How much does it cost to develop a payment system
Building a payment system from scratch costs from a few million to tens of millions of roubles and takes from six months to two years. The price depends on the type of product: an aggregator, an e-wallet or a full payment system. On top of development come licences, certification, bank integrations and the cost of running it after launch. A ready-made platform under your own brand launches in a month and is paid for as a subscription.
Below is what types of payment systems exist, what drives development cost, what running it costs after launch and what ready-made software costs. Prices were collected on 2 October 2026, each with its source. Most figures come from Russian developers and are in roubles.
Types of payment systems
“Payment system” covers different products with different prices. By type of transaction:
- card systems — process bank card payments;
- e-wallets — hold users’ money and move it between them;
- instant payment systems — such as SBP in Russia or SEPA Instant in Europe;
- payment aggregators — intermediaries that connect merchants to many payment methods under one contract.
The classification follows an article by developer Surf (in Russian). The Payweb platform is a payment gateway: accepting payments for merchants (shops and services connected to the system) through several acquiring banks, payouts and fraud protection.
What building from scratch costs
Developer estimates by product type:
| Product | Price | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Payment aggregator | from 15 million roubles | 6–9 months |
| E-wallet | from 25 million roubles | 9–12 months |
| Full payment system | from 50 million roubles | 12–18 months |
Source: Surf, article of 16 April 2026. The timelines are minimums; Surf considers 3–6 months longer optimal. Cheaper offers exist: Polygant quotes a turnkey payment system from 2,900,000 roubles and a first version from 6 weeks. The price gap is a scope gap: which payment methods, how many banks, whether wallets, payouts and in-house anti-fraud are needed.
Development stages
Stages and their length as estimated by Surf:
| Stage | Duration |
|---|---|
| Discovery and requirements | 3–6 weeks |
| Architecture design | 4–8 weeks |
| Interface design | 4–6 weeks |
| Core development | 12–20 weeks |
| Bank and service integrations | 8–16 weeks |
| Certification | 8–12 weeks |
| Testing and launch | 4–8 weeks |
Some stages run in parallel, but two cannot be sped up with money: integrations depend on the banks, certification on the auditors.
Where the budget goes
Development is only half the budget. Surf breaks down a 30-million-rouble project like this:
| Item | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Development | 15–18 million roubles | 50–60% |
| Infrastructure for a year | 3–4.5 million roubles | 10–15% |
| Licences and certification | 3–4.5 million roubles | 10–15% |
| Integrations | 3–4.5 million roubles | 10–15% |
| Security and audit | 1.5–3 million roubles | 5–10% |
After launch come monthly costs. By the same estimate: infrastructure from 300 thousand roubles, a support team from 1 million roubles, security and monitoring from 100 thousand roubles and product development from 500 thousand roubles a month. Together, from 1.9 million roubles a month.
Regulatory requirements
In Russia, payment systems are governed by Federal Law No. 161-FZ “On the National Payment System” and Federal Law No. 115-FZ on anti-money laundering. Requirements for the company and the software depend on its role: payment system operator, payment agent, aggregator. Take this to a lawyer before choosing software. What the law requires of a payment aggregator is covered in How to become a payment aggregator.
Data security requirements come separately. Anyone who stores, processes or transmits bank card data must comply with PCI DSS. Financial organisations in Russia meet the Bank of Russia’s data security requirements under GOST R 57580.1 and undergo compliance assessment under GOST R 57580.2, and application software for transfers must be FSTEC-certified or assessed at EAL 4 or higher (821-P, Clause 1.2). In detail, in our guides:
- PCI DSS: what it is and why your business needs it;
- GOST 57580.1-2017: data security requirements;
- GOST 57580.2-2018: compliance assessment;
- Vulnerability analysis to EAL 4.
When you build from scratch, your own software goes through certification, which takes separate months and money. With a ready-made platform the vendor has already covered part of the requirements: ask which ones and what proves it.
Ready-made software
On a ready-made platform under your own brand you do not pay for development separately, and the vendor has already covered part of the software requirements. That is how the Payweb payment system works: launch in 30 days, compliant with Bank of Russia and PCI DSS requirements (821-P, EAL 4). It includes:
- card payments and acquiring;
- payment processing;
- mass payouts;
- subscription payments;
- virtual currencies;
- anti-fraud tools;
- admin and user dashboards.
The platform is a subscription:
| Plan | Monthly | Hosting | Setup and updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | 2,500 USD | 200 USD a month | — |
| Business | 3,500 USD | free | free |
The Professional plan is in the table on the platform page. A year on Start with hosting costs 32,400 USD, on Business 42,000 USD. For comparison, by the estimate above, monthly support of your own system alone costs from 1.9 million roubles.
If you need an aggregator rather than a payment system, see the payment aggregator: from 340,000 roubles a month. There is also a payment system franchise: from 2,500 euros a month for infrastructure, with 10,000 successful transactions included.
Payweb builds software and does not provide financial services. Your company processes the payments, under its own licences in its own jurisdiction.
What to choose
Building from scratch makes sense when the payment system is itself your product: your own settlement logic, rare payment methods, partner requirements for the code. Then you need a budget of tens of millions of roubles, a year or more to launch and your own team.
A ready-made platform wins when you need to start accepting payments for merchants quickly, have no development team, and the money is better spent on the licence, partner banks and sales. For a detailed comparison of the two routes and questions to ask a vendor, see Custom development or white label.
If you want to run the numbers for your case, tell us about the project — we will pick a plan and show you the platform.