The GoCardless alternative that suits you depends on the gap you're trying to close. If customers want to pay by card, you need a provider that takes cards as well as SEPA direct debit, and if overdue invoices are piling up, you need reminders and chasing, which GoCardless doesn't provide. You can add a credit control tool next to GoCardless, or move to one tool that collects payments and chases them.
In this article
The short version
- GoCardless doesn't take card payments or send invoice reminders.
- You can keep GoCardless and add reminders from Xero, QuickBooks or Paidnice.
- Stripe takes cards and SEPA direct debit, with Invoicing fees on top.
- Xero Ireland and Big Red Cloud both use GoCardless for direct debit.
- Customers moving to Adfin from another SEPA provider keep their mandates.
Name the gap before you compare tools
If you're reading this, direct debit itself is probably working for you. Regular customers sign a mandate once and GoCardless collects from their euro account on each due date. The reasons people start looking elsewhere tend to be the jobs around the collection: a new customer who'd rather pay by card than sign a mandate, overdue invoices that nobody has followed up, or the €50 monthly add-on for showing your own business name on customers' bank statements.
Each of those leads to a different kind of alternative, and some of them don't need you to leave GoCardless at all.
| If you mainly need | What to look at | What you take on |
|---|---|---|
| Card payments as well as direct debit | A provider that takes both, such as Stripe, or a tool that combines payments and credit control | A second payment method to price and set up |
| Reminders and chasing for unpaid invoices | Reminders in Xero or QuickBooks, a credit control tool, or a tool that collects and chases | One more tool alongside GoCardless, unless a single tool does both jobs |
| Your own business name on customers' statements | Ask each provider what customers see and whether it costs extra | GoCardless lists this as an add-on at €50 a month |
| Fewer separate tools to run | One tool for direct debit, cards and reminders | Moving your mandates and replacing payment links |
If you keep GoCardless and add to it
When direct debit is doing its job and the gap is chasing, you can leave collection where it is. GoCardless doesn't send invoice reminders or chase unpaid invoices, so that work has to come from somewhere else.
The reminders built into your accounting software are the first place to look. Xero can send automatic reminders before or after the due date, as often as you choose, and QuickBooks Online in Ireland sends up to three. If you want late fees and interest added for you, Paidnice costs €59 a month for up to 150 invoices, or from €85 on Pro, and works with Xero, QuickBooks Online and Stripe.
The trade-off is that payments come in through one system while reminders go out from another. You'll want both to read invoice status from the same accounting software, so a customer who has just paid by bank transfer doesn't get chased the next morning.
This setup still leaves card payments unsolved. GoCardless doesn't take cards, so a customer who wants to pay that way would need a second provider.
If you move to a different provider
If both cards and chasing matter to you, moving takes more effort up front and leaves you with fewer pieces afterwards.
Stripe takes both cards and SEPA direct debit, and its Irish price for a standard European Economic Area card is 1.5% + €0.25. On direct debit, Stripe lists €3.50 for a failed SEPA payment and €15 for a SEPA dispute, and SEPA funds become available six business days after the payment. Invoice reminders come with Stripe Invoicing, which adds 0.4% (Starter) or 0.5% (Plus) of each paid invoice to the payment fees.
Adfin collects by SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank transfer, with payment links you send by email, SMS or WhatsApp. Its Essential credit control costs nothing under fair use and covers unlimited reminders on those same three channels, statements, an aged debtors view and Xero or QuickBooks sync. You pay 20c + 1% per successful payment. On SEPA direct debit and bank transfer the 1% part stops at €2, so a payment of up to €2,000 by either method costs at most €2.20, while card payments aren't capped and are charged at the standard 20c + 1%. You won't pay a monthly fee or a setup fee, and you don't sign a contract.
One route that doesn't change much is switching the payment setting in your accounting software. The direct debit option Xero Ireland offers on invoices runs through GoCardless, and so does Big Red Cloud's, so changing settings there keeps you with the same provider.
What your customers notice when you move
Customers who pay by card or bank transfer see very little. Their next invoice or reminder carries a new payment link, and they pay from it the way they did before.
Direct debit customers need more thought, because you collect from their accounts under a mandate they signed. Whether mandates can move from one provider to another without new signatures depends on the providers involved, so ask before you pick a date. With a move to Adfin from another SEPA direct debit provider, your customers carry on under their existing mandates and don't sign anything new. Each mandate moves with that customer's next collection, and the customer is told before it.
Two scheme rules affect how and when you tell them. Pre-notification has to be sent to a customer at least 14 calendar days before a collection unless you've agreed something different, and customers can ask their bank to refund any authorised collection within eight weeks. A short note explaining the new name they'll see, sent before the first collection, gives them less reason to query it with their bank.
Common questions
Does GoCardless take card payments in Ireland? GoCardless collects bank payments such as SEPA direct debit and doesn't accept card payments. If your customers want to pay by card, you'd need another provider for those payments.
Does GoCardless send reminders for unpaid invoices? GoCardless doesn't send reminders about invoices or chase the ones left unpaid. If you use it, reminders would come from your accounting software or from a credit control tool added alongside.
Can I keep GoCardless and add credit control? You can, since credit control tools read unpaid invoices from your accounting software and chase them separately. Xero and QuickBooks Online include automatic reminders, and Paidnice works with both.
Will my customers sign new mandates if I leave GoCardless? Whether they sign again depends on the provider you move to. Customers moving to Adfin from another SEPA direct debit provider keep their existing mandates and don't sign again.
What does GoCardless charge to show my business name on statements? GoCardless lists showing your own business name on customers' bank statements as an add-on at €50 a month. Add-ons are billed monthly.
Which Irish accounting software uses GoCardless for direct debit? The direct debit option on Xero Ireland invoices runs through GoCardless, Big Red Cloud's direct debit is powered by it, and a GoCardless app is listed on Sage's Irish marketplace.
Sources
- GoCardless - Pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://gocardless.com/en-ie/pricing
- GoCardless - Credit card payments (accurate as of November 2026) https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-gb/articles/18170477922204-Credit-card-payments
- Stripe - Local payment methods pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/pricing/local-payment-methods
- Stripe - Invoicing pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/invoicing/pricing
- Paidnice - Pricing (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.paidnice.com/pricing
- European Payments Council - 2025 SEPA Direct Debit Core Rulebook, version 1.0 (accurate as of November 2026) https://europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2024-11/EPC016-06%202025%20SDD%20Core%20Rulebook%20version%201.0.pdf
