Kenyan businesses pick between two paths to accept M-PESA: build directly on Safaricom Daraja, or route through a payment aggregator (Kopo Kopo, iPay, Pesapal, Cellulant, Flutterwave). Direct is cheaper per transaction and more flexible; aggregators save developer weeks and add card acceptance, hosted checkout and reconciliation dashboards. The right pick depends on your monthly volume, whether you need cards, and whether you sell in more than one country.
The six options at a glance
| Provider | Type | Setup complexity | Typical M-PESA fee | Cards? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daraja direct | Safaricom API | High (dev team, Go-Live process) | Standard Safaricom merchant tariff (0.55 percent till, tiered paybill) | No (integrate a card gateway separately) | High-volume merchants, PSPs, regulated fintechs |
| Kopo Kopo | Aggregator (M-PESA only) | Low (portal signup, minimal code) | 1.5 percent + Safaricom tariff pass-through | No | SMEs with a till, dashboards + same-day settlement |
| iPay | Aggregator (multi-rail) | Medium (REST integration) | ~2.5 to 3.5 percent (M-PESA), lower on volume | Yes | Kenyan e-commerce needing M-PESA + card in one API |
| Pesapal | Aggregator (multi-rail + POS) | Low (hosted checkout) to medium (API) | ~3 to 3.5 percent (M-PESA), 3.5 percent (cards) | Yes | Small merchants, hospitality, ticketing, offline POS + online |
| Cellulant (Tingg) | Enterprise aggregator (pan-African) | High (contracted onboarding) | Negotiated, typically sub-2 percent at enterprise scale | Yes | Banks, insurers, utilities, multi-country enterprises |
| Flutterwave | Aggregator (pan-African) | Low (docs + hosted checkout) | ~2.9 to 3.5 percent (M-PESA), 3.8 percent (cards) | Yes | Cross-border e-commerce, USD settlement, SaaS billing to Africa |
Daraja direct
Building directly on Safaricom's Daraja API means you own the OAuth token cache, the STK Push retries, the C2B callback listener, the B2C initiator credentials, the reconciliation logic and the Go-Live compliance file with Safaricom. You pay only the underlying Safaricom merchant tariff; there is no middleman markup. See our Daraja API complete guide for the full walkthrough.
Strengths. Cheapest per transaction. Full control over UX, error handling and settlement timing. No third-party dependency.
Weaknesses. Steep learning curve. Weeks of engineering. Ongoing maintenance as Safaricom rolls out changes (Fuliza credit integration, sTIMS, eTIMS reporting). No card acceptance unless you also integrate a card gateway separately.
Best for: merchants above KES 5M per month, PSPs, fintechs.
Kopo Kopo
Kopo Kopo (owned by Little / Craft Silicon) targets Kenyan SMEs that already have a Buy Goods till and want to accept online payments without building against Daraja themselves. Their STK Push front end wraps Daraja with a merchant dashboard, same-day settlement, and a lending product (Grow) that lends against till receipts.
Strengths. Simple sign-up (existing till + KYC). Solid dashboard for non-technical merchants. Same-day settlement into most banks. Popular with FMCG and retail SMEs, well-known brand.
Weaknesses. No card acceptance. M-PESA only. Fees higher than Daraja direct for a merchant with the technical staff to build direct.
Best for: Kenyan SMEs under KES 2M per month, M-PESA only.
iPay
iPay is a Kenyan aggregator that packages M-PESA, Airtel Money, cards and bank rails behind one REST API. Popular with e-commerce merchants who want cards and M-PESA in one integration but do not want to pay Pesapal or Flutterwave's premium for cross-border features.
Strengths. Developer-friendly REST API. Competitive M-PESA fees. Kenyan support timezone. Local bank settlement.
Weaknesses. Weaker hosted checkout than Pesapal. Smaller merchant network. Limited POS hardware.
Best for: Kenyan e-commerce merchants who need M-PESA + card in one API.
Pesapal
Pesapal covers the widest surface area of any Kenyan-focused aggregator: hosted checkout, direct API, POS terminal (Sabi), scheduling and bookings platform, and multi-country presence across East Africa. Popular in hospitality, ticketing, tour operators, restaurants.
Strengths. Best hosted checkout in the market (drop-in Iframe, low integration lift). POS hardware for offline sales. Booking and scheduling tools beyond payments.
Weaknesses. Fees are on the higher side of the Kenyan range. API-first developer experience is not as polished as Flutterwave.
Best for: hospitality, ticketing, hybrid offline + online small businesses.
Cellulant (Tingg)
Cellulant runs the Tingg platform used by banks, insurers, utilities, airlines and large-scale collections businesses in 35+ African markets. Not aimed at SMEs; the onboarding is contract-driven, KYC is enterprise-grade and the pricing is negotiated.
Strengths. Deep multi-country coverage. Bank-grade reconciliation. Sub-2 percent fees at enterprise scale. Handles complex split settlements.
