Qatar payment gateways for WooCommerce and Shopify

A store registered in Qatar cannot simply switch on Shopify Payments or Stripe. Neither lists Qatar as a country where a business can sign up, so the checkout has to run through a provider licensed to serve Qatar merchants, or through a bank. This guide compares those options on the points that shape a build: the platforms each one connects to, how well its WooCommerce plugin is kept up, whether it takes Qatar debit cards, and what it documents for saved cards and recurring billing.

Provider details change often. Everything here was checked on the date below; confirm fees, eligibility and contract terms with each provider before you sign. Last checked against the sources on September 28, 2026.

Shopify Payments and Stripe do not cover Qatar

Many store owners start by looking for the processors they know from other markets. On September 28, 2026, Shopify's list of countries supported by Shopify Payments did not include Qatar, and neither did Stripe's global availability page. WooPayments, the payment service WooCommerce runs with Stripe as its partner, left Qatar off its country list too.

What counts is the country where the business is registered, not where its owner lives. WooCommerce states this plainly for WooPayments; if your group has companies in more than one country, read the equivalent terms for Shopify and Stripe before assuming a sister company can sign up. A company registered in Qatar needs a provider that is allowed to take on Qatar merchants.

Shopify still works for a Qatar business; it connects a third-party provider instead. Shopify then charges its own third-party transaction fee on those orders, on top of whatever the provider charges, and the rate depends on the Shopify plan. Put that fee into the plan decision before comparing gateway rates.

Who can take card payments for a Qatar store

A Qatar online store can contract with three kinds of provider. Payment service providers such as SkipCash, MyFatoorah, Sadad, Dibsy and Tap sign up merchants directly and supply plugins, hosted checkouts and APIs. Banks such as QNB, CBQ and Doha Bank run e-commerce gateways for merchants that bank with them. Local debit and prepaid cards add a third layer: QPAY, a central gateway on the Qatar Central Bank's (QCB) list of retail payment systems, which handles online payments with debit and prepaid cards issued by banks in Qatar.

QCB's retail payment systems page is the primary source for who connects to QPAY. When we checked, it listed eight banks plus Sadad, Dibsy and TESS as QPAY members, and it listed Sadad among the members of NAPS, the national card network. A store reaches QPAY through one of those members, or through a provider whose own documentation offers QPAY debit payments.

For the non-bank providers, the fullest list we found is a press report. Gulf Times, citing QCB's 2025 annual report, named nine licensed merchant acquirers, among them SkipCash, MyFatoorah, Dibsy, Sadad and Tap. We could not open the report itself on QCB's site, so ask each provider for its QCB licensing reference before you sign.

One name needs care. Sadad in Qatar and Sadad in Kuwait are separate businesses with similar plugins. On WordPress.org, Sadad QA Payment (woo-sadad-payment-gateway) is the Qatar plugin. Sadad Payment for WooCommerce (sadad-payment) describes Kuwait and KNET, and its latest release sends invoices to Sadad in Kuwaiti dinars. Searching the plugin directory for Sadad returns both.

The table shows what each provider publishes, which is not always what gets switched on for a given account. Sadad's own checkout documentation says the methods available depend on merchant category and bank approval, and MyFatoorah and Tap switch on features such as saved cards only on request. The merchant agreement is where coverage is settled.

WooCommerce plugin health on September 28, 2026

On WooCommerce, the gateway plugin runs inside your checkout, so how well it is maintained matters as much as the company behind it. We pulled each official plugin from the WordPress.org plugin API, and Tap's from the GitHub API, on September 28, 2026. Active installs are the rounded bands WordPress.org publishes, not exact counts.

SkipCash's version 2.5 is mostly security work. Its changelog says the release removed a return-handler branch that could mark orders as paid without authentication, sends every payment through SkipCash's hosted page, and checks the amount and currency against the SkipCash API before an order is completed. A store on an older version should update and retest its checkout.

Dibsy's WordPress.org listing has not been updated since September 2024 and was last tested with WordPress 6.2, and the documentation address it gives, docs.dibsy.one, did not resolve when we checked. Dibsy's own GitHub account holds a newer build, version 3.1.0.1, with commits from May 2026 and a readme tested up to WordPress 6.9, but that version had not reached WordPress.org. None of this says anything about the gateway itself; ask Dibsy which version it supports before building on either.

Tap no longer distributes its WooCommerce plugin through WordPress.org. The old tap-payments listing was closed on July 24, 2023 for a guideline violation, and Tap's WooCommerce guide now points to the Tap-WooCommerce-V2 repository, installed by uploading a zip file. Because it sits outside the plugin directory, plan who checks the repository for new versions. An older Tap repository, last pushed to in March 2024, is still public; use the one the guide links to.

None of these plugins declares support for WooCommerce Subscriptions. The MyFatoorah, Dibsy and Tap plugins list products and refunds in their code with no subscriptions entry, and the SkipCash and Sadad listings do not mention subscriptions at all.

