A payment link (also called a signup link) is a unique link that businesses can share with their customers to get paid quickly and reduce friction in the payment process. Whether provided as a QR code or a normal URL, whenever a customer clicks on a payment link, they are directed to a secure payment page or checkout page where they can enter their payment details, including all their credit card details, contact information, and actually submit the payment in real time to complete the transaction. At the end of the process, a customer should have completed a successful payment and now be given access to the product.

Most often the payment link can be customized to include specific payment amounts, descriptions, and customer details. They're always connected to a payment gateway or payment provider such as Stripe, designed to handle secure payment processing, ensuring that customer payment information is protected. This allows startups to collect their money without having to handle sensitive financial data themselves.

As we mentioned, early-stage startups primarily benefit from using payment links because they can charge their customers more easily as they can use them as a means to get a firm commitment from customers. But there are other advantages. A lot of early-stage startups don't have a repeatable sales process and their offering looks different from customer to customer. So when it comes to getting paid, they chose to send out invoices manually, as PDFs via email or through some invoicing tool. This works... sort of. But it also creates a lot of manual overhead, can be rife with errors, and once more and more sales are closed, it gets very easy to lose track of whether a customer has already been billed and to charge the correct monthly fee every month.

Collecting payments without having to set up billing
Obviously, every SaaS startup probably knows they should automate their manually-intensive billing process at some point if they haven't already done so. But if you're a very early-stage company issuing your first few invoices, setting up billing automation using tools like Stripe Billing is not very top of mind for most founders. This is where using custom payment links can be a great alternative: relatively little setup is needed to get going, and you can send different payment links with different amounts and configurations with each customer.

A side note on payments
Payment links processed through a payment gateway typically support multiple payment methods, just as you'd expect with standard online transactions. These often include:
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- ACH transfers
- Digital wallets (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay)

For early-stage startups, credit cards are usually the preferred method. They offer the quickest way to collect money and provide the lowest friction for customers. This speed and ease are crucial when you're just starting out and need to maintain healthy cash flow.
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Some payment link providers may also provide multiple payment methods for one payment, although we typically see this with B2C and e-commerce transactions (think: Square checkouts) where a consumer may use a gift card first and then put the rest of the amount on their credit or debit card.

Closing customers right after a sales call
Early-stage startups oftentimes face the challenge of converting customers after a successful sales calls. Potential customers may express interest during a call and even give their verbal firm confirmation that they will buy but delay taking action after the call. These customers may forget, lose interest, or find alternative solutions in the time after a call. Sending them a payment link right away allows them to act on their interest immediately, reducing the likelihood of procrastination or forgetfulness.

Easily customized
In the early days, startups often don't know exactly how much to charge. Onboarding customers one by one and offering different price points can help gauge what works best. Since customers may come from different industries and value the product differently—especially before the ideal customer profile (ICP) is clear—being flexible is crucial.
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Payment links allow startups to adjust offers for each customer and iterate to their heart's content and be sure that everyone is getting exactly what they're supposed to, be it a custom discount or some extra fees. This flexibility in payment options can be a significant advantage for startups looking to fine-tune their pricing strategy.

Simplified Follow-Up Payments
For startups, recurring revenue is gold. It's not just about easier billing - it's about proving you're building something people want and will pay for month after month. When just starting out, startups should favor recurring like a monthly fee over one-off projects. This predictable revenue stream is a strong signal to investors and helps plan for growth. Plus, it shows the startup is solving a real, ongoing problem for customers. Payment links make it easy to set up recurring charges, automating the process and avoiding the headaches of manual invoicing, chasing payments, and dealing with inconsistent cash flow.

Clear Communication
Payment links simplify the entire transaction process for startups and customers alike. For startups, creating and sending these links is quick and effortless - they can be shared via email, messaging apps, or even social media platforms. On the customer side, agreeing to the terms and completing the payment is just a click away. This streamlined approach ensures that the price and terms are crystal clear, reducing confusion and potential disputes. The simplicity of the process can significantly speed up sales cycles and improve conversion rates, especially for startups looking to close deals quickly and efficiently.

Signing Up with a Payment Processor
The first step to enabling a payment link system is signing up with a payment processor, such as Stripe, PayPal, or Square. This process can be time-consuming and may require providing detailed business information, verifying bank accounts, and complying with various regulatory requirements. For startups just getting off the ground, it might feel like a lot. But here's the thing: it's way better than dealing with manual invoices down the line. Try to set aside some time early on to get this done.

