> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.startmyvpn.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Payment Gateways

> Overview of supported payment gateways in StartMyVPN.

StartMyVPN supports three payment gateways. You can enable one or all of them simultaneously — customers will see whichever gateways are active at checkout.

## Supported gateways

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Stripe" icon="stripe" href="/configuration/payments/stripe">
    Credit and debit card payments with recurring subscription support.
  </Card>

  <Card title="PayPal" icon="paypal" href="/configuration/payments/paypal">
    PayPal checkout and recurring PayPal subscriptions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="CryptAPI" icon="bitcoin" href="/configuration/payments/cryptapi">
    Cryptocurrency payments — Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and more.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## How payments work

1. A customer selects a plan and billing cycle
2. An **Invoice** is created in the `pending` state
3. The customer is redirected to the payment gateway (or shown a crypto address)
4. On success, a webhook from the gateway fires to StartMyVPN
5. StartMyVPN marks the invoice as `paid` and activates or renews the service
6. A payment receipt email is sent to the customer

## Refunds

Refunds are tracked in the admin panel under **Admin → Invoices**. Actual refund processing happens through the payment gateway's own dashboard — StartMyVPN records the refund for accounting purposes but does not initiate refunds via the gateway API automatically.

## Currency

All prices are stored and charged in the currency you configure. Currently a single currency is supported per installation. Set it via the payment gateway settings and ensure it matches across all gateways you enable.