From $199/mo
WooCommerce lets you add any gateway, in theory. In practice the acquirer that approved you may have no plugin, the generic "custom payment gateway" plugins only create pending orders, and a bespoke plugin is a few weeks of PHP plus permanent maintenance. Here are the three real options and what each one costs you in time, PCI scope and resilience.
Plugins named "custom payment gateway" for WooCommerce add a payment method with a title, description and instructions. They record the order as pending or on-hold and capture nothing. They are for bank transfer, invoice and cash-on-delivery style flows. If your goal is to charge a card through a specific processor, they do not do it.
WooCommerce's payment gateway API lets a developer implement a class that renders a payment form, calls the processor, and updates the order. Done properly it also handles hosted card fields for PCI scope, 3-D Secure redirects, webhooks for asynchronous results, refunds from the order screen, subscriptions, and the blocks checkout. Budget several weeks for a first version and ongoing work as WooCommerce, PHP and the processor's API change. It is the right call when the processor is unusual and you have a developer who will own it for years.
Products, cart, coupons, shipping and accounts stay where they are. A small plugin hands the cart to the hosted checkout.
We integrate the processor's API once, on our side: tokenised fields, 3DS, webhooks, refunds. Custom HTTP endpoints included.
Paid orders created through the REST API with full detail, so nothing downstream changes.
The difference from a plugin is what comes with it: more than one gateway with automatic retry on soft declines, currency per buyer, one ledger across processors, and no card data on your server. Adding a processor later is configuration, not a plugin project. High-risk gateways for WooCommerce.
| Generic plugin | Bespoke plugin | Hosted checkout | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captures cards | No | Yes | Yes |
| Time | Minutes | Weeks | 24-48 hours after keys |
| PCI scope | None | Depends on build | SAQ A, card never on your server |
| Failover to a second processor | No | No | Yes |
| Maintenance | None | Yours, ongoing | Ours |
| Currency per buyer | No | If built | Yes, where the gateway allows |
Most connections to processors with a documented REST API are live within two working days; unusual ones are scoped first.
Yes, by writing a gateway plugin, or by connecting the processor's API through a hosted checkout that writes paid orders back into WooCommerce.
No. They create pending or on-hold orders for manual payment methods like bank transfer.
Several weeks for a first version with hosted fields, 3DS, webhooks and refunds, plus ongoing maintenance.
Yes. Any processor with an API, including custom HTTP endpoints, can be integrated on our side and used as a route.
Live in 24-48 hours. Founder-answered support on WhatsApp.
High-risk gateways for WooCommerce → · WooCommerce own-domain checkout → · Hosted checkout page → · Integrations →
CascadeCheckout is checkout software, not a payment service provider, bank or merchant-account seller. You contract with your own gateway or acquirer, disclose your real business category to them, and receive payouts from them. We never hold funds and we do not promise that any processor will approve you.