For UK businesses collecting invoices and managing credit control, the main difference is scope: GoCardless collects direct debits and one-off pay by bank payments, while Adfin takes card, pay by bank, bank transfer and direct debit payments and chases unpaid invoices from the same platform. Their standard direct debit price is the same, 1% + 20p with a £4 cap, so the choice usually comes down to how your customers pay and who chases them. If you need to collect in currencies other than pounds, GoCardless covers that and Adfin doesn't.
In this article
The short version
- GoCardless collects direct debits and one-off pay by bank payments; it doesn't take cards or chase unpaid invoices.
- Adfin takes direct debit, card, pay by bank and bank transfer payments and chases late payers by email, SMS and WhatsApp.
- GoCardless charges its fee on every submitted payment and deducts fees from payouts; Adfin charges only on success and pays out in full.
- GoCardless collects in other currencies; Adfin only takes pounds.
- With 10 or more mandates, clients don't re-sign when you move to Adfin.
What each one does
GoCardless is a direct debit provider. It collects recurring and one-off payments from your customers' bank accounts, offers pay by bank for one-off payments, and retries direct debits that fail. It doesn't take card payments, and it doesn't chase unpaid invoices.
Adfin is a payments and credit control platform. It collects by direct debit too, alongside card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, pay by bank and bank transfer, and it chases what's unpaid over email, SMS and WhatsApp. Payments are matched to invoices with two-way sync to Xero and QuickBooks.
| GoCardless | Adfin | |
|---|---|---|
| Ways to pay | Direct debit, pay by bank for one-off payments | Direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, pay by bank, bank transfer |
| Card payments | Not offered | Included |
| Chasing unpaid invoices | Not offered | Unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp |
| Failed direct debits | Transaction fee charged on every submitted payment | No charge, free retries, then card on file or a payment link |
| How fees are paid | Deducted from your payout | Invoiced separately, payout in full |
| Your name on customers' statements | £50 a month | £36 a month, chosen at set-up |
| Currencies | Pounds and several others | Pounds only |
Most of the differences show up with customers who don't pay by direct debit, or who pay late.
Customers who don't pay by direct debit
Most businesses have a mix. Some clients sign a mandate straight away. Others want to pay by card, prefer to pay each invoice by bank transfer when their accounts team gets to it, or never quite get round to signing. With GoCardless, those clients sit outside the system: you collect from them some other way and chase them yourself, or add a card processor and a chasing tool alongside.
On Adfin, they're handled in the same place as your direct debit customers. A client who hasn't signed a mandate gets a payment link they can pay by card or bank in the meantime. Clients who pay by transfer can each have their own bank details in your business's name, so their payments match to the right invoice without relying on a reference. And anyone who's late gets reminders on the schedule you set, which stop as soon as they pay.
Adfin's essential credit control is free: unlimited chasing over email, SMS and WhatsApp, debtor reporting and customer statements. If you want more, its AI Customer Agents can adjust timing and channel to how each customer responds, add statutory interest to overdue business invoices and offer instalment plans to customers who are struggling, all within rules you approve. That's enhanced credit control, at 0.3% per paid invoice and only when you use it. You can review what goes out before it's sent.
Fees, payouts and your accounts
GoCardless charges its transaction fee on every payment you submit, including ones that fail. Adfin charges only when a payment succeeds and retries a failed direct debit for free, then can fall back to a card on file or send a payment link.
The way you're paid differs too. GoCardless groups each day's collections into one payout and takes its fees off before it reaches you, so a payout is smaller than the invoices it covers. Adfin pays out every weekday in full and sends its fees as a separate invoice, so the money that arrives is the total of the invoices paid. Pay by bank arrives the same day, cards and bank transfers in two working days, and direct debits within three working days of the collection date.
Other currencies and moving across
Adfin only takes payments in pounds. Overseas customers can pay Adfin invoices by card in pounds, but direct debit and pay by bank are UK only. If you need to collect from customers' bank accounts in other currencies, GoCardless does that and Adfin doesn't, so a business with a lot of overseas billing may keep GoCardless for those customers.
For customers who pay in pounds, you can move without asking anyone to sign again. With 10 or more mandates, Adfin moves them from GoCardless through the Bacs bulk change process and your clients don't re-sign anything; they get written notice instead. With fewer than 10, clients sign a new Adfin mandate online. Keep your GoCardless account open until its last payout has arrived.
Common questions
Does GoCardless take card payments? No. GoCardless collects by direct debit and offers pay by bank for one-off payments. Adfin takes cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay as well as direct debit and bank payments.
Does GoCardless do credit control? GoCardless retries failed direct debits, but it doesn't chase unpaid invoices. Adfin sends reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, and its free essential credit control includes statements and debtor reporting.
What does GoCardless charge for that Adfin doesn't? GoCardless charges its transaction fee on failed submissions as well as successful ones, takes its fees out of your payouts and charges £50 a month to show your name on statements. Adfin charges nothing for a failed payment, invoices its fees separately and charges £36 a month for your name.
Can I use Adfin and GoCardless together? Yes. You could keep GoCardless for collections in other currencies and use Adfin for customers who pay in pounds.
Can I move my GoCardless mandates to Adfin without clients re-signing? Yes, with 10 or more mandates, which move through the Bacs bulk change process. With fewer than 10, clients sign a new Adfin mandate.
Do Adfin and GoCardless both work with Xero and QuickBooks? Yes, both connect to Xero and QuickBooks. Adfin is a certified app for each with two-way sync, and pays out in full so payouts match the invoices paid.
Sources
- Adfin - Pricing (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.adfin.com/pricing
- Adfin - Accept payments (accurate as of October 2026) https://adfin.com/accept-payments
- GoCardless - Pricing (accurate as of October 2026) https://gocardless.com/pricing/
- GoCardless Support Centre - Pricing and fees FAQs (accurate as of October 2026) https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115002831125-Pricing-and-fees-FAQs
- GoCardless Support Centre - Receiving a payout (accurate as of October 2026) https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-gb/articles/17485089478940-Receiving-a-payout
