GoCardless and Adfin publish the same headline direct debit price, 1% + 20p with the percentage capped at £4, so the differences are in what that price covers and how you get paid. GoCardless collects direct debits, charges on failed submissions and pays out net of its fees. Adfin also takes cards, chases unpaid invoices, retries failed payments for free and pays out in full every weekday, with its fee invoiced separately.
In this article
The short version
- Both charge 1% + 20p per direct debit, with a £4 cap on the percentage, so the monthly cost comes down to what else is included.
- GoCardless charges a fee on every submitted payment, including failures and resubmissions, and doesn't take cards or chase unpaid invoices.
- GoCardless pays out one lump sum net of fees about five business days after a collection is created, so someone books the difference before the bank reconciles.
- Adfin pays out in full every weekday, retries failed direct debits free and chases late payers over email, SMS and WhatsApp from one account.
- With 10 or more mandates, a move goes through the Bacs bulk change process without clients signing anything new, and the old account stays open until its final payout lands.
What each price includes
Most MSPs start looking at this because of something small: a bounced retainer that cost a fee anyway, a client who wants to pay a project invoice by card, or a bookkeeper asking why Monday's GoCardless payout doesn't match anything in Xero. The per-collection fee is the same on both, so it's the rest of the list that decides what you pay each month and how much work sits around it.
| GoCardless (Standard) | Adfin | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct debit | 1% + 20p, capped at £4 | 1% + 20p, percentage capped at £4 |
| Failed payments | Fee charged on every submitted payment | No charge, free retries |
| Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay | Not offered | Included |
| Chasing unpaid invoices | Not offered | Included over email, SMS and WhatsApp |
| How fees are paid | Deducted from your payout | Invoiced separately |
| Your name on statements | £50 a month | £36 a month |
Everything in the Adfin column runs from one account. On GoCardless, card payments mean a second processor with its own dashboard and payouts, and chasing means a separate tool or someone's afternoon.
When the money arrives and what it looks like
GoCardless groups the day's collections into one lump sum and pays it out minus its transaction fees. A collection takes about five business days from being created to leaving GoCardless: three to collect from an existing mandate, then two more before the payout. Choosing your own payout schedule is available to only a small number of its merchants.
Adfin pays out every weekday and settles gross. Direct debits reach your bank three working days after collection, card and bank transfer payments two, and pay by bank the same day. Each payment lands at the amount you invoiced, so it matches the invoice in Xero or QuickBooks without anyone working backwards from a net figure.
Say 30 clients pay their managed services retainers by direct debit on the 1st, totalling £24,000. On GoCardless, that arrives as one payout of £24,000 less the fees on all 30 collections, plus the fees on any that failed, and someone books the difference to an expense account before the bank reconciliation balances. On Adfin, the payments arrive as £24,000, each one already matched to its invoice, and Adfin's fees arrive on a separate invoice.
Help when a payment fails or a client won't pay
The bigger difference shows up once a collection goes wrong, because a collection platform only helps with clients who have signed a mandate and have money in the account.
When a direct debit fails on GoCardless, you've paid the fee on it and the invoice is still unpaid. Resubmitting it is charged again, and if it fails a second time the follow-up is yours. On Adfin, a failed direct debit is retried at no charge, and if it still doesn't go through Adfin can fall back to the client's card on file or send them a payment link.
For clients who never sign a mandate, GoCardless can't take the payment another way, because it doesn't take cards. Adfin chases the unsigned mandate and offers the client another way to pay in the meantime, so the invoice always has a route to payment.
Then there are the clients who pay by bank transfer and simply pay late. Adfin's credit control chases them over email, SMS and WhatsApp on the schedule you set, sent from your own email domain. Its Customer Agents can go further within rules you approve: adjusting timing and channel to how each client responds, adding statutory late fees, offering an instalment plan on a large Microsoft renewal, and sending a statement when a client goes quiet. Your team reviews what goes out.
Support during a move
Before you switch any provider, ask who you'll deal with, how to reach them and what cover you'll have during your main collection run, and get it in writing.
For the move itself, Adfin runs the migration. With 10 or more mandates, it moves them from GoCardless through the Bacs bulk change process and your clients don't sign anything new; they get written notice instead. With fewer than 10, clients sign a new Adfin mandate. Either way, your recurring schedules need setting up again on Adfin before the first collection date, and your GoCardless account should stay open until its final payout has landed.
Common questions
Is Adfin more expensive than GoCardless for direct debit? No. Both publish 1% + 20p with a £4 cap on the percentage, and Adfin doesn't charge for failed payments.
Does GoCardless take card payments? No. GoCardless collects by direct debit and bank payment, so card payments need a separate processor. Adfin collects by card, Apple Pay and Google Pay as well as direct debit.
Does GoCardless deduct its fees from payouts? Yes. GoCardless pays out in one lump sum minus its transaction fees. Adfin pays out the full amount and invoices its fee separately.
How quickly does Adfin pay out? Every weekday: same day for pay by bank, two working days for cards and bank transfer, and three for direct debit.
Does GoCardless chase clients who haven't paid? No. GoCardless collects direct debits but doesn't chase overdue invoices, send statements or add late fees. Adfin includes chasing over email, SMS and WhatsApp.
Will my clients need to re-sign if I move from GoCardless to Adfin? Not if you have 10 or more mandates, which move through the Bacs bulk change process. With fewer than 10, clients sign a new Adfin mandate.
Sources
- Adfin - Pricing (accurate as of September 2026) https://www.adfin.com/pricing
- Adfin - Next-generation direct debit (accurate as of September 2026) https://www.adfin.com/direct-debit-payments
- Adfin - Credit control (accurate as of September 2026) https://www.adfin.com/credit-control
- GoCardless - Pricing (accurate as of September 2026) https://gocardless.com/pricing/
- GoCardless Support Centre - Receiving a payout (accurate as of September 2026) https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-gb/articles/17485089478940-Receiving-a-payout
- GoCardless Support Centre - Bacs (UK) payment timings (accurate as of September 2026) https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-gb/articles/210535689-Bacs-UK-payment-timings
