← All comparisonsComparisonNOWPayments alternative: developer-first stablecoin infrastructure
July 4, 2026·6 min read
NOWPayments and InfraIO Pay are both non-custodial crypto payment gateways, so the choice is not about custody, it is about focus. NOWPayments supports hundreds of coins and leans on e-commerce plugins for non-technical merchants. InfraIO Pay is built as developer-first stablecoin infrastructure: USDC, USDT and your own ERC-20 across EVM chains, a QuickCheckout API and SDK, deterministic deposit addresses, and a take rate that falls to 0.3% with volume.
Bottom lineChoose InfraIO Pay if you are stablecoin-focused and want an API-first integration with volume pricing; choose NOWPayments if you want the widest coin selection and ready-made plugins.
| InfraIO Pay | NOWPayments |
|---|
| Custody | Non-custodial | Non-custodial |
|---|
| Focus | Stablecoins (USDC/USDT) + your ERC-20 on EVM | Breadth: 350+ coins across many chains |
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| Integration | Developer-first: QuickCheckout API, SDK, links | No-code plugins (Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.) |
|---|
| Pricing | From 0.3%, drops automatically with volume | From ~0.5% (about 1% with auto-conversion) |
|---|
| Reconciliation | Deterministic per-order deposit addresses | Standard gateway invoicing |
|---|
| Best for | Dev teams building stablecoin checkout | Merchants wanting many coins, no code |
|---|
Both are non-custodial, so what is the real difference?
Like InfraIO Pay, NOWPayments is non-custodial: it routes payments to your own wallet rather than holding your balance. So custody is a wash. The difference is design intent. NOWPayments optimises for breadth and no-code onboarding, hundreds of coins and plugins for every store platform. InfraIO Pay optimises for stablecoin depth and developer control.
Where InfraIO Pay goes deeper
InfraIO is built like payment infrastructure: a server-side QuickCheckout API that creates the order and session in one call, a web SDK for popup / redirect / embed, HMAC-signed webhooks, idempotency keys, and deterministic per-order deposit addresses so reconciliation is exact. You can also list your own verified ERC-20 token and accept it through the same flow. See the developer docs.
Pricing
NOWPayments lists fees starting around 0.5% (roughly 1% when auto-converting between coins). InfraIO Pay starts free and falls to a 0.3% floor as monthly volume grows, with no setup fee or monthly minimum. For a stablecoin-first merchant at scale, that floor is the lower number. See pricing.
Quick answers
- Is InfraIO Pay non-custodial like NOWPayments?
- Yes, both are non-custodial. Funds settle to a wallet you control. The difference is focus: InfraIO is stablecoin- and developer-first, NOWPayments is coin-breadth- and plugin-first.
- Which is cheaper?
- For stablecoin volume, InfraIO's 0.3% floor undercuts NOWPayments' ~0.5-1%. Compare against your own mix and volume; buyers pay their own network gas in both cases.
- Do I need to be a developer to use InfraIO Pay?
- No. Payment links are fully no-code. The API and SDK are there when you want deeper control, which is where InfraIO's developer-first design pays off.
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