To add buy now, pay later (BNPL) to WordPress, run your store on WooCommerce and connect an eligible payment integration. The practical choices documented by WooCommerce are enabling Affirm, Afterpay/Clearpay or Klarna in WooPayments; installing the WooCommerce Stripe Gateway and turning on its available BNPL methods; or adding a provider-specific extension such as Klarna for WooCommerce. If you want to define your own deposit and installment schedule, use a merchant-managed payment-plan extension instead of consumer BNPL.
What you need before adding BNPL
This guide applies to a WordPress site with WooCommerce checkout. A standard WordPress site without WooCommerce needs a different, platform-specific payment solution.
- An active WooCommerce store with products, shipping, taxes and checkout configured.
- A payment account that supports your business country, currency and product category.
- An HTTPS-enabled site and current WordPress, WooCommerce, PHP and gateway versions.
- Provider onboarding information, such as business identity, bank details and any requested verification.
BNPL availability is conditional, not universal. The customer’s country, the currency used at checkout, the cart value and the products being sold can all determine whether a method appears.
Choose the right implementation
| Implementation | What it provides | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| WooPayments | Affirm, Afterpay and/or Klarna displayed from WooCommerce payment settings where the account is eligible. | Merchants who want a WooCommerce-managed setup and supported provider coverage. |
| WooCommerce Stripe Gateway | Stripe-connected payment methods, including the BNPL methods available to the account. | Merchants already using Stripe or who need Stripe’s broader payment-method configuration. |
| Provider-specific extension | A direct gateway such as Klarna for WooCommerce or an Afterpay/Clearpay integration. | Merchants whose provider or regional requirements are better served by a dedicated extension. |
| Payment Plans Suite | Named plans with fixed or percentage installments that you define. Automatic charging is documented for Stripe card payments through WooCommerce Stripe Gateway; manual customer payments are also supported. | Merchants creating their own installment schedule rather than offering a third-party consumer-credit product. |
Do not treat Payment Plans Suite as BNPL from Affirm, Afterpay or Klarna. In third-party BNPL, the provider collects the customer’s installments; in a merchant-managed plan, your store controls the schedule and payment process.
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Option 1: Enable BNPL in WooPayments
- In WordPress admin, go to Payments > Settings.
- Find the Buy now, pay later section.
- Enable the eligible method or methods: Affirm, Afterpay and/or Klarna.
- Complete any additional information request. WooCommerce directs merchants to check Stripe’s dashboard for missing information, submit it and wait for verification.
- Save the settings, then review an eligible product and cart as a customer.
Where WooPayments lists these methods
| Method | WooPayments account countries listed in the documentation |
|---|---|
| Affirm | Canada and the United States |
| Afterpay | Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States |
| Klarna | Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France (Pay in 3 only), Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States |
This is WooPayments account coverage, not a guarantee that every direct provider integration supports the same countries. Check the current method list shown for your account before committing to a provider.
When the method appears to a customer
WooPayments documentation says the customer’s billing country must match the merchant account country, the customer must pay in the account country’s national currency, and the cart must fall within the provider’s minimum and maximum value. An eligible promotion may appear on product or cart pages. At checkout, the customer is redirected to the provider to sign in or create an account and accept an available plan.
Option 2: Install the WooCommerce Stripe Gateway
- Open WordPress Admin > Plugins > Add New.
- Search for WooCommerce Stripe Gateway.
- Install and activate the extension.
- Open WooCommerce’s payment settings and connect your Stripe account.
- Open the extension’s Payment Methods tab and enable the BNPL methods available to your Stripe account.
- Use Stripe’s dashboard for account-level settings that are not exposed in the plugin.
Stripe gateway prerequisites
- Your business must be in a Stripe-supported country. Preview countries are not supported by the extension.
- The site must be accessible over HTTPS.
- WordPress, WooCommerce and PHP must meet the extension’s current requirements.
Plugin and account requirements change. Confirm the versions and supported country in the live WooCommerce and Stripe documentation immediately before installation.
