A payment gateway is a piece of technology that lets businesses take payments online by securely sending transaction information between the customer, the merchant, and the payment processor. Most popular payment gateways do not cover this area, so adult businesses need to find one that can handle both safe payments and high-risk merchants.
The best payment gateway in our rating is NOWPayments because it lets adult sites accept many different types of cryptocurrencies. This gives them more privacy and makes them less reliant on traditional banks, which might not work with merchants who are high-risk. Adult businesses can also lower the risks of high-risk payment processing and chargebacks by using it because it is easy to use, supports digital payments, and is easy to add to their existing systems.
In 2025, it is important to choose the right adult payment processor because banks and payment processors still see businesses in the adult entertainment industry as risky. This makes it harder for them to get payment solutions and merchant accounts. You need a reliable way to handle payments so you can accept credit cards, deal with chargebacks, and keep the money coming in. A lot of adult businesses also like being able to accept cryptocurrencies as payment because it keeps their customers’ information private and lets them reach more people around the world. Lastly, adult sites need payment systems and services that are made just for their industry and can help them stay legal and stop fraud.
Here’s a list of the best payment gateways for adult businesses:
- NOWPayments
- CoinGate
- BTCPay Server
- Paxum
- Shopify Payments
| Payment Gateway | Privacy | Supported Payment Methods | Transaction Speed |
| NOWPayments | Non-custodial; minimal data sharing | 350+ crypto, 40+ fiat | Crypto payments confirmed in 3-5 minutes. Fiat settlements: 2-5 business days |
| CoinGate | Compliance with AML/KYC; secure customer data | 70+ crypto, auto fiat conversion | Crypto payments in 5–15 minutes; fiat settlement within 1 business day |
| BTCPay Server | Self-hosted, non-custodial; no third-party data sharing | Bitcoin, Lightning Network (fast BTC payments) | Bitcoin transactions: 10–20 minutes; Lightning payments: Instant |
| Paxum | GDPR/CCPA compliant; not as private as crypto gateways | Bank transfers, Visa/Mastercard, Paxum wallet | Paxum to Paxum transfers: Instant; Bank transfers: 1–3 business days |
| Shopify Payments | PCI DSS compliant; standard ecommerce privacy | Credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, local options | Card payments: Instant authorization; Bank settlements: 2–5 business days |
NOWPayments
NOWPayments is the best crypto payment gateway for adult businesses because it makes payments fast and safe. Businesses in the adult entertainment industry can trust NOWPayments as a payment processor for adults because it can handle both adult and regular payments. It helps adult sites meet the needs of adult businesses by giving them a full payment solution that works with more than 350 cryptocurrencies and 40 fiat currencies. Its secure payment gateway lets businesses take credit card payments while keeping their customers’ information private and under their control. A lot of adult businesses have problems with high-risk processing right now, but this fixes them.
Privacy. NOWPayments is a good choice for adult businesses that care about privacy because it was made with privacy in mind. Merchants can keep full control of their money because it is a non-custodial processor. This lowers the chances of chargebacks and data breaches, which happen a lot with accounts that are high-risk. NOWPayments protects private customer information by not collecting too much data. This solves the privacy problems that often come up when using payment processors for adult content and services. This is a great choice for businesses that want to give their customers safe and dependable ways to pay without putting their privacy at risk.
| Privacy Feature | Details |
| Custodial Model | Non-custodial (merchant retains control of funds) |
| Customer Data | Minimal data sharing, high privacy protection |
| Compliance | Compliant with standard financial regulations, but avoids excessive data collection |
Supported Payment Methods. NOWPayments has a special way of processing payments that works with a lot of different digital and traditional payment methods. Adult businesses can serve customers from all over the world because they accept more than 350 cryptocurrencies and 40 real-world currencies. This meets the growing need for ways to pay for adult content and services. The platform has both fiat on-ramp and off-ramp, which makes it easy for companies to change digital currencies into regular money. This payment processor is very easy to use, which makes it great for businesses and websites that cater to adults.
