Payment methods
Buy now, pay later providers compared for online stores
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Buy now, pay later (BNPL) lets a shopper take the order today and pay the provider over time, often in three or four interest-free parts or in one payment a few weeks later. The store is paid the full amount upfront, minus fees, and the provider collects the installments. This guide compares the main providers by country, plan, order limits, refunds and disputes, and says which ones PlatformDTC checkout offers today.
| Provider | In short |
|---|---|
| Klarna | Pay in full, in 30 days, in 3 or 4 parts, or financing; store paid upfront, Klarna takes the credit risk. |
| Afterpay / Clearpay | Four interest-free payments every two weeks in the US, Canada, UK (as Clearpay), Australia and New Zealand. |
| Affirm | US and Canadian financing from pay in 4 to 36 monthly payments; orders from $35 to $30,000. |
| PayPal Pay Later | PayPal's own installments inside the PayPal button: pay in 4, pay in 3, pay in 30 days or monthly, by country. |
| Zip | Australian line of credit (Zip Pay, Zip Money) and US pay in 4; the store is paid upfront. |
| Sezzle | US and Canadian pay in 4, pay in 5 and monthly plans; Sezzle pays the store upfront and handles repayment. |
| Alma | French-born pay in 2, 3 or 4 for euro shoppers; €50 to €5,000 orders on Stripe, store paid upfront. |
| Riverty | Pay by invoice in 14 or 30 days, monthly invoice and installments, mainly in DACH, Benelux and the Nordics. |
| Scalapay | Italian-born pay in 3, pay in 4 and pay later for shoppers in euro countries; euro only. |
| Tabby | Gulf pay in 4 and longer plans in Saudi Arabia and the UAE; merchants receive the full amount in days. |
| Tamara | Sharia-compliant pay in full or split in 2, 3 or 4 in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain; no interest. |
Which BNPL options PlatformDTC checkout offers
PlatformDTC checkout offers two BNPL methods through the store's own Stripe account: Klarna and Afterpay (called Clearpay in the UK). Both are switched on by default for stores on PlatformDTC Payments, and an owner can switch either one off. They appear only on one-time orders, never on a subscription cart, because neither can pay for the renewals that follow. The shopper always pays in their own local currency, and the order total has to fall inside the range below.
Klarna can sell across borders only between countries in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland. Everywhere else, and for Afterpay in every country, the shopper has to be in the same country as the store. If Stripe refuses Klarna on a payment, checkout drops it and carries on with card payment, so the shopper is never stuck.
PayPal Pay Later is PayPal's own product. It can appear inside the store's PayPal button when PayPal finds the shopper eligible, on stores that don't take cards through PayPal card fields. PayPal Credit is switched off. PlatformDTC checkout does not offer the other providers on this page today.
| Currency | Shopper countries | Klarna | Afterpay / Clearpay |
|---|---|---|---|
| US dollar | United States | $1 to $10,000 | $1 to $2,000 |
| British pound | United Kingdom | £1 to £4,000 | £1 to £1,200 |
| Euro | Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Spain | €1 to €10,000 | Not available |
| Euro | France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal | €1 to €4,000 | Not available |
| Euro | Netherlands | €1 to €5,000 | Not available |
| Australian dollar | Australia | A$1 to A$4,000 | A$1 to A$4,000 |
| Canadian dollar | Canada | C$1 to C$17,500 | C$1 to C$2,000 |
| New Zealand dollar | New Zealand | NZ$10 to NZ$2,000 | NZ$1 to NZ$4,000 |
| Swiss franc | Switzerland | CHF 1 to CHF 5,000 | Not available |
| Swedish, Danish and Norwegian krona/krone, Czech koruna | Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Czechia | 1 to 100,000 in local currency | Not available |
| Polish złoty | Poland | 1 to 20,000 PLN | Not available |
| Romanian leu | Romania | 1 to 20,000 RON | Not available |
How the providers compare
Most BNPL providers work the same way for the store: the shopper is sent to the provider to sign in and pick a plan, the store is paid in full, and the provider takes the risk that the shopper does not repay. The differences are where they work, how big an order they accept, and how long you have to refund or answer a dispute.
| Provider | Where shoppers can use it | Typical plans | On PlatformDTC checkout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klarna | 23 countries in Europe, North America and Oceania (via Stripe) | Pay in full, pay in 30 days, pay in 3 or 4, financing | Yes, one-time orders |
| Afterpay / Clearpay | US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand | Pay in 4 every two weeks; US monthly plans | Yes, one-time orders |
| Affirm | US and Canada (UK in preview on Stripe) | Pay in 30 days, pay in 4, 3 to 36 monthly payments | No |
| PayPal Pay Later | US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK | Pay in 4, pay in 3, pay in 30 days, monthly | Inside the PayPal button when PayPal offers it |
| Zip | Australia and US (via Stripe) | Zip Pay, Zip Money, US Pay in 4 | No |
| Sezzle | US and Canada | Pay in 4, pay in 5, monthly | No |
| Alma | France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (via Stripe) | Pay in 2, 3 or 4 | No |
| Riverty | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Nordics | 14- or 30-day invoice, monthly invoice, installments | No |
| Scalapay | Euro countries incl. Italy, France, Spain, Germany | Pay in 3, pay in 4, pay later | No |
| Tabby | Saudi Arabia and UAE | Pay in 4, longer plans up to 12 payments | No |
| Tamara | Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain | Pay in full, split in 2, 3 or 4 | No |
Frequently asked questions
- Can a shopper use Klarna or Afterpay to start a subscription on PlatformDTC?
- No. PlatformDTC checkout hides Klarna and Afterpay on any cart with a subscription, because neither leaves behind a payment method the store can charge for renewals. Subscribers pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal, which can all be charged again on renewal.
- Who loses the money if a BNPL shopper stops paying?
- The provider. Stripe's documentation says Klarna takes loss liability if the customer can't repay, and Afterpay covers losses from customer fraud or the inability to repay installments. The store keeps the order amount minus fees. Disputes and refunds still come back to the store like any other payment.
- Why doesn't Klarna or Afterpay show for some of my shoppers?
- On PlatformDTC checkout the method shows only when the shopper's country is supported, the order is in their local currency, the total is inside the provider's range, the cart has no subscription, and your Stripe account is allowed to sell to that country. Afterpay also needs the shopper in your own country.
- Does BNPL cost my store more than cards?
- The store pays the provider a fee on each order, and fees differ by provider and plan; Stripe links its Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm and Zip rates from each method's documentation. Shoppers pay nothing extra on most interest-free plans, though some, such as Zip's US pay in 4, charge the shopper a fee.
Sources
- Klarna payments — Stripe
- Afterpay and Clearpay payments — Stripe
- Pay Later overview — PayPal