# How to Accept Crypto Payments on Your Website (2026 Guide) > To accept crypto payments on your website in 2026, use a hosted checkout, a payment link, a store plugin, or a direct API. Here is every method, the setup time, and the real cost. - **Author**: Plaitr Editorial - **Published**: 2026-05-14 - **Category**: Payments - **URL**: https://www.plaitr.com/blog/how-to-accept-crypto-payments-on-your-website --- To accept crypto payments on your website in 2026, you have four methods: a provider-hosted checkout, a shareable payment link, a store plugin, or a direct API integration. The fastest goes live in under an hour. The cheapest, on a non-custodial rail, takes no per-transaction cut at all. This guide covers each method, what it costs, and which one fits your site. ## The Four Methods, Ranked by Setup Time Every crypto payment integration in 2026 is one of four patterns. A hosted checkout is a payment page the provider hosts and brands with your logo. The customer clicks pay, gets redirected, completes the payment, and returns. No code beyond a redirect. Live in under an hour. A payment link is a shareable URL with no website required at all. It works for invoices, social media, Telegram, and email. Generate it, send it, get paid. Setup is measured in minutes. A plugin is a drop-in module for WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, or WHMCS. Install, connect a wallet, configure chains. The plugin route gets a store accepting BTC, USDT, and ETH in under 30 minutes. An API integration puts the payment flow on your own frontend with the provider handling the backend. Maximum control, maximum work. This is the route for custom checkouts and platforms. See the [crypto payment API guide for developers](https://www.plaitr.com/blog/best-crypto-payment-api-developers-2026) for the deep version. ## What Each Method Actually Settles In Settlement speed depends on the chain, not the method. This is the table that matters: | Chain | Confirmation time | |---|---| | Stablecoins on Solana or Base | Seconds | | Ethereum mainnet | 2 to 5 minutes | | Bitcoin on-chain | 10 to 60 minutes | The practical implication: if checkout speed matters, quote stablecoins on a fast chain. A customer staring at a pending Bitcoin transaction for 30 minutes is a customer who abandons. Stablecoins on Solana or Base confirm before they switch tabs. ## The Conversion Problem Nobody Mentions General ecommerce cart abandonment runs roughly 70% in 2026, higher on mobile. Adding crypto does not automatically fix that, and a badly built crypto checkout makes it worse. One study found a crypto-friendly checkout reduced abandonment by around 6%, yet only about 8% of the top 500 stores offer crypto at all. Reported crypto checkout conversion ranges wildly, from 15% to 50%. That spread is not the payment technology. It is the user-experience layer: clear amount display, guided network selection, and real-time payment status. The lesson is concrete. A crypto option that shows the customer exactly what to send, on which network, and confirms receipt visibly will convert. One that dumps a raw wallet address and a QR code on the page will not. Choose a method and provider that handles the status UX, not just the address generation. ## The Cost Difference Between Methods The method does not set the price. The provider's business model does. Custodial gateways that hold your funds typically charge a percentage per transaction, commonly around 1%. Over a year at meaningful volume that is a five-figure line item. The [crypto payment gateway fee comparison](https://www.plaitr.com/blog/crypto-payment-gateway-fees-compared-2026) breaks the exact numbers down. A non-custodial rail like Plaitr charges a flat monthly fee and takes no per-transaction cut. Funds settle straight to a wallet you control. The method you pick, hosted checkout, payment link, plugin, or API, does not change that. A merchant doing $200,000 a month keeps the difference between a flat fee and 1%, which is roughly $24,000 a year. ## Which Method Should You Use The honest decision tree. If you have no website or a simple one: payment links. Zero integration, works everywhere, no code. If you run WooCommerce, Shopify, or another supported store: the plugin. Thirty minutes, native checkout, done. See [how to accept crypto on Shopify](https://www.plaitr.com/blog/accept-crypto-on-shopify-2026) and the [WooCommerce plugin guide](https://www.plaitr.com/blog/woocommerce-crypto-payment-plugin-2026) for the platform specifics. If you want a branded flow without engineering: hosted checkout. An hour of work, your logo, the provider's reliability. If you are a platform, a marketplace, or need a custom flow: the API. Budget real engineering time and read the developer guide. For every path, the rail underneath matters more than the method on top. A non-custodial, [zero-KYC crypto payment gateway](https://www.plaitr.com/no-kyc-crypto-payment-gateway) means you keep the full payment and your customer is not forced through an identity check at your checkout. ## What To Do This Week Pick the method that matches your site: link, plugin, hosted, or API. Set it up against a non-custodial rail so you are not paying a percentage forever. Quote stablecoins on Solana or Base as the default so payments confirm in seconds. Test one real transaction end to end, watching the customer-facing status the whole way, because the status UX is what actually converts. The technology is solved. The thing that wins is a checkout that tells the customer exactly what is happening, settling in seconds, on a rail that does not take a cut. > Plaitr is the non-custodial crypto payment rail. Hosted checkout, payment links, plugins, and API. Zero KYC, flat fee, 100% kept, every L1 and L2, same-day fiat payout. --- **Related reading:** - [Accept Solana payments](/accept/solana) - [Accept Polygon payments](/accept/polygon) - [Non-custodial crypto payment processor](/non-custodial-crypto-payment-processor) - [Crypto payment gateway](/crypto-payment-gateway) --- - [More Payments articles](https://www.plaitr.com/blog/category/payments) - [All articles](https://www.plaitr.com/blog)