Mollie

Overview

Mollie is a European payment service provider that offers a unified API for processing online and in-person transactions. Established in 2004, Mollie focuses on simplifying payment acceptance for businesses operating within the European market. The platform supports a broad spectrum of payment methods, encompassing international credit cards like Visa and Mastercard, as well as popular local options such as iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, and SOFORT Banking across several European countries. This comprehensive support allows merchants to cater to diverse customer preferences and increase conversion rates by offering familiar payment choices.

Mollie's core offerings include a robust Payment Gateway API, which facilitates direct integration into e-commerce platforms and custom applications. For businesses operating marketplaces or platforms, Mollie Connect enables splitting payments to multiple recipients, managing payouts for vendors, and onboarding new merchants efficiently. The Recurring Payments feature is designed for subscription-based services, allowing for automated collection of regular payments. Additionally, Payment Links offer a straightforward way to request payments without requiring a full e-commerce setup, suitable for invoicing or one-off transactions. For physical retail environments, Mollie Terminal provides solutions for in-person card payments, integrating point-of-sale systems with the broader Mollie payment infrastructure.

Mollie adheres to stringent security and regulatory standards, holding a PCI DSS Level 1 certification, which is the highest level of compliance for handling credit card data. It also complies with the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring secure and transparent payment processing across the European Economic Area. The developer experience is characterized by well-structured API documentation, providing example code in multiple programming languages like PHP, Node.js, Ruby, Python, Java, and ASP.NET. The API is RESTful, supporting standard HTTP methods and JSON payloads for requests and responses, making it accessible for developers to integrate payment functionalities into their applications. Webhooks are extensively used for asynchronous event notifications, such as payment status updates, which are critical for maintaining accurate order states in e-commerce systems.

While Mollie is best suited for businesses with a primary focus on the European market, its capabilities extend to supporting international transactions processed through European acquiring banks. Its pay-per-transaction model, with no monthly fees, can be particularly appealing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or startups seeking to manage costs based on actual transaction volume. For comparison, other payment processors like Stripe also offer extensive global reach and similar compliance standards as detailed in their Stripe security documentation, often with different pricing structures and geographical specializations.

Key features

• Payment Gateway: Facilitates acceptance of major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and over 25 local European payment methods, including iDEAL, Bancontact, SOFORT Banking, SEPA Direct Debit, and PayPal.
• Mollie Connect: Enables platforms and marketplaces to onboard sub-merchants, split payments, and manage payouts to multiple parties from a single transaction.
• Recurring Payments: Supports subscription models and recurring billing with features for managing mandates, payment schedules, and retries for failed transactions.
• Payment Links: Allows businesses to generate shareable links for one-off payments, suitable for invoices, donations, or direct customer requests without needing a full checkout integration.
• Mollie Terminal: Provides hardware and software solutions for accepting in-person card payments, integrating physical point-of-sale transactions with online payment reporting.
• Multi-currency Support: Processes payments in various currencies, converting funds to the merchant's settlement currency, which assists businesses serving international customers within Europe.
• Advanced Fraud Detection: Incorporates tools and algorithms to identify and mitigate fraudulent transactions, helping protect merchants from chargebacks and financial losses.
• Unified Dashboard: Offers a centralized dashboard for managing transactions, refunds, customer data, and financial reporting across all payment channels.
• Developer-Friendly API: Provides a RESTful API with comprehensive documentation, client libraries (SDKs) in multiple languages (PHP, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java, ASP.NET), and webhook support for real-time event notifications.
• Regulatory Compliance: Adheres to PCI DSS Level 1, PSD2, and GDPR, ensuring secure handling of sensitive payment and customer data.

Pricing

Mollie operates on a transaction-based pricing model without monthly fees, meaning businesses typically pay a small fee per successful transaction. The exact costs vary depending on the payment method used and the volume of transactions. Below is a summary of starting transaction fees (as of June 2026).

For more detailed and up-to-date pricing information, including specific rates for higher volumes or less common payment methods, refer to the official Mollie pricing page.

Common integrations

• E-commerce Platforms: Direct integrations or plugins for platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and PrestaShop, simplifying payment gateway setup for online stores.
• ERP and Accounting Software: Connectors for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and accounting software to automate financial reconciliation and reporting.
• CRM Systems: Integration with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to link payment data with customer profiles and sales activities.
• Subscription Management Platforms: Compatibility with platforms specializing in recurring billing and subscription lifecycle management.
• Custom Applications: Through its RESTful API, Mollie can be integrated into any custom-built web or mobile application, providing developers full control over the payment flow.

Alternatives

• Stripe: A global payment processing platform known for its developer-friendly APIs and extensive support for various business models worldwide.
• Adyen: A global payment company providing end-to-end payment processing, data, and financial management services to large enterprises.
• Checkout.com: Offers an international payment processing platform with a focus on enterprise businesses and optimized payment performance.
• PayPal: Provides widely recognized online payment solutions, including gateway services and direct PayPal payments, suitable for businesses of all sizes globally.
• Square: Known for its point-of-sale (POS) systems and payment processing for small to medium-sized businesses, particularly in North America, also expanding into online payments.

Getting started

To begin accepting payments with Mollie, you typically create a payment, redirect your customer, and then handle the webhook notification. Below is a basic example using Node.js to create a payment for a specific amount and description, and then logging the payment URL for redirection.

const { createMollieClient } = require('@mollie/api-client');

const mollieClient = createMollieClient({
    apiKey: 'YOUR_TEST_API_KEY_HERE' // Replace with your actual Mollie API key
});

async function createPayment() {
    try {
        const payment = await mollieClient.payments.create({
            amount: {
                currency: 'EUR',
                value: '10.00' // Amount in €
            },
            description: 'Order #12345',
            redirectUrl: 'https://webhook.site/return-url',
            webhookUrl: 'https://webhook.site/your-webhook-endpoint' // Replace with your actual webhook URL
        });

        console.log('Payment created:');
        console.log(`Payment ID: ${payment.id}`);
        console.log(`Payment URL: ${payment.getPaymentUrl()}`);
        // Redirect your customer to payment.getPaymentUrl() to complete the payment

    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Error creating payment:', error);
    }
}

createPayment();

This Node.js example utilizes the official Mollie Node.js client library. After running this script, it will output a payment URL that a customer would navigate to in order to complete the transaction. Mollie also provides comprehensive developer guides for payment integration in various languages, including details on handling webhooks for asynchronous payment status updates. You'll need to replace 'YOUR_TEST_API_KEY_HERE' with your actual Mollie API key, which can be found in your Mollie Dashboard, and update the redirectUrl and webhookUrl to your application's endpoints.