Best payment gateway for marketplaces 2026

The best payment gateways for marketplaces in 2026 are Ryft, Stripe Connect, Adyen for Platforms, Mangopay, and Lemonway. Each handles multiparty transactions differently. The right choice depends on your transaction volume, seller base, and regulatory requirements.

Marketplace gateways are not the same as standard payment gateways. A standard gateway processes a single payment from buyer to merchant. A marketplace gateway must split funds across multiple sellers, automate platform fee deductions, and onboard and verify each seller. It must also ensure the platform remains compliant with PSD2 and relevant payment institution regulations. General-purpose gateways were not built to do this without significant custom development.

What is a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is the technology that authorises and processes payments between a buyer and a merchant. When a customer enters card details at checkout, the gateway encrypts that data, sends an authorisation request to the relevant bank, and returns an approval or decline in seconds.

For a full explanation of how payment gateways work and what to look for when choosing one, see our complete payment gateway guide.

‍

What marketplace operators actually need from a payment gateway

Three requirements separate a marketplace-ready gateway from a standard one.

Split payment logic

The gateway must divide incoming funds between the platform and one or more sellers automatically. It deducts the platform's commission and routes each seller's share to their account. Without this built in, the platform operator must build it, which is expensive and creates ongoing compliance obligations.

Seller onboarding and KYC

Every seller receiving payouts must be verified under PSD2. Platforms that route or hold funds on behalf of third parties in the EU or UK typically need to operate under an authorised payment institution or electronic money institution. Providers without this status transfer compliance risk to the platform.

Payout flexibility

Marketplaces need to pay sellers on different timescales, in different currencies, and sometimes subject to escrow or delayed release. The gateway must handle this within a single integration rather than requiring separate payout infrastructure.

‍

Comparison: best payment gateways for marketplaces 2026

‍

Ryft

Ryft is an FCA-authorised and PSD2-compliant embedded payments platform built specifically for marketplaces and platforms. It supports split payments to unlimited sellers per transaction. Built-in seller onboarding, KYC verification, and automated payouts are all included within a single integration.

Pricing is volume-based, which means costs reduce as transaction volume grows. Flat-rate pricing models scale against you as revenue increases. Volume-based pricing scales with you. Tuft reduced payment processing costs by 62% after switching from Stripe to Ryft. That figure reflects what this pricing difference means in practice at meaningful transaction volumes.

Ryft was built by founders who previously scaled a marketplace to over one million users. That background gives the platform a practical foundation in the operational complexity marketplace operators face. Named clients include Epos Now, Love The Sales, and OrderTiger.

Ryft is best suited to UK and European marketplace operators who need a purpose-built, regulated solution.

Stripe Connect

Stripe Connect is the most widely used marketplace payments layer globally. It offers three account types: Standard, Express, and Custom. Express handles onboarding within Stripe's flow with limited platform branding control. Custom gives full control but places compliance responsibility on the operator. Standard gives sellers their own full Stripe account.

Stripe's documentation is the strongest in the market, and its developer ecosystem is extensive. This makes it the default choice for early-stage platforms and developer-led teams who need to move quickly.

The main limitation at scale is pricing and support. Stripe's flat-rate model adds up materially as transaction volume grows. Operators processing significant volumes often find that switching to a volume-based provider is the single largest lever for reducing payment costs.

Adyen for Platforms

Adyen for Platforms is the enterprise option for large-scale global marketplaces. It holds PSD2 authorisation and local acquiring licences across Europe, the US, and Asia-Pacific. 

Adyen's interchange++ pricing can be competitive at very high volumes. However, the implementation, minimum volume requirements, and technical resource needed to go live make it unsuitable for most growing platforms.

Mangopay

Mangopay is a European marketplace payments specialist, originally designed for rental and peer-to-peer platforms. It operates a digital wallet model: buyers load funds into a wallet held by Mangopay, and the platform distributes to sellers at settlement. This gives Mangopay strong escrow and fund segregation capabilities.

Mangopay holds an EMI licence in Luxembourg and operates under PSD2. It suits platforms where holding periods, disputed transactions, or staged payments are common: rental, second-hand goods, services, and gig economy marketplaces. Pricing varies by transaction size and volume.

Lemonway

Lemonway is a Paris-based payment institution licensed by the ACPR in France. It operates across the EU under PSD2 passporting and is designed specifically for marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms, and multiseller ecommerce.

Its digital wallet model is similar to Mangopay's: sellers hold individual Lemonway wallets, and the platform distributes funds between them. Lemonway's strength is regulatory coverage across EU markets combined with a marketplace-first API. It has significant traction among European marketplace operators, particularly in France, Germany, and the Benelux region.

‍

How to choose a marketplace payment gateway

Four factors determine the right choice for your platform.

Regulatory status matters first. In the EU, platforms that route or hold funds on behalf of sellers must operate under a PSD2-authorised payment institution or electronic money institution. Providers not authorised in relevant markets transfer that compliance obligation to you. Confirm authorisation status before evaluating features.

Pricing model determines long-term economics. Flat-rate fees look predictable at low volumes and become expensive as revenue grows. Volume-based pricing scales with you. If you expect to process more than €500,000 annually, the pricing structure matters considerably more than any per-transaction headline rate.

Integration complexity affects time-to-market. Stripe Connect has the lowest barrier to entry and the most documentation. Adyen has the highest. Ryft, Mangopay, and Lemonway sit between them, with purpose-built marketplace APIs. These reduce the custom development required for split payments and seller onboarding.

Geographic scope determines payout infrastructure. If your sellers are concentrated in specific EU markets, confirm that your provider holds authorisation or passporting rights in those countries. Providers with local licences can offer faster payout routing and simpler compliance than those relying on passporting from a single jurisdiction.

‍

Why marketplaces choose Ryft 

Ryft is a leading Payment Services Provider (PSP) that specialises in payment solutions, ensuring full compliance and offering 24/7 support from humans. Using Ryft, businesses can accept payments anywhere, automate split payments, onboard sellers, set up delayed payments and recurring billing, earn commission from payment escrow, and much more.