FinCobra vs Blockonomics: Hosted Invoices vs Woo Plugin

If you are searching for a Blockonomics alternative, you already know the shape of Blockonomics: non-custodial, hosted watcher, Bitcoin to your own xpub, a public WooCommerce plugin, about 1% after a short trial.

The remaining question is not “is Blockonomics a real non-custodial plugin?” It is.

Do you want checkout inside your Woo store, or do you want hosted invoices that still settle to wallets you control — with documented USDT/USDC rails and signed webhooks?

Those are different jobs.

Quick answer: Blockonomics wins if you want a public WordPress.org Woo plugin, in-theme Bitcoin checkout, and the simplest xpub setup this week. FinCobra Checkout is the hosted path: create an invoice, send the buyer to /pay/:id, verify an HMAC webhook, and take BTC plus documented USDT/USDC into your wallets at Free Start $1,000 then 0.5% PAYG. It is not a public Woo plugin, not BCH, not Lightning, and not “install from Plugins → Add New.”

This is a fit filter, not a “#1 Blockonomics alternative” listicle. Most pages ranking for that query today are other Woo plugins crowning themselves, or Docker stacks arguing about Lightning. That is not this comparison.

The split that actually matters

Blockonomics is a hosted watcher plus plugins. You attach an xpub (and, if you want, a USDT address). Their software generates payment addresses, watches the chain, and hits a callback URL on your store. Checkout is designed to stay on your website. Funds never sit in a Blockonomics balance. You still pay them 1% after the first 10 transactions, billed from a prepaid BTC credit balance.

FinCobra Checkout is a hosted invoice coordinator. Same settlement idea — no FinCobra-held merchant balance, no spend keys — but the unit of work is an invoice with a hosted payment page. You configure wallets, POST an invoice, redirect to /pay/:id, and fulfill from an HMAC-signed webhook.

If “I install a plugin from WordPress.org and take BTC at checkout this afternoon” is the requirement, FinCobra is the wrong tool. If “I want invoice objects, a hosted pay page, and USDC on more than Ethereum” is the requirement, Blockonomics is the thinner tool.

BTCPay is a third model (you run the server, 0% processing). This page is not that fight. See the BTCPay Server alternative if the question is self-host vs hosted.

Blockonomics vs FinCobra at a glance

	Blockonomics (official, 2026-08-26)	FinCobra Checkout
Model	Hosted watcher. Checkout can stay in your Woo theme.	Hosted invoices. Buyer pays on /pay/:id.
Custody	Non-custodial. BTC via xpub; USDT to your address. They never hold revenue.	No merchant spend keys; no FinCobra-held balance. We host checkout and watchers.
Headline cost	First 10 transactions free, then 1%. Prepaid BTC credit. Bills under $10 roll over.	Free Start $1,000 paid invoice volume, then 0.5% PAYG, monthly arrears.
Rails	BTC, BCH, USDT ERC-20 on the public Woo plugin.	BTC (xpub/ypub/zpub). Documented USDT/USDC — not any token, not BCH, not Lightning.
Notifications	HTTP GET callbacks with a secret query param.	HTTP POST webhooks signed with HMAC-SHA256 (X-Checkout-Signature).
WooCommerce	Public plugin v3.10.1 on WordPress.org. In-theme checkout.	Private pilot only. Not on WordPress.org. woo-demo is a demo.
Shopify	Not scored here.	None.
Lightning	Not scored here.	No.
Best fit	Public Woo + simplest BTC xpub plugin this week.	Hosted invoices + HMAC webhooks + documented USDT/USDC at 0.5% after $1k.

Blockonomics numbers from their pricing help article, the WordPress.org plugin listing (v3.10.1), and GET callback docs. Recheck those pages — plans move.

Choose Blockonomics if

Choose Blockonomics if most of these are true:

• You want a public WordPress.org Woo plugin you can install from Plugins → Add New this week. Their listing is v3.10.1. FinCobra does not have that.
• You want checkout inside your Woo theme, not a redirect to a hosted /pay/:id page.
• You want the simplest xpub setup for Bitcoin (and they also do BCH plus USDT ERC-20).
• First 10 transactions free, then 1%, billed as prepaid BTC credit with a $10 rollover, is the price you expected.
• A GET callback with a shared secret in the URL is enough for fulfillment.

If that is you, use Blockonomics. They win public Woo and the simple BTC plugin. That is a real product.

Choose FinCobra if

Choose FinCobra Checkout if most of these are true:

• You want hosted invoices: create an invoice, send the buyer to /pay/:id, fulfill from a signed webhook.
• You want HMAC webhooks, not GET callbacks. Every FinCobra webhook is POST with X-Checkout-Signature = HMAC-SHA256 of the raw body.
• You want documented USDT and USDC, not only USDT ERC-20 plus BCH. See the Checkout docs for the current rails. Not any token. Not BCH. Not Lightning.
• 0.5% PAYG after the first $1,000 of paid invoice volume is acceptable. See billing.
• You can live without a public Woo plugin, Shopify, Lightning, and BCH.

FinCobra is a non-custodial crypto payment gateway: invoices, a hosted payment page, status, and webhooks, with funds landing in wallets you control. It is not a WordPress.org plugin.

If you want Bitcoin settlement with your own wallet without a Woo plugin at all, read How to Accept Bitcoin Payments With Your Own Wallet. If you want self-hosted Bitcoin infrastructure instead of either hosted watcher, read BTCPay Server Alternative for Small SaaS Teams.

10 free transactions vs $1,000 Free Start

Do not treat these trials as the same offer.

Blockonomics: the first 10 transactions are free, on any plugin or API. Transaction 11 is 1% of crypto received. You pay that 1% from a prepaid BTC credit balance. If a month's bill is under $10, it rolls over.

FinCobra: the first $1,000 of paid invoice volume is free, once. Unpaid invoices do not count. After that, 0.5% PAYG, billed monthly in arrears. There is no prepaid BTC credit bucket.

Ten free Blockonomics checkouts can be $50 of volume or $10,000 of volume. FinCobra's Free Start is a dollar cap, not a ticket count. After the trial, 1% vs 0.5% is the rate comparison — only if you are comparing wallet-settled hosted checkout, not “cheaper Woo plugin.”

If you need in-theme Woo and a public plugin, Blockