An honest, side-by-side comparison. We’re not trying to replace Stripe for your SaaS checkout. We’re the rail for when your customers become AI agents — and we’ll tell you when you should use someone else.
| Stripe | Wise | BVNK | Raw x402 | AsterPay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Human checkouts | Cross-border FX | Stablecoin B2B | Crypto-native builds | Agent → merchant EUR |
| Agent-native protocol | MPP only1 | × | × | x402 only | x402 + MPP2 |
| Per-call micropayments | per-txn min | × | × | ✓ | ✓ from $0.01 |
| Agent identity (KYA) | account KYC | account KYC | account KYC | × DIY | ERC-8004 + Trust Score |
| Sanctions screening per call | at account level | at account level | at account level | × | ✓ <100 ms / call |
| EUR settlement speed | 2–7 days | seconds–hours | 1–2 days | crypto only | <10 s SEPA Instant |
| Merchant discovery by name (MPE) | × | × | × | × | ✓ MPE + PSD2 VoP |
| EU regulatory base | Ireland | EMI (multi) | UK / MiCA | N/A | Cyprus · CASP in prep |
| Time to first payment | 2–5 days | 1–2 days | days | minutes | 60 seconds |
| EU-rail price (per settled txn) | ~1.4% + €0.25 | 0.43% + fixed | ~0.5–1% | n/a (no EUR) | 0.5% + €0.10 |
| US-rail price (per settled txn) | ~2.9% + $0.30 | ~0.6% + $4 | varies | n/a | 1.5% + €1.00 |
1 Stripe MPP launched March 2026; identity and screening remain at the merchant-account level, not per-call.
2 AsterPay verifies the agent on every call (per-call KYA) and screens for sanctions in <100 ms. Competitor pricing is from public pricing pages as of April 2026 and may differ for negotiated accounts.
AsterPay runs two settlement rails. We assign you one based on your country of incorporation at KYB onboarding, and we tell you in writing before you go live. We never silently move a merchant between rails.
| EU rail (default) | US rail | |
|---|---|---|
| For | EU-incorporated merchants | US-incorporated entities (Delaware C-corp, LLC, …) |
| Settlement | Direct via licensed European payment partner | Routed via US-licensed banking partner |
| Per-txn fee | 0.5% + €0.10 | 1.5% + €1.00 |
| EUR delivered | EUR to your IBAN, <10s SEPA Instant | EUR to your IBAN, typically within minutes |
| FX handling | USDC / EURC / EURCV → EUR, no markup | USDC → EUR conversion + SEPA passthrough |
| KYB time | ~10 min | ~30 min (US incorporation docs) |
| Volume discount | From €50k / month | Available, talk to us |
SEPA is an EU-only network. To settle EUR into a non-EU entity’s account legally and reliably, we route through a US-licensed banking partner that handles the cross-border bridge. That partner has higher per-transaction infrastructure costs — and we don’t hide that. The US rail price reflects the real cost; the EU rail price reflects the (much cheaper) direct route.
The technology, dashboard, KYA, screening and audit trail are identical on both rails. Only the underlying banking layer differs.
If a Claude / ChatGPT / Cursor / OpenAI Operator / your-own-agent is the entity initiating payment, you need per-call KYA, ERC-8004 identity, and HTTP-402 / MPP at the protocol layer. Stripe, Wise and BVNK don’t do this — they were built when the buyer was a human with a session.
EUR-native settlement to a SEPA Instant IBAN, no FX games, no spread arbitrage on the back end. Crypto-native players settle in USDC and leave you to convert. We don’t.
Pricing models built for the per-call world — from $0.01 micropayments up to enterprise volume. No subscription gating, no minimum monthly.
MiCA-aligned, EU AI Act Article 50 transparency built in, Travel Rule at >€1,000, sanctions screening on every transaction. Cyprus entity, audit-ready.
Use Stripe. Stripe Checkout, Stripe Elements, Apple Pay, fraud tooling for human sessions — we don’t do any of that. We’re a different layer.
Use Wise or your bank’s SEPA. We’re a payments-acceptance layer, not a treasury / FX tool.
Use BVNK, Bridge directly, or Circle. We exist to convert stablecoins to EUR. If your accounting wants USDC on your balance sheet, you don’t need us.
Use raw x402 — the spec is open, the reference impl is on GitHub. You’ll handle KYA, sanctions, EUR settlement, banking partners, MiCA compliance, Travel Rule and Article 50 yourself. Some teams want that. We exist for the teams that don’t.
AsterPay is a narrow product. We’re the EU-native EUR settlement layer for AI agent commerce. We win when the buyer is non-human, the seller wants EUR in their bank, and compliance can’t be a roadmap item. Outside that, you have better options — and we’ll point you at them.