Paystack and Stripe serve different geographies. Stripe works in 45+ countries — primarily US, Europe, and select others — but does NOT support Nigerian NGN, Ghanaian GHS, or Kenyan KES as settlement currencies. Paystack works in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Egypt, and Côte d'Ivoire — and supports local payment methods (bank transfer, USSD, M-Pesa, mobile money). For African market products, use Paystack. For US/European markets, use Stripe. For global products that include Africa, use both — Stripe for non-African markets, Paystack for African markets.
| Dimension | Paystack | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Supported countries | Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire | 45+ countries (US, EU, UK, AU — but NOT NG, GH, KE in local currency) |
| Nigerian NGN | Yes — primary market | No |
| Ghanaian GHS | Yes | No |
| Kenyan KES | Yes | No |
| Mobile money (M-Pesa) | Yes (Kenya) | No |
| USSD | Yes (Nigeria) | No |
| Bank transfer | Yes (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya) | US bank transfer (ACH) only |
| API quality | Excellent for African markets | Industry benchmark — excellent globally |
| SDKs | JavaScript, PHP, Python, Go (official) | Official SDKs for 10+ languages |
| Third-party integrations | Growing (Zapier, n8n, Retool, Shopify) | Thousands (near-universal SaaS support) |
| Corporate relationship | Stripe subsidiary, independent operation | Parent company of Paystack |
For a global product with both African and non-African users, the architecture is: one Paystack integration for African market checkouts, one Stripe integration for non-African checkouts. Route by user country at checkout.
See what Stripe's acquisition of Paystack means for African developers for the broader context.
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