For most UAE online stores in 2026, the shortlist is six names: Telr, Tap Payments, Stripe, PayTabs, Network International, and Checkout.com. Typical fees for local cards run ~2.5–2.9% plus AED 1 per transaction, setup ranges from AED 0 to ~AED 1,000+, and approval takes from same-day (self-serve platforms) to a few working days with documents in order. Every gateway settles in AED — the differences are fees at your volume, setup speed, regional method coverage, and platform fit. Below: the real numbers, the approval documents, and the arithmetic to pick the cheapest option for your sales level.
How UAE gateway fees actually work
Gateways charge in up to three layers — comparing "the fee" without separating them is where most merchants go wrong:
- Transaction fee — a percentage of each sale plus a fixed per-transaction amount (e.g. 2.9% + AED 1). International cards cost more — typically +1%, or a 3.2–3.5% band — and currency conversion adds ~1% (Stripe's official UAE pricing, 2026).
- Monthly fee — a flat charge some providers levy regardless of volume (Telr's plans: AED 99–349/month; PayTabs applies a USD 50 monthly minimum below USD 2,000 in monthly processed sales — alaan.com, Oct 2026).
- Setup fee — a one-off onboarding charge: AED 0 on most self-serve platforms, up to ~AED 1,000+ on quote-based providers like Network International.
One cost almost no comparison table mentions: 5% UAE VAT applies on top of gateway fees. Providers quote fees excluding VAT (alaan.com explicitly marks its worked example "before VAT"). Add 5% to every figure below for your real cost.
The six gateways compared: 2026 rates at a glance
Typical published 2026 rates for AED transactions on locally issued cards, before VAT — confirm your live quote before signing.
| Gateway | Local card fee | Monthly fee | Setup fee | Typical payout timing* | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telr | Tiered: 0% (Entry, ≤AED 20k/mo) / 2.69% + AED 1 (Small) / 2.49% + AED 0.50 (Medium) | AED 349 / 149 / 99 | Usually AED 0–350 | Typically 2–7 working days | UAE SMEs wanting local support |
| Tap Payments | ~2.75% + AED 1 (UAE); 3.50% regional; 3.75% global | AED 0 | AED 0 | Typically 2–7 working days | Fast MENA setup, GCC card coverage |
| Stripe | 2.9% + AED 1; +1% international; +1% FX | AED 0 | AED 0 | ~5–7 days | Developers, international cards |
| PayTabs | ~2.85–2.9% + AED 1 | USD 50 min. below USD 2k monthly volume | Usually AED 0–500 | Typically 2–7 working days | GCC-wide selling, Arabic checkout |
| Network International | Negotiated ~1.85–2.5% | Custom | ~AED 1,000+ | ~1–3 days | High-volume merchants |
| Checkout.com | Negotiated ~1.8–2.5% | AED 0 | AED 0 | Typically 2–7 working days | High-growth and enterprise |
*Payout timing is the typical range reported by the 2026 comparison sources below for accounts in good standing; your agreement governs, and first payouts on new accounts are often slower. Sources: alaan.com, huptechweb.com, carrilagency.com (2026); Stripe official UAE pricing; socio.ae; howtostartabusinessindubai.com.
The shortlist, gateway by gateway
Telr — the UAE-native incumbent
Telr is Dubai-founded, licensed across the UAE, KSA and India, and PCI DSS Level 1 certified (huptechweb.com, 2026; yourstory.com). Its tiered pricing is unique: Entry costs AED 349/month with 0% transaction fee up to AED 20,000 in monthly volume, Small is AED 149/month at 2.69% + AED 1, and Medium is AED 99/month at 2.49% + AED 0.50 (alaan.com, Oct 2026). All features — anti-fraud, QR codes, payment links — are included in every tier (telr.com), and coverage spans Visa, Mastercard, Amex, JCB, UnionPay, mada, SADAD, Apple Pay and PayPal. Best for: UAE SMEs processing under ~AED 50k/month that want Arabic/English local support.
Tap Payments — the MENA-native fast setup
Tap is built for MENA checkout: UAE cards at ~2.75% + AED 1, regional 3.50% + AED 1, global 3.75% + AED 1, with no setup or monthly fees (alaan.com, Oct 2026). Its edge is regional methods — mada, KNET, Benefit, STC Pay — plus Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, in-checkout 3D Secure and native Tabby/Tamara BNPL support (tap.company; carrilagency.com). Best for: UAE and GCC sellers who want the fastest path from signup to live.
