Flow Vs Kushki Vs Unlimit: 7 Best Payment Gateways In Chile (2026)

Ranks seven payment gateways in Chile for merchants selling online on ten weighted criteria, from local method coverage and developer experience to pricing transparency and support, verified October 2026.

Key takeaways

• Flow (#1, 5.3 / 10) leads because it publishes its Chilean rates by method; the catch is that its plugin needs a business that has started activities with the tax authority.
• Kushki (#2, 4.9 / 10) suits stores that also need payouts by API. Mercado Pago (#4, 4.0 / 10) suits Shopify stores, Khipu (#5, 3.6 / 10) suits WooCommerce stores, and Transbank (#6, 3.4 / 10) suits online stores that hold a Chilean business RUT and a bank account.
• Unlimit (#3, 4.3 / 10) suits WooCommerce stores that want documented plugins and a sandbox; local acquiring limits its score because its pages show no licence for Chile.
• Flow and Transbank ask for a registered Chilean business or a business RUT and a bank account, while Kushki’s and Khipu’s pages leave open whether a merchant without a Chilean entity or bank account can onboard, so the entity question splits the providers first.
• Chile payment methods differ by provider across cards, bank transfers, digital wallets and cash, so list the payment methods the checkout needs before shortlisting, including Mercado Pago’s Redcompra debit coverage.
• Choose by entity requirement, methods, same-scope pricing and integration route; no single provider is best for every business.

The short answer

Ranked by a weighted score out of 10, the top payment gateways in Chile are Flow (#1, 5.3 / 10, for online stores in Chile), Kushki (#2, 4.9 / 10, for online stores in Chile) and Unlimit (#3, 4.3 / 10, for WooCommerce stores in Chile), followed by four more.

The ranking

Payment gateways in Chile: seven providers available online, ranked by a weighted score out of 10, verified October 2026.

Price bands: $ = published card rate of 2.9% or less per transaction, with no monthly fee; $$ = published card rate above 2.9%, a published monthly fee, or quote-based pricing; $$$ = enterprise contract or interchange++ pricing with a setup fee or a monthly minimum.

What is a payment facilitator (and how is it different from an acquirer)?

A payment facilitator is a service provider registered by an acquirer to facilitate transactions on behalf of sub-merchants, as the Mastercard payment facilitator page defines it.

An acquirer must register a service provider with Mastercard as a payment facilitator, according to the Mastercard payment facilitator page, so the local acquiring criterion asks which party acquires a provider’s card payments in Chile. Mastercard sets out the rules governing the use and conduct of payment facilitators in Rule 7.8 of the Mastercard Rules, per its payment facilitator page.

How this was scored

Weighted for merchants that sell into Chile from abroad or across several markets: local method coverage and developer experience count most, because the market’s pages and answers raise them most often; reach across markets, local acquiring, payouts, non-resident onboarding, settlement and FX, and pricing transparency each count the same; recurring payments and support count least, because the market’s pages and answers raise them least often. Each provider is scored out of 10 on the weighted criteria in the table below; the weights were locked before research in October 2026, and Unlimit was scored by the same process, with its position not edited.

Published by Unlimit. Unlimit is #3 on this list and is scored on the same rubric as every other entry.

The list has three known limits:

• Scope: nine providers were screened, and only the seven that serve Chile online were ranked.
• Pricing: bands reflect published rates or, where none are published, the pricing model, and a merchant’s quote may differ.
• Publisher status: the publisher of this list is ranked in it, and the list is not professional advice.

Every provider fact was checked against the provider’s own pages or filings in October 2026; market figures carry their source and date inline.

Where Unlimit fits

Unlimit is #3 of 7, with a score of 4.3 / 10. Local acquiring limits that score: Unlimit’s home page names no country or register for its network of local licences, so no licence for Chile is shown.

Unlimit is right for merchants on WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart or PrestaShop stores that want a documented plugin, which its backend SDK page lists. Unlimit is not the best fit for merchants that need a Chile licence or Chile settlement terms confirmed on published pages, because its payment processing page shows neither.

Every entry

Every card, the #1 entry included, carries one strength and one criticism.

Flow

• Verdict: Flow publishes its Chilean rates by method; its plugin needs a business that has started activities with the tax authority.
• Best for: Online stores in Chile.
• Price band: $ — published per-method rates.
• Company: Flow is part of Flow S.A., based in Viña del Mar, Chile (Flow help page).
• Strength: Flow publishes its Chilean rates for cards, bank transfers, wallets and cash with their fixed costs and settlement-day conditions: 2.89% + VAT for card, wallet and cash payments and 0.99% + VAT plus CLP 100 + VAT for bank transfer payments, all settled on the third business day, and 3.19% + VAT for cards settled on the next business day; it states that no additional charges apply (Flow rates page).
• Criticism: Flow’s plugin requirements are being over 18, holding a bank account and having started activities with the tax authority (Flow plugin page), so a merchant that has not registered its business activities in Chile cannot integrate the plugin.
• Use cases: Chilean merchants can offer 2 to 12 interest-free instalments on Flow and receive the money in a single payment (Flow help page).
• Risk signals: Flow’s terms say Flow Subadquirente is or may be subject to CMF supervision; the page does not state that an authorisation was granted (Flow terms page).
• Score: #1 of 7, 5.3 / 10, verified October 2026.

