Coldtill vs NOWPayments

NOWPayments is a hosted crypto payment processor run by NOWPayments Ltd in the Seychelles. You sign up, it gives you an account, and payments run through its systems. Coldtill is software you run on your own server: there's no account with us, nothing to sign up for and nobody who can close you down.

The short answer: NOWPayments is quick to start, but it's an account someone else controls. Its own terms let it hold your funds, ask for documents at any time and close your account "for any or no reason". Coldtill can't do any of that, because it never touches your money.

Side by side

	Coldtill	NOWPayments
What it is	Software on your own server	A hosted account with a Seychelles company
Sign-up, KYC or KYB	None. There's no account to open	Registration; documents on request, and KYB for fiat
Who holds incoming payments	You. Deposit contracts can only pay your cold wallet	Custody is on by default for new accounts; you must turn it off to be paid directly
Can your funds be held or your account closed	No. There's no account and no balance to hold	Yes, under its terms (quoted below)
Fees	Free (2%), Standard $499 once (1%), Pro $999 once (no fee); no fee on Bitcoin or auto-converted payments	1% per payment, 1.5% with conversion or fixed rates, plus network fees, for as long as you use it
Any coin in, stablecoins out	200+ coins on 35+ chains, delivered as USDC or USDT to your own wallet	Conversion inside its custody
Wrong network or coin	Your customer's deposit address is yours; you decide what to do	Refunds cost $50 plus network fees
Customer data	Stays on your server	Shared with the processor

In NOWPayments' own words

Its help centre says "NOWPayments is a non-custodial service… we don't store your funds". Its own blog says "NOWPayments is a custodial crypto payment gateway. For new accounts, custodial processing is enabled by default". Fiat withdrawals and mass payouts only work with custody turned on.

Its terms of service (dated 13 February 2024) say:

§5.9: it "may refuse to store the funds or to arrange the withdrawal" and "is entitled to delay any transaction if it detects a risk of fraud".
§11.2: it may "block, terminate or deny access… without the Merchant's consent or notice" and "shall not give reasons".
§15.2: it may terminate your account "for any or no reason… with immediate effect", with "no obligation to provide a refund".
§10.5: you must provide information "during registration… and any other time at request", and per its KYC page a transaction marked as suspicious is put on hold until you send ID, proof of source of funds and a selfie.

It also bans any business "we believe poses elevated financial risk" (§11.1.5), which it decides.

Why Coldtill can't freeze you

Coldtill is software, not a service. Customers pay into deposit addresses that belong to you: on Ethereum-style chains, Tron and Solana they're contracts that can only ever send to your cold wallet, and Bitcoin goes straight to your own wallet's addresses. There's no Coldtill balance, no account and no licence server. If coldtill.com disappeared tomorrow, your checkout would keep taking payments.

One thing no gateway can change: Tether and Circle can freeze USDT and USDC at the token level. That applies to every processor, hosted or not. Coldtill adds no extra party on top.

Where NOWPayments is stronger

Nothing to run. No server to set up or keep updated.
Fiat withdrawals, through its custody.
More coins listed directly, over 300 by its own count. With auto-convert, Coldtill takes 200+ coins on 35+ chains and pays you in stablecoins.

Which should you choose?

Choose NOWPayments if you never want to run a server and you're comfortable with an account someone else can hold or close.

Choose Coldtill if your business can't afford to have its money held: no sign-up, no KYB, no custody, no account to close, and on Pro, no fee on any payment. Download Coldtill free.