Airwallex vs Stripe vs Adyen vs PayPal: Which Payment Processor to Choose on Checkify for Shopify Merchants

When integrating a payment processor with Checkify.pro, the decision often comes down to four factors: ease of technical setup, difficulty of registration, global flexibility, and the diversity of local payment methods (APMs) you can offer to buyers.
The setup is generally the same for all the processors: a simple, secure and no-code API integration between the gateway and Checkify. Therefore, we will highlight the other factors below.

Note: Data as of October 2025. Currencies, countries and payment methods are subject to change over time.

1. Ease of onboarding and know your customer (KYC) process

This factor is essential for new and scaling businesses, as it dictates how quickly you can start processing payments.

• Stripe & Airwallex (easy & fast): Both Stripe and Airwallex are designed for digital onboarding. The application process is swift, conducted entirely online, and generally requires minimal time to get approved and receive your live account with an option of generating the API keys. They are ideal for startups and growing businesses.
• PayPal (moderate): Setting up a basic PayPal business account is generally fast. Integration with Checkify is also easy, making it the perfect and trustful solution for accepting payments globally via the PayPal infrastructure. However, country restrictions, complexity of testing and unexpected limitations and freezes by the platform may spoil the day for a business owner.
• Adyen (hardest / enterprise focus): Adyen is built to serve large, high-volume merchants and global enterprises. They typically have strict onboarding criteria and often require a significant annual transaction volume (often cited as $5-10 million or more). While Adyen is technically connectable on Checkify, securing an Adyen merchant account requires a rigorous application process. The existing Adyen customers may benefit from Checkify’s high-converting checkout solution almost instantly.

2. Global reach and currency capabilities

While all four platforms facilitate global transactions, their licensing and multi-currency features vary. We sum up the supported currencies for transactions via Checkify checkouts below:

• Stripe (supported currencies): Stripe allows you to process payments in 135 currencies.
• Adyen (supported currencies): Adyen offers support for about 144 currencies, covering nearly every major and minor market.
• Airwallex (supported currencies): Airwallex supports charging in 113 currencies directly through the Checkify integration, covering the vast majority of international markets.
• PayPal (supported currencies): PayPal businesses may sell via Checkify and collect payments in 24 currencies.

3. Non-card payments

Offering local and alternative payment methods is critical for maximizing checkout conversion, as many European buyers prefer bank transfers or regional wallets over international credit cards. The payment habits in Asia, in the Americas also differ drastically.

• Adyen (highest diversity): Adyen offers the highest sheer number of options, supporting over 100 local payment methods on Checkify.pro due to its deep integration into country-specific financial systems across the world.
• Airwallex (strong APAC and multi-national focus): Airwallex is excellent for European, Asian-Pacific markets. The Checkify integration specifically highlights high-demand methods like:

iDEAL (Netherlands)
Multibanco (Portugal)
Klarna (a global BNPL)
P24 / BLIK (Poland)
AliPay & WeChat Pay (Asia)

• Stripe: Stripe offers a robust set of APMs, including all major digital wallets and popular European and American options.
• PayPal: PayPal’s strength lies in its own branded methods, a set of popular EU / US payment methods, including the PayPal digital wallet and PayPal Pay Later options.

The best choice depends entirely on the size and scope of your business that focuses on sales via Shopify.
Choosing the right payment processor comes down to aligning the gateway's strengths with your business stage and target market. For most merchants focused on growth and cross-border European sales, Airwallex and Stripe offer the best blend of rapid onboarding, global currency support, and essential APMs like iDEAL, Klarna and Multibanco. While Adyen remains the gold standard for high-volume, global enterprises, its strict requirements often make it unsuitable for scaling merchants.

A robust payment strategy on Checkify.pro usually involves more than just one processor. For example, Stripe and PayPal are activated together. A best practice is to utilize 1-2 primary processors to cover different geographic or payment method needs, express checkout (buy now) buttons, while maintaining a unified checkout experience. Crucially, do not overlook manual payment methods such as ‘cash on delivery’. Checkify.pro fully supports these options, which are often vital in markets where cash, crypto remains preferred or card penetration is low, ensuring you capture maximum conversion across all consumer segments.