Alipay
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 10 of 17 mobile payment apps by recommenders
People recommend Alipay for paying by phone QR code without cards, for transit, and for tourists in China, often calling it better than Visa. Critics point to weak software, payment limits, and dependence on the phone.
People recommend Alipay for paying by phone QR code without cards, for transit, and for tourists in China, often calling it better than Visa. Critics point to weak software, payment limits, and dependence on the phone.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, 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
Better than Visa and credit cards
“I found it superior to other systems I've used in basically every way.”
Comment from 27 Jul 2026 in “Decathlon Germany adds Wero payment option to decathlon.de website” “WeChat Pay and Alipay are so far superior to the credit card system”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun” “came up with a better system than visa in alipay”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Sanders warns US has no clue about speed and scale of coming AI revolution” - Comment from 27 Sep 2026 in “Banks and Credit Unions to Team Up Against Apple Pay Fees”
Easy QR payment for transit and shops
“The absence of plastic cards is absolutely not a problem, just look at WeChat, Alipay, etc.”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun” “Alipay in China for transit and pay is also easy. No card, just a QR on your phone.”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card” “you can usually pay easily in RMB with Alipay”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance?” Good for tourists paying in China
“you can usually pay easily in RMB with Alipay”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance?” “it's actually great for tourists”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Depends on phone and two providers
“the issue I have with these systems is the same as yours - we are fully dependent on our phones with no backup”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to sovereign payment” “They are fully bound to the two providers (Alipay and WeChat)”
Comment from 20 May 2026 in “Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to sovereign payment”
Other mobile payment apps people recommend
The four most recommended other mobile payment apps, 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.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wero | 84 | 96 | 47% | 11 | — | — |
| Apple Pay | 73 | 48 | 60% | 12 | — | — |
| Apple Wallet | 58 | 63 | 48% | 10 | — | — |
| Google Pay | 26 | 33 | 44% | 11 | — | — |
| AlipayThis page | 12 | 5 | 71% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
16 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“many are more advanced than visa etc”
“Alipay in China for transit and pay is also easy. No card, just a QR on your phone.”
“it will even work in low-power/off mode”
“with alipay it will just autodeduct so I don't ever have to think about that as well”
“I found it superior to other systems I've used in basically every way.”
“Alipay is the usual deal with a single company's server and then they settle those later. Relatively basic compared to this.”
“The software experience of AliPay and the other Chinese apps is absolutely terrible.”
“the issue I have with these systems is the same as yours - we are fully dependent on our phones with no backup”
“They are fully bound to the two providers (Alipay and WeChat)”
“I had to pay in cash because Alipay wouldn't let me make payments that large.”
“came up with a better system than visa in alipay”
“it's actually great for tourists”
“WeChat Pay and Alipay are so far superior to the credit card system”
“The absence of plastic cards is absolutely not a problem, just look at WeChat, Alipay, etc.”
“you can usually pay easily in RMB with Alipay”
“Translate in Alipay is there, but useless in restaurants”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.