Freedom251 › Digital Wallet Apps
Alipay
by Alipay
What Alipay is
Alipay is a free payment and lifestyle app for iOS and Android. It supports scan-and-pay at thousands of stores, sending and receiving money, and shopping at online stores including Taobao and Tmall. Users can top up mobile phones, pay electricity, water, and internet bills, book flights and train tickets, order food, hail taxis, use e-invoices, receive cash gifts, and make donations. Go Dutch lets friends split restaurant bills and request repayment. Alipay describes the service as connecting more than 450 million users worldwide and identifies QR scanning as a contact-free payment option. Merchants can accept in-store barcode and QR payments plus website, in-app, and mobile-web payments. Developers receive interfaces, SDKs, and demo code for payment flows. Users can manage authorized third-party services in Authorization Manager. The download page lists iOS 7.0 or later and Android 4.0.3 or later. Merchant settlement currencies include USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, AUD, SGD, CHF, SEK, DKK, NOK, NZD, THB, and HKD.
Who it suits
Alipay suits consumers seeking payments, transfers, shopping, bills, travel bookings, and daily services in one mobile app. It also serves merchants and developers needing the listed payment channels and integration resources.
What it does well
- Supports iOS and Android
- In-store barcode and QR payments
- Money transfers and bill payments
- Flight and train ticket booking
- Merchant and developer payment integrations
What to know first
- Minimum versions are iOS 7.0 and Android 4.0.3
- Merchant settlement mode depends on contract
- Merchant applications require business documentation
Verdict
Alipay combines consumer payments, transfers, shopping, bills, travel, and merchant tools in one mobile service. Buyers should check platform requirements and contract-based merchant settlement terms.
Facts from Alipay's own pages
- Bills and mobile top-ups
- The app offers mobile phone top-ups and utility bill payments for electricity, water, and internet. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Bill splitting
- Go Dutch lets users split restaurant bills and request repayment from friends. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Daily services
- Listed services include mobile top-ups, electricity, water and internet bills, flights, train tickets, food delivery, taxi hailing, e-invoices and donations. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Developer integrations
- Alipay Open Platform says developers can integrate payment, marketing, and data capabilities into websites and mobile apps using interfaces and SDKs. · open.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Developer support
- The developer help center provides answers about transactions, account passwords, the merchant portal and installing security controls on Linux. · global.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- Yes · render.alipay.com, 20 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China · render.alipay.com, 28 Sept 2026
- In-store payments
- The app supports scan-and-pay at thousands of stores. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Integration resources
- The developer help center provides demo code for website, WAP, in-app, refund, registration and in-store payment integrations, including Java, PHP and .NET examples for several flows. · global.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Merchant onboarding
- The listed online-payment application conditions include a valid business license, an implementation URL, company information and legal representative and shareholder ID certificates. · global.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Merchant payments
- Alipay offers merchants in-store barcode and QR payments, plus website, in-app and mobile-web payments. · global.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Mobile availability
- The download page links to iOS and Android downloads and lists minimum requirements of iOS 7.0 or later and Android 4.0.3 or later. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Money transfers
- Users can send and receive money through the app. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Other services
- The page also lists food takeout, Didi rides, cash gifts, e-invoices, and donations. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Platform availability
- The download page specifies iOS 7.0 or later and Android 4.0.3 or later. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Pricing availability
- The opened consumer download and merchant product pages do not state a general Alipay plan price; the merchant page says settlement mode is based on the contract. · global.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Privacy controls
- Alipay says users can review and manage authorized third-party services in the app’s Authorization Manager. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Product
- Alipay describes itself as a payment and lifestyle super app connecting more than 450 million users worldwide. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Security
- Alipay says its quick-payment service uses encryption and real-time risk monitoring, with suspicious transactions subject to interception and investigation. · payservice.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Settlement currencies
- The online-payment page lists settlement in USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, AUD, SGD, CHF, SEK, DKK, NOK, NZD, THB and HKD, with the settlement mode determined by contract. · global.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Shopping
- Alipay highlights shopping at online stores including Taobao and Tmall. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Social payments
- The app includes a feature for splitting restaurant bills with friends. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Transfers
- Users can send and receive money through the app. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Travel
- Its Air & Rail feature lets users book flight and train tickets. · render.alipay.com, 4 Oct 2026
Where Alipay stands on Freedom251
- Digital Wallet Apps#19 of 44
- Money Transfer Apps#64 of 81