- Fastest start: a hosted processor such as NOWPayments or Plisio. No node to run, 0.5% to 1% per payment.
- No fees, no middleman: BTCPay Server with its Monero plugin, or MoneroPay, using a view-only wallet.
- In a physical shop: the official Monero GUI's merchant screen, or a point-of-sale app on a tablet.
- Then: add your business to Monero Friendly so XMR holders can find you.
Monero customers go out of their way to find places that take it, and they tend to be loyal once they do. Accepting XMR costs little, chargebacks do not exist, and the money arrives in minutes. The decision is mostly about how much you want to run yourself.
Option 1: a hosted payment processor
A processor gives you a checkout page or a plugin, watches the blockchain for you, and can convert to stablecoins or fiat if you do not want to hold XMR. It is the quickest way to start.
| Processor | Monero fee (October 2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plisio | 0.5% | 1.5% for white-label checkout |
| NOWPayments | 0.5% to 1% | Pricing page shows 1%; its blog cites 0.5% for single-coin payouts. WooCommerce plugin available |
| Cryptomus | from 0.4% | 2% for new accounts until you agree a lower rate |
| CoinPayments | 3% | Much higher than older articles say; waits for 3 confirmations |
The trade-off is trust and privacy: the processor holds or routes your funds and sees every payment. Read its terms on frozen funds and supported countries before you rely on it.
Option 2: BTCPay Server with the Monero plugin
BTCPay Server is free, open-source payment software you run yourself. Since BTCPay 2.0, Monero support lives in a community-maintained plugin, funded through Monero's crowdfunding system; version 1.4.0 was published on 12 October 2026. You get invoices, a checkout page and store integrations, with no fees and no one between you and your customers.
What you need:
- a server with 2 or more CPU cores, 4 GB of RAM and a 250 GB SSD (a pruned Monero node needs a little over 100 GB),
- a Monero node (
monerod) and the Monero wallet RPC, - your wallet's primary address, private view key and restore height.
That last point is the important one. The plugin builds a view-only wallet: it can see incoming payments and mark orders paid, but it can never spend your money. Your spend key stays offline. If the server is ever compromised, attackers can see your sales but cannot take them.
One more reason to keep it updated: in August 2026 BTCPay Server published an urgent security advisory, version 2.4.2, after a bug was exploited to drain Lightning funds from some operators. Monero view-only setups were not the target, but patching promptly is part of running your own payments.
Option 3: lighter self-hosted tools
- MoneroPay: a small backend with an HTTP API and callbacks, using the Monero wallet RPC and PostgreSQL or SQLite. It can accept zero-confirmation payments if you choose. Good for developers building their own checkout.
- AcceptXMR: a Rust library that needs only a view key, no hot wallet. Its author calls it "young and unproven", and releases have been quiet since 2024, so treat it as experimental.
Option 4: WooCommerce and other shop plugins
If you sell on WordPress:
- BTCPay Greenfield for WooCommerce connects your shop to your own BTCPay Server. It is actively maintained, last updated in October 2026.
- Nodewatch Monero Payments is a newer plugin that checks payments with your view key against your own or a public node, with no processor fee. It is very new, so test it first.
- NOWPayments for WooCommerce if you prefer a hosted processor.
The older MoneroWP plugin appears to be minimally maintained. We would not start a new shop on it.
In a physical shop
The official Monero GUI wallet has a Merchant page: enter an amount, show the customer the QR code, and a sales tracker shows the payment arriving and its confirmations live. For a till or tablet, XMR POS is an open-source Android app based on a view key. Monero Friendly also lists Kasisto and other open-source payment tools.
How many confirmations to wait for
A Monero block arrives about every two minutes. BTCPay's Monero guide suggests one confirmation (about 2 minutes) for normal sales and ten (about 20 minutes) for high-value goods. Zero-confirmation, accepting the moment a payment is seen, is fine for a coffee, risky for a laptop.
The EU's 2027 rules, in plain terms
From 10 July 2027, Article 79 of the EU anti-money-laundering regulation stops credit institutions, financial institutions and crypto service providers from keeping accounts that allow "anonymity-enhancing coins". It is aimed at those regulated providers, not at a business receiving Monero into its own wallet. If you use a hosted processor regulated in the EU, ask whether it plans to keep supporting XMR. This is our reading, not legal advice.
Tax and bookkeeping basics
In the US, the IRS treats crypto as property, and business receipts are ordinary income at their dollar value when you receive them. In the UK, crypto a trading business receives is part of its taxable trading profits. The practical rule everywhere is the same: record the fiat value of every payment at the time it arrives, and keep the transaction IDs. Talk to an accountant about your situation.
Then tell people
Once you accept XMR, make it visible: say it on your checkout and product pages, and get listed on Monero Friendly. Checked businesses get the window sticker for their site or shop, and Monero holders search here for exactly what you sell.
Questions people ask
Does BTCPay Server still support Monero?
Yes, through a community-maintained Monero plugin. Version 1.4.0 was published in October 2026. It needs a Monero node and the Monero wallet RPC, and works with a view-only wallet.
Do I need to run a full Monero node?
For self-hosted options such as BTCPay Server or MoneroPay, yes: a pruned node needs a little over 100 GB of SSD space. Hosted processors such as NOWPayments or Plisio run the node for you.
Can my payment server steal my Monero?
Not if you set it up with a view-only wallet. A view key lets the server see incoming payments and confirm orders, but it cannot spend anything. Keep the spend key offline.
What do Monero payment processors charge?
In October 2026: Plisio 0.5%, NOWPayments 0.5% to 1%, Cryptomus from 0.4% (2% for new accounts until negotiated), and CoinPayments 3%. Self-hosted options cost nothing beyond the server.
Will the EU ban businesses from accepting Monero in 2027?
The EU anti-money-laundering regulation applies from 10 July 2027 and stops banks, financial institutions and crypto service providers from keeping accounts that allow anonymity-enhancing coins. It is aimed at those providers. A shop receiving XMR into its own wallet is not the target, but your payment processor may be, so ask yours about its plans. This is not legal advice.
How do I account for Monero sales?
In the US the IRS treats crypto as property, and business receipts count as ordinary income at their US dollar value when received. In the UK, crypto a trading business receives is part of its taxable trading profits. Record the fiat value of each payment at the time you receive it, and ask an accountant.
Sources
- BTCPay Server Monero plugin (CCS proposal) ccs.getmonero.org
- BTCPay Server plugin directory plugin-builder.btcpayserver.org
- BTCPay Monero plugin on GitHub github.com
- Seth for Privacy: accepting Monero via BTCPay Server sethforprivacy.com
- BTCPay Server security advisory 2.4.2 blog.btcpayserver.org
- MoneroPay moneropay.eu
- AcceptXMR github.com
- BTCPay Greenfield for WooCommerce wordpress.org
- Nodewatch Monero Payments for WooCommerce wordpress.org
- NOWPayments: Monero payments nowpayments.io
- Plisio fees plisio.net
- Cryptomus payment fees cryptomus.com
- CoinPayments supported coins and fees coinpayments.net
- Monero: accepting payments (GUI merchant page) getmonero.org
- IRS: digital assets irs.gov
- HMRC Cryptoassets Manual CRYPTO40350 gov.uk
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR) eur-lex.europa.eu
Checked October 2026. Prices and payment options change, so confirm with the business before you pay. Found something out of date? Let us know.