6 min read
TidePay vs CoinPayments: Which Supports Real Crypto Subscriptions?
TidePay vs CoinPayments: real crypto subscriptions charge every cycle without the customer acting. See which one does it and what each costs.
Many crypto gateways say they handle "recurring payments." Often that means sending the customer a new invoice every month and hoping they pay it. TidePay vs CoinPayments is a good example of the difference. CoinPayments is one of the oldest crypto payment processors, built around invoices, checkout and a multi-coin wallet. TidePay is built only for subscriptions: the customer approves once from their wallet, and each renewal is charged on-chain automatically.
The short verdict
Pick CoinPayments if you sell one-off products, want to accept hundreds of coins, and are fine with an invoice per payment.
Pick TidePay if you sell subscriptions (SaaS, memberships, paid communities) and want renewals in USDC or USDT that charge themselves, with each payment landing directly in your wallet.
Last checked: November 2026.
What CoinPayments offers
CoinPayments is a crypto payment processor for merchants. You create invoices or use its checkout and plugins, the customer sends crypto, and the payment is credited to your CoinPayments wallet, where you can hold, convert or withdraw it. It is known for coin coverage: Coin Bureau's review counts more than 1,300 cryptocurrencies and describes the CoinPayments wallet as an online hot wallet, with a separate vault for cold storage.
Fees
CoinPayments' own fee comparison post says its "current fees are just 0.5% plus whatever coin transaction fee may be charged for incoming payments," with no exchange fee for conversions or withdrawals beyond the coin's network fee. That post is from November 2021, so check the current rate before deciding. [VERIFY]
What about subscriptions?
The CoinPayments materials we could open describe invoices and checkout, not a subscription engine that charges a customer automatically each cycle. To bill monthly with an invoice-based gateway, the usual pattern is:
Your system creates a new invoice when the period starts.
You email or message the customer the payment link.
The customer opens their wallet and pays by hand.
You chase the ones who don't pay, and cut access yourself.
That works for a few customers. At scale, every renewal depends on the customer remembering to pay, and churn goes up each cycle.
What a real crypto subscription needs
A subscription is "real" when renewals happen without the customer doing anything, the same way a card subscription works. In crypto, that needs four things:
A one-time authorization the customer gives from their wallet, so later charges don't need a new signature.
Limits the customer can trust: a maximum per charge and a minimum interval, enforced on-chain.
Automatic charging each cycle, with retries when a wallet is short and a clear rule for when access ends.
A way to cancel that doesn't depend on the merchant: the customer can revoke from their own wallet.
How TidePay does it
On EVM networks, the customer approves TidePay's subscription contract and signs the terms: cap per charge, minimum interval and the fixed list of payees. Each cycle, TidePay calls the contract, which moves the payment from the customer's wallet to yours in one transaction, within those terms. On Solana, charges run through the @solana/subscriptions program, also in one transaction.
No balance, no withdrawal: the money lands in your wallet when the charge runs. TidePay never holds funds.
Failed renewals: retries during a 7-day grace window, then cancellation. Signed webhooks tell your app at each step.
Networks and tokens: USDC and USDT on Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism and Solana; EURC on Base and Solana.
Pricing: 1% per successful charge, 0.8% above $25K a month, no monthly fee. Gas is covered on automatic renewals; on one-time payments the payer covers gas.
Ways to sell: paylinks, embedded checkout, REST API, Discord roles and Telegram groups.
TidePay vs CoinPayments side by side
CoinPayments | TidePay | |
|---|---|---|
Automatic recurring charges | Not found in public materials | Yes, on-chain every cycle |
How a renewal is paid | New invoice, customer pays by hand | Charged from the approved wallet, within signed limits |
Where payments land | Your CoinPayments wallet | Your own wallet, in the same transaction |
Coins | 1,300+ (per Coin Bureau) | USDC, USDT; EURC on Base and Solana |
Fee | 0.5% plus coin network fee (2021 post) [VERIFY] | 1% (0.8% above $25K/month), gas covered on renewals |
Failed renewals | Up to you: chase unpaid invoices | Retries, 7-day grace window, then cancellation |
Price stability for subscribers | Depends on the coin they pay with | Stablecoins, so a $20 plan costs $20 |
Communities | Not a feature | Discord paid roles, Telegram paid groups |
Best for | One-off payments in many coins | Subscriptions in stablecoins |
Example: 300 subscribers at $15 a month
That is $4,500 a month. On fees alone, CoinPayments' 0.5% would be about $22.50 plus network fees, and TidePay's 1% is $45 with gas covered on renewals.
The bigger number is the one fees don't show: how many of the 300 actually pay. With invoices, every month is a new decision for each customer. If even 5% forget, that's 15 people and $225 a month lost, ten times the fee difference. With an approved subscription, the charge runs unless the customer cancels or their wallet is empty, and even then TidePay retries for 7 days.
Where CoinPayments is the better choice
Coin coverage. If your customers want to pay in a specific altcoin, CoinPayments accepts far more assets than TidePay's three stablecoins.
One-off sales. For single purchases, an invoice is all you need, and CoinPayments' published rate is lower than TidePay's.
Holding and converting. A wallet with conversions and a vault is useful if you want to keep part of your revenue in crypto on the platform.
Long track record. It has processed payments for merchants since the early days of crypto commerce.
Where TidePay is the better choice
Renewals without asking. Customers approve once; every cycle after that is charged automatically. No monthly invoice, no reminder emails.
Your money, in your wallet. Each renewal lands where you control it, with nothing held by a third party and nothing to withdraw.
Stable prices. Plans in USDC, USDT or EURC, so neither you nor your customer is exposed to price swings between cycles.
Built-in subscription logic. Trials, retries, grace windows, cancel at period end and signed
subscription.*webhooks.Paid communities. Discord roles and Telegram groups that open and close with the subscription.
Revenue sharing. Split payments to up to 10 wallets in each charge.
FAQ
Does CoinPayments support recurring crypto payments?
We couldn't find an automatic recurring or subscription feature in CoinPayments' public materials. You can bill monthly by sending a new invoice each period, but the customer has to pay each one by hand.
What makes a crypto subscription "real"?
The customer authorizes once and renewals are charged automatically, within limits they can see, with a way to cancel from their own wallet. That's how card subscriptions work, and it's what TidePay does on-chain.
Is TidePay more expensive than CoinPayments?
Per transaction, yes: 1% versus CoinPayments' published 0.5% plus network fees. TidePay covers gas on renewals, and automatic charging usually recovers more revenue than the fee difference, because fewer customers miss a payment.
Can customers pay TidePay subscriptions in Bitcoin?
No. TidePay subscriptions are in USDC and USDT on Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism and Solana, plus EURC on Base and Solana. Stablecoins keep the plan price the same every cycle.
Can a customer stop a TidePay subscription without contacting me?
Yes. They can cancel, or revoke the approval from their own wallet. TidePay can't charge more or more often than the terms they signed.
Start real crypto subscriptions
Create a free TidePay account, set up a plan in USDC, and share a paylink. Read more about recurring billing on TidePay. You pay 1% per successful charge and nothing else.
7. Fontes consultadas
Repo tidepay: CLAUDE.md (on-chain billing engine), apps/api/src/lib/community/
Last checked: November 2026