Payfim vs CoinGate: EU Processor or Self-Hosted Gateway?

CoinGate is a European crypto payment processor that appeals to merchants who want to accept crypto but book revenue in euros, dollars or pounds. Payfim takes the self-hosted route: the payment goes straight from the customer to your wallet, and no company sits in between. Here is how they compare on fees, settlement, onboarding and features, using CoinGate's published information as of September 2026.

CoinGate vs Payfim comparison table

Fees change; check CoinGate's pricing page for your plan before comparing.

How much does CoinGate really cost?

The 1% processing fee is only part of it. CoinGate charges again when money leaves your CoinGate balance: a crypto payout costs EUR 0.50 plus 0.5%, and a payout that includes conversion costs EUR 0.50 plus 1.5%. SWIFT bank withdrawals are listed at 0.5%. Put together, a merchant who takes a payment and withdraws it as crypto pays roughly 1.5% plus a small fixed fee per payout.

Payfim's cost structure is simpler because there is no balance to withdraw. The customer's coins arrive in your wallet in the same transaction they send, and you pay only for the license - once - plus optional update renewals. See pricing.

A worked example: $10,000 a month

Take a store that receives $10,000 a month in crypto and withdraws it as crypto every week. On CoinGate's Standard plan, the 1% processing fee is about $100. Withdrawing the remaining balance as crypto adds 0.5% (roughly $50) plus EUR 0.50 for each of the four weekly payouts. That is around $150 a month plus about EUR 2 in fixed payout fees, before network fees. If you convert on the way out, the payout rate rises to 1.5%.

The same store on Payfim pays no processing or payout fee. The only ongoing cost is optional: $9 a year per module (or $39 for the bundle) to keep receiving updates after the first 12 months. The trade-off is that you receive the coins themselves, not euros in the bank.

Settlement and control

CoinGate's biggest advantage is fiat settlement. CoinGate says you can settle into EUR, USD or stablecoins, receive EUR, USD or GBP in your bank account, and get payouts in 180+ countries. Rates are locked at the moment of payment, so price moves between checkout and settlement are CoinGate's problem, not yours. For a European business that reports in euros, that removes a lot of work.

The cost of that convenience is that CoinGate holds your balance between payment and settlement - weekly on the Standard plan - and your access depends on your merchant account. Payfim takes the opposite trade-off: you are paid immediately and nobody can hold your funds, but you manage your own wallets and any conversion. Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC give you dollar value without a processor; see USDT vs USDC for online stores.

Verification: what does CoinGate ask for?

CoinGate is clear that merchant tools and fiat settlements require verification. Businesses provide a registration certificate, articles of association and a government-issued photo ID for the managing director or authorized person, and may be asked for shareholder or beneficial-owner details. CoinGate says verification usually takes from a few hours to a few business days, depending on business type and country.

Payfim has no equivalent step, because it is software you run rather than a financial service. Whatever you use, your own tax and regulatory obligations still apply and differ by country - check with a qualified professional.

Which coins can customers use?

CoinGate lists BTC (including Lightning), LTC, ETH, USDC on several networks such as Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base and BNB Smart Chain, TRX, BCH, XRP, SOL, DOGE, POL and other stablecoins. That multi-network USDC coverage is broader than Payfim's, which supports USDC on Ethereum only.

Payfim covers BTC, ETH, USDT on both TRON and Ethereum, USDC, XRP, BNB, SOL, TRX, DOGE, BCH, ADA, HYPE, LTC, LINK and Monero. Monero support uses a private view key or your own wallet RPC - never the spend key. The full table, with default confirmations and which coins need a free API key, is on supported coins.

When CoinGate is the better choice

• You want euros, dollars or pounds in your bank account without handling an exchange yourself.
• You are a registered business that is comfortable with verification and wants a regulated counterparty.
• You want Lightning payments with no setup.
• You sell on Wix or another platform CoinGate supports and Payfim does not.
• You want refunds and payouts handled from one dashboard rather than your own wallet.

When Payfim is the better choice

• You want to avoid percentage fees on both incoming payments and withdrawals.
• You are a sole trader or project without company documents to submit.
• You want to be paid immediately rather than on a weekly settlement cycle.
• Your customers ask for USDT on TRON, Cardano or Monero, which are built into Payfim - see accepting Monero.
• Your platform has a Payfim module but no CoinGate plugin, such as Shopware 6, CS-Cart, Blesta or FOSSBilling.

The bottom line

CoinGate is a good fit for registered businesses, especially in Europe, that want crypto as a payment method but euros, dollars or pounds as the outcome. It handles rate risk, settlement and compliance, supports Lightning, and costs roughly 1% to 2.5% depending on how you withdraw.

Payfim fits merchants who are comfortable receiving crypto and want to keep all of it. There is no account, no settlement cycle and no document check, and the software runs on the hosting you already have. If you are not sure whether you can live without fiat settlement, start by enabling stablecoins such as USDT or USDC; they behave like digital dollars and remove most of the volatility question.

Switching from CoinGate to Payfim

1. Withdraw your remaining CoinGate balance after the last settlement, and export your payment history.
2. Install the Payfim gateway on your hosting (installation guide), then add a receiving address for each coin.
3. Set confirmations per coin if the defaults do not suit you - Bitcoin uses 1 by default, Ethereum tokens 6. See confirmations explained.
4. Install the Payfim module for your platform and run a small test payment.
5. Disable the CoinGate plugin once any open invoices have expired.

Sources

Third-party facts were checked on the date shown above. Prices and features of other services change - always confirm on their official pages.

1. CoinGate - Pricing
2. CoinGate - Accept crypto payments (coins and Lightning)
3. CoinGate - Home page (settlement, verification, custody)
4. CoinGate - How to verify a merchant account (FAQ)
5. CoinGate - Plugins
6. CoinGate - WHMCS plugin (settlement currencies, rate lock)