AionBooking supports both Stripe and Paystack, and we get asked constantly: which should I use? The honest answer is: it depends on your customers. Here is a practical comparison to help you decide — or to confirm that you should use both.
Paystack is the clear winner for Nigerian businesses and for anyone primarily serving customers who pay in NGN, GHS, KES, ZAR, or EGP. It was built for African payment rails and handles local bank transfers, USSD payments, and mobile money natively.
Stripe covers 135+ currencies and is the right choice for international customers — particularly those paying in USD, GBP, or EUR. Nigerian Stripe accounts can now receive USD payments and convert to NGN on payout.
Paystack settles to Nigerian bank accounts within 24–48 hours on business days — often same-day for accounts with a strong transaction history. Stripe's standard payout schedule in Nigeria is T+7 (seven business days), though this can be reduced to T+2 for accounts in good standing.
If cash flow is critical to your business — as it is for most service SMBs — Paystack's faster settlement is a meaningful advantage for NGN transactions.
For most African service businesses on AionBooking: connect Paystack as your primary provider and Stripe as your international fallback. This combination gives you the best fees for local customers, same-day settlement, and the ability to accept international cards without a separate integration.
AionBooking handles the routing automatically. When a customer's card is issued in Nigeria or Ghana, Paystack is used. For cards from other countries, Stripe is used. You configure this once in Settings → Payments and never think about it again.
Both providers are available on all AionBooking paid plans. You do not need separate accounts for each — connect both in Settings → Payments and AionBooking handles the routing.
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