Kushki

• Verdict: Kushki is a non-bank acquirer with payouts by API; its pages leave open whether a merchant without a Chilean entity can onboard.
• Best for: Online stores in Chile.
• Price band: $$ — a fixed processing fee plus a per-method fee, with monthly minimum billing that varies with merchant size and no published rates (Kushki fees page).
• Company: Kushki runs Kushki Operadora SA Chile, whose page publishes information requests, an operations manual, products and services, tariffs, an annual report and financial statements (Kushki Operadora page).
• Strength: Merchants run automated disbursements by API from their Kushki balance, with bank-transfer payouts running 24/7 in Chile and Mexico, and Colombia and Peru named as other payout countries (Kushki PayOuts page).
• Criticism: Kushki’s regional acquiring page lists setting up a legal entity and a local bank account as required and does not say whether Chile is exempt (Kushki acquiring page), so a merchant without a Chilean entity or bank account cannot confirm from Kushki’s pages that it can onboard.
• Use cases: Kushki’s Chile fees page states that merchants can run recurring charges of fixed or variable amounts (Kushki fees page).
• Risk signals: Kushki’s Chile documentation states that bank-transfer payments must be made from personal accounts, not company accounts (Kushki documentation).
• Score: #2 of 7, 4.9 / 10, verified October 2026.

Unlimit

• Publisher’s entry
• Verdict: Unlimit is a gateway and payouts provider with documented developer tools; no licence for Chile is shown on its pages.
• Best for: WooCommerce stores in Chile.
• Price band: $$ — no published rates.
• Company: Unlimit states that its mission is to enable businesses to operate locally and internationally across EMEA, APAC and LatAm (Unlimit about page).
• Strength: Unlimit’s public documentation offers a hosted Payment Page (Unlimit Payment Page guide); it lists Java, PHP and Python backend SDKs and Magento, WooCommerce, OpenCart and PrestaShop plugins (Unlimit backend SDK page) and a sandbox for the first integration (Unlimit sandbox guide).
• Criticism: Unlimit’s home page or other published pages name no country or register for its network of local licences, so no licence for Chile is shown. A merchant needs to contact the company to confirm that card payments from Chile are acquired under a local licence.
• Use cases: Unlimit documents payouts to Chilean bank accounts in CLP (Unlimit payout methods guide) and recurring card payments on a regular schedule or on demand (Unlimit recurring types guide).
• Risk signals: Unlimit states direct settlement into wallets or accounts but names no market, currency or settlement timing (Unlimit payment processing page).
• Score: #3 of 7, 4.3 / 10, verified October 2026.

Mercado Pago

• Verdict: Mercado Pago offers a plugin-led checkout for Chilean online stores, available in seven countries.
• Best for: Shopify stores in Chile.
• Price band: $$ — no published rates verified; Mercado Pago states that it charges only when the payment is credited and has no fixed costs (Mercado Pago checkout page).
• Company: No company details are verified.
• Strength: Its developer documentation lists plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, Tiendanube, VTEX, Wix and Adobe Commerce (Magento) and client-side and server-side SDKs (Mercado Pago developer documentation), and describes a pre-built Checkout Pro (Mercado Pago Checkout Pro page).
• Criticism: Its developer documentation lists seven countries for its solutions (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay), so a merchant that sells into markets outside those seven cannot cover them with it.
• Use cases: Subscriptions are created through an API with a set frequency, after which recurring charges occur automatically (Mercado Pago subscriptions page).
• Risk signals: None verified.
• Score: #4 of 7, 4.0 / 10, verified October 2026.

Khipu

• Verdict: Khipu is a bank-transfer gateway with e-commerce plugins; its collector contract needs a prior payment from a bank account holding the signer’s identification data.
• Best for: WooCommerce stores in Chile.
• Price band: $$ — no published rates.
• Company: No company details are verified.
• Strength: Khipu documents a guide and API reference for its bank-transfer product with a secure bank redirect and webhook confirmation (Khipu products page), plus a WooCommerce plugin, a VTEX connector and a Magento 2 module (Khipu plugins page).
• Criticism: Khipu’s collector contract validates the signer’s identity through a prior payment from a bank account holding the signer’s identification data (Khipu contract page), so a merchant without such a bank account cannot finish signing the contract.
• Use cases: Khipu documents automatic charges through a PAC or digital direct-debit mandate, without user action; the products page lists no country for it, and the product page marks it as available only in Chile.
• Risk signals: None verified.
• Score: #5 of 7, 3.6 / 10, verified October 2026.