Setting Up Complex Billing Products
While most payment processors make it easy to set up a simple fixed price per month, things can get tricky when you need more complex pricing models. As your SaaS grows, you might want to offer tiered pricing, usage-based billing, or custom plans. Setting these up in most platforms can be surprisingly complex and time-consuming. It's not necessarily something you'll need super early on, but is become more and more common, especially with AI companies that usually have usage-based components. It's worth keeping in mind that as your pricing evolves, so will the complexity of your billing setup. This can become a significant task, often requiring dedicated time and resources to get right.

Acceptance with large Enterprise Customers
Many enterprise customers have rigid purchasing, approval, and invoicing processes that don't mesh well with payment links. For these clients, you might need to maintain a parallel system of manual invoicing. This dual approach can add complexity to your billing process, but it's often necessary to cater to larger accounts while still benefiting from the ease of sending a payment link for your other customers.

Manual Provisioning
A major drawback of using a payment link to onboard a customer is the need for manual account provisioning. After payment is received, the team must manually create accounts, configure plans, and update flags whenever a customer upgrades, downgrades, or becomes delinquent. As the customer base grows, this manual work can become a bottleneck, leading to delays and potential errors in providing access.

Scaling Issues
While payment links offer flexibility early on, they can become difficult to manage as your customer base grows. If every customer is on a custom deal with a unique amount, it becomes harder to track what each is paying for, manage renewals, and monitor outstanding payments.
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Customization also complicates the sales process, as founders and sales reps need to come up with a price for each deal. This can lead to inconsistencies, longer sales cycles, and potential pricing errors.
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As you scale, it's crucial to eventually standardize around a few core plans with configurable options. This is usually the point where a company will share payment links less in favor of a more integrated billing solution — one that connects directly to your product, handles provisioning, and manages plan upgrades or downgrades automatically.

Payment links are incredibly useful for early-stage startups. They allow you to experiment with pricing and get paid quickly without needing complex systems. There's no need to rush away from them—they serve their purpose well in the early days.

But as the business grows, their limitations become clear. Manual provisioning takes up too much time, and custom pricing for each deal can slow down sales.

A good rule of thumb is to start this graduation process around the 50th customer at the latest, though this can vary depending on deal size and complexity. At this stage, managing custom deals and payments manually becomes inefficient. Another reason to consider moving on is when your deals become too complex or when you're introducing a self-serve offering, where customers can sign up on their own through a public-facing pricing page.

Graduating to an integrated billing solution and introducing consistent pricing and plans not only simplifies operations but also enables self-serve sign-ups (if needed) and helps scale the sales process more effectively. This shift makes it easier to manage customers and focus on growth without getting bogged down by manual work and accounting woes.

Most payment gateways nowadays offer some way to create and share payment links, providing basic functionality in exchange often charging a transaction fee. Which type of payment link you end up implement can depend on several factors. For starters, the costs vary; some payment links come with a transaction fee on top of the processing fees you'd normally pay for processing payments and credit cards, while Stripe, which is undoubtedly the popular choice for many startups at the moment offers a solid foundation with payment links included in its base offering, though add-ons like post-payment receipts or invoices may incur extra charges.

However, for SaaS companies looking to future-proof their billing, alternatives like Wingback, built specifically for SaaS, solve many common pain points while still leveraging payment gateways like Stripe for secure payments:
- Create complex, hybrid pricing plans (including usage-based and seat-based billing) and share custom payment links to them with just a few clicks, unlike providers that limit you to simple, fixed recurring charges.
- Integrated sign-up flow with no-code or low-code options for account creation and provisioning when a customer signs up.
- Perform complex plan changes and upgrades with one click.
- Provision custom plans for special deals and enterprise customers in minutes.
- Start with no-code solutions and sign-up links, and seamlessly graduate to the full billing platform, all while keeping your current customers and plans.

Ultimately, your choice depends on your specific needs and growth trajectory. Consider not just your current requirements, but where you want your business to be in the future.

Payment links can be a powerful tool for early-stage startups looking to streamline their payment processes and increase conversion rates. This can be a game-changer for startups trying to sign up their first customers. If done right, implementing payment links can lead to improved cash flow, reduced overhead, and a better overall customer experience, making them a great option for any early-stage startup’s monetization strategy.