GoCardless, Stripe and Chaser alternatives in Ireland: a complete comparison

GoCardless collects SEPA direct debits, Stripe takes card payments and sends invoices, and Chaser follows up overdue invoices. Each one covers a different part of getting paid, so the alternative that fits depends on which part you want to change: how your customers pay, how late invoices get chased, or the work of running two or three tools side by side.

In this article

The short version

• GoCardless collects SEPA direct debits but doesn't take cards or chase invoices.
• Stripe Invoicing adds 0.4% or 0.5% per paid invoice on top of payment fees.
• Chaser is priced by company revenue and takes payments through Chaser Pay or Stripe.
• Paidnice and Payt price by invoice volume; Xero and QuickBooks include reminders.
• Moving to Adfin from another SEPA provider keeps your customers' existing mandates.

What GoCardless, Stripe and Chaser each cover

If you're weighing up an alternative to one of these three, there's probably one gap that has started to take up your time. Customers ask to pay by card, overdue invoices sit without a follow-up, or fees turn up somewhere you didn't expect them. Before comparing anything, it helps to be exact about what each tool does and what it leaves for you to sort out.

GoCardless is a direct debit provider, collecting SEPA direct debits from your customers' bank accounts. On its Advanced plan it also retries failed payments, using a feature it calls Success+. It doesn't take card payments, and it doesn't send invoice reminders or chase unpaid invoices. Its fees come out of each payout before the money reaches you, and showing your own business name on customers' bank statements is a paid add-on at €50 a month.

Stripe is a payment provider for cards and other online payment methods, SEPA direct debit included. Its published Irish prices are 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European Economic Area cards, 2.5% + €0.25 for UK cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards. Stripe Invoicing sends invoices and can email automatic reminders before, on or after the due date, and it adds 0.4% (Starter) or 0.5% (Plus) of each paid invoice on top of the payment fees. On SEPA direct debit, Stripe lists a €3.50 fee for a failed payment and €15 for a dispute, and the funds become available six business days after the payment.

Chaser is credit control software for following up overdue invoices, and it's priced by your company's annual revenue. If you want customers to pay straight from a Chaser reminder, they can use Chaser Pay (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or instant bank transfer), or pay by card or SEPA direct debit through your own connected Stripe account. Only one payment service can be connected at a time.

If you want an alternative to GoCardless

You might be happy with direct debit and still want more around it. In practice the gaps tend to be card payments for customers who won't sign a mandate, and someone, or something, to chase the invoices that don't go through on direct debit at all.

For card payments as well as direct debit, you need a provider that takes both. Stripe does, at the card prices above, and it lists a €3.50 fee for a failed SEPA payment.

For chasing, you can keep your direct debit provider and add credit control software next to it, or move to one tool that collects and chases. Adfin does both. Customers can pay by SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or bank transfer, from payment links sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp, so someone who doesn't want a mandate can still pay from their phone. Its Essential credit control is free under fair use and sends unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, syncs with Xero or QuickBooks, sends statements and gives you an aged debtors view where each customer who owes you money has an owner and next steps. Payments cost 20c + 1% per successful payment as standard. The 1% part stops at €2 on SEPA direct debit and bank transfer (not on cards), which puts the ceiling at €2.20 for any of those payments up to €2,000. There's nothing to pay monthly or up front, and no contract.

If you'd planned to move by changing the payment option inside your accounting software, check where that option leads. Xero Ireland offers invoice payments through Stripe for cards and GoCardless for direct debit. The GoCardless app on Sage's Irish marketplace collects by direct debit when Sage invoices fall due, and Big Red Cloud's direct debit is powered by GoCardless. Each of those direct debit options runs on GoCardless, so switching the connection in your software won't take you off it.

If you want an alternative to Stripe

If you mostly send invoices to customers you already know, as opposed to selling online, the cost to watch with Stripe is the Invoicing fee that sits on top of the card fee.

Take a €1,000 invoice paid with a standard EEA card through Stripe Invoicing Starter. The card fee is 1.5% + €0.25, which comes to €15.25, and Invoicing adds 0.4%, which is €4.00, so the invoice costs €19.25 to collect. On Invoicing Plus the second part rises to €5.00, for €20.25 in total.

The alternatives depend on what you use Stripe for. If your customers pay monthly or on agreed terms, SEPA direct debit takes each payment on the due date without them having to do anything. GoCardless offers direct debit on its own, without cards or invoice reminders. A combined payments and credit control tool takes direct debit alongside cards and bank transfer, and if it charges per successful payment, you don't pay anything for a payment that fails.

