Adyen
Ranked 3 of 11 payment processors by recommenders
EU-based payment processor with a unified platform, popular with European retailers; critics say it suits larger merchants, with sales-led signup and strict acceptance.
EU-based payment processor with a unified platform, popular with European retailers; critics say it suits larger merchants, with sales-led signup and strict acceptance.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 17
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 63%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
EU-based, supports European sovereignty
“They're also EU-based and a bit more... well known? I liked integrating with them in the past.”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “I Moved My Digital Stack to Europe” “Adyen is a big payment processor from the Netherlands which many EU retailers already use.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Europe's company websites are mostly served by US vendors” “Adyen/Mollie are recommended for European centric markets”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Europe's company websites are mostly served by US vendors” - Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Stripe acquires Clerky”
- Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe”
Unified platform, API-first design
“Adyen has a unified platform solution which is smth stripe doesnt”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Stripe valued at $159B, 2025 annual letter” “Both Mollie and Adyen are API-first.”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Complex integration and awful APIs
“integration complexity and minimum processing volumes usually keep early-stage startups on Stripe or Braintree”
Comment from 16 Aug 2026 in “Stripe 2.9% vs. Adyen 0.6% vs. Braintree 2.59%: 2026 Fees” “everyone who maintained the payment service kept cursing Adyen for their awful APIs”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe” “Integrating directly with Adyen as a small business is like running a kubernetes cluster on AWS to host your blog”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe” Sales-led signup, no self-serve
“Adyen has a Talk to our team button. You close the tab and never think about it again until you’re making serious money.”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe” “That I couldn't sign up using a form and I had to "talk to their team" was a turn-off”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Email is tough: Major European Payment Processor's Emails aren't RFC-Compliant” “Why don't they have a fax option so you absolutely never think about it again?”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe” Strict about which businesses it accepts
“Adyen is good but can be strict with what businesses they support.”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: Stripe is asking for bank statements to check financial health” “No point in marketing when you outright reject customers”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe” Refuses small businesses
“Adyen refuses small clients, under the million”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe” “Adyen doesn't want small businesses.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Gov.uk goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe”
Other payment processors people recommend
The four most recommended other payment processors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 11 payment processors, rankedWhat people said
24 of the 27 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Adyen is similar to Stripe, and it's an European company.”
“integration complexity and minimum processing volumes usually keep early-stage startups on Stripe or Braintree”
“there is no way (for a merchant) to get the latest 'true' state as held by Adyen”
“Adyen/Mollie are recommended for European centric markets”
“Adyen does not do this on its own AFAICT, only with 3rd party addons”
“Adyen is a big payment processor from the Netherlands which many EU retailers already use.”
“The UK Government just replaced Stripe with Ayden for most payments”
“Both Mollie and Adyen are API-first.”
“improves European sovereignty”
“Why don't they have a fax option so you absolutely never think about it again?”
“Adyen has a Talk to our team button. You close the tab and never think about it again until you’re making serious money.”
“Adyen doesn't want small businesses.”
“Integrating directly with Adyen as a small business is like running a kubernetes cluster on AWS to host your blog”
“everyone who maintained the payment service kept cursing Adyen for their awful APIs”
“Adyen refuses small clients, under the million”
“No point in marketing when you outright reject customers”
“They're also EU-based and a bit more... well known? I liked integrating with them in the past.”
“Why not just pay Stripe/Adyen/Braintree to smear the fees to 2.9% + $0.30?”
“Adyen has a unified platform solution which is smth stripe doesnt”
“Adyen competes primarily on price with no feature differentiation, and doesn't have the same ease-of-use.”
“Adyen is good but can be strict with what businesses they support.”
“That I couldn't sign up using a form and I had to "talk to their team" was a turn-off”
“which should support IRIS, the Greek instant payment system”
“the DX is indeed much better than e.g. Adyen, Braintree, etc.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.