Shopify apps, recurring billing and saved cards

For Shopify, SkipCash, MyFatoorah, Sadad and Dibsy all have listings on the Shopify App Store. MyFatoorah's Shopify guide also tells merchants to upgrade their Shopify plan before the app can process payments, so ask each provider which plan its app needs. Tap's Shopify guide carries the title Shopify (Legacy), so confirm with Tap whether a new store should use it. We found no Shopify integration on the QNB, CBQ and Doha Bank gateway pages.

Recurring billing and saved cards are documented unevenly. The table below records what each provider publishes for its own API or product, not what any plugin exposes.

Two details in the documentation are easy to miss. MyFatoorah says its built-in recurring feature works only with its V2 payment APIs, and its saved-card feature for embedded payments has to be activated by an account manager. Tap asks merchants to have its save-card feature enabled before recurring charges can run. Both switches sit on the provider's side, so request them during onboarding rather than in launch week.

A documented API does not mean the WooCommerce plugin uses it. A store selling renewing memberships through any of these providers should budget for custom work that stores the card token, schedules each charge and handles failed renewals. The simpler alternative is to sell fixed-length packages as one-off orders.

Which gateway fits which setup

Start from the store you are building, then shortlist the providers whose documented support matches it. This is a starting point for the sales conversation, not a ranking. What a provider will enable for your business is settled only in the merchant agreement.

If two providers look equal on paper, the tiebreakers are usually practical: which one answers technical questions in writing, which one gives a working sandbox on the first day, and which plugin has been updated in the last six months.

What to ask a provider before you sign

Get these answers in writing, dated, before you sign. The rates below are what providers published on September 28, 2026, and they are the kind of figure that changes without notice.

• Settlement currency and account: whether payouts arrive in QAR to a Qatar bank account, what happens to payments taken in other currencies, and who sets the conversion rate.
• Settlement time: published answers vary. Doha Bank says approved online payments reach the merchant's account within two working days. Dibsy's pricing page says it settles twice a week, while its WordPress plugin page says payouts are weekly, so ask which schedule your contract uses.
• Fees, from the provider's own page: Sadad's pricing page listed monthly fees of QAR 99 for its Payment Gateway API, QAR 149 for its Web Checkout API and QAR 199 for its Direct Payment API. On top of that it charged 2.5% on successful local debit, local credit and wallet payments and 3% on American Express and other international cards, with a minimum charge of QAR 2.5 and QAR 2 per refund. Dibsy's pricing page showed 2.5% plus QAR 1 per transaction. Where no rates are published, get the quote in writing, and on Shopify add the third-party transaction fee.
• Refunds: whether partial refunds work, whether they can be issued from the store admin, and how long they take. SkipCash's API guide says refunds are usually processed within a day. MyFatoorah's says an API refund becomes a request for its finance team unless Auto Refund is enabled on the account.
• 3-D Secure: which version runs, and how the challenge screen looks on a phone and in Arabic. QNB lists 3-D Secure on its gateway page and Dibsy states 3DS2. QNB describes QPAY debit payments as needing an SMS one-time password plus the card PIN.
• Apple Pay and Google Pay: which wallets are enabled for your account, and who handles Apple's domain verification. Apple expects the verification file at one fixed address on your domain, so running two providers that both offer Apple Pay needs a plan.
• Onboarding documents: QNB, for example, asks for a QNB account, a copy of the commercial registration, the authorized signatory's ID, the municipality commercial certificate and copies of the establishment IDs. Sadad takes registration and verification documents through its business app.
• Contract terms: minimum term, any reserve or deposit, how chargebacks are handled, and what happens to saved card tokens if you later move to another provider.

How the choice changes the build

The first build decision is where the customer types their card details. A hosted checkout, such as Sadad's Web Checkout 2.1 or the SkipCash page its current plugin uses for every payment, keeps card data off your site and reduces your compliance work. The trade-off is that the customer leaves your store and has to be brought back cleanly. Embedded options keep the customer on your page but usually need the provider's approval first; MyFatoorah's plugin, for example, separates a redirect card method from an embedded one that its account managers confirm by country.

Order status should never depend on the customer's browser making it back to the store. The plugins we checked rely on server-to-server notifications: Sadad's plugin added webhooks in version 1.22, MyFatoorah documents a webhook that recovers orders lost to a dropped connection, and SkipCash now cross-checks each webhook against its API. These have to be configured on both sides and tested, not assumed.

Currency decides which methods can appear. Tap's documentation says NAPS/QPay payments run in QAR only, so a store that shows prices in AED or SAR must either charge local debit cards in QAR or hide that option for other currencies. Settle this together with the multi-currency setup, not after it.

Arabic needs its own checks. SkipCash's Shopify guide asks that customers enter their address in English, which a bilingual store should explain at the address step. Sadad's direct payment form accepts a language setting for Arabic labels and error messages. For any provider, review the hosted page, the one-time password screen and the payment confirmations in both languages.

Before launch, run the same set of payments on the provider's sandbox, then again with small live amounts:

• A credit card that triggers a 3-D Secure challenge, on a phone.
• A Qatar debit card through QPAY, including the one-time password and PIN steps.
• Apple Pay in Safari and, where enabled, Google Pay in Chrome.
• A declined card, and a payment abandoned on the provider's page.
• A full refund and a partial refund, issued the way your team will issue them.