Option 3: Use a provider-specific extension
Klarna for WooCommerce
WooCommerce documents a separate Klarna for WooCommerce integration. Its listed requirements include a Klarna account, WooCommerce 5.6.0 or newer, PHP 7.0 or higher and pretty permalinks. Without pretty permalinks, callbacks may fail to update order information. The supported-country list can change, so verify coverage during setup.
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WooCommerce also documents an Afterpay gateway. The store currency must correspond to the Afterpay account region. Clearpay is the name used for Afterpay in the United Kingdom. The page contains historical minimum WordPress and WooCommerce versions; do not assume those old values are the current plugin requirements without checking the current listing or provider documentation.
How to decide between the options
Check these points before installing more than one gateway:
- Merchant and customer geography: Confirm the account country, the countries you serve and the provider’s current coverage.
- Currency: Make sure the checkout currency satisfies the integration; national-currency rules can prevent the method from appearing.
- Cart limits: Check each provider’s minimum and maximum order value against your typical baskets.
- Business model: Review restrictions affecting subscriptions, B2B transactions, cross-border sales and particular product categories.
- Checkout compatibility: Confirm that the gateway works with your checkout, shipping, tax and any checkout-customization extensions.
- Operations: Compare onboarding, fees, refund handling and settlement timing in your own merchant account. The available documentation does not establish a universal fee comparison.
- Installment ownership: Choose third-party BNPL when the provider should underwrite the customer and collect installments; choose a payment-plan extension when your store defines and manages the schedule.
Understand settlement, restrictions and refunds
With WooPayments BNPL, WooCommerce states that the merchant receives the purchase amount when the order is placed, less applicable fees, while the BNPL provider collects the customer’s installments. In its wording: “The customers are not paying you over time, they are paying the BNPL provider over time.”
WooPayments documentation says its BNPL methods cannot be used for B2B transactions, subscriptions or cross-border sales, and that each provider can impose additional prohibited or restricted product categories. Check both the general WooPayments rules and the provider-specific rules for your account.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Test the integration before launch
- Use a test or low-risk product and an eligible customer country and currency.
- Check whether the BNPL promotion appears on the product, cart and checkout pages where expected.
- Complete a provider-approved test transaction or a real low-value order according to the provider’s testing guidance.
- Confirm that the WooCommerce order status updates correctly after authorization, capture, cancellation and refund.
- Check webhooks or callbacks in the provider dashboard and review store logs for failed notifications.
- Verify that emails, inventory reduction, shipping fulfilment and accounting records match the final order state.
- Test a full refund within the provider’s allowed window and confirm how fees are handled.
Do not advertise a payment method until it is visible under the countries, currencies and cart values your customers actually use.
Common failure points
The BNPL option is missing
Recheck the merchant account country, customer billing country, checkout currency and cart range. Then confirm provider onboarding is complete and that the product or transaction type is permitted.
Order status does not update
Check HTTPS, webhook or callback configuration and gateway logs. For Klarna for WooCommerce, verify that pretty permalinks are enabled, because the documented integration warns that callbacks can fail without them.
The integration will not connect
Confirm that the business is in a supported country, that the required software versions are current and that the account has completed verification. Stripe preview countries are not supported by the WooCommerce Stripe extension.
You need a custom deposit schedule
Third-party BNPL does not give you arbitrary merchant-defined installments. Use a merchant-managed payment-plan extension, and decide whether customers will pay manually or be charged automatically through the documented Stripe card-payment route.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add BNPL to WordPress without WooCommerce?
The documented WooPayments, Stripe Gateway and provider extensions are WooCommerce checkout integrations. A non-WooCommerce WordPress site requires a different payment solution.
Does the merchant wait for the customer’s installments?
For the documented WooPayments BNPL flow, the merchant is paid when the order is placed, less applicable fees, and the BNPL provider collects the customer’s installments.
Are Payment Plans Suite and Klarna the same thing?
No. Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay are third-party BNPL providers. Payment Plans Suite creates installment schedules managed by the merchant.
The Bottom Line
For most WooCommerce stores, start by checking whether WooPayments exposes the BNPL method you need in Payments > Settings. Use the WooCommerce Stripe Gateway or a provider-specific extension when its country, currency, checkout or operational requirements fit better. Validate eligibility, restrictions, order updates and refunds in your own account before enabling the method for customers.
Quick Recap
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