Stripe — the developer's choice
Stripe's official UAE pricing is the most transparent in the market: 2.9% + AED 1.00 per domestic card transaction, +1% for international cards, +1% for currency conversion, with AED 60 dispute fees (stripe.com). No setup or monthly fees. The API and documentation are the industry benchmark, and it handles international cards and multi-currency cleanly — a real edge for tourist, expat and GCC-buyer traffic. The trade-off is shallower local support than UAE-native providers (carrilagency.com, 2026). Best for: startups, SaaS, and stores with meaningful international card volume.
PayTabs — the GCC-wide option
Saudi-founded PayTabs processes across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Jordan from a single merchant relationship (huptechweb.com, 2026). Standard pricing runs ~2.85–2.9% + AED 1 for AED transactions, with a USD 50 monthly minimum below USD 2,000 in monthly processed sales (alaan.com, Oct 2026). Its genuine differentiator is native Arabic checkout with clean RTL rendering (huptechweb.com); method coverage spans Visa, Mastercard, mada, KNET, STC Pay, Amex and JCB. Best for: merchants selling across the GCC — especially UAE + Saudi — from one gateway.
Network International — the local acquirer
The UAE's homegrown acquiring giant works on negotiated, quote-based pricing — typically 1.85–2.5% for higher-volume merchants (huptechweb.com, 2026), with setup around AED 1,000+ and custom monthly fees. Settlement is fast at ~1–3 days (socio.ae), and direct relationships with Emirates NBD, FAB, Mashreq and ADCB help large accounts. Best for: established retailers and high-volume businesses that can negotiate — not startups.
Checkout.com — the enterprise negotiator
Checkout.com offers custom flat-rate or interchange++ pricing — typically 1.8–2.5% negotiated for scale (huptechweb.com, 2026) — with no setup or monthly fees (carrilagency.com). Built for high-growth tech companies and enterprises with strong multi-currency and analytics. Best for: scale-ups where the rate negotiation justifies the enterprise sales process.
Setup and approval: what you'll actually need
UAE gateways must verify your business before switching on live payments, so have these ready:
- A valid UAE trade licence — this is the hard requirement. Get your gateway account approved only after your licence is issued; it's the single biggest cause of onboarding delays.
- Owner's Emirates ID (or passport with visa for non-residents).
- A UAE corporate bank account in the licence's name — this is where settlements land.
- A working website the provider can review — under construction or demo checkouts slow approval.
Self-serve platforms (Stripe, Tap) can be live the same day you complete online KYC; underwritten gateways (Telr, Network International, PayTabs) typically take a few working days once documents are complete — Telr runs the region's first online onboarding platform (telr.com). If your trade licence activity doesn't match what you sell, expect questions; mismatched activities are the most common reason applications get bounced.
Buy now, pay later: Tabby and Tamara as a second layer
BNPL sits on top of your card setup as an extra checkout option. In the UAE, Tabby and Tamara dominate. Neither publishes a standard rate — the merchant fee is negotiated per merchant, and published 2026 sources report a wide spread, from roughly 2.99–3.99% + AED 1–2 per transaction (huptechweb.com, 2026) up to list rates of 5.5–8% — meaningfully more than card rates either way. Our dedicated Tabby vs Tamara comparison breaks the spread down source by source. But UAE shoppers in fashion and electronics actively seek instalments at checkout. Treat it as a conversion tool, not a cost centre: run it for 2–3 months and compare the uplift in completed checkouts against the higher fee.
Which gateway works with your platform?
- Shopify: Shopify Payments is not available in the UAE — every store here uses a third-party gateway. Telr, Tap and PayTabs offer official Shopify apps, and Stripe is available to UAE accounts as a third-party provider (huptechweb.com, 2026) — confirm availability in your Shopify admin before committing, as provider eligibility changes. When costing a Shopify build, budget the gateway's monthly fee on top of the platform subscription.
- WooCommerce/WordPress: Telr, Tap, Stripe and PayTabs all ship WooCommerce plugins; Checkout.com and Network International integrate via API. See our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison and what a website costs in Dubai for the full cost picture.
- Custom builds (Laravel/Next.js): Stripe and Checkout.com have the cleanest APIs; Tap and Telr both document REST APIs and mobile SDKs. Our ecommerce website development in Dubai covers gateway integration as part of the checkout build.