| Payment Method | On-ramp | Off-ramp |
| Fiat | ✅ | ✅ |
| Crypto | ✅ | ✅ |
Transaction Speed. NOWPayments quickly processes adult transactions, and it usually takes 3 to 5 minutes for cryptocurrency confirmations to happen. TRON payments are usually confirmed in 45 seconds or less. This is great for businesses that provide adult entertainment and need things to happen quickly to keep their customers happy. Adult sites do not have to deal with the delays that come with using regular payment processors because this processing time is so quick. It makes sure that payments go through quickly and without problems, and it fixes the problems that the adult industry has. NOWPayments lets businesses make payments safely and reliably because it confirms them right away and does not take long to do so.
| Speed Metric | Timeframe |
| Payment Confirmation | 3–5 minutes |
| TRON Payment Confirmation | 45 seconds |
| Funds Availability | Instant after confirmation |
CoinGate
CoinGate is a payment processor for adult businesses that accepts both cryptocurrencies and regular forms of payment. CoinGate is a payment processor that works with adult content. It lets adult businesses safely take credit cards and digital currencies. It fixes the problems with high-risk payment processing by giving adult businesses a lot of different payment options that are flexible and have strong fraud protection. CoinGate makes it easy for adult sites to meet the needs of adult businesses by processing payments quickly and with low fees.
Privacy. CoinGate is a safe and legal way for adults to pay for things, and it keeps both customers’ and merchants’ information private. It follows AML and KYC rules, so all transactions are legal and users’ privacy is protected. CoinGate is not as private as NOWPayments or other non-custodial processors, but it does have strong protections against fraud, chargebacks, and data breaches. This is a good choice for businesses that need to follow the rules and have a safe payment system that meets industry standards and keeps customers’ data safe.
| Privacy Feature | Details |
| Custodial Model | Custodial (CoinGate holds the funds) |
| Customer Data | Compliance with AML/KYC, secure handling of customer data |
| Compliance | Fully compliant with legal regulations, including AML and KYC |
Supported Payment Methods. CoinGate takes over 70 different cryptocurrencies, including well-known ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. This allows businesses that cater to adults to accept digital currencies. It also works with real money, so adult businesses can accept payments in common currencies like USD, EUR, and GBP. CoinGate is a payment processor for adult businesses that need to take both digital currencies and regular money. This helps them connect with people all over the world. When adult sites connect to e-commerce sites like WooCommerce and Shopify, they can easily handle payments.
| Payment Method | On-ramp | Off-ramp |
| Fiat | ✅ | ✅ |
| Crypto | ✅ | ❌ |
Transaction Speed. CoinGate quickly processes payments. Most of the time, it takes 5 to 15 minutes for crypto payments to be confirmed, depending on the blockchain network. It can take different amounts of time to process fiat transactions, but it usually takes up to one business day for the transaction to be settled. You can pay for things right away with TRON on CoinGate, and the confirmation times are also very fast. This is great for companies that deal with adults and need to get payments done quickly. CoinGate makes payments quick and safe, which helps adult sites give their customers a better experience.
| Speed Metric | Timeframe |
| Payment Confirmation | 5–15 minutes |
| Fiat Payment Processing | 1 business day |
| TRON Payment Confirmation | Instant |
| Funds Availability | Instant after confirmation |
BTCPay Server
BTCPay Server is a self-hosted, open-source cryptocurrency payment processor. It gives adult businesses full control over how they handle payments. It is the best payment processor for adult content because it can handle risky transactions and give people safe and reliable ways to pay. Adult sites have full control over their payment systems with BTCPay Server. This helps businesses in the adult industry avoid problems like chargebacks and having to use banks and payment processors that often refuse high-risk accounts. People can pay for adult content and services without anyone else knowing, which makes BTCPay Server one of the best ways for adult businesses to handle payments.
