BTCPayServer

BTCPayServer is free and open source software that I have been using for many years as a payment processor across my websites. Let's take a dive into what makes this project so great.

How did BTCPayServer come to be?

Interesting story. Back in 2017, there was a payment processing company called BitPay who were telling their customers that there was going to be an upgrade to Bitcoin with bigger blocks. What they were actually promoting was a hardfork of Bitcoin. A developer by the name of Nicolas Dorier wasn't really buying what BitPay was putting out, so he (famously) tweeted this.

And with that, BTCPayServer was born. The BTCPayServer origin and success story is well documented in a feature film. You can watch it here below.

What are the advantages?

• Cost savings: It's free to use, with no fees or subscriptions, which reduces costs for merchants compared to traditional payment processors that charge transaction fees.
• No middleman: It allows you to receive payments directly to your software or hardware wallet, cutting out intermediaries. This facilitates peer-to-peer transactions, making them faster and cheaper.
• Open-source: It is an open-source, self-hosted payment processor.
• Privacy and security: It is a secure, private, censorship and seizure-resistant platform.
• Community support: It is supported by a community of users and developers. The documentation is comprehensive and support is excellent.
• Self-custodial: It allows you to receive payments directly to your wallet, unlike other processors that hold your Bitcoin, which means no onerous KYC details are required.
• Extensive plugins: It has plugins that integrate into a variety of online store fronts and other plugins that add functionality to your payment processor.
• Record keeping: It is great for end of financial year. You can export all your transaction history and details to CSV for further analysis.

How do you set this up?

The BTCPayServer docs is a great place to start. This will give you the most up to date and comprehensive information. It will take you down the path of setting this up on a VPS which is relatively cheap.

I have also made some tutorials that shows you how to run BTCPayServer on your computer at home, and expose it to the world without using a VPS. It can be a little technical and tedious to get set up at the start, but it's very smooth sailing once you get a rhythm and workflow going. Below are the two videos of interest I have made.

My use for BTCPayServer

I run the Ministry of Nodes Store which sells plug & play Bitcoin nodes. I have integrated my own instance of BTCPayServer into the WooCommerce checkout. I also accept donations and tips for online consultations using this payment processor. I have both on-chain and lightning enabled.

I could use PayPal for this, but the fees they charge are exorbitant, and the risk of seizure, censorship and charge-backs is far too great. Bitcoin fixes this, and BTCPayServer enables it. This is why I give a discount for payment in Bitcoin. You could also think of it as a premium for paying in fiat. The convenience this solution offers is exceptional.

The other side benefit of accepting bitcoin is that you get to build a cheeky non-kyc stash.

Ministry of Nodes

Bitcoin Nodebox

Purchase Bitcoin Nodebox

My experience using BTCPayServer

In my experience, the software has been very stable and never skipped a beat. There's generally no hiccups, glitches or downtime. The interface is clean, although sometimes I do get lost with the plethora of options available. Perhaps Basic/Intermediate/Advanced viewing modes can help. Upgrades and migrations are successful. It has been an overall positive experience over the many years I've been using it.

When there is an issue, the BTCPayServer team is quick to deploy a fix.

Conclusion

BTCPayServer is the best payment processor to accept bitcoin for my store. I will continue to use this software for the convenience, ease, privacy and security it delivers. The documentation is top notch, features are rich, and the support channels are excellent. There is no second best.

If you have a product or service that you want to offer to the world, I would encourage you to accept Bitcoin for it. BTCPayServer will facilitate this for you and serve you well.