Heartland Payments+ vs Shift4

PayPal

Venmo

Stripe

PayPal provides an end-to-end suite of tools that can integrate with a business's existing systems and service providers. Its network of shoppers and businesses provides AI-driven data insights to help businesses reach new customers and drive results.

Venmo is a digital wallet and payment gateway that allows customers to send money and make purchases via mobile device, and share activity via the purchase feed

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform that enables businesses to accept payments online and in person. It offers a suite of APIs for payment processing, subscription management, fraud prevention, and financial services integration Stripe provides both developer-focused tools with extensive documentation and no-code solutions for businesses without technical staff.

Heartland Payment Processing is a cloud-based solution that helps businesses in hospitality, medical, government and other sectors accept in-person and online payments via flexible methods, including credit or debit,EMV chip cards, digital wallets and more.

ACH Payment Processing

Activity Dashboard

Billing & Invoicing

Contactless NFC

Cost Estimating

Credit Card Processing

Data Security

Debit/Credit Card Processing

Digital Wallet Payments

Electronic Payments

Electronic Signature

Financial Management

Gift Card Management

In-Person Payments

Invoice Creation

Invoice History

Invoice Processing

Mobile Access

Mobile Payments

Online Invoicing

Online Payments

Payment Processing

Point of Sale (POS)

Quotes/Estimates

Recurring Invoicing

Recurring/Subscription Billing

Reporting/Analytics

Search/Filter

Third-Party Integrations

Some users say Heartland Payments+ offers lower initial fees and minimal service charges, but many reviewers report high and increasing costs, unexpected charges, and confusing, non-transparent pricing, making it difficult for them to assess true value.

Value for money

Reviews for Heartland Payments+ come from a wide variety of industries, including construction (9% of reviewers), hospitality (7%), and information technology and services (5%). The most frequent use case for Heartland Payments+ cited by reviewers is payment processing (97% of reviewers).

Heartland Payments+

Windows

Linux

Web-based

authorize.net

Square Point of Sale

Square Payments

Cash App

Basic

Opaque and high fee structure

sales manager

we don't like that there is a cancelation fee if you wabt to end the service

70% of reviewers feel negative about Heartland Payments+' pricing. Users think the fee structure is confusing and often lacks transparency, leading to unexpected charges and rate increases. Reviewers indicate that cancellation fees and hidden costs can be burdensome, with some reporting significant price hikes after initial contracts end. They say the overall expense is higher than competing platforms, which makes it difficult for smaller businesses to justify the cost. Some users report frustration with unclear billing and the complexity of understanding what they are being charged for each month.

Robust transaction security features

Video Editor

Heartland Payments+ is very accurate with payments and has strong security.

Sales and Strategic Partnership VP

Has very high-end transactions safety functions which safeguards our payments from theft.

100% of reviewers feel positive about Heartland Payments+' security and access control. Users think the platform provides strong safeguards against fraud, with advanced verification and encryption measures that make them feel confident in processing payments. Reviewers indicate that secure online transactions are essential for their businesses, and they appreciate the consistent reliability and transparency the system offers. Some users say the security features help them avoid financial losses and maintain trust with clients. They find that the platform’s security measures are easy to use and effective, supporting both local and international transactions safely.

Flexible and reliable payment handling

Executive Assistant

Using heartland payments has made managing payments so much simpler for us with its fast processing options, helping us to stay in control of our expenses.

Assistant Director

We really appreciate how Heartland Payments+ has helped us diversify our payment options which has enabled us to give our visitors the freedom to make payments in their preferred way.

85% of reviewers feel positive about Heartland Payments+' payment processing. Reviewers appreciate the platform’s ability to support a wide range of payment methods, making it easier for them to accommodate customer preferences. Users think the system’s fast and accurate transaction processing helps them track payments efficiently and resolve disputes quickly. Some reviewers find the reporting tools valuable for maintaining financial clarity. They say the platform’s adaptability allows them to manage payments globally and simplifies their daily operations, especially when handling diverse payment types and ensuring timely receipt of funds.

Finance Director

What I like most about Heartland Payments +are the good financial reports it offers as well as the variety of payments it accepts.