Each case should leave the right order status in WooCommerce or Shopify, the right amount in the provider's dashboard, and the right email in the customer's inbox. Anything that fails goes back to the provider with the transaction reference before the store opens.

How Xsofty builds and connects Qatar stores

Xsofty designs and builds online stores on WooCommerce and Shopify, and custom storefronts when a platform does not fit, delivered remotely from Islamabad. We integrate the payment provider you contract with; the merchant agreement stays between your business and the provider. We can join onboarding calls to ask the technical questions above, then configure webhooks, refunds and wallets and run the test payments before launch. Our working hours, 10:00 to 19:00 Islamabad time, cover 08:00 to 17:00 in Doha, Monday to Friday.

Our Qatar work includes The Closet, a fashion storefront, BEAT, a fitness brand's website where visitors buy membership packages online, and GWC Directory, a custom directory platform for a logistics ecosystem. For Badria Kafood Architecture, a Doha practice, we built both the English site and the right-to-left Arabic site.

The Commerce package starts from USD 4,900 and includes checkout and payment integration; provider fees, platform subscriptions and paid apps are third-party costs. An Arabic version is an additional language at USD 450, with translation supplied separately and right-to-left scope confirmed during review. Renewing memberships and multi-gateway checkouts are usually scoped as a custom platform and priced by proposal. Every total is an estimate until the scope has been reviewed.

Sources

1. Shopify Help Center: supported countries for Shopify Payments (opens in a new tab)
2. Shopify Help Center: third-party transaction fees (opens in a new tab)
3. Stripe: global availability (opens in a new tab)
4. WooCommerce: WooPayments supported countries (opens in a new tab)
5. Qatar Central Bank: retail payment systems (QPAY and NAPS members) (opens in a new tab)
6. Gulf Times (press report): QCB widens fintech supervision, citing QCB's 2025 annual report (opens in a new tab)
7. WordPress.org: SkipCash Payment Gateway plugin (opens in a new tab)
8. WordPress.org: MyFatoorah WooCommerce plugin (opens in a new tab)
9. WordPress.org: Sadad QA Payment plugin (Qatar) (opens in a new tab)
10. WordPress.org: Sadad Payment for WooCommerce plugin (Kuwait) (opens in a new tab)
11. WordPress.org: Dibsy Checkout for WooCommerce plugin (opens in a new tab)
12. GitHub: Dibsy WooCommerce repository (opens in a new tab)
13. WordPress.org: Tap Payment Gateway listing (closed) (opens in a new tab)
14. GitHub: Tap-WooCommerce-V2 repository (opens in a new tab)
15. Tap developer docs: WooCommerce (opens in a new tab)
16. Tap developer docs: Shopify (Legacy) (opens in a new tab)
17. Tap developer docs: NAPS/QPay (opens in a new tab)
18. Tap developer docs: Google Pay (opens in a new tab)
19. Tap developer docs: recurring payments (opens in a new tab)
20. Tap developer docs: saved cards (opens in a new tab)
21. SkipCash developer docs (opens in a new tab)
22. SkipCash developer docs: QPAY debit card (opens in a new tab)
23. SkipCash developer docs: Shopify (opens in a new tab)
24. SkipCash developer docs: recurring payments (opens in a new tab)
25. SkipCash developer docs: tokenization (opens in a new tab)
26. SkipCash developer docs: refunds (opens in a new tab)
27. Shopify App Store: SkipCash (opens in a new tab)
28. Shopify App Store: MyFatoorah (opens in a new tab)
29. Shopify App Store: SADAD QA (opens in a new tab)
30. Shopify App Store: Dibsy Checkout (opens in a new tab)
31. MyFatoorah docs: Shopify (opens in a new tab)
32. MyFatoorah docs: recurring payment (opens in a new tab)
33. MyFatoorah docs: tokenized embedded payments (opens in a new tab)
34. MyFatoorah docs: refunds (opens in a new tab)
35. MyFatoorah docs: WooCommerce embedded Apple Pay (opens in a new tab)
36. Sadad: Shopify payment gateway (opens in a new tab)
37. Sadad: pricing (opens in a new tab)
38. Sadad developer portal (opens in a new tab)
39. Sadad developer portal: Web Checkout 2.1 (opens in a new tab)
40. Sadad developer portal: direct payment integration (opens in a new tab)
41. Dibsy: pricing (opens in a new tab)
42. Dibsy: recurring payments (opens in a new tab)
43. Dibsy: online payments (3DS2) (opens in a new tab)
44. QNB: e-commerce payment gateway (opens in a new tab)
45. QNB: QPAY e-commerce payment gateway (opens in a new tab)
46. Commercial Bank (CBQ): merchant solutions (opens in a new tab)
47. Doha Bank: payment gateway (opens in a new tab)
48. Apple Developer: preparing merchant domains for verification (opens in a new tab)