Key takeaways
- Salesforce Payments, built on Stripe, serves Salesforce’s commerce products.
- AppExchange payment apps connect gateways such as Authorize.Net, Stripe or others to standard Salesforce objects.
- Custom integrations fit unique processes, specific gateways or complex routing.
- Choose based on your Salesforce cloud, gateway requirements, recurring billing needs and reporting.
More businesses want payments to happen where customer relationships live: in Salesforce. There are several ways to achieve that, and the right one depends on what you sell, which Salesforce products you use and which payment provider you need.
Option 1: Salesforce Payments
Salesforce Payments is Salesforce’s native payments capability, built on Stripe’s infrastructure. It is designed for Salesforce’s commerce products, supporting checkout experiences and, more recently, agent-driven commerce scenarios. It suits organizations selling through Salesforce commerce storefronts that are comfortable with Stripe as the processor.
Option 2: AppExchange payment apps
Many AppExchange packages connect payment gateways to Salesforce records, offering payment forms, links, recurring schedules, refunds and reporting on standard or custom objects. They suit businesses billing from opportunities, invoices, cases or custom records, especially service businesses.
Option 3: Custom integration
A custom integration calls a gateway’s APIs from Apex or middleware and builds exactly the workflow you need, such as multi-facility routing, specific gateways required by your industry, unusual approval steps or integration with an external billing system.
Comparison
| Salesforce Payments | AppExchange app | Custom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Salesforce commerce storefronts | Service billing on CRM records | Unique processes and gateways |
| Processor | Stripe | Varies by app | Any gateway with an API |
| Time to launch | Fast within supported products | Fast to moderate | Longer |
| Flexibility | Within the product’s scope | Within the app’s features | Full |
Selection criteria
- Which records initiate payments: orders, invoices, opportunities, cases or custom objects?
- Do you need recurring charges, payment plans or deposits?
- Is a specific gateway or merchant account required?
- Do payments need routing across facilities or entities?
- What reporting, reconciliation and accounting sync do you need?
- How will you keep card data out of Salesforce for PCI purposes?
Non-negotiables in any option
- Card data entered on hosted or embedded gateway forms, never stored in Salesforce.
- Tokens for repeat charges.
- Complete logging of requests, responses and errors.
- Clear receipts and authorization records.
Our Payment Gateway for Salesforce is a managed package for service businesses billing from Salesforce records, with Authorize.Net and CenPOS supported and custom gateways possible.
A decision example
A home services company bills customers after each visit and offers payment plans for larger jobs. It works in Sales Cloud and Field Service, not a Salesforce storefront. An AppExchange payment app or custom integration that attaches payment links and schedules to work orders and invoices fits far better than a commerce-focused option. A retailer selling through a Salesforce commerce storefront, by contrast, would look first at Salesforce Payments.
Questions for any payment app vendor
- Which gateways and payment methods are supported?
- How are tokens stored, and is card data ever held in Salesforce?
- Can payments attach to custom objects?
- How are refunds, voids and failed payments handled?
- What reports and logs are included?
Frequently asked questions
Does Salesforce process payments itself?
Salesforce Payments is built on Stripe’s infrastructure. Other options connect third-party gateways to Salesforce.
Can we take payments in Sales Cloud or Service Cloud?
Yes, typically through AppExchange payment apps or custom integrations that attach payments to CRM records.
Which option is most PCI-friendly?
Any option using hosted or embedded gateway forms and tokens keeps card data out of Salesforce, which is the key to limiting scope.
