Despite its volatility and ‘shaky’ regulatory landscape, crypto is slowly becoming a reliable payment method for e-commerce stores. Merchants can easily get access to a new audience segment, and stablecoin payments make the process a lot easier for both parties.
The learning curve, however, is a lot more challenging. The typical payment experience can be overwhelming due to the multiple steps involved, and integration with online stores can be complex. This is where crypto plugins for Woocommerce come in. Plugins are ‘plugged in’ to your store, making it easy to accept cryptocurrency payments in just a few minutes.
This comparison article reviews two payment gateways that have recently gained a lot of popularity due to their savvy build. Both Sprintcheckout and Depay crypto plugins are P2P solutions that do not require KYC and accept multiple stablecoins. They are, in many ways, better than most popular options on the market. Let’s explore why.
Sprintcheckout crypto Plugin
Sprintcheckout aims to make the transition to crypto payments effortless for merchants and consumers, by creating a plugin that offers a buying experience that matches that of the card payment industry.
The plugin elevates the checkout experience for crypto consumers with an outstanding UX based on account abstraction. For the consumer, this allows one-click payments, recurring payments, and gasless transactions.
Consumers also don’t have to worry about manually copy-pasting wallet addresses, scanning QR codes, or bridging funds to make payments. Sprintcheckout supports all EVM-compatible chains and is adding more on request. Merchants simply have to select the tokens they wish to accept, by selecting them from the dashboard:
The tokens supported on the above blockchains are mainly stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, DAI, and BUSD. This is a good choice, considering that most Web3 natives make payments using dollar-pegged tokens.
When customers pay, Sprintcheckout enables merchants to convert the funds into the desired fiat currency via exchanges like Coinbase or Binance. This, however, is an optional feature.
Sprintcheckout is ideal for Web3 projects that are looking to launch a merch collection for additional revenue, or subscription services related to crypto audiences. For example, NFTreaure leverages the plugin to support their NFT merchandise store.
Depay crypto plugin
Depay is a Web3 infrastructure platform that offers a plugin for P2P crypto payments.
Similar to Sprintcheckout, the process is optimized for payment convenience, allowing users to pay in a couple of clicks. Users can effectively convert tokens into tokens that the merchant accepts, making it easy to pay no matter what a customer holds in their wallet.
For example, if a customer holds ETH but needs to pay in USDT, the Depay gateway will find a cost-effective swap route and send the required USDT amount. All of this happens in a single transaction, so settlement occurs fast.
In addition to a large token set, Depay supports 10 blockchains and 12+ crypto wallets. This provides the added convenience of payments without needing to bridge over and spend unnecessary gas fees.
The Depay crypto plugin can be used to further personalize the buyer journey by denominating items in the desired cryptocurrency. Merchants can also target specific groups based on NFT ownership. For example, a brand can offer exclusive discounts for holders of select NFT collections.
Many well-known Web3 brands like Pudgy Penguins, Azuki, and DYDX have used Depay to allow users to pay for merchandise and other products in crypto. This has helped in tapping into crypto-native audiences who like to make use of their tokens in real-world use cases. It also increases the authority of Depay.
What To Look For In Crypto Plugins?
Now that we have a high-level understanding of Sprintcheckout and Depay, it is time to put them side-by-side and compare them based on different parameters. The goal is to find what works for your business, not something that ticks every box.
Superior User Experience
When a customer wants to buy, the next thing they want to know is where to pay. Anything additional might hurt the conversion rate.
In addition, the user experience should not be fragmented. Customers should not be redirected to multiple pages to complete different payment process steps. The ideal flow should keep the user on the same page, and have them interact with a wallet pop-up.
In the case of Sprintcheckout and Depay, both offer a simplified payment experience that is built for today’s crypto consumers.
Ease of Integration
Platforms like WooCommerce have made it easier for anyone to set up online shops and tap into global distribution. So it should be easy to integrate any new plugins with little to no code involved.
Detailed documentation should also be available with a step-by-step process from installing to activating the plugin. Furthermore, merchants should look for customization features within the plugin that allow them to align the brand design with that of the checkout. Once again, both of our crypto plugins for Woocommerce tick these boxes.
Multi-Currency Support
A customer may not concentrate their holdings on one or two cryptocurrencies. They often use different tokens on multiple blockchains. So merchants should select a plugin that offers enough flexibility to add new tokens and blockchain support.
For example, people who get paid in crypto often receive stablecoins and would likely use them for any purchase. On the other hand, NFT traders use ETH or similar tokens for regular activity. So they are more likely to use more volatile currencies to make online purchases.
Depay and Springcheckout are both flexible when it comes to this, but Sprintcheckout is perhaps more liberal when it comes to chain integration. This makes it a better option for projects building on more ‘niche’ EVM chains.
Customer Support
Customer support has to be responsive to improve engagement and loyalty. As crypto can get overwhelming, merchants need to have a support system they can easily tap into.
However, it is important to not completely automate the customer support system. With the emergence of AI, it can feel easy to replace and save resources. But it’s recommended to maintain contact with users and give them proper assurance. When comparing the two payment gateways we can see a big difference in how customer queries are handled. We discuss this more in the following chapter.
Processing Fee
The processing fee is a big burden on merchants that use traditional payment methods. Credit card processing fees often range between 1.5% and 3.5% of the transaction’s value. The amounts vary based on the payment processor, card network, and issuer, but can quickly add up as a significant expense.
Crypto offers a low-cost solution here because there are no middlemen involved. Most crypto plugins have lower fees, and they are often wrapped into payment models that may look different than traditional structures. When comparing our two rivals, we see a large difference here as well.
Depay vs Sprintcheckout: Which is Better
While there’s no perfect answer, we can use the parameters above to compare the two plugins.
When it comes to user experience, both Sprintcheckout and Depay stand out for their simplicity. Both of them don’t redirect customers to manual payment windows. However, the difference lies in the number of steps to complete a transaction. Sprintcheckout requires only one click (thanks to account abstraction), whereas Depay asks for two signatures.
The ease of implementation is also fairly similar for both plugins. They have a plug-and-play framework with no code available on the WooCommerce platform. Even the design of both payment gateways is intuitive and makes it easy to navigate.
The Depay crypto plugin has the upper hand in the number of supported cryptocurrencies. As Depay handles any-to-any conversion, customers can pay in many token pairs. In the case of Sprintcheckout, the options are limited to the most popular stablecoins. Yet, when we reached out to the Sprintcheckout team, we found out that instant swaps are the next step in their roadmap. Hence more options to choose from!
Aside from that, Sprintcheckout also has superior customer support. Users can directly set up a call with the core team to get their queries solved. Depay offers a Telegram group that is somewhat impersonal. Direct communication with the core team seems better in all ways.
Finally, the processing fee is much lower on Sprintcheckout (0.5%) compared to Depay (1.5%). This, on its own, should already be a compelling argument to pick the former. But when combined with the above, it gives a clear verdict: Sprintcheckout is a better option. Whether you run a niche store, or creating another revenue funnel for your Web3 project, picking a low-cost plugin with an optimized customer experience, is the way to go.
Closing Thoughts
No two crypto plugins are made the same. Merchants must make a decision based on cost efficiency, target audience, and user experience. In addition, there needs to be room for flexibility for merchants to make changes.
Considering these requirements, we got into the nuts and bolts of the two up-and-coming crypto plugins for Woocommerce. After comparing the Sprintcheckout and Depay crypto plugins, we found that the former offers better commission rates and a simpler UI, whereas the latter provides more flexibility with more token and blockchain support. That said, we reached out to Sprintcheckout and were told that merchants can easily request more tokens and chains.
