1. Start with constraints, not features
Yes, you can run more than one gateway, and many stores do, but you should still decide which one is primary: the one that handles most orders and defines your payout and reconciliation routine. Choose it by listing constraints before looking at features. Write down the country where your business is registered, the countries and currencies of your buyers, your average order value, your monthly order count and what you sell. Providers publish where accounts can be opened, so this list immediately removes options. WooCommerce documents, for example, the countries where WooPayments is available, and the relevant country is where the business is registered, not where you personally live.
2. Check your checkout type and store setup
New WooCommerce stores use the Checkout block by default, while older stores may still use the classic shortcode checkout. Open your checkout page in the editor and note which one you have. Then note whether your store uses High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS), the dedicated order tables that WooCommerce enables by default on new installations from version 8.2. A gateway you are considering must support both your checkout type and HPOS, or you will be choosing a plugin that fights your store. Gateway documentation and the plugin's own compatibility notes are the place to confirm this, not a forum thread from two years ago.
3. Match the gateway to your business model
- Physical goods, one or two shipping regions: prioritise payout speed, card-present needs if any, and the local payment methods your buyers expect.
- Digital downloads sold globally: prioritise tax collection, currency handling and refund behaviour, because downloads are delivered instantly and refunds are common.
- Subscriptions: prioritise saved payment methods, renewal retries and the way the gateway talks to the subscriptions plugin. Not every gateway supports every recurring feature.
- Marketplaces: a single store account is rarely enough. You need a flow that can split or pay out funds to vendors, which is a different decision entirely.
- Higher-risk products: read each provider's acceptable-use terms before you build anything. Some products need a specialist provider.
The first category of the book, Choosing a gateway stack for a specific business model, contains prompts for each of these situations.
A worked example, in words
Imagine a store that sells handmade homewares from the United Kingdom to the UK, the EU and the US, with an average order of about sixty pounds and a few hundred orders a month, using the Checkout block. The constraints leave a short list: gateways that open accounts for UK businesses, handle pounds, euros and dollars, support wallets that shoppers use on mobile and work with the Checkout block. From there the owner compares the monthly cost per option, checks payout timing against supplier payment dates and chooses a primary. The secondary, if any, is added later for a specific gap, not because it exists. The same method applies whatever your numbers are; only the inputs change.
4. Compare on total cost, not headline rate
A percentage plus a fixed fee is only part of the cost. Add currency conversion, cross-border card surcharges, dispute fees, payout fees and the time money sits before it reaches your bank. The official pages for the WooPayments startup guide, the Stripe extension and the PayPal Payments extension show what each offers. Take your own average order value and monthly volume and calculate the monthly cost per option; the numbers often reorder your shortlist.
5. Decide, then test in sandbox
Pick one primary gateway and write down why. Then connect it in the provider's test or sandbox mode on a staging copy of your store, and run approvals, declines, authentication challenges, refunds and a failed webhook before real customers see it. Only then switch to live mode. If anything fails, follow the ordered route in the gateway failure recovery workflow.
6. Keep a decision record
Save your constraints, the options you compared, the monthly cost estimates and the reasons you chose. When a provider changes its terms, when your volume doubles or when you open a new country, you can revisit the record instead of starting from zero. For the background on why gateways differ in the first place, read how WooCommerce payment gateways differ. When you are ready for prompts that do this comparison with your own numbers, see the complete book or the book research page.
Sources and verification
WooCommerce, its extensions, WordPress and payment providers change their features, countries, fees and screens from release to release. The statements in this guide reflect what WooCommerce and the providers published when it was last reviewed on 4 October 2026, against the WooCommerce 11.1 series, and may change. Check the current pages below before you act, and never test changes on a live store without a backup.
Educational guide only. Not legal, tax, security-audit or financial advice. The Prompt Powerhouse is independent of, and not affiliated with or endorsed by, WooCommerce, Automattic or WordPress. No payment, approval, fee or dispute outcome is guaranteed.