Payment gateway vs payment processor: what’s the difference?
Last updated 21 September 2026
How gateway, processor, PSP, and orchestration roles differ, and how this radar labels the companies it monitors.
Explore providers
- Stripe — Global PSP / payments platform
- Adyen — Enterprise PSP / acquiring
- Primer — Payment orchestration
Related comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Can one company be both a gateway and a processor?
Yes. Many PSPs combine a developer-facing gateway (APIs, checkout, tokens) with acquiring or processing. The useful question is which licences and connections you actually get in each country, not the homepage label.
Where does payment orchestration sit?
Orchestration sits above one or more processors: it routes, retries, and often vaults cards while the underlying PSPs still process. Payment Market Radar treats orchestration as its own provider category when that is how a company is monitored.
All guides