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E-Commerce · head to head

Authorize.net vs Braintree

Authorize.net logo

Authorize.net

E-Commerce

We help make it easy to get paid

From
$25/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Braintree logo

Braintree

E-Commerce

PayPal's payment gateway and processor for cards, PayPal, Venmo and digital wallets

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Authorize.net all-in-One plan charges 2.9% + 30¢ per card transaction, higher than Gateway-only rate of 10¢ + batch fee; Braintree the merchant relationship sits with PayPal, whose risk operations can place reserves on or hold funds in accounts they flag, and appeals run through support queues, so a business with thin working capital carries real exposure to a decision it cannot negotiate.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authorize.net and Braintree actually diverge.

Attributes where Authorize.net and Braintree differ
AttributeAuthorize.netBraintree
Starting price$25/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptiontransaction

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Authorize.net

Nothing recorded that Braintree does not also cover.

Only in Braintree

  • Card processing
  • PayPal and Venmo acceptance
  • Digital wallets
  • Hosted fields
  • Card vault
  • Recurring billing
  • Split payouts
  • Multi-market coverage

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Authorize.net

  • E-commerce payment processingnot Braintree
  • Recurring billing and subscription managementnot Braintree
  • Multi-channel payment acceptancenot Braintree

Braintree

  • A United States consumer brand that wants Venmo in the checkout rather than as an off-site redirectnot Authorize.net
  • A subscription business that needs a vault and recurring billing alongside wallet acceptancenot Authorize.net
  • A marketplace splitting each payment between the platform and multiple sellersnot Authorize.net
  • A merchant consolidating card and PayPal acceptance into a single integration and a single settlementnot Authorize.net

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Authorize.net

  • All-in-One plan charges 2.9% + 30¢ per card transaction, higher than Gateway-only rate of 10¢ + batch fee
  • Gateway + eCheck plan limited to U.S.-based businesses only
  • eCheck processing includes $10 minimum monthly fee on Gateway + eCheck plan
  • Chargeback fees apply: $0 for standard processing but $25 for eCheck chargebacks

Braintree

  • The merchant relationship sits with PayPal, whose risk operations can place reserves on or hold funds in accounts they flag, and appeals run through support queues, so a business with thin working capital carries real exposure to a decision it cannot negotiate.
  • Cross-border transactions and currency conversion carry additional charges on top of the headline rate, so an international customer base costs materially more per order than the quoted percentage suggests.
  • Disputes carry a per chargeback fee in addition to the reversed transaction amount, so a category with a high dispute rate loses money at roughly twice the rate a naive model predicts.
  • Leaving means requesting a vault export to another PCI compliant processor and then re-tokenising every stored card and every active subscription, which is an engineering project with a customer-visible failure mode if any subscription fails to migrate.
  • It is a payments component rather than a commerce platform, so checkout, tax determination, invoicing and refund workflow still have to be built and maintained somewhere else, and merchants who assume otherwise underestimate the integration.

Pricing, plan by plan

Authorize.net

$25/month
  • All-in-One$25/month
    • Merchant account and payment gateway
    • Transaction rate 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
    • Multiple payment types (cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay)
  • Gateway Only$25/month
    • Payment gateway only
    • For existing merchant account holders
    • Transaction rate 10¢ per transaction + 10¢ daily batch fee
  • Gateway + eCheck$25/month
    • Payment gateway with eCheck support
    • eCheck rate 0.75% per transaction
    • Credit card rate 10¢ per transaction + 10¢ daily batch fee

Braintree

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Braintree review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Authorize.net if

Nothing in the data separates Authorize.net from Braintree on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Authorize.net review

Choose Braintree if

  • You need card processing.
  • You also want paypal and venmo acceptance.
Braintree review

Questions people ask

Is Authorize.net or Braintree better?
Neither clearly leads. Authorize.net starts at $25/month and Braintree at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authorize.net or Braintree?
Authorize.net starts at $25/month and Braintree at On request.
Does Authorize.net or Braintree run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Authorize.net best used for?
Authorize.net is most often used for e-commerce payment processing, recurring billing and subscription management, multi-channel payment acceptance. Of those, e-commerce payment processing and recurring billing and subscription management are not what Braintree is typically brought in for.
What can Authorize.net do that Braintree cannot?
Braintree covers Card processing, PayPal and Venmo acceptance, Digital wallets, Hosted fields.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authorize.net: How much does Authorize.net cost?

Authorize.net charges a $25/month gateway fee across all plans. Transaction rates vary: All-in-One plan charges 2.9% + 30¢ per card transaction, Gateway-only plan charges 10¢ per transaction + 10¢ daily batch fee, and Gateway + eCheck charges 0.75% for eCheck or 10¢ + 10¢ batch for credit cards.

Source
Braintree: How is it different from using PayPal directly?

Braintree gives you a full processing account and a native checkout with cards, PayPal and Venmo in one integration, rather than a redirect flow bolted onto a separate card processor.

Authorize.net: Are there any setup or termination fees?

No setup fee or early termination fee applies to any Authorize.net plan. You can cancel your account without penalty once service usage stops.

Source
Braintree: Is Venmo the main reason to choose it?

For United States consumer brands, frequently yes. It is the practical route to native Venmo acceptance, and no competing processor offers an equivalent.

Authorize.net: What are the additional fees beyond the monthly gateway charge?

Beyond the $25/month fee, additional charges include Account Updater service at $0.25 per update, standard chargeback fees at $0 (but $25 for eCheck chargebacks), and returned item fee of $3 for eCheck payments. eCheck processing includes a $10 minimum monthly fee.

Source
Braintree: What does it actually cost?

A percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction on standard accounts, with interchange-plus available at volume. Add cross-border and currency conversion charges, plus a fee per chargeback, before comparing.

Authorize.net: What payment types does Authorize.net accept?

Authorize.net accepts credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and eCheck payments (Gateway + eCheck plan and higher). All plans include automated recurring billing, customer information manager, digital invoicing, and advanced fraud detection.

Source
Braintree: How hard is it to switch away later?

Harder than most merchants expect. The vault export to another compliant processor is possible but every stored card and subscription has to be re-tokenised and tested.

Braintree: Can PayPal hold my money?

Reserves and holds are a documented part of PayPal's risk management. Ask about reserve policy for your category and volume before you migrate revenue onto it.

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