How crypto payments work in a Shopware 6 store, what to compare in a plugin or gateway, and how to handle refunds, underpayments and order statuses.
You can accept crypto in Shopware by connecting a payment gateway that sends customers to a hosted crypto checkout and reports the result back to the order. In Shopware 6 this runs through a payment handler, so the order status updates like any other payment method. What matters is which gateway sits behind it: its coin coverage, fees, settlement, webhooks and refund process. This guide covers how the flow works, how to choose, and what to check before you go live.
Shopware’s own documentation explains that the core payment system is built on payment handlers that plug into the checkout’s state machine. An extension can authorize a payment immediately, or it can hand the customer off to an external page and wait for the result. Crypto uses the second pattern.
The typical sequence looks like this:
The webhook is the part that matters most. A customer can close the browser after sending funds, so the return redirect alone should never decide whether an order is paid. The server-side notification should. If you want a deeper look at that principle, our post on customizing crypto checkout with webhooks before UI polish walks through it.
Shopware stores often sell across borders, and cross-border card payments bring friction: declined cards, regional method gaps and chargeback exposure. Crypto gives international buyers another way to pay without a card, and it fits digital goods, subscriptions and high-ticket items particularly well.
For merchants, the practical upsides are these:
Search results for this topic show several types of options: gateway plugins from established processors, Lightning-focused modules, stablecoin-only modules, and older community plugins written for Shopware 5. They differ more than the product pages suggest. Use these criteria.
| Criterion | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Shopware version | A plugin built for Shopware 6, with a stated minimum version. Older Shopware 5 modules will not work on a 6 store. |
| Coin and network coverage | Bitcoin and Ethereum at minimum, plus the stablecoins your customers actually hold, on the networks they use. |
| Checkout experience | Hosted page versus on-site display, mobile wallet support, QR codes, clear exchange-rate lock time. |
| Order automation | Webhook-driven status changes, per sales channel configuration, handling of expired and partial payments. |
| Fees | Percentage per transaction, flat fees, any monthly or setup charge, and how volume affects the rate. |
| Settlement | Which currency you receive, how often, and whether you hold custody of funds at any point. |
| Onboarding | Whether you need business verification and how long approval takes. |
| Support and documentation | Real setup docs, a developer contact and an API you can fall back on. |
Two checks save the most pain. First, confirm the integration reports payment status through webhooks. Second, confirm how the provider handles a customer who sends too little, too much or too late. Both are covered below.
Fees are the easiest thing to compare and the easiest to misread. Some providers charge a percentage per settled order, some a flat amount, and some mix both with conversion spreads.
Our published model is volume-based. The rate falls as your monthly volume rises:
| Tier | Fee |
|---|---|
| Standard | 2% |
| Growth | 1.5% |
| Scale | 1% |
| Enterprise | 0.1% |
We also offer a flat fee of $0.10 per payment, described on our gateway page, and there are no setup or monthly fees. White-label fees start from 1%. Full details sit on the pricing page, which is the place to check current terms.
On settlement, decide up front what you want to receive. If you price your Shopware catalog in USD or EUR, converting incoming payments to a stablecoin shields your margins from price swings between checkout and payout. We support auto-conversion to stablecoins for exactly this reason. If you want to move funds between assets yourself, our instant crypto exchange works without KYC.
Crypto transactions cannot be reversed by the merchant or the payer once confirmed, so refunds are a deliberate action, not a button that claws money back. Plan the process before the first order.
Refunds. A refund is a new outgoing transaction to an address the customer provides. Ask for a refund address in your returns flow, confirm the network, and send from your balance. Mark the Shopware order as refunded manually or through your order workflow so your records match. Setting a clear refund policy in your shop terms prevents disputes about exchange-rate differences.
Underpayments. Customers sometimes send slightly less than the invoice amount because their wallet or exchange deducted a network fee. Decide in advance whether you accept a small tolerance, request a top-up, or refund the partial amount. Your Shopware order should stay open (not paid) until the full amount is confirmed.
Overpayments. Treat the surplus as a refund or store credit, as your policy states.
Expired invoices. Quoted rates are held for a limited window. If a payment arrives after expiry, the amount may no longer match the order. Your process should flag these for manual review rather than silently marking them paid.
Wrong network. Sending a token on a different network than the one displayed can strand funds. A hosted checkout that shows the network clearly, with a QR code, reduces this risk.
A simple routine helps: test one paid, one underpaid and one expired invoice in a staging sales channel and watch how the Shopware order transaction state changes each time.
A crypto checkout is only as trustworthy as the way your shop confirms payment. Verify every webhook with the shared secret or signature the gateway provides, check the order ID and amount in the payload against your own records, and make your handler idempotent so a repeated notification does not trigger a second fulfillment. Keep API keys out of your theme files and restrict them to the permissions you need.
If you also send money out, for example supplier or affiliate payouts, verify who you are paying before you send. Irreversible transfers raise the stakes on the same discipline that applies to bank transfers, and this secure payment process guide covers payee verification practices for finance teams.
There are two routes, and both end in the same payment handler flow described above.
Our hosted checkout, payment links and API are built for this kind of integration. Hosted checkout keeps wallet and network handling off your server, and the API and webhooks let your handler stay small. For stores that sell the same way on other platforms, we also publish modules and guides for PrestaShop, OpenCart, CS-Cart and WooCommerce, so a multi-platform merchant can keep one account and one reconciliation process.
We built our gateway for merchants who do not want to spend weeks on approvals before they can take a first payment. Onboarding is user-friendly and without KYC, approval is instant, and there are no setup or monthly fees. That matters on a platform like Shopware, where agencies and in-house teams usually want to test on a staging channel on day one.
Our view is that the plugin matters less than the order lifecycle behind it. Shopware’s payment handler model is flexible enough that any gateway with a clean hosted checkout and reliable webhooks can sit behind it. So we focus on what happens after the customer pays: broad coin and network support, streamlined settlement and reconciliation, and auto-conversion to stablecoins so your revenue is not exposed to price swings.
We also think merchants should look beyond the first sale. The same account that takes checkout payments can send mass payouts, run recurring billing for subscriptions, and split commissions for marketplaces. One gateway, one set of reports. We operate as a regulated MSB, and we designed our fee tiers so that growing volume lowers your rate.
Dustin
Standard e-commerce stores. Price display is the first question. Decide whether to show crypto amounts at checkout or to price in your shop currency and let the gateway quote the coin amount. Then confirm the order confirmation email and invoice carry the right payment method name.
SaaS and subscription sellers. Recurring billing needs more than one-off invoices. Check how renewals are initiated, how customers are reminded, and what happens to access when a renewal invoice expires. Our recurring billing tools are designed for this.
Gaming companies. Automated in-game purchases depend on fast, reliable confirmation. Make sure your delivery logic triggers only on the verified webhook, not on the browser return.
Freelancers and agencies. Payment links let you invoice a client in crypto without building anything, and the same account can serve client stores you build in Shopware.
Multi-seller marketplaces. Commission splitting and payouts are the core requirement. Look for automatic splits at payment time and bulk payouts to sellers. Our marketplace solution and mass payouts cover both.
Agencies reselling to clients. A white-label option lets you present the gateway under your own brand. Details are on our white-label page.
Before you open the payment method to customers:
If you want to accept 110+ cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, without a lengthy onboarding process, we can help. You get hosted checkout, payment links, an API, and auto-conversion to stablecoins, with fees that start at 2% and drop with your monthly volume.
See how it works for online stores on our e-commerce page or start from cryptopayr.com.
No built-in crypto method ships with the core. Shopware provides the payment handler framework, which extensions or custom code use to connect a gateway. Once connected, crypto behaves like any other method in your sales channel settings.
Not as a rule. Shopware 5 and 6 have different architectures, so a plugin must be built for the version you run. Check the stated minimum version on the extension page, and use an API-based integration if your version is not covered.
Start with Bitcoin, Ethereum and the main stablecoins, since those are the ones most buyers hold. A gateway with wide coverage lets you add more later without changing your integration. We support over 110 cryptocurrencies.
Refunds are sent as a new transaction to an address the customer gives you, since confirmed crypto payments cannot be reversed. Collect and confirm the address and network, send the amount, and mark the Shopware order accordingly. State the policy in your terms.
Customers never pay us. Merchants pay the processing fee, and buyers only cover their own network fee when sending funds from their wallet.
Open a free CryptoPayr account and take your first crypto payment the same day.
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