Afterpay and Klarna are two of the most popular Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platforms used by online retailers — but which one is better for your business?
I’ve spent hours researching and comparing their pricing, features, user experience, and impact on ecommerce performance so that you can make the right call for your store.
Quick Verdict:
Klarna – Best for larger stores offering high-ticket products or international shipping
Afterpay – Best for fashion, beauty, and small-to-mid-size stores focused on Gen Z and Millennials
In this review, I’ll walk you through how Klarna and Afterpay stack up across key areas including checkout experience, payment flexibility, merchant fees, user demographics, and conversion performance.
Quick Comparison: Afterpay vs Klarna
Here’s a quick side-by-side snapshot of the two platforms:
| Category | Afterpay | Klarna |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Fast-growing fashion & beauty stores | Larger stores, broader audiences |
| Payment Options | Pay in 4 | Pay in 4, Pay in 3, 30-day invoice, financing |
| Checkout Style | On-site, fast, minimal branding | Flexible, some off-site flows |
| User Demographics | Gen Z and Millennials | Wide age range (Gen Z to Gen X) |
| Merchant Fees | 4%–6% per sale | ~3.29% + $0.30, varies by feature |
| Global Reach | Strong in US, AUS, NZ | Strong in Europe, global coverage |
| Risk/Chargeback Handling | Covered by Afterpay | Covered by Klarna |
| Setup Complexity | Easier | Moderate to advanced |
Best for Payment Flexibility: Klarna
If you're looking for a BNPL option that gives your customers more ways to pay, Klarna takes the lead.
Klarna Offers More Payment Models
Unlike Afterpay’s fixed 4-installment plan, Klarna supports:
- Pay in 4: 4 equal payments every 2 weeks
- Pay in 3 (in certain regions like the UK)
- Pay Later in 30 Days
- Financing Options (6–36 months, interest may apply)
This gives customers more control and is ideal for higher-priced items like electronics or furniture.
Afterpay Sticks to Simplicity
Afterpay’s one-size-fits-all approach is easy to understand: 25% upfront, then 3 bi-weekly payments.
It’s:
- Easy to communicate on product pages
- Low-friction for shoppers new to BNPL
- Ideal for fashion, beauty, and low-ticket DTC products
The Winner: Klarna
Klarna is more versatile and better suited for businesses selling higher-priced items or operating in multiple countries.
Best for Checkout Experience: Afterpay
Checkout flow is a critical part of the customer journey — and Afterpay wins on simplicity.
Afterpay: Quick and Embedded
Afterpay keeps customers on your website. The process feels familiar, clean, and fast — which can boost trust and conversion rates.
- Minimal branding and distractions
- Fully embedded in your checkout
- No redirects or new windows
Klarna: Feature-Rich but Heavier
Klarna sometimes redirects users to its own environment to complete a purchase, depending on integration setup.
- More branding and upsells during checkout
- Adds marketing emails post-purchase
- May distract customers before completing the order
The Winner: Afterpay
If you want to maintain full control over your checkout branding and minimize friction, Afterpay is the better choice.
Best for Pricing and Merchant Fees: Klarna
Let’s talk about how much each platform costs you per transaction.
| Platform | Typical Fee Structure |
|---|---|
| Afterpay | 4%–6% per transaction |
| Klarna | ~3.29% + $0.30 per transaction (varies by features used) |
Klarna Is Slightly Cheaper
Klarna generally charges less per transaction and gives you more pricing flexibility based on volume and features. You can also negotiate rates as you scale.
If your store processes a high number of orders or you're working with slim margins, Klarna’s lower base fee can add up to significant savings over time.
That makes a real difference when you’re moving thousands of products per month or running seasonal campaigns.
Afterpay Keeps It Simple
While Afterpay’s flat fees are predictable, they’re also slightly higher. This can impact your margins, especially on high-volume, low-margin products.
For smaller stores or newer businesses, though, Afterpay’s transparency and ease of setup might justify the extra cost. There’s less decision-making involved, and fewer options means a shorter learning curve.
The Winner: Klarna
You’ll save more with Klarna on a per-order basis, especially as your volume increases.
Best for Increasing Conversion and AOV: It’s a Tie
Both platforms improve performance — but in different ways.
Klarna: Better for High AOV
If you're selling items over $300, Klarna’s financing and flexible payment options can lead to:
- Higher AOV (up to 60% increase in some verticals)
- Repeat usage by shoppers financing big-ticket items
- Improved trust from shoppers used to Klarna across Europe and the US
Customers using Klarna often make return purchases because they’re already familiar with the process — and Klarna encourages that loyalty with email reminders, mobile notifications, and exclusive Klarna deals.
Afterpay: Better for Conversion Volume
Afterpay is a favorite in the fashion and beauty space, especially among mobile shoppers.
