Bitcart vs BTCPay Server

Same model, different scope#

Both are open-source software you run on your own server, both charge nothing, and both pay into wallets whose keys you hold. The cards agree on cost, custody and onboarding because the model is identical. Where they differ is what the software watches: BTCPay Server watches Bitcoin and Lightning, with other chains reachable through community plugins; Bitcart watches Bitcoin, Lightning, Ethereum and its tokens, Tron, BNB Chain, Polygon, Litecoin and Monero out of the box.

For a Bitcoin-only merchant the difference is invisible. For one whose customers pay USDT on Tron, it is the whole comparison.

Plugins and platforms#

BTCPay Server names more than twenty ecommerce integrations on its own page, including WooCommerce, Shopify, PrestaShop, Magento, OpenCart, Wix and WHMCS. Bitcart publishes WooCommerce and Shopify plugins plus its own hosted store and an API with a Python SDK.

A merchant on an unusual platform is more likely to find it covered on the BTCPay side. A developer building a custom checkout finds both adequate, and the Bitcart SDK is the more conventional starting point.

Who is behind each#

BTCPay Server is maintained by a foundation with a large contributor base and years of production use; the card scores support on a community chat and issue tracker with no response commitment, and that description applies equally here. Bitcart is a smaller project with a similar support model and a shorter track record.

Neither has a company to call. The difference is the size of the crowd that will answer a question at three in the morning, and BTCPay's is larger.

Monero and the privacy segment#

Bitcart supports Monero natively, which no custodial provider in this index does and which BTCPay Server reaches only through a plugin. For a merchant whose customers value privacy, that is a distinct segment neither a hosted gateway nor the default BTCPay install serves.

It is also the reason Bitcart's card names high-risk and nonprofit among its verticals: the merchants who need that asset are often the ones custodial providers decline.

Operations#

Both require a server, a synced node or a light-client backend, and someone to keep it running. BTCPay's documentation for deployment is extensive and its one-click hosting options are mature. Bitcart offers a configurator, Docker and a command-line install, and its documentation is shorter.

The zero on the fee line is paid in hours on both sides. A merchant should budget for those hours honestly before comparing either with a hosted gateway at 1%.

What neither does#

Neither offers fiat settlement, refunds handled by a provider, a support contract or a legal entity to name in a procurement document. Both record fiat as absent rather than as not disclosed, because the projects are clear about it.

A merchant who needs euros in a bank needs a second provider alongside either, and the self-hosted shortlist covers how merchants combine them.

Where this pair lands#

BTCPay Server for a Bitcoin merchant who wants the largest ecosystem, the longest plugin list and the biggest community. Bitcart for a merchant whose customers pay in stablecoins or Monero and who wants that covered without assembling plugins.

Both are free, both are yours to run, and the assets your customers hold decide which. The fee table has nothing to add.