- Arabic checkout: if many customers check out in Arabic, PayTabs' native RTL checkout or Tap's MENA flow converts better than a translated-afterthought page — factor it into Arabic/English website planning.
The break-even math: a worked AED example
Take AED 10,000 in monthly sales as 100 transactions of AED 100 each (fees before VAT):
- Stripe: 100 × (AED 2.90 + 1.00) = AED 390
- Tap Payments: 100 × (AED 2.75 + 1.00) = AED 375
- PayTabs: 100 × (AED 2.85 + 1.00) = AED 385
- Telr Small plan: AED 149 + 100 × (AED 2.69 + 1.00) = AED 518
- Telr Medium plan: AED 99 + 100 × (AED 2.49 + 0.50) = AED 398
- Telr Entry plan: AED 349 flat (0% transactions, volume ≤ AED 20k/month)
At this volume Telr Entry wins — and alaan.com's independent worked example (Oct 2026) reaches the same AED 349/375/385/390 figures. But raise the average order to AED 500 (20 transactions): Stripe costs 20 × (14.50 + 1) = AED 310, while Telr Entry still costs AED 349. The "cheapest" gateway is a function of your average order value and monthly volume, not a fixed ranking. Run your own numbers before signing.
How to choose: a 4-question decision framework
- What's your monthly volume? Under ~AED 20k/month, Telr Entry's flat AED 349 is hard to beat; AED 20k–200k, compare Tap/Stripe/PayTabs on your average order value; above ~AED 200k, negotiate with Network International or Checkout.com.
- Where are your customers? UAE-only: any of the six. UAE + Saudi/GCC: PayTabs or Tap (one relationship, regional methods). Heavy international cards: Stripe.
- What do you sell on? Shopify store, WooCommerce, or custom build — check the official app/plugin exists before committing.
- Do you need Arabic checkout? If yes, weight PayTabs and Tap over the global providers.
Common mistakes to avoid: choosing on headline percentage alone while ignoring the AED 1 fixed component (it punishes small tickets); forgetting the 5% VAT; signing a monthly-fee plan before knowing your volume; and skipping BNPL without testing it — for some categories it pays for itself in recovered checkouts.
The bottom line
There is no single "best" payment gateway in the UAE — there is a cheapest one for your volume and customer mix. Telr's tiers reward predictable volume, Tap and Stripe reward simplicity and speed, PayTabs rewards GCC-wide sellers, and Network International and Checkout.com reward scale. Sort your licence and bank account first, run the break-even math on your own average order value, and confirm the live quote.
Building or rebuilding the store these payments will flow through? Talk to our team — we integrate UAE payment gateways into Shopify, WooCommerce and custom builds as part of every ecommerce project.
Frequently asked questions
Which payment gateway is best for a small business in the UAE?
It depends on your monthly volume. Under ~AED 20,000/month, Telr's Entry plan (AED 349/month, 0% transaction fee) is typically the cheapest. For irregular or low volumes, Tap Payments and Stripe have no monthly fees at ~2.75–2.9% + AED 1. Above ~AED 200k/month, negotiated rates from Network International or Checkout.com (1.8–2.5%) beat every published plan.
How much does a payment gateway cost in the UAE?
Expect ~2.5–2.9% + AED 1 per transaction for locally issued cards, plus possible monthly fees (AED 0–349) and setup fees (AED 0 to ~1,000+). International cards add ~1% and currency conversion another ~1% on most gateways. All published fees exclude 5% UAE VAT — add it for your real cost.
Do I need a trade licence to get a payment gateway in the UAE?
Yes, effectively. UAE gateways require a valid UAE trade licence, the owner's Emirates ID, a UAE corporate bank account in the licence's name, and a working website to review. This is the single biggest onboarding delay — sort your licence before you apply, not after.
How long does payment gateway approval take in the UAE?
Self-serve platforms like Stripe and Tap can be live the same day you complete online KYC. Underwritten gateways (Telr, Network International, PayTabs) typically take a few working days once documents are complete — longer if your trade licence activity doesn't match what you sell.
Should my UAE store offer Tabby or Tamara?
If you sell fashion, electronics, beauty or furniture — categories where instalments drive decisions — yes, test it. BNPL merchant fees are negotiated, with published sources reporting roughly 3–4% + AED 1–2 per transaction at the low end and list rates up to 5.5–8% (more than cards either way), but UAE shoppers actively seek it at checkout. Run it for 2–3 months and compare the uplift in completed checkouts against the higher fee.