- Boosts conversion rates by 20–30%
- Adds 30–35% to average order values (AOV)
- Less friction = better cart recovery
For impulse buyers, simplicity wins.
Afterpay’s “Pay in 4” model fits right into a fast checkout process and appeals to shoppers who aren’t looking for long-term payment plans — just a split over a few weeks.
The Winner: Tie
Pick Klarna for high-ticket AOV growth. Choose Afterpay if your business is more about volume and simplicity.
Best for Target Audience: Afterpay
The users you’re selling to matter — and Afterpay has nailed a key ecommerce segment.
Afterpay: Gen Z and Millennials
- Particularly strong in fashion, beauty, wellness
- Known and trusted by 20M+ active users
- Big on mobile and impulse-buy behavior
Afterpay’s branding also leans heavily into social media, influencer partnerships, and fashion events, which has helped build trust among younger audiences — particularly in the US, UK, and Australia.
Klarna: Broader Appeal
- Used by 150M+ people globally
- Strong in multiple demographics and countries
- Better for mixed-age, mixed-income audiences
Klarna also offers a more premium shopping experience.
Their mobile app acts as a standalone marketplace, and many shoppers discover new brands through the Klarna ecosystem.
The Winner: Afterpay
If your core customer is under 35 and shopping for lifestyle products, Afterpay will likely convert better.
Best for International Stores: Klarna
If you’re selling cross-border, Klarna’s reach is tough to beat.
Klarna’s Global Presence
- 45+ countries supported
- Strong across EU, UK, US, and LATAM
- Multi-currency and language support
- Localized messaging and invoicing options
Klarna also automatically detects the user’s location and serves up the right language, payment method, and even checkout currency — which can reduce bounce rates from overseas buyers.
Afterpay’s Core Markets
- Strong in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and the UK
- Weaker outside English-speaking countries
- No support in mainland Europe or South America
If you're not planning to expand outside those core markets, Afterpay can still be an excellent solution.
But the lack of reach may limit growth in the long term if you ever scale into Europe or Asia.
The Winner: Klarna
If you're targeting global markets or plan to scale internationally, Klarna is the better long-term solution.
Best for Marketing and Data Tools: Klarna
Here’s where Klarna really starts to pull ahead.
Klarna Offers Robust Marketing Support
- Co-branded marketing campaigns
- Personalized remarketing emails
- On-site BNPL messaging tools
- Klarna app marketplace for CRM and analytics
Klarna behaves more like a marketing partner than a payment tool. It helps drive return visits and brand visibility within its ecosystem.
Klarna also makes it easy to create automated campaigns targeting specific buyer segments — like shoppers who abandon carts or browse high-ticket items without purchasing.
These tools help you get more out of your traffic.
Afterpay Is Minimalist
- Some joint promotions available
- Limited access to customer behavior data
- Fewer post-sale engagement tools
Afterpay offers far less visibility into how users engage post-purchase.
For small stores, that might not be an issue, but as you grow, you may feel boxed in by the lack of marketing insights.
The Winner: Klarna
Klarna offers real value beyond the checkout button with data-driven marketing support.
Best for Setup and Ease of Use: Afterpay
If you want to get started quickly, Afterpay wins.
Afterpay Is Faster to Integrate
- Plug-and-play for Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento
- Minimal configuration needed
- Clear and simple onboarding
Even without a dev team, you can usually go live with Afterpay in under a day. The platform is built to get out of your way and just work.
Klarna Takes Longer
- More options = more decisions during setup
- May require additional dev time for full-featured installs
- More settings to manage ongoing
Klarna’s extra features can be powerful, but they come with more admin overhead. You’ll spend more time customizing flows, updating payment logic, and maintaining API connections.
The Winner: Afterpay
If you're launching soon and want to move fast, Afterpay is easier to implement.
Final Verdict: Klarna vs Afterpay — Which Should You Choose?
| Use Case | Best Option |
|---|---|
| Fashion, beauty, lifestyle products | Afterpay |
| Electronics, home goods, higher AOV | Klarna |
| Younger audience, mobile shoppers | Afterpay |
| International markets | Klarna |
| Rapid setup, simple integration | Afterpay |
| Long-term growth, marketing tools | Klarna |
| Budget-conscious stores | Klarna |
If you’re in fashion, beauty, or direct-to-consumer ecommerce, Afterpay is the smoother, faster way to offer BNPL with minimal friction.
But if you want flexible payment plans, deeper marketing integrations, and global reach — Klarna will give you more tools to grow and scale over time.
Both platforms can lift conversions and average order value. The real question is what kind of customer experience you want to deliver — and how much control you want to keep.
One more thing to consider: you’re not locked into one or the other.
Some stores use both Klarna and Afterpay to give customers a choice. That could be worth testing, especially if you’re running ads to different demographics or selling across regions.
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