Financial Consultant

I have been using Heartland payment+ for almost a year I can say that I can track each payment made to a person even from past with even a minute details such as tax charged and payment gateway charges.

Administrator

It support every type of payment method that is available and give customer various range of option how they want to proceed with the payment.

Heartland Payment Systems is the best solution for  our online school to process students subscription and payments in a safe way

Pastry Chef

It has allowed us to accept different types of payment methods which has made online food ordering so effective.

With Heartland Payments+, we have been able to give our customers the option to pay using their desired payment methods without any restrictions.

Organization Manager

it has really made our payment process simpler by offering different payment options so our customers can use whatever method they like best.

Its ability to adapt and scale as our needs evolved has been a major plus and the comprehensive financial reports kept everything well organized and easy to monitor.

Co-Founder

Exclusive and extra-professional cloud payment processing and subscription billing as well as invoicing.

Heartland Payments+ has helped us simplify how visitors makes payments when they visit our museum center.

SOFTWARE MANAGER

My overall experience with them is was executed properly and was on point every payment i had received was on time and was secured by the 64 bit encryption layer .

Administrator Assitant

Heartland Payment+ help to verify and process payment by customer accurate and free from errors.

Operations Manager

The speed and efficiency in processing every business payment is also a crucial part from Heartland Payments+.

Owner

There are ways you can save money but they do not proactively reach out and tell you that.

Generating invoice and billing to charge to customer is easy and has various way to sent it to customer.

Customer Service Representative

This has been our go-to payment system that facilities fast and secure way to collect and receiving money.

Track invoice due date and sent reminder if the payment is still not cleared.

Managing Director

A payment tool my small scale business employs to receive payment from clients no matter where they are

Heartland Payments+ has included mobile payment solutions, which helps many companies.

Paralegal, Office Manager

Overall, I have had a good experience with Heartland, it enabled a link for our website for people to pay their bills directly.

Supply chain manager

It has made payment transactions with our clients more flexible reliable and transparent.

Account manager

Use it for more than 5 years and happy with the credit card processing fee that is lower than other provider.

ELL contractor

I won’t say heartland payment is cheap but it worth using if you can implement it in your business I will give them 5 stars

Operation Manager

I adore how it facilitates easy and safe product sales and maintains the security of online payments.

Deputy Human Resources and Training Manager

it supports nearly every payment option which makes it our go-to solution.

People and Culture Coordinator

Integration and interfacing makes it a valuable resource for employees management needs.

Fast payment deposit to our bank account and only take 24 hours in most cases.

Software Developer

Heartland Payments+ is smooth and secure, which is great for businesses needing scalable and industry-specific services.

So I use Heartland Payment+ for this purpose and it has been working quite good till now with a very low fee as payment gateway charges.

Can be use on terminal payment, electronic payment or online purchases.

Electrical and Electronics Engineer

The users custom report generation are limited for advanced users

Insurance agent

I love being able to see the confirmation of my payments.

Sales Manager

Since we started using Heartland Payment Processing, we have be able to process all order payments smoothly and fast whether online or physically.

Heartland Payments+ system has made payments and receiving payments very secure and quick.

the icing in the cake for me is how responsive their customer support team has been Any small business ours should definitely check it out

Accountant

It has help to improve and manage the company financially and has improve production.

Chairperson

Heartland Payments+ offers payment processing that is effective and efficient.

Strong security and great payment accuracy characterize Heartland Payments+.

Heartland Payments+ excellent at securely and instantly processing payments.

Purchasing Manager

Payments are processed within the ATA allotted by Heartland.

Polyglot

Heartland payment is generally good, user-friendly interface for many users like me I can highly recommend and support.

Using heartland payments for our small business  has honestly been of great help.

Heartland payment is a valuable resource.

Project Manager

Heartland Payments+ makes the billing process accurate and faster.

Finance Manager

Heartland Payments+ has created suitable utility management solutions.

Security and Access Control

Pricing

Sales

Employee Management

Integrations

User Interface

Small Business Support

Setup

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Small Business

Mid-size Business

Some users say Heartland Payments+ offers lower processing fees compared to competitors and appreciate minimal service charges, especially at the start. They find it easy to use and initially affordable. However, many reviewers report high and increasing fees over time, unexpected charges, and a lack of transparency in the fee structure. Some users feel confused by convoluted pricing and mention hidden or unclear costs, including cancellation fees. Reviewers indicate that these issues make it difficult to assess the true value, with some feeling the product is too expensive for what it provides.

