Afterpay vs Klarna for Shopify Merchants: Fees and Fit

Who it is for

Shopify store owners adding buy now, pay later

Time needed

20 minutes to compare, an hour to set up

What you need

Your average order value and a BNPL quote

Afterpay vs Klarna is mostly searched by shoppers, but the decision that matters is the store owner's: which buy now, pay later option to put on your checkout, what it costs per order and whether it brings in sales you wouldn't get otherwise. I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I set these up on client stores and look at how they affect conversion, and I have no deal with either company.

Rates and availability below come from Shopify's pricing pages and help center, Klarna's Shopify documentation and Afterpay's merchant pages, as checked on 7 November 2026. BNPL rules change often, and both providers decide which options a shopper sees, so check your own admin before you commit.

The short answer

How each works on Shopify

• Klarna through Shopify Payments is a local payment method inside Shopify Payments. Your store needs a Shopify Payments account in one of 27 European countries, including the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Shoppers can see it in 19 countries, paying in their local currency, with options such as pay in 30 days, pay in full, pay in 3 and financing. Klarna decides which options each shopper sees. Money arrives in your next Shopify Payments payout. You turn it on in Settings > Payments, under Shopify Payments, Manage, then Klarna. Klarna's docs say it's on by default for stores in Austria, Germany and Sweden.
• Klarna's own Shopify app exists, but Klarna's docs describe it as available only to select, managed merchants with a direct Klarna agreement. It isn't self-serve.
• Afterpay connects as its own payment app. US stores use the Afterpay US app, branded Cash App Afterpay, and need a US store address with matching currency. Stores elsewhere use Afterpay's rest-of-world app. UK stores use the Clearpay app, which needs a UK store address and pounds. You connect it with your Afterpay or Clearpay merchant ID and secret key from its Business Hub.

Afterpay vs Klarna merchant fees

Afterpay's merchant pages say the fee is a fixed amount plus a percentage, that online and in-store rates can differ, and that your merchant agreement sets the actual figures. Ask for a written quote before you install the app. The eurozone rates in the table come from Shopify's Irish pricing page. Shopify sets rates per country, so check yours in the admin.

A worked example: what Afterpay has to beat

Since Afterpay's rate isn't public, the useful question is how low it has to be to beat Klarna once Shopify's fee is added. Here it is for a UK store, where Clearpay is the Afterpay brand.

For comparison, the same £150 paid by card through Shopify Payments Basic costs £3.25 at 2% + 25p. Any BNPL option costs you more than a card payment, so it only pays off if it brings in orders that wouldn't have happened, or makes orders bigger. More on that below.

Availability by country

Afterpay says it has 10 million active US customers and Clearpay 3.5 million in the UK, both from their own internal data. Klarna is widely used across Europe. If your audience is mostly in one country, ask a few customers which they use. That is better evidence than either company's figures.

Payouts, refunds and disputes

Both pay you upfront and take on the job of collecting the instalments from the shopper. The day-to-day differences are in admin:

• Klarna through Shopify Payments lives in your Shopify admin. Refunds work within 180 days of the charge, and Shopify doesn't return its processing fee. You manage disputes in the admin, Klarna decides the outcome, and you have 7 days to respond to a chargeback notice.
• Afterpay and Clearpay pay into your bank from their own Business Hub, typically within about five business days. That means a second dashboard to reconcile against Shopify every month.

If you run Klarna through Mollie in Europe instead, note that Shopify doesn't share full order details with Mollie, so Mollie may add a fee or discount line in the Klarna order view to make totals match. My Shopify Payments vs Mollie comparison covers that setup.

Will it lift sales?

This is the question that should decide whether you add BNPL at all. A rule I use: BNPL earns its fee when your average order is high enough that shoppers hesitate on price, often above about £50 or $50, and when your audience already uses these services. On a £20 order it mostly adds cost.

• Show instalment pricing near the price, on product and cart pages, using the provider's messaging app. Afterpay's help center notes its messaging app doesn't add Afterpay to checkout, so install the payment app too. Klarna's messaging app needs Klarna to be set up first.
• Keep it small. A single line under the price works. Big banners for two BNPL brands clutter mobile pages.
• Check speed after adding messaging. Each messaging app adds a script. Run the Shopify speed checker before and after.
• Measure it. Compare conversion and average order value for a month before and after, outside sale periods.

If you're unsure where a payment option fits on your product pages, my CRO service starts from $500.

Where Affirm and PayPal fit

Many searches compare Afterpay, Klarna and Affirm together. On Shopify, Affirm reaches most stores through Shop Pay Installments, which Shopify offers to eligible stores in the US, Canada and the UK, with Australia in early access. It needs Shopify Payments and Shop Pay, an English-language store, and a store currency that matches one of those countries, and it excludes stores that are mainly B2B. Shopify's eligibility page didn't list its merchant rate, so check that in your admin.

PayPal is the other option many stores already have. In the US, PayPal Pay Later costs 4.99% + 49¢ per transaction, and in the UK PayPal lists 3.9% plus a fixed fee for its BNPL. Because PayPal doesn't pay Shopify's third-party fee when Shopify Payments is your main provider, it can be a cheap way to test BNPL. My Shopify Payments vs PayPal comparison explains that rule.

When to choose which

Choose Klarna when you're a UK or European store on Shopify Payments: one switch, a published rate and no third-party fee. Choose Afterpay when you're in the US or Australia and your shoppers know the brand, and get a written rate before you install it. In the UK, my Klarna vs Clearpay comparison goes deeper.

Signs your BNPL setup needs a rethink:

1. You pay the 2% Shopify fee on Afterpay orders while on Basic, and haven't compared it with a Shopify Payments option.
2. BNPL orders are a large share of sales but your average order didn't rise when you added it.
3. You run two BNPL brands and can't say which one brings new customers.
4. Your product pages have slowed since adding messaging apps.

How to decide in three questions

Setting it up

1. Check eligibility. In Settings > Payments, see whether Klarna or Shop Pay Installments is listed under Shopify Payments for your store.
2. Get a written Afterpay or Clearpay quote if you're considering it, and set it against the break-even figures above.
3. Activate one option and place a test order in each currency you sell in.
4. Add instalment messaging on product and cart pages, then check mobile layout and speed.
5. Tell your support team how refunds work for BNPL orders, since shoppers will ask.
6. Review after 30 days: BNPL share of orders, average order value and fees paid.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Klarna with Shopify Payments, Shopify Help Center
2. Klarna through Shopify: overview, Klarna Docs
3. Shopify pricing (UK), Shopify
4. Afterpay for business (US), Afterpay
5. How can I add Cash App Afterpay to my Shopify checkout?, Afterpay
6. Shop Pay Installments eligibility, Shopify Help Center

Related services and work

Written by Ashraf Siddik

I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.

About me · Client reviews