If you'd prefer to invoice from your business bank account, Revolut Business lets you send invoices from the account, on plans from €10, €35 and €125 a month. Its invoices send automatic reminders seven days before the due date, on the day and three days after. Without an active Revolut Merchant account, though, customers can only pay those invoices by bank transfer.

If you want an alternative to Chaser

Chaser's price follows your company's revenue, so the bill reflects your turnover and not the number of invoices you actually chase. If that doesn't suit how your business works, the alternatives are priced in other ways, and some cost nothing extra.

Start with what you already pay for, since your accounting software may cover the basics. Xero can send automatic reminders before or after the due date, at a frequency you choose. QuickBooks Online in Ireland sends up to three automatic reminders, up to 90 days before or after the due date, to unpaid invoices you've already emailed. If a polite schedule of reminders is all you need, those may cover it.

Paidnice prices by invoice volume, in euro. Essentials costs €59 a month for up to 150 invoices, Pro starts at €85, and each SMS costs €0.08. It applies late fees and interest automatically and works with Xero, QuickBooks Online and Stripe.

Payt also prices by invoice volume, at €39.95, €69.95 and €159.95 a month for up to 30, 75 and 250 invoices. Ireland isn't among the countries listed on Payt's site, so check with them that they serve Irish businesses before you sign up.

Adfin's Essential credit control, described above, is free. Enhanced credit control costs 0.3% per paid invoice, and only when you use it. With it, the collection agents choose the timing, channel and tone of each reminder within rules you approve, statutory late payment interest is added to overdue business invoices automatically, and emails go out from your own address.

The options side by side

How to choose by what you need most

If you mainly need customers to pay by card as well as direct debit, look at providers that take both, which the table above sets out. GoCardless doesn't take cards, and Chaser takes direct debit only through a connected Stripe account.

If you want to keep your current payment provider and add chasing, compare credit control tools by how they're priced. Chaser follows company revenue, Paidnice and Payt follow invoice volume, and your accounting software's own reminders don't need a separate tool at all.

If you'd prefer collection and chasing in one place, so payments and reminders sit in the same system, look at tools that do both. Adfin does, and Stripe does through Invoicing at 0.4% or 0.5% per paid invoice on top of its payment fees.

If statutory late payment interest matters to you, Paidnice applies late fees and interest automatically, and the Enhanced credit control described above adds statutory interest to overdue business invoices. Interest under Irish late payment law applies between businesses and to public bodies, not to consumers.

If you'd like invoicing to sit inside your business bank account, Revolut Business does that, with a fixed reminder schedule and card payments once you have an active Merchant account.

What happens to your direct debit mandates when you switch

Every SEPA direct debit customer has signed a mandate with you. Asking each of them to sign a new one would be a slow way to change provider, so check how any new provider handles your existing mandates before you commit.

If you move to Adfin from another SEPA direct debit provider, your customers keep their existing mandates and don't sign again. The mandate moves across with the next collection, and your customers are told before that collection happens. Customers who pay by card or bank transfer have no mandate to move, so they can pay from a new payment link straight away.

Common questions

Is there a GoCardless alternative in Ireland that also takes card payments? Stripe takes card payments as well as SEPA direct debit, and so do the combined payments and credit control tools in the comparison above. GoCardless doesn't take card payments.

Does Stripe send reminders for unpaid invoices? Stripe Invoicing can email automatic reminders before, on or after the due date, chosen from preset options. It adds 0.4% (Starter) or 0.5% (Plus) per paid invoice on top of Stripe's payment fees.

Can Chaser collect SEPA direct debits? Chaser can take card and SEPA direct debit payments through your own connected Stripe account. Its own Chaser Pay option takes card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and instant bank transfer, and only one payment service can be connected at a time.

Does GoCardless chase unpaid invoices? GoCardless doesn't send invoice reminders or chase unpaid invoices. Its recovery feature, Success+, retries failed direct debit payments and comes with the Advanced plan.

Do my customers need to sign new mandates if I change direct debit provider? If you move to Adfin from another SEPA direct debit provider, customers keep their existing mandates and don't sign again. The mandate moves with the next collection, and customers are told before it.

How is credit control software priced in Ireland? Chaser is priced by company revenue, Paidnice and Payt by the number of invoices, and Stripe Invoicing by a percentage of each paid invoice on top of payment fees. Some tools charge only when an invoice is paid, so check whether you'd still pay a monthly fee in a quiet month.

Sources

• GoCardless - Pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://gocardless.com/en-ie/pricing
• Stripe - Pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/pricing
• Stripe - Invoicing pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/invoicing/pricing
• Chaser - Detailed pricing breakdown (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.chaserhq.com/chaser-detailed-pricing-breakdown
• Paidnice - Pricing (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.paidnice.com/pricing
• Revolut - Business invoices, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.revolut.com/en-IE/business/invoices/