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TidePay vs Cryptomus: Recurring Crypto Payments Compared
TidePay vs Cryptomus: payers need a Cryptomus account and funds sit in a Cryptomus balance. TidePay charges wallets on-chain and pays you directly.
Both Cryptomus and TidePay let you charge customers in crypto on a schedule. TidePay vs Cryptomus is about how that happens. With Cryptomus, the customer logs in to a Cryptomus account to confirm the plan, and the payments land in your Cryptomus balance. With TidePay, the customer approves the subscription from their own wallet, and every renewal moves on-chain straight into your wallet.
The short verdict
Pick Cryptomus if you want a broad crypto gateway with many coins, invoices, static wallets, payouts and refunds in one account, and your customers are fine signing up to Cryptomus.
Pick TidePay if you sell subscriptions and want customers to pay from their own wallet (MetaMask or any WalletConnect wallet) without another account, with each payment going directly to you and no balance to withdraw.
Last checked: November 2026. Cryptomus facts come from its API docs and fees page, linked below.
How Cryptomus recurring payments work
Cryptomus is a crypto payment gateway with invoices, static wallets, payouts, refunds and a recurring payments API. You create a plan with POST /v1/recurrence/create, setting the amount, the currency and a period: weekly, monthly or three_month. You can add a discounted first period.
The customer's side, from the same docs: "The payer will be redirected to the cryptomus website, where he will need to log in to confirm the payment plan and make the first payment." After that, "payments will be made automatically according to the plan." Cryptomus's own guide to recurring payments says the customer must "sign up or log in" to Cryptomus to confirm. The docs don't say exactly where later payments are taken from. [VERIFY]
Plans have four statuses (wait_accept, active, cancel_by_merchant, cancel_by_user), and you can cancel one by API (cancel docs). The docs don't describe what happens when a renewal fails, such as retries or a grace period.
Fees and where the money goes
Cryptomus's fees page says: "We only charge 2% commission per transaction for new users," and that you can "contact us to get up to 0.4% commission," negotiated by a manager based on business type and turnover. Auto-conversion between coins is free. The fees page doesn't list a separate fee for recurring payments.
Payments are credited to your Cryptomus business balance. The API has endpoints for balances, payouts and transfers to personal or business wallets (API docs). To get the money into your own wallet, you withdraw it, and the fees page doesn't list withdrawal fees. [VERIFY]
How TidePay recurring payments work
TidePay is non-custodial recurring billing in stablecoins. The customer opens your paylink or embedded checkout, connects their wallet, and approves the subscription once. On EVM networks, they also sign the terms: the maximum per charge, the minimum interval between charges, and the fixed list of payees. TidePay's contract enforces those terms, so it can never charge more or more often than the customer agreed.
Each cycle, TidePay charges the subscription automatically. The money moves from the customer's wallet to yours in one transaction, and a signed webhook tells your app. There is no TidePay balance and nothing to withdraw.
Networks and tokens: USDC and USDT on Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism and Solana; EURC on Base and Solana.
Billing tools: plans with intervals, free trials, retries and dunning, a 7-day grace window on failed renewals, cancel now or at period end.
Pricing: 1% per successful charge, 0.8% above $25K a month, no monthly fee. TidePay covers network gas on automatic renewals; on one-time payments the payer covers gas.
Integrations: no-code paylinks, embedded checkout, REST API, HMAC-signed webhooks, idempotency keys, Discord roles and Telegram groups.
Control for the customer: they can revoke the approval from their wallet at any time, without asking you or TidePay.
TidePay vs Cryptomus side by side
Cryptomus | TidePay | |
|---|---|---|
Recurring model | Plan confirmed by the payer inside a Cryptomus account | Approval and signed terms from the payer's own wallet |
Payer needs | A Cryptomus account (sign up or log in) | Any wallet: MetaMask, a WalletConnect wallet, or a Solana wallet |
Billing periods | Weekly, monthly, every three months | Configurable plan intervals |
Where payments land | Your Cryptomus business balance | Your own wallet, in the same transaction |
Getting the money out | Withdraw or pay out from the balance | Nothing to withdraw |
Assets | Many cryptocurrencies, free auto-convert | USDC, USDT; EURC on Base and Solana |
Fee | 2% for new users, down to 0.4% by negotiation | 1% (0.8% above $25K/month), no negotiation needed |
Failed renewals | Not described in the recurring docs | Retries plus a 7-day grace window |
Refunds | Refund endpoint in the API | No refund endpoint: you send a new transfer |
Communities | Not part of the recurring API | Discord paid roles, Telegram paid groups |
Example: $10,000 a month in subscriptions
Setup | Fee per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Cryptomus, new-user rate | $200 (2%) | Plus any withdrawal fee to move funds to your wallet |
Cryptomus, best negotiated rate | $40 (0.4%) | Rate depends on business type and turnover |
TidePay | $100 (1%) | Already in your wallet; gas covered on renewals |
If you can negotiate Cryptomus down to its lowest rate, it costs less per transaction. TidePay's case is the model, not only the fee: no account for your customers, no balance held by a third party, and a published rate from day one.
Where Cryptomus is the better choice
Many coins. Cryptomus accepts a much wider range of cryptocurrencies than TidePay's three stablecoins, with free auto-conversion.
A full gateway. One account gives you invoices, static deposit wallets, mass payouts, refunds and plugins for common platforms, beyond subscriptions.
Lowest possible rate. At high volume, a negotiated 0.4% is below TidePay's 0.8% Growth rate.
Customers who already use Cryptomus. If your audience already has Cryptomus accounts, confirming a plan there is easy for them.
Where TidePay is the better choice
No extra account for customers. People pay from the wallet they already use. Asking them to sign up somewhere else before paying costs conversions.
Money goes straight to you. Each renewal lands in your wallet when it's charged. There is no third-party balance to monitor, withdraw from or worry about.
Limits the customer can see. On EVM, the customer signs the maximum per charge and minimum interval, and the contract enforces them. That makes it easier for a cautious customer to say yes.
Subscription logic built in. Trials, retries, a 7-day grace window, cancel at period end and signed
subscription.*webhooks are part of the product.Communities and revenue sharing. Discord roles, Telegram groups, and split payments to up to 10 wallets per charge.
Stable pricing. Plans in USDC, USDT or EURC, so a $20 plan costs the same every month.
FAQ
Does Cryptomus support recurring crypto payments?
Yes. Its API creates weekly, monthly or three-month plans. The payer confirms the plan by logging in to a Cryptomus account and making the first payment, and later payments run according to the plan.
Do my customers need a Cryptomus account?
According to Cryptomus's own guide, yes: the payer is redirected to Cryptomus to "sign up or log in" and confirm the plan. With TidePay, customers only need a wallet.
Is TidePay custodial like a payment gateway balance?
No. TidePay never holds funds. Each charge moves from the customer's wallet to yours in one transaction, so there is no balance to withdraw.
Which is cheaper, Cryptomus or TidePay?
It depends on your rate. Cryptomus charges new users 2% and negotiates down to 0.4%. TidePay charges 1%, or 0.8% above $25K a month, and covers gas on renewals. Check Cryptomus's withdrawal costs too, since TidePay has no withdrawal step.
How do refunds work on TidePay?
There is no refund endpoint. Because the money is already in your wallet, you refund by sending a transfer back to the customer.
Try recurring crypto billing
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.