Transbank

• Verdict: Transbank publishes card commissions for Chilean merchants; applying for Link de Pago needs a Chilean business RUT and a bank account.
• Best for: Online stores in Chile.
• Price band: $ — published per-card-type commission; the rates apply from 1 September 2026 to newly affiliated merchants and exclude VAT (Transbank rates page).
• Company: No company details are verified.
• Strength: Transbank publishes commissions of 2.29% per transaction on credit cards and 1.49% on debit and prepaid cards, in all channels, with a minimum fee per transaction of 0.003515 UF for credit and 0.002260 UF for debit and prepaid (Transbank rates page).
• Criticism: The Link de Pago application asks for the applicant’s RUT, the business RUT and a bank account to receive funds (Transbank Link de Pago page), so a merchant without a Chilean business RUT and a bank account cannot apply for it.
• Use cases: Merchants without a website can send a payment link by email, chat or social networks (Transbank Link de Pago page).
• Risk signals: None verified.
• Score: #6 of 7, 3.4 / 10, verified October 2026.

Getnet

• Verdict: Getnet is a card operator whose network runs in seven countries; its Chile FAQ gives no card rate.
• Best for: Merchants selling in Chile and other Getnet network markets.
• Price band: $$ — a fee on card transaction value, no published rates.
• Company: GETNET OPERADORA S.A. is Getnet’s legal name; Banco Santander-Chile holds 50.1% and Getnet Payments, S.L. holds 49.9% (Getnet corporate page).
• Strength: Getnet states that its network currently operates in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain and Portugal (Getnet corporate page).
• Criticism: Getnet Chile’s FAQ states a fee on the value of credit, debit and prepaid card transactions but gives no rate (Getnet FAQ), so a merchant cannot read Getnet’s card rate from that page.
• Use cases: Getnet says its offering includes a payment gateway and payment acceptance in store and online; the sentence does not name Chile separately (Getnet corporate page).
• Risk signals: None verified.
• Score: #7 of 7, 2.3 / 10, verified October 2026.

Go deeper

Best for online stores in Chile

Flow (#1, 5.3 / 10) is the pick for online stores in Chile: Flow lists e-commerce plugins for nine platforms, Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento among them, so an online store has a plugin route on its platform (Flow plugin page).

Best for Shopify stores in Chile

Mercado Pago (#4, 4.0 / 10) is the pick for Shopify stores in Chile: Mercado Pago lists a Shopify plugin among its e-commerce plugins, so a Shopify store has a plugin route. Also consider Kushki (#2, 4.9 / 10), whose Chile documentation says its Shopify plugin lets merchants accept payments without writing a line of code (Kushki documentation).

Best for WooCommerce stores in Chile

Khipu (#5, 3.6 / 10) is the pick for WooCommerce stores in Chile: Khipu documents a WooCommerce plugin installed from the WordPress directory, with refunds from the orders list, so a WooCommerce store can take bank transfers from its orders screen (Khipu plugins page).

Which payment methods in Chile can merchants accept through these gateways?

The ranked gateways list four families of local payment methods: cards, bank transfers, digital wallets and cash. Chile payment methods differ by provider, so list the payment methods the checkout needs first.

• Cards: Mercado Pago lists Visa, Mastercard and RedCompra as debit cards (Mercado Pago payment-methods table).
• Bank transfers: Khipu states that its Pagos Instantáneos product receives payments from all banks, compensation funds and digital accounts in Chile without restrictions (Khipu instant-payments page); readers who want the mechanics go to how bank transfers work for businesses.
• Digital wallets: Flow’s Chile pricing page lists the Mach, OnePay and Tapp wallets among the methods it charges for (Flow rates page); readers who want the regional picture go to digital wallets in Latin America.
• Cash: Flow’s Chile pricing page lists Servipag as its cash payment method (Flow rates page).

How does a payment gateway connect to an online store?

A payment gateway connects an online store’s checkout to the payment methods customers choose. The ranked gateways do it through a redirect to a payment page or an API call from the merchant’s own checkout; for the hosted option, read what a hosted payment page is.

With a redirect, Flow’s API creates a payment order with the payment/create method and returns a payment link to which the customer is redirected (Flow help page). With an API in the merchant’s own checkout, Mercado Pago’s Checkout API lets customers buy on the merchant’s site or app without redirection to an external page (Mercado Pago Checkout API page).

How to choose a payment gateway in Chile

• Check whether the provider asks for a Chilean business registration, tax ID or local bank account before comparing anything else.
• List the payment methods the checkout must offer and match them to each provider’s published list.
• Compare pricing on the same scope, card type, settlement day and VAT treatment, and treat quote-based pricing as unknown, not low; for the cost components, read credit card processing fees.
• Match the integration route to the store platform, from plugin to API and sandbox, before signing.
• Confirm whether the provider acquires cards locally itself or through a partner, and whether one account covers the other markets you plan to enter; for a wider rollout, read businesses expanding to Latin America.

No single payment gateway in Chile is best for every business.

Frequently asked

Changelog

• October 2026 — First publication: 9 providers screened, 7 ranked.
• October 2026 — Rubric weights locked before research.