Decision Center
Payment Solutions Decision Center
A plain, evidence-based way to answer one question: which crypto payment solution should your business actually use? Start from what you need. Sometimes the honest answer is "none of these fits yet," and we say so.
Start from your need
Each door leads to the solutions whose documented facts actually match, with the custody tradeoff named and every unknown left visible.
I want the easiest setup.
You trade self-custody for convenience. State that plainly to yourself before you sign up.
I want full self-custody.
You trade convenience for control. Expect real setup and maintenance work.
I want automatic bank deposits.
Bank settlement usually means custody and KYC. It is the convenient path, not the sovereign one.
I do not want to run a server.
Not running a server usually means trusting a provider with custody or availability.
I want to accept Lightning.
Lightning can be fast and cheap, but the operational burden varies enormously by how it is provided.
I want open-source, inspectable software.
Open source usually pairs with self-hosting, so expect to run the software yourself.
I want no third party in the payment path.
The lowest dependency is also the highest responsibility: backups, keys, and uptime are yours.
I want a low-commitment way to test crypto.
A trial is for learning, not for daily reliance. Do not build your books around it yet.
Or compare everything at once
See all published solutions side by side, on custody, settlement, hosting, Lightning, fees, and what happens if the provider disappears.
Compare all solutions
The full matrix, with every unknown shown as unknown.
Laboratory roadmap
What we have tested, what is pending, and why some answers are provisional.
How we evaluate
Categories, readiness, commitment, and why "unknown" is a real answer.
How to read everything here
Category tells you the kind of commitment
A custodial gateway, a self-hosted platform, and a Lightning rail are fundamentally different things to operate and trust. We sort by what you actually sign up for, not by the vendor's label.
Readiness and Commitment are two different axes
Readiness asks whether a solution is ready for a typical merchant. Commitment asks how much you must operate and maintain. A solution can be very ready but high-commitment, or low-commitment but not merchant-ready. We never collapse them.
Why "unknown" is sometimes the correct answer
When a vendor does not document how a refund behaves, or what a fee is, we mark it unknown and leave it unknown. We never infer an answer from marketing or from the existence of an API.
It is not an affiliate ranking, and it is not crypto boosterism. We take no vendor money, and we are willing to say "run this," "accept the custody tradeoff," or "none of these fits your business yet." That honesty is the point.