Head to head · checked 2026-09-06
ForumPay vs CoinGate
Two European fiat-settling processors with opposite pricing styles. CoinGate itemises processing, conversion, SEPA, SWIFT and payout costs on one page. ForumPay bundles conversion, screening and settlement into one per-transaction fee from 0.5% and settles daily. Choose the itemised table or the single number; both get euros to a bank.
How do ForumPay and CoinGate differ?
WeightsScoring ForumPay against CoinGate
| Criterion | Weight | ForumPay | CoinGate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assets, networks and geography How many assets and chains are live for merchants, and in which markets settlement actually works. | 25 | 7 | 6 |
| All-in cost Processing percentage, conversion spread and payout cost taken together, not the headline number alone. | 25 | 7 | 7 |
| Onboarding and verification What a merchant must submit before going live, how long it takes, and which verticals are refused outright. | 20 | 6 | 6 |
| Integrations and API Maintained plugins, API surface, webhook reliability and whether a developer can reach a test transaction from public docs alone. | 18 | 7 | 8 |
| Support and operations Reachable channels, published response commitments, and documented handling of underpayment and wrong-network sends. | 12 | 6 | 7 |
| Weighted total | 6.7 | 6.7 |
Where the two diverge
Scored 0–10 · checked 2026-09-06
ForumPay CoinGate
On this page
Itemised against bundled#
CoinGate's pricing page is the most complete fee disclosure in this index: 1% processing, 1% on manual conversion, free SEPA, 0.5% SWIFT and a stated crypto payout charge. ForumPay's page describes one all-inclusive fee that covers the conversion rate, chain screening, conversion and settlement, with a published example of 0.5% for fiat settlement.
The two are not directly comparable until both are expressed as a share of settled value, and doing that arithmetic is the whole job of this page. A euro merchant on SEPA pays CoinGate roughly 1% plus conversion where applicable; the same merchant pays ForumPay one negotiated number that starts at half that.
The floor and the schedule#
ForumPay's fee depends on processing type, volume and average transaction value, which is the language of a tiered schedule the page does not print. CoinGate's rates are flat and printed. A small merchant with low tickets will find the CoinGate number is the CoinGate number, and the ForumPay number is a conversation.
That is the honest trade: a transparent 1% against a negotiable figure that can be lower. Which is better depends on whether you have the volume to negotiate with.
Settlement cadence#
ForumPay initiates settlement at the end of every business day above a minimum and weekly at the latest, and converts at payment so no price risk sits between the two. CoinGate settles to a euro balance and pays out on request over SEPA at no charge, which is flexible rather than scheduled.
For cash-flow planning the daily cadence is the firmer commitment. For a merchant who wants to choose when to move money, the on-request model is the more useful one.
Retail against online#
ForumPay sells a terminal and a point-of-sale app as first-class products, and lists WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop and OpenCart for online. CoinGate lists five online plugins including Wix and WHMCS and does not publish a point-of-sale product, which the card records as not disclosed.
A physical retailer reads the ForumPay column and finds the counter covered. An online shop on Wix or a hosting reseller on WHMCS reads the CoinGate column and finds its platform named.
Assets and networks#
CoinGate publishes a count of 10 or more and names three networks. ForumPay describes major cryptocurrencies without a count and names five networks including Tron and Bitcoin Cash. Neither is broad, and both are built around the merchant receiving fiat rather than the customer choosing from a long list.
A merchant whose customers pay USDT on Tron finds it named on the ForumPay card and absent from the CoinGate network list, which is worth confirming with each before it decides anything.
What each does not publish#
CoinGate does not describe its merchant verification, which is unusual for a provider that publishes everything else, and does not name a point-of-sale product. ForumPay does not count its assets, name its contracting entity or state its founding date, and describes white label and recurring billing nowhere.
Both cards are above the publication threshold, which is why this comparison exists, and both leave exactly the questions a merchant should ask in writing before signing.
Where this pair lands#
CoinGate for a merchant who wants every fee on one page and a named Lithuanian entity behind it. ForumPay for a retailer who wants a terminal, a daily settlement and one number to negotiate down.
Both settle euros to a bank and both convert away the price risk, which is the property most merchants in this category are actually shopping for. The weights will not decide between them; your counter will.
Read next
Questions merchants ask
Which one publishes the full fee table?
CoinGate, and it is the most complete in the index: processing, conversion, SEPA, SWIFT and crypto payout costs on one page. ForumPay publishes what its single fee includes and a floor example, but not the tier schedule.
Which is better for a physical shop?
ForumPay, which sells a hardware terminal and a point-of-sale app and settles at the end of each business day. CoinGate does not publish a point-of-sale product.
Is ForumPay or CoinGate cheaper?
ForumPay publishes the lower processing rate, 0.5% against 1%. That covers processing only. Conversion is only partly published here, so the gap narrows once the whole chain is counted.
Can you run ForumPay and CoinGate at once?
Yes. Two gateways side by side for one month is the cheapest way to find out how each behaves on your own order flow, which no amount of documentation answers. Both name WooCommerce and PrestaShop among their integrations, so the two can sit side by side at the same checkout without a second build.