BTCPay Server vs CXPay hosted gateway

Self-host vs hosted checkout

BTCPay excels when you want full control of your Bitcoin stack and already run infrastructure. CXPay targets merchants who want a polished hosted checkout, WooCommerce hooks, and CoinExchange routing without operating watchers yourself.

CXPay does not replace your BTCPay node when you choose the BTCPay Lightning mode: you connect a Greenfield API key and CXPay mints invoices on your store while keeping other rails on the same hosted page.

Server integrations should create payment intents with Idempotency-Key headers, persist the returned intent ID on your order row, and only mark paid after payment.succeeded verifies on your webhook handler. Test keys let you exercise the full lifecycle without touching live balances. WooCommerce merchants request the official plugin through the contact form and configure API base URL plus webhook secrets before going live.

Custody model

Both approaches can keep funds out of a processor balance. CXPay publishes non-custodial settlement to merchant wallets across chains; BTCPay keeps Bitcoin on wallets you control on your instance.

Merchants who educate payers about exact amounts and quote expiry see fewer support tickets. Publish your accepted assets and networks on your store policy page and link to CXPay asset guides. When customers pay with ETH or BTC, remind them that network fees appear separately from the CXPay merchant fee. For audiences comfortable with Aztec, highlight CXCASH as a gas-free alternative through cxcash.app.

When to use which

Use BTCPay alone when Bitcoin is your only rail and you prefer to self-host. Use CXPay when you need multi-chain USD-priced checkout plus optional BTCPay-backed Lightning on the same merchant account.

The merchant dashboard and GET /reports/payments help you filter by status and time range. Download GET /exports/payments.csv when finance needs a spreadsheet-friendly view. Pair exports with webhook-driven order updates so internal systems stay aligned with on-chain settlement. Because CXPay does not hold balances, your wallet history and CXPay reports together form the reconciliation trail.

Configure webhook endpoints to receive signed POST requests when payment state changes. Parse the cxpay-signature header, reject stale timestamps outside the five-minute tolerance, and return quickly while processing asynchronously. Failed deliveries retry and may dead-letter; use dashboard delivery logs to diagnose URL typos, TLS issues, or application errors on your side.

Connecting BTCPay Lightning inside CXPay

Merchants who already run BTCPay can connect a Greenfield API key scoped only to create and view invoices. CXPay stores the key encrypted on the CoinExchange engine and never returns it to the browser after onboarding.

Checkout still shows a BOLT11 invoice and lightning: URI to payers, but invoice creation happens against your store. That keeps Lightning non-custodial relative to CXPay while avoiding the need to operate chain watchers for every altcoin rail.

If you disconnect BTCPay, you can fall back to a Lightning address or LNURL-pay descriptor on the same merchant profile without changing your WooCommerce or API integration.

Operations and reporting

BTCPay merchants often reconcile against their node logs. CXPay adds USD-priced orders, webhook events, and CSV exports so finance can align hosted checkout payments with internal order IDs even when the underlying settlement is still on your wallets.

For teams evaluating both products, pilot CXPay in test mode with a small BTCPay store before migrating public checkout URLs. Validate that Lightning invoice amounts match the locked USD quote and that webhook signatures verify on your server.

Side-by-side comparison

Explore CXPay

• How CXPay works
• Pricing and fee examples
• API quickstart
• Frequently asked questions
• Create a merchant account
• Compare hub

Questions about this page