Weaknesses. Long onboarding. Not self-serve. Expensive at low volumes.
Best for: banks, insurers, airlines, multi-country enterprises.
Flutterwave
Flutterwave is the pan-African aggregator most familiar to SaaS and e-commerce merchants who sell across the continent. One integration covers M-PESA, Airtel Money, Nigerian instant payments, South African cards, USD settlement, USSD in multiple markets, and stablecoin rails via Send.
Strengths. Best-in-class developer experience among African aggregators. Cross-border coverage. USD settlement without opening local accounts. Modern hosted checkout.
Weaknesses. Fees higher than Kenyan-only aggregators on M-PESA-only mixes. Enterprise support quality depends on account tier. Occasional settlement lag on smaller banks.
Best for: cross-border e-commerce, SaaS billing to Africa, USD settlement.
The decision by monthly volume
| Monthly M-PESA volume | Recommended path |
|---|---|
| Under KES 500k | Kopo Kopo (if M-PESA only) or Pesapal hosted checkout (if you need cards) |
| KES 500k to 5M | Pesapal or iPay (M-PESA + card in one API) |
| KES 5M to 50M | Daraja direct (build in-house) or negotiated Flutterwave / iPay contract |
| Over KES 50M | Daraja direct with a middleware layer; Cellulant if you span multiple African markets |
Related reading
- M-PESA for Business hub
- Daraja API complete guide
- STK Push integration
- C2B integration
- B2C integration
- M-PESA POS integration
- Payment gateway vs till: decision guide
- M-PESA charges 2026
- Kenya mobile money statistics 2026
Provider pages
Each of these covers one provider in its own right: what it charges where it publishes that, how a shopper actually pays, and who to chase when a payment goes wrong.
- Pesapal — paybill 220220, POS, API and Reserveport
- SasaPay — wallet, *626# and merchant tools
- Tingg — Cellulant’s checkout, payment links and payouts
- Cellulant — the pan-African rail behind Tingg
- DPO Pay — what the M-PESA prompt means at checkout. Note that DPO publishes no pricing at all, so treat any quoted DPO percentage with suspicion
- JamboPay — county revenue collection and citizen billing, rather than a gateway you would put behind a shop
FAQ
What is an M-PESA payment gateway?
An aggregator that sits between your website or app and Safaricom Daraja. It packages STK Push, C2B, B2C, card processing and often bank rails into a single API and a single settlement stream. You pay a per-transaction premium above Safaricom fees in exchange for skipping the Daraja Go-Live process and getting extras like reconciliation dashboards, subscription billing and card acceptance.
When should I skip the aggregator and go direct to Daraja?
When your volume justifies the ops overhead (typically above KES 5M per month), when you need multi-paybill routing, or when you have specific compliance needs (e.g. a regulated fintech that must own the settlement rail). Below that volume, an aggregator is usually cheaper once you count developer time.
What is Kopo Kopo?
A Kenyan payment aggregator owned by Little (Craft Silicon group). It provides an STK Push front end with same-day settlement to your bank and a small-business dashboard. Popular with SMEs that already have a till and want a simpler alternative to running their own Daraja integration. Kopo Kopo does not accept cards.
Is Pesapal a payment gateway or a POS?
Both. Pesapal ships a hosted payment page (Iframe or Hosted) that aggregates M-PESA + card + Airtel Money + bank, plus an in-store POS terminal (Sabi) and a scheduling / bookings product. If you need cards + M-PESA in one integration, Pesapal is the most common pick for small merchants.
How does Flutterwave compare to Kenyan-only aggregators?
Flutterwave is pan-African. It aggregates M-PESA, Airtel Money, Nigerian bank rails, South African cards, USD settlement and stablecoin rails in one API. Best for businesses that sell across Africa. Fees are higher than Kenyan-only aggregators for pure M-PESA transactions; the value shows up when you leave Kenya.
What does Cellulant do?
Cellulant (Tingg) is an enterprise payments platform used by banks, insurers, airlines and large utilities across 35+ African countries. Not aimed at the SME segment. If you are an enterprise moving 8-figure monthly volumes across multiple markets, Cellulant makes sense; if you are a Kenyan e-commerce store, it does not.
What is iPay?
A Kenyan-focused aggregator that packages M-PESA + Airtel Money + card and bank rails behind one API. Similar niche to Pesapal but with a more developer-friendly REST API and slightly lower fees on M-PESA-heavy transaction mixes. Weaker on hosted checkout and POS hardware.
Verified 1 September 2026. Fees are indicative and negotiable; every provider quotes against your volume. Safaricom merchant tariff from the M-PESA Business Portal, Kopo Kopo, iPay, Pesapal, Cellulant and Flutterwave feature sets from their September 2026 public documentation.
Related reading
Curated external sources we cite. Open in a new tab.