01The short version
| Payaries | NOWPayments | |
|---|---|---|
| Wallet control | Managed: a dedicated wallet per merchant per chain, never pooled | Describes both managed and self-held settlement |
| Coin coverage | A focused, growing set of chains and assets — Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Tron and Bitcoin (deposits) | Describes a very large catalogue of coins |
| Integration | Signed REST API, Node SDK, signed retried webhooks; no store-platform plugins yet | API plus plugins for common store platforms, buttons and invoicing tools |
| Conversion | Credited in the asset the customer paid; ask us before relying on conversion to another asset | Describes automatic conversion to a chosen settlement asset |
| Pricing | Per-merchant rules; ask for a quote | See their pricing page |
02When NOWPayments is the better choice
- You need a long tail of coins that a focused gateway doesn't list.
- You sell through a store platform and want a ready-made plugin rather than writing an integration.
- You want the option of self-held settlement from the same provider.
- You want automatic conversion into a settlement asset such as a stablecoin.
03When Payaries is the better choice
- You want a wallet that is yours alone on each chain, with a live on-chain balance you can check on a block explorer against the dashboard.
- You are building a backend integration and want every status, failure and retry documented — including underpaid, late and unclaimed payments. See handling underpaid and late payments.
- Your customers pay in stablecoins on the major networks and you don't need the long tail. See the USDT gateway.
- You want tight withdrawal controls — dashboard withdrawals behind two-factor authentication and API withdrawals above a threshold you set waiting for your approval.
04How to decide in an afternoon
- 01Write down the three coins or networks your customers actually pay with. If both providers cover them, coverage stops being a differentiator.
- 02Decide on wallet control first — managed vs self-held.
- 03Run the three tests in how to choose a gateway: pay short, pay late, replay a webhook.
Questions
- Is Payaries an alternative to NOWPayments?
- For businesses that want a hosted crypto payment API with a dedicated Payaries wallet per merchant and documented failure handling, yes. NOWPayments covers more coins and offers plugins and a self-held mode, which may matter more for some merchants.
- Does Payaries support as many coins as NOWPayments?
- No. Payaries covers a focused and growing set of chains and assets, with the stablecoins most merchants use. GET /v1/chains is the live list.
Keep reading
- Payaries vs BTCPay Server: hosted and managed, or self-hosted?Payaries vs BTCPay Server: hosted managed gateway against free self-hosted software. Compared on wallet control, operations, coins, cost model and integration — with when to pick each.
- How to choose a crypto payment gateway: nine criteria that matterA buyer's checklist for crypto payment gateways: wallet control, supported networks, settlement, webhooks, failure handling, withdrawals, fees and integration effort — with the three main models compared.
- Managed vs self-held crypto payment gatewaysWhat managed and self-held payment gateways mean for control, speed and risk — and what to ask any provider about where your funds sit.
- Top 10 best crypto payment gateways in 2026The 10 best crypto payment gateways compared on fees, wallet control and fit: Payaries, NOWPayments, Cryptomus, CoinGate, CoinPayments, BitPay, Coinbase Commerce, Binance Pay, BTCPay Server and Triple-A.
- Crypto payment gateway vs just sharing a wallet addressDo you need a gateway, or can you just publish a wallet address? Compare attribution, rate lock, underpayments, webhooks and wallet control — and the volume where a gateway starts to pay off.
- Platform overviewWhat Payaries does and the chains it covers.