Privacy. As it is a non-custodial solution, BTCPay Server is a great choice for privacy. This means that adult businesses can completely control both customer information and money. With this much control, merchants do not have to depend on banks and payment processors as much. These businesses might not want to handle payments for sites that are for adults. It also gives businesses a safe way to take payments that is not controlled by a third party. BTCPay Server helps businesses that deal with adults keep their customers’ private information safe. This is good for adult businesses that value privacy. This self-hosted setup is also very safe for both customers and businesses because it keeps adult businesses safe from chargebacks and data breaches.
| Privacy Feature | Details |
| Custodial Model | Non-custodial (merchant retains control of funds) |
| Customer Data | Full control over customer data, no third-party sharing |
| Compliance | Complies with basic financial regulations, but more private than custodial services |
Supported Payment Methods. BTCPay Server works with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which is great for adult businesses that want to keep their customers’ payment information private. The platform works with the Lightning Network, which makes Bitcoin payments faster. This is very important for adult sites that need processing to be fast and reliable. Adult businesses can use third-party integrations to turn crypto into regular money, even though the platform does not support fiat payments on its own. BTCPay Server is a full payment system for businesses that want to serve both traditional and cryptocurrency users because it can be used in many ways.
| Payment Method | On-ramp | Off-ramp |
| Fiat | ❌ | ✅ |
| Crypto | ✅ | ❌ |
Transaction Speed. BTCPay Server is very quick at processing transactions, especially when it uses the Lightning Network. In most cases, a Bitcoin transaction is fully confirmed in 10 to 20 minutes. The Lightning Network, on the other hand, lets transactions happen right away. This is great news for adult sites that need payments to be quick and reliable. Adult businesses love BTCPay Server’s quick confirmation times because they let them process adult payments quickly and without the delays that can happen with other payment systems.
| Speed Metric | Timeframe |
| Payment Confirmation | 10–20 minutes |
| Lightning Network Payments | Instant |
| Funds Availability | Instant after confirmation |
Paxum
Paxum is a payment processor that is flexible and lets adult businesses handle payments safely and reliably through a number of different channels. Paxum is a safe choice for adult sites and merchants because it specializes in processing payments for high-risk businesses and has strong merchant accounts for adult businesses. Paxum gives businesses a lot of different ways to accept payments for adult content, which makes it easy for them to do so. This makes things easier because regular payment processors do not always want to handle adult transactions. This is why Paxum is one of the best choices for adult merchant accounts and payment processing in the adult entertainment business.
Privacy. Paxum is a good choice for adult businesses that need to keep their customers’ personal information safe because it has a high level of privacy. Paxum is a payment processor for adult businesses that follows the rules of the GDPR and CCPA. This means that personal information is handled safely and privacy laws are followed. Paxum is not as private as other crypto processors that do not hold your money, but it does follow data protection rules. This makes sure that payment gateways for adult sites are safe and follow privacy laws around the world. If you need to balance privacy and compliance, Paxum is a good choice.
- Data Protection: Compliant with GDPR and CCPA regulations
- Secure Transactions: Encryption and fraud prevention measures
- Customer Data: Customer data is securely stored and processed, in line with privacy regulations
Supported Payment Methods. Paxum accepts a number of payment methods, such as bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and its own e-wallet. This makes it easy to get your money. It does not directly support fiat on-ramping, and there is not a built-in way to get out of cryptocurrencies. This means that Paxum is a good choice for adult businesses that need standard payment processing options but still want a safe and reliable way to pay. Some other payment gateways are better at processing crypto payments than Paxum, but Paxum is great at processing fiat payments, which is still the main way to pay for adult content.
| Payment Method | On-ramp | Off-ramp |
| Fiat | ❌ | ✅ |
| Crypto | ✅ | ❌ |
Transaction Speed. Paxum makes sure that businesses that serve adults can process payments quickly. Most of the time, transfers to other Paxum accounts happen right away, so you can get your money right away. It can take one to three business days for a bank transfer to go through, depending on the bank. For adult businesses, traditional payment processing can take a long time. But Paxum’s instant transactions to Paxum accounts are great for merchants who need quick ways to get paid. Businesses do not have to wait long for money to keep coming in because Paxum processes adult payments quickly.
