# Stripe alternatives for high-risk businesses Title: Stripe alternatives for high-risk businesses Description: Who will underwrite a restricted business before it processes, and who will not. Read November 9, 2026. Source pages linked. Compared with Stripe. Start with the category, not the logo. If Stripe's list calls the business prohibited, stop. The checker is the short version. Card networks do not care that a sales rep said yes. If the business is restricted, licensed, and you would rather be declined on an application than shut down in month three, you want up-front underwriting. ## Which categories do Stripe, PayPal and Square restrict? The table quotes each provider's own terms, read November 10, 2026. Stripe's list was last updated September 22, 2026, PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy November 4, 2026, and Square's Payment Terms November 6, 2026. Restricted, on Stripe, means extra review and a possible yes. Pre-approval, on PayPal, means the same. Square's terms list what its payment services may not be used for. | Category | Stripe | PayPal | Square | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [CBD](/best/cbd) | Restricted: "CBD products containing only negligible amounts of THC, per local limits" | Not named in the policy | Not allowed: "products containing CBD, THC, or other cannabinoids" | | [Firearms](/best/firearms) | Restricted: legal firearms and other weapons, with limited availability | Prohibited: "ammunition, firearms, or certain firearm parts or accessories" | Not allowed: "firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition" | | [Tobacco and e-cigarettes](/best/vape) | Restricted: tobacco, e-cigarettes, cigars, and e-liquid | Cigarettes prohibited. Other tobacco and e-cigarettes need pre-approval | Not allowed: "internet/mail order/telephone order of age restricted products (e.g., tobacco)" | | [Telehealth and online pharmacy](/best/telehealth) | Restricted: telemedicine, online pharmacies, card-not-present prescription products | Pre-approval: prescription items and telemedicine services | Not allowed: internet, mail-order, and telephone-order pharmacies that fill a prescription after a remote consultation | | Adult content | Prohibited | Prohibits "certain sexually oriented materials or services". Mature content delivered digitally needs pre-approval | Not allowed: "adult entertainment oriented products or services" | | Gambling | Prohibited, including games of skill with prizes | Pre-approval, and only where the operator and its customers are in permitted jurisdictions | Not allowed: betting, including lottery tickets, sports gambling, and casino chips | Sources: [Stripe's prohibited and restricted businesses list](https://stripe.com/legal/restricted-businesses?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com), [PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy](https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/acceptableuse-full?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com), and [Square's Payment Terms](https://squareup.com/us/en/legal/general/payment?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com). A cell is a summary of one line. Read the full document before you apply. ## Which provider fits a higher-risk review? **Frame** is the provider here built for that job: a US payment facilitator that reviews regulated and higher-risk businesses before they process, with KYC, KYB, fraud tooling, and disputes in the same API. Use it for a United States business. Do not use the "from 2.0% + $0.39" line as your price. Frame sets the rate from the risk. Do not treat this paragraph as approval for your MCC. Apply. ## Which processors are poor fits after Stripe says no? PayPal, Square, Shopify Payments, and Braintree are real processors with real published prices. They are instant or near-instant for ordinary businesses, and they restrict industries too. They are the wrong place to send a business Stripe has already closed for its category. Adyen, Checkout.com, and Worldpay underwrite, and they are built for larger merchants. A small restricted business will not get a faster yes by filling out an enterprise form. A large one might get a better contract. That is a sales process, not a listing. Merchants of record such as Paddle will not become the seller of a high-dispute or heavily regulated product so that you can avoid underwriting. They decline those products because the liability is theirs. ## How do you read an underwriting yes? A useful yes names the legal entity, the URL, the products you may charge for, the countries, and the reserve if there is one. A yes that is only a live API key is the Stripe pattern again. ## Which industries have their own page? Peptides, telehealth, CBD, firearms, and vape and tobacco each have a page. Each one quotes Stripe's own list for that industry, and says when staying on Stripe is the right call. - [Peptides](/best/peptides) - [Telehealth and regulated healthcare](/best/telehealth) - [CBD](/best/cbd) - [Firearms](/best/firearms) - [Vape and tobacco](/best/vape) If Stripe has already acted on the account, start with [Stripe account under review](/guides/stripe-account-under-review) or [Stripe closed my account](/guides/stripe-closed-my-account). ## Questions ### Which categories do Stripe, PayPal and Square restrict? The table quotes each provider's own terms, read November 10, 2026. Stripe's list was last updated September 22, 2026, PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy November 4, 2026, and Square's Payment Terms November 6, 2026. Restricted, on Stripe, means extra review and a possible yes. Pre-approval, on PayPal, means the same. Square's terms list what its payment services may not be used for. ### Which provider fits a higher-risk review? Frame is the provider here built for that job: a US payment facilitator that reviews regulated and higher-risk businesses before they process, with KYC, KYB, fraud tooling, and disputes in the same API. Use it for a United States business. Do not use the "from 2.0% + $0.39" line as your price. Frame sets the rate from the risk. Do not treat this paragraph as approval for your MCC. Apply. ### Which processors are poor fits after Stripe says no? PayPal, Square, Shopify Payments, and Braintree are real processors with real published prices. They are instant or near-instant for ordinary businesses, and they restrict industries too. They are the wrong place to send a business Stripe has already closed for its category. ### How do you read an underwriting yes? A useful yes names the legal entity, the URL, the products you may charge for, the countries, and the reserve if there is one. A yes that is only a live API key is the Stripe pattern again. ### Which industries have their own page? Peptides, telehealth, CBD, firearms, and vape and tobacco each have a page. Each one quotes Stripe's own list for that industry, and says when staying on Stripe is the right call. ## Sources Last verified November 9, 2026. - Stripe pricing: https://stripe.com/pricing?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com - Stripe's prohibited and restricted businesses list: https://stripe.com/legal/restricted-businesses?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com - PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy: https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/acceptableuse-full?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com - Square's Payment Terms: https://squareup.com/us/en/legal/general/payment?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com ## Related - [Payment providers for telehealth and regulated healthcare](/best/telehealth.md) - [Stripe alternatives for peptide businesses](/best/peptides.md) - [Stripe alternatives for CBD businesses](/best/cbd.md) - [Stripe alternatives for firearms businesses](/best/firearms.md) - [Stripe alternatives for vape and tobacco sellers](/best/vape.md) - [Stripe alternatives by situation](/best.md) - [Stripe alternatives directory](/index.md) - [Stripe pricing and US card fees](/alternatives/stripe.md)