Paystack vs Flutterwave Fee Breakdown for 2026

The verdict in three sentences

Paystack charges 1.5 % + ₦100, capped at ₦2,000, while Flutterwave charges a flat 1.4 % with no cap. That single difference means Flutterwave is cheaper on small tickets, but above roughly ₦133,000 per transaction Paystack's cap wins. The right choice depends entirely on your average order value and monthly volume.

Real cost on 5,000 transactions

Simulation for 5,000 transactions at ₦20,000, i.e. ₦100m in monthly volume (2026 order of magnitude).

At a ₦20,000 ticket, Flutterwave is clearly cheaper because Paystack's fixed ₦100 inflates the effective rate to 2.0 %.

The break-even by ticket size

Beyond ₦133,000, Paystack's ₦2,000 cap makes it decisively cheaper. High-ticket merchants should route large orders to Paystack and small ones to Flutterwave.

Mini case study

Amara runs an electronics store in Lagos: 1,200 orders/month at an AOV of ₦180,000 (₦216m volume). On Flutterwave at 1.4 % she pays ₦3.02m in fees. Switching to Paystack, where each order hits the ₦2,000 cap, her fees fall to ₦2.4m — a saving of roughly ₦624,000/month, or ₦7.49m/year.

FAQ

Where exactly is the break-even? Around ₦133,000 per transaction: below it Flutterwave's 1.4 % is cheaper, above it Paystack's ₦2,000 cap wins.

Does the ₦100 fixed fee matter? Yes — on a ₦5,000 order it adds 2 % on top of the percentage, which is why Flutterwave dominates low-ticket businesses.

Can I use both processors? Absolutely. Route small orders to Flutterwave and high-ticket orders to Paystack to always pay the lower fee.

Do settlement times differ? Both settle at T+1 on standard plans, so the decision comes down to fee structure rather than cash-flow timing.

Let's talk about your project. We build routing logic that sends each order to the cheaper processor by ticket size. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.