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Payflow Gateway Checkout Solutions
Last updated: May 27, 2026
Introducing the Gateway Checkout Solutions
The Gateway provides checkout solutions for novice and advanced use. It provides merchants with a rich set of options to handle payment transactions.
About the Gateway Checkout Solutions
Gateway checkout consists of the following solutions:
- Payflow Link
- Payflow Pro
- PayPal Payments Advanced
- PayPal Payments Pro
Summary of the Gateway Checkout Solutions
This is a basic comparison of the Gateway checkout solutions:
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Payflow Link uses hosted checkout pages to send transactions to a supported processor. Merchants can use the Payflow SDK APIs to perform all transactions except authorization and sale transactions. By using hosted pages with a secure token, the merchant adheres to compliance rules for handling customer data in a secure way: data is stored on PayPal so that it is not exposed to compromise.
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Payflow Pro can send transactions to a number of different supported processors, requirements for which are described in this documentation. Merchants select a supported processor and obtain an acquiring bank. Typically merchants integrate with, and have full access to, the Payflow SDK or use HTTPS to send transactions to the processor. Using hosted pages is an option.
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PayPal Payments Advanced uses web pages hosted by PayPal (also known as hosted checkout pages) to send transactions to the PayPal processor. With PayPal Payments Advanced, PayPal is the acquiring bank. By using hosted checkout pages with a secure token, the merchant adheres to compliance rules for handling customer data in a secure way: data is stored on PayPal so that it is not exposed to compromise.
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Like PayPal Payments Advanced, PayPal Payments Pro sends transactions to the PayPal processor and PayPal is the acquiring bank. Using hosted checkout pages is an option. Typically merchants integrate with the Payflow SDK or use HTTPS to send transactions to the PayPal processor.
Note: PayPal strongly recommends that all users of Gateway checkout solutions take advantage of the secure token and the hosted checkout pages. Doing so provides automatic compliance with processing card industry (PCI) standards for protecting card-holder data.
Gateway Product Details
This table compares how the different Gateway checkout solutions support payment processing features.
| Feature | PayPal Payments Advanced Payflow Link | PayPal Payments Pro Payflow Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted checkout page (including an iFrame version) | Yes | Yes |
| PayPal payments | Included | Optional |
| PayPal Credit® payments, formerly Bill Me Later® (Available to US merchants only on Hosted checkout pages.) | Included | Optional |
| PayPal branding on full page templates | Yes | Optional |
| Transparent Redirect | No | Yes |
| Supports PayPal as a processor and an acquirer | Yes | Yes |
| Credit and debit cards | Yes | Yes |
| Level 2 and Level 3 purchase cards | Yes | Yes |
| TeleCheck (guaranteed electronic checks) | No | Yes |
| ACH (electronic checks) | No | Yes |
| Virtual Terminal support, including card-present data passage | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual Terminal | Payflow Link only | Yes |
| API | Limited access (Authorization and Sale API calls not permitted) | Full access |
| Reference transactions (Tokenization) | Yes | Yes |
| Secure token to preset hosted checkout page | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting APIs | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop integration | Yes | Yes |
| Recurring billing | Yes | Yes |
| Basic fraud protection | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced fraud protection | Yes | Yes |
| Partner/channel distribution support (Partner Manager, registration, XML registration) resale and referral | Yes | Yes |
About the Gateway Transaction Flow
The traditional transaction flow is as follows. Numbers correspond to numbers in the figure.
- At your website, the customer clicks Buy to purchase merchandise.
- You send the transaction request to the Gateway server.
- The Gateway sends the transaction to the payment processing network.
- Your processor sends the response back to the Gateway server and processes the transaction (obtains the payment from the customer bank and deposits it in the merchant bank).
- The Gateway server returns the response to your website.
- Your website displays the result to the customer.
You can use the core transaction parameters supported by all Gateway processors described in this documentation to send transaction data to your processor. In addition:
- Each Gateway processor may support various additional parameters beyond the core set that you can send in transaction requests.
- Your processor may also support purchasing cards (credit cards employers issue for business-related charges). Purchasing card Level 2 and Level 3 parameters provide specialized reporting so an employer can monitor card use. The parameter information may appear on the customer's statement or describe line items in greater detail. Be sure to check for your processor's Level 2 and 3 parameters in this documentation.