in-one processor is frequently the simpler and cheaper starting point.
Is the $25 monthly fee worth it at low transaction volume?
Do the math against your actual expected volume before committing. At very low volume, that fixed $25 can be a meaningful percentage of your total processing cost — one that a zero-monthly-fee competitor simply doesn’t charge.
How We Assessed This
Every price above is taken directly from Authorize.net’s own pricing page at the time of writing. Disclosure: this page contains no affiliate links currently — the product URL is a plain link.
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