- Paxum to Paxum Transfers: Instant
- Bank Transfers: 1–3 business days
- Card Transactions: Typically processed within 1 business day
Shopify Payments
Shopify Payments is the integrated payment processing solution for businesses using Shopify. It makes it easy and safe for adult businesses that work online to handle payments. It lets adult websites that use Shopify take credit card payments directly, which means they do not have to use third-party payment processors. Adult businesses can safely use Shopify Payments to take payments, but it is best for businesses in industries with low to medium risk. Adult businesses that want a simple, safe way to accept payments and process them that works with Shopify’s e-commerce platform should look into Shopify Payments.
Privacy. Shopify Payments follows PCI DSS rules and uses standard encryption methods, but its privacy features are not as good as those of BTCPay Server or NOWPayments, which do not hold your money. When customers use Shopify Payments, they have to give personal information, like their credit card number, that banks and other payment processors may be able to see. It does, however, protect transactions by encrypting them and giving basic fraud protection. This means that companies can trust Shopify to protect their money. It is not a payment processor that only works with adult content, but it does give businesses enough privacy and compliance so they do not have to worry too much about privacy.
- Data Protection: PCI DSS compliant, encrypted transaction data
- Customer Data: Customer personal and payment details are collected and stored for processing
- Compliance: Standard privacy protections, suitable for general e-commerce
Supported Payment Methods. Shopify Payments lets you pay with credit and debit cards from big companies like Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. It also lets businesses take payments through mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Shopify Payments does not support cryptocurrencies or offer crypto on-ramping or off-ramping, which can be a problem for adult businesses that want to take crypto payments. Shopify Payments is still a good option for adult businesses that want to handle payments in a more traditional way because it can take credit cards and other common forms of payment.
| Payment Method | On-ramp | Off-ramp |
| Fiat | ✅ | ✅ |
| Crypto | ❌ | ❌ |
Transaction Speed. Shopify Payments processes payments quickly, and most of the time, credit card payments are approved right away. This is a good choice for adult sites that need a payment processor that works well. Shopify Payments may take 2 to 5 business days to process bank deposits. This could be a problem for businesses that need money right away. Adult businesses can still make it easy for customers to check out because they can quickly approve credit cards. Shopify Payments is a full payment system that works perfectly with Shopify’s platform. This makes it easier to pay.
- Credit Card Payments: Instant authorization
- Bank Deposits: 2–5 business days
- Funds Availability: Instant for card payments; 2–5 business days for bank settlements
Final thoughts
In this article, we’ve analyzed some of the best payment gateways for adult businesses in 2025, focusing on solutions that address the unique challenges of high-risk processing and offer reliable payment processing for the adult entertainment industry. The payment gateways we discussed, including NOWPayments, CoinGate, BTCPay Server, Paxum, and Shopify Payments, each provide varying levels of support for cryptocurrency and traditional payment methods. NOWPayments is the best choice because it is the safest and most flexible. This is especially important for businesses that want to lower the risks of accepting payments for adult content. Its support for over 350 cryptocurrencies and 40+ fiat currencies provides businesses the flexibility to reach a global audience, while its non-custodial approach offers enhanced privacy and control over funds.
Adult businesses should use NOWPayments because it has everything they need. The platform does not share data very often because it values privacy above all else. The platform’s privacy-first model ensures minimal data sharing, reducing exposure to potential chargebacks and data breaches, which are significant concerns for adult sites. Moreover, its quick transaction processing times, typically within 3–5 minutes for most cryptocurrencies and 45 seconds for TRON, allow businesses to offer an efficient and seamless payment experience to customers. This makes NOWPayments the optimal solution for adult websites looking to navigate the complexities of high-risk payment processing while providing a secure and reliable payment gateway for their transactions.