InstaPayments vs Paystack
InstaPayments
instapayments.ioPaystack
paystack.comSide by side
| Figure | InstaPayments | Paystack |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $25/mo | 1 NGN/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 10 |
| Spec score · Payment Processing Software | 8.9 (#9) | 8.8 (#11) |
| Documentation depth | The help center documents forms, portal features, notifications, integrations and API examples, with some pages last updated about five years ago. | Developer documentation provides interactive walkthroughs, code snippets, searchable guides, sample projects and API references. |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, United States | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Licence | The terms reserve all site intellectual-property rights and prohibit reproducing or selling site content, indicating proprietary software. | The Paystack platform is proprietary; separate PaystackOSS client libraries such as paystack-python are released under MIT. |
| Support | The official site offers live chat, email and phone contact, while the Premium plan includes priority support. | Paystack says its Customer Success team is available around the clock. |
| What it does | InstaPayments provides no-code Stripe payment pages and a customer billing portal. | Paystack is a payment service provider for African businesses supporting online and in-person payments. |
Plans
InstaPayments
- Essential$29 a month
- Growth$75 a month
- Premium$499 a month
- Braintree$25 a month
Paystack
- AccountFree
- Paystack transaction pricing (Nigeria)Free
- Dedicated virtual accounts1 NGN a month
- Nigeria local transactions1.51 NGN a month
- Nigeria international transactions3.91 NGN a month
- Nigeria transfers up to NGN 5,00010 NGN a month
- Nigeria transfers NGN 5,001–50,00025 NGN a month
- Nigeria transfers above NGN 50,00050 NGN a month
- Test SmartPeak P1000 terminal85,000 NGN, paid once
- Live SmartPeak P1000 terminal100,000 NGN, paid once
In their own words
InstaPayments
InstaPayments has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Paystack
Paystack helps businesses in Africa accept online and in-person payments from customers around the world. Listed channels include cards, bank accounts and transfers, USSD, POS, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa QR, and mobile money. Its APIs support one-time and recurring payments through an app or website, instant transfers, and customer identity verification. The dashboard provides reporting, alerts, exports, transaction reports, customer search, and purchase insights. Listed integrations include WooCommerce, Shopify, Chargebee, Zapier, Wix, and Xero; developer materials include an API and SDKs for Android, iOS, and Flutter. Paystack says its automated and manual fraud systems help protect against fraudulent transactions and related chargeback claims. It states that it is PCI DSS Level 1, ISO 27001:2022, and ISO 27701 certified. The pricing page lists no subscription, integration, or maintenance fee, but transaction fees apply. In Nigeria, local transactions cost 1.5% plus NGN 100; that NGN 100 is waived under NGN 2,500, with local fees capped at NGN 2,000. Automatic settlement is free and generally reaches the merchant's bank account the next working day.