How to Integrate Payment Gateways in Your MVP (Stripe, PayPal, etc.)

If your MVP charges money — and it should — you need a payment gateway. The right choice depends on your business model, target market, and technical requirements. This guide compares the major options and shows you how to integrate each one.

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Payment Gateway Comparison

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Stripe (Recommended for Most MVPs)

Why Stripe Wins

• Handles every payment model (one-time, subscription, marketplace splits)
• Hosted checkout (no PCI compliance needed)
• Excellent documentation and developer experience
• Webhooks for event-driven architecture
• Customer portal for self-service billing
• Global support (135+ currencies)

When to Choose Stripe

• SaaS with subscriptions
• eCommerce stores
• Marketplaces (Stripe Connect)
• Any product where you want full control

Integration Steps

1. Create a Stripe account and get API keys
2. Install SDK: npm install stripe @stripe/stripe-js
3. Create a Checkout Session on your backend
4. Redirect user to Stripe's hosted checkout page
5. Handle success/cancel redirects
6. Set up webhook endpoint for payment events
7. Update your database based on webhook events

Key Webhooks

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PayPal

When to Choose PayPal

• Your customers are international (PayPal is trusted worldwide)
• You want to offer PayPal as a second payment option alongside Stripe
• Your audience is less tech-savvy (PayPal is familiar)

PayPal + Stripe Together

Many successful products offer both. Stripe as the primary gateway, PayPal as an alternative. This can increase conversion by 5-15% in some markets.

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LemonSqueezy

When to Choose LemonSqueezy

• Selling digital products (ebooks, courses, software licenses)
• You want to avoid tax compliance headaches (LemonSqueezy is a merchant of record)
• Simplest possible setup

Trade-offs

• Higher fees (5% + 50¢ vs Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢)
• Less flexibility than Stripe
• They handle tax collection and remittance (big advantage for solo founders)

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Choosing Your Gateway: Decision Tree

Are you building a SaaS with subscriptions? → Stripe

Are you selling digital products and want zero tax hassle? → LemonSqueezy or Paddle

Are you building a marketplace with split payments? → Stripe Connect

Do you need PayPal for international trust? → Add PayPal alongside Stripe

Are you targeting India specifically? → Razorpay

Do you just want the absolute simplest setup? → Gumroad or LemonSqueezy

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Payment Security Essentials

Regardless of which gateway you choose:

• Never store credit card numbers in your database
• Use HTTPS everywhere
• Verify webhook signatures
• Use environment variables for API keys (never hardcode)
• Handle payment failures gracefully (show clear error messages)
• Test with test/sandbox mode before going live
• Log payment events for debugging (but not card details)

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Final Thoughts

For 90% of MVPs, Stripe is the right choice. It handles every payment model, has the best developer experience, and scales from your first dollar to millions. Start with Stripe Checkout (hosted) for the fastest implementation, and add custom payment UIs only when you need them.

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Building a SaaS? Read How to Build a Subscription SaaS MVP.

Need a boilerplate with payments? Browse on MVPHub.

Building a marketplace? See How to Build a Marketplace MVP.

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