NOWPayments vs CoinPayments vs Larecoin: Which Cuts Your Merchant Fees the Most in 2026?

Merchant fees eat profits. Period.

Every percentage point you pay to payment processors is money taken directly from your bottom line. In 2026, crypto merchants face a choice: stick with legacy payment gateways charging 0.5-1% per transaction, or go fully decentralized with gas-only costs.

NOWPayments and CoinPayments dominate the custodial crypto payment space. Both offer solid infrastructure. Both charge percentage-based fees. Both control your funds until withdrawal.

Larecoin takes a different approach. Zero platform fees. Self-custody wallets. Direct settlement. Solana speed.

Let's break down which option actually saves you the most money.

The Fee Structure Showdown

NOWPayments: 0.5% per transaction + network fees + withdrawal charges + conversion costs. Volume discounts available for enterprises, but you're still paying percentage-based fees that scale with your success.

CoinPayments: Similar structure. 0.5-1% transaction fees depending on volume. Network fees separate. Currency conversion adds another layer of costs. Enterprise plans reduce percentages but never eliminate them.

Larecoin: Gas-only model. Zero platform fees. You pay Solana network costs: typically $0.00025 per transaction. No withdrawal fees. No conversion charges. No surprise costs.

The fundamental difference? NOWPayments and CoinPayments extract revenue from every transaction you process. Larecoin doesn't take a cut. Ever.

Real Numbers: What You Actually Pay

Let's run the math at different annual processing volumes:

$500K Annual Volume

• NOWPayments: $2,500-$5,000 in platform fees

• CoinPayments: $2,500-$5,000 in platform fees

• Larecoin: Under $2,000 in gas fees

• Your savings: 50-60%

$1M Annual Volume

• NOWPayments: $5,000-$10,000 in platform fees

• CoinPayments: $5,000-$10,000 in platform fees

• Larecoin: Under $2,000 in gas fees

• Your savings: 67-83%

$5M Annual Volume

• NOWPayments: ~$25,000 in platform fees

• CoinPayments: ~$25,000 in platform fees

• Larecoin: ~$5,000 in gas fees

• Your savings: 50-80%

The larger your volume, the more dramatic your savings. Percentage-based fees punish growth. Gas-only costs don't.

Beyond Fees: What You Actually Get

Fee comparison tells part of the story. Feature differences tell the rest.

Self-Custody vs Custodial Control

NOWPayments & CoinPayments: Hold your funds. You request withdrawals. They process on their schedule. Your crypto sits in their wallets until you pull it out. You trust them with custody.

Larecoin: Direct settlement to your wallet. No intermediary holding funds. You control your keys. Payments land immediately. Zero counterparty risk.

Self-custody isn't just about control: it's about eliminating the custodial fee model entirely.

Settlement Speed

Traditional crypto gateways batch transactions. Settlement happens in waves. Withdrawal requests take time to process.

Larecoin leverages Solana's 400ms block times. Payments settle in seconds. Finality is near-instant. Your wallet updates in real-time.

Fast settlement means better cash flow management. No waiting periods. No batch processing delays.

LUSD Stablecoin Integration

Crypto volatility creates accounting headaches. Accepting Bitcoin or ETH means managing price fluctuations between payment and settlement.

Larecoin's LUSD stablecoin option solves this. Accept stable-value payments. Eliminate volatility risk. Simplify bookkeeping. Maintain predictable revenue.

NOWPayments and CoinPayments offer stablecoin support, but settlement still routes through their custodial infrastructure. LUSD on Larecoin settles directly to your wallet: stable value with self-custody benefits.

NFT Receipt Technology

Every Larecoin transaction generates an NFT receipt. Permanent on-chain proof of payment. Unforgeable transaction records. Built-in fraud prevention.

NFT receipts live on Solana's blockchain forever. Auditable. Verifiable. Portable across platforms. Your transaction history becomes a digital asset.

Traditional gateways provide database records. Larecoin provides blockchain proof. The difference matters for audits, disputes, and long-term record keeping.

Merchant Freedom & Independence

Percentage-based fees create dependence. The more you process, the more you pay. Your payment processor becomes a permanent tax on revenue growth.

Larecoin's gas-only model breaks this cycle. Process $100K or $100M: your costs scale with network usage, not your success. The business model doesn't penalize growth.

This matters more as your business scales. Early-stage merchants might not notice fee differences. High-volume merchants pay attention to every basis point.

No Withdrawal Restrictions

Custodial gateways set withdrawal schedules. Minimum thresholds. Processing windows. Your money moves on their timeline.

Self-custody wallets eliminate these restrictions. Funds are already yours. Move them whenever you want. No approval required. No waiting periods. No minimum amounts.

True independence means controlling when and how you access your money.

Multi-Chain Flexibility

Larecoin operates primarily on Solana but supports cross-chain functionality. Bridge assets when needed. Maintain flexibility across ecosystems. Don't lock yourself into single-blockchain limitations.

NOWPayments and CoinPayments support multiple chains too, but every chain interaction routes through their infrastructure. Larecoin's model keeps you closer to the underlying protocols.

The Decentralization Factor

Web3 payments aren't just about accepting crypto. They're about removing intermediaries from financial infrastructure.

NOWPayments and CoinPayments are crypto-enabled middlemen. They facilitate crypto payments but operate centralized business models. They hold funds, set policies, and extract fees.

Larecoin pushes toward true decentralization. Direct wallet-to-wallet settlement. No central authority controlling transactions. No company deciding who can process payments.

This philosophical difference has practical implications. Decentralized systems resist censorship. They don't have single points of failure. They can't arbitrarily freeze accounts or block transactions.

For merchants operating in uncertain regulatory environments or serving global markets, decentralization provides resilience traditional gateways can't match.

Who Wins in Different Scenarios?

Best for Traditional Merchants: If you need extensive fiat off-ramps, multi-currency support, and turnkey integration with existing e-commerce platforms, NOWPayments or CoinPayments might fit better. Their custodial model provides managed services.

Best for Crypto-Native Businesses: If you're comfortable managing wallets, prioritize self-custody, and want to minimize fees at scale, Larecoin delivers superior economics. The gas-only model rewards volume.

Best for High-Volume Operations: The larger your processing volume, the more Larecoin's fee advantage compounds. Percentage-based fees become significant costs at scale. Gas fees remain negligible.

Best for Metaverse & Web3 Projects: NFT receipts, LUSD integration, and Solana speed make Larecoin purpose-built for next-generation commerce. Traditional gateways add crypto support to legacy models. Larecoin starts from Web3 first principles.

The Bottom Line on Fees

Numbers don't lie. Gas-only costs beat percentage-based fees at every volume level.

NOWPayments and CoinPayments offer proven infrastructure and managed services. You pay for convenience and custodial support. For many merchants, that trade-off makes sense.

Larecoin offers radical fee reduction and merchant independence. You handle wallet management yourself. You eliminate the middleman. You keep more of what you earn.

The right choice depends on your priorities. Need hand-holding and full-service support? Traditional gateways work. Want maximum savings and self-sovereignty? Larecoin cuts deeper.

In 2026, merchants have options. The crypto payment landscape no longer forces you to choose between accepting digital assets and maintaining reasonable fee structures.

Gas-only models exist. Self-custody infrastructure works. The technology delivers on the promise of removing financial intermediaries.

The question isn't whether you can cut fees. It's whether you're ready to take control of your payment stack.

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Ready to stop paying percentage fees? Explore Larecoin's merchant solutions at larecoin.com or dive into the technical details at our ultimate guide to Web3 global payments.

Your payment infrastructure. Your custody. Your savings.