How to take payments on your website: GoCardless, PayPal and Stripe explained

You can take payments on your website in a matter of days by connecting a trusted payment provider — most small businesses use GoCardless for regular, recurring payments, and PayPal or Stripe for one-off card payments. You don't build the payment system yourself and you never touch the customer's card details; the provider handles all of that securely. Your website simply gives people a button to pay, and the money lands in your account.

At Brightray we build affordable small-business websites from a fixed £500, and adding payments is one of the most useful things we do. Here is a plain-English guide to the three options and how they fit together.

The three options, in plain English

GoCardless collects money by Direct Debit — the same way your gym or your energy supplier takes payment. It is built for regular, recurring payments: subscriptions, memberships, monthly retainers and care plans. Once a customer authorises it, the money is pulled automatically on the day it is due, month after month, without anyone having to do anything. We use GoCardless ourselves to collect our website care plans, so we know it works.

Stripe handles card payments — debit and credit cards typed straight into your website. It is the go-to for one-off online payments: someone buys a product, pays an invoice, or puts down a deposit, and the money clears quickly. Stripe is clean, professional and trusted by huge names, but it works just as well for a one-person business.

PayPal also handles one-off payments, and its big advantage is familiarity. Loads of people already have a PayPal account and trust the name, so offering it can reassure a nervous first-time customer and reduce the number who abandon at the last second.

What each one is best for

There is no single "best" provider — it depends on how you get paid.

• If you bill the same amount regularly — a membership, a subscription box, a monthly service — GoCardless is usually the cheapest and the least hassle, because Direct Debit fees tend to be lower than card fees and the collection is automatic.
• If you take one-off payments — a single sale, a deposit, an invoice — cards via Stripe or PayPal are the natural fit, because the customer pays there and then.
• Many businesses offer more than one. A cards option for new customers and Direct Debit for anyone on an ongoing plan covers most situations.

Every provider charges a small fee — usually a small percentage of each transaction, and the exact rate varies by provider and payment type. That is simply the cost of getting paid reliably and on time, and it is almost always less than the cost of chasing late payers.

The part that matters: your customers never trust you with their card

This is the bit that puts a lot of small-business owners off, and it shouldn't. You do not store card numbers, you do not handle sensitive card data, and you are not responsible for keeping it safe. The payment provider does all of that behind their own secure systems. Your website hands the customer over to the provider to enter their details, the provider confirms the payment, and you get told it went through. That keeps you out of the risky part entirely.

How Brightray adds payments to your website

We keep it simple. First we talk about how you actually get paid — one-off sales, regular plans, deposits, or a mix — and pick the provider or providers that suit. Then we set up your account, connect it to your website, and add clear "Pay" or "Subscribe" buttons where they make sense. We test everything with real payments before it goes live, so you can see the money arrive. If you already have a site, we can usually bolt payments on without rebuilding it.

The result is a website that quietly does a job for you: customers pay conveniently, you get paid faster, and there are far fewer unpaid or chased invoices.

Talk it through

Not sure which option fits your business? The quickest way is a quick chat. Message us on WhatsApp on 07977 785345 and tell us how you get paid — we'll tell you honestly what we'd set up and what it would cost.