Global Payments

Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) is boldly redefining commerce by simplifying complex payments ecosystems across the world. As the leader in commerce-enabling technology, Shift4 powers billions of transactions annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses in virtually every industry.

Multi-Currency

Multiple Payment Options

Partial Payments

Receipt Management

Transaction Monitoring

Shift4

Clover

Shopify

Wave

Clio

Manager

After 40 years of delivering food trying to change and have third company handling my delivery need, Barely started with skytab, at the same time with chownow to handle my delivery’s customers and found out that these two doesn’t work together, hoping they start soon

when you call for issues, you're on the phone for ever. If you have a Server that runs a credit card on the wrong check and the guest has already left, you as the merchant eat that check amount!

Shift4 then deliberately circumvented this block by using alternate business names to attempt to process payments—a blatant act of fraud.

POS system was unreliable, I was on the phone for 2-3 hours every month with them to push updates that would rarely come through.   When I called to cancel they wanted me to buy the contract out on the back end even though there was a documented history of their system not being reliable.

Integration Specialist

It seems to have its ability to grab information and connect to many sources for our CRM.

It was a pretty easy system, The workflow was nice with starting tabs and I enjoyed the backend product.

We had outages with Shift 4 and that impacted checking in guests for our hotel.

Companies like this do not deserve a chance to earn your business, save the nightmare and go with toast, this company sucks!

The terminals were returned and I did not hear anything else until I got an automated ticket notification 2 months later and then a RMA request another 2 weeks after that.

Our experience with Shift4 / Lighthouse has been nothing short of a nightmare, and we want to warn other businesses before they fall into the same trap.

Cases were marked as “resolved” automatically after five days, even though nothing had been fixed or explained.

I would be willing to change my review if customer service would work with me on the fee as they have been good in previous years about reversing fees for services was not using when calling in.

They hide the contract length and early termination fees for their contract via a website titled terms and conditions.

Customer service was helpful at this time and reversed some previous fees for services I was not using and put me on a basic plan and assured me there would be no additional charges.  

I want a report that shows me Total deposit amount, what transactions were included and what fees were taken.   If you want to see that you have to look at multiple reports, it's very confusing and difficult to enter info into our accounting software.

President

I moved from IRN card processing to Shift4 with the understanding that monthly Reporting and Fees would be more transparent and easily understood. While the fees charged actually showed up in the month they were incurred, the reporting did not reflect the actual transactions.

Even though our hotel was in DC and centrally located it took a long time for anyone to figure it out.

owner

They have added monthly fees and a contract which is charging $525 in early termination fees.  

We strongly advise all small businesses to avoid Shift4 / Lighthouse at all costs.

Shift 4 is our processor but cannot help you retrieve a credit card mistake!

The icing on the cake was our new card processor could not get us installed before our 12 month contract expired, so Shift4 charged us for the entire following 12 months of support and reporting.

Co-CEO

They are now trying to have me cancel and pay $2,400 or charge me $310 a month in no usage fees

Owner 

Bugs with Advantage, Dual Charges, Tax Calcs, Handhelds, gift cards, reporting, on and on and on.

General Manager

After telling us they would match we stayed only to find out they didn't match.   When we approached shift 4 with this, the response was sign this new contract.  

At the start of 2025 ( January 2nd) noticed a 189.00 charge on my bank account  and called the next day to find out what is was for.

This all-in-one system simplifies operations, allowing us to focus more on customer service and less on administrative tasks.

They refused to refund me even though I had proof that I was unable to access the equipment to return it.

It offers a seamless blend of sales processing, inventory management, and customer tracking.

Delay in processing credit cards.   After you select cc you have to wait until it connects to the reader,  Only about 5 seconds but seems like a long time when we are busy.

They said if I switched over to charging the customers 3%, there would not be any fees.  

Heartland Payments+ vs Shift4 Comparison (2026)

Heartland Payments+

Shift4

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives