Adyen vs Stripe for headless checkout
Stripe wins on developer experience and SaaS-shaped businesses. Adyen wins on global enterprise commerce, alternative payment methods, and unified retail.
I've shipped checkout on both, in headless commerce contexts. They're both excellent and they're not the same product, no matter how the marketing reads.
Stripe is unmatched if your business is SaaS-shaped, US-centric, or developer-led. The API is genuinely better designed than anything else in the space. Stripe Elements + Payment Intents handle 90% of cases with code you'll be happy to maintain.
Adyen wins for enterprise commerce, especially across Europe and APAC. Native support for ~150 alternative payment methods, unified online/in-store reporting, sub-merchant capabilities, and an account team that actually picks up the phone when a launch is going sideways. The DX is rougher; the breadth is unmatched.