Pay by link fees in the UK, provider by provider
A £40 payment link costs between £0.78 and £1.46 in fees, depending on the provider and how the customer pays. None of the providers below charges a monthly fee for links, so the per-payment rate is the whole cost: on £5,000 a month taken by link at a £40 average, that is £97.50 to £182.50.
Rates read from each provider's own UK pricing page on 1 November 2026.
Payment link fees by provider
| Provider | Rate per link payment | Monthly fee | Fee on £10.00 | Fee on £40.00 | Fee on £250.00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Payment Links | 1.5% + 20p (standard UK cards) | £0 (links included on standard pricing) | £0.35 | £0.80 | £3.95 |
| Square Payment Links | 1.4% + 25p (UK cards) | £0 | £0.39 | £0.81 | £3.75 |
| SumUp Payment Links | 2.5% (all online payments) | £0 monthly costs | £0.25 | £1.00 | £6.25 |
| PayPal / Zettle link, customer pays by card | 1.2% + 30p (card, Apple Pay or other wallet) | £0 | £0.42 | £0.78 | £3.30 |
| PayPal / Zettle link, customer pays with PayPal | 2.9% + 30p (PayPal checkout or PayPal guest checkout) | £0 | £0.59 | £1.46 | £7.55 |
| Dojo payment links | Not published here: see the note below | ||||
UK consumer cards, checked 1 November 2026. Stripe charges 2.8% + 20p if the customer pays on a business card; Square charges 2.5% + 25p on non-UK cards; a PayPal Pay Later payment through a link costs 3.9% + 30p.
Worked example: £5,000 a month by payment link
A business that sends 125 links a month at an average of £40, so £5,000 in total, such as a tradesperson taking deposits or a caterer taking orders by WhatsApp:
- Stripe Payment Links: £5,000 × 1.5% + 125 × 20p = £100.00 (2.00%)
- Square Payment Links: £5,000 × 1.4% + 125 × 25p = £101.25 (2.02%)
- SumUp Payment Links: £5,000 × 2.5% = £125.00 (2.50%)
- PayPal / Zettle link, customer pays by card: £5,000 × 1.2% + 125 × 30p = £97.50 (1.95%)
- PayPal / Zettle link, customer pays with PayPal: £5,000 × 2.9% + 125 × 30p = £182.50 (3.65%)
The biggest swing is not the provider but the payment method. The same PayPal or Zettle link costs £97.50 a month if customers pay by card and £182.50 if they pay through a PayPal account: a £85.00 difference you do not control, because the customer chooses at checkout. If you want a predictable bill, use a provider whose rate does not depend on that choice.
On this example Stripe costs £100.00 and SumUp £125.00. The gap comes from SumUp's flat 2.5% against Stripe's lower percentage plus 20p: the two cost the same at 20p ÷ 1% = £20.00. Send mostly small links, say under £20.00, and SumUp is cheaper; send deposits and larger invoices, and Stripe or Square is.
What pay by link is, and when to use it
Pay by link means sending a customer a web address that opens a checkout page for the amount you set. You create it in your provider's app or dashboard, send it by text, email or chat, and the customer pays on their own phone. No website, card machine or card details over the phone are needed.
It suits deposits, orders taken by message, invoices and anyone who sells remotely without a shop online. It is the wrong tool at a counter: a link payment is priced as an online payment, so it costs more than tapping a card on a reader. Square, for example, charges 1.4% + 25p on a link against 1.75% in person, and on a £10 sale that is £0.39 against £0.18.
If you take payments over the phone, a link is usually better than typing card details into a virtual terminal, because the customer enters their own details. Our virtual terminal guide and phone payments guide cover the alternatives.
Dojo payment links
Dojo offers payment links in the Dojo for Business app, but we could not verify a current link rate from Dojo’s own pages on 1 November 2026, so we do not quote one. Ask Dojo for the remote payment rate in writing before you rely on it.
Which link provider to use
Use the provider you already have. If you take cards in person on SumUp, Square or Zettle, their links sit in the same app and pay out to the same account, and the fee difference on a few links a month is pence. Switching just for links rarely pays.
If links are your main way of getting paid, the arithmetic above decides it: SumUp for small amounts, Stripe or Square for anything over £20.00. For the full online picture see our payment gateways comparison, Stripe review and PayPal business fees guide. If you also run a card machine, our free statement review checks both sides.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a payment link?
A web address you send by text, email, WhatsApp or social media that opens a secure checkout page for a set amount. The customer pays by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the money goes to your provider account like any online sale. With Stripe a £40 link paid on a standard UK card costs £0.80.
Do payment links have a monthly fee?
Not with the providers on this page: Stripe, Square, SumUp and PayPal all charge per payment only. Stripe's only paid extra is an optional custom domain at US$10.00 per month.
Which payment link is cheapest for small amounts?
SumUp, because its 2.5% has no fixed fee. It beats Stripe on any link below £20.00: on a £10 link SumUp takes £0.25 and Stripe £0.35. Above £20.00 it flips, and on a £250 deposit SumUp takes £6.25 against Stripe's £3.95.
How much does a Dojo payment link cost?
Dojo offers payment links in the Dojo for Business app, but we could not verify a current link rate from Dojo’s own pages on 1 November 2026, so we do not quote one. Ask Dojo for the remote payment rate in writing before you rely on it.
Is pay by link safe for the customer?
The customer types their card details into the provider’s own checkout page, not into a message or over the phone to you, so you never see or store the card number. That is the main reason to use a link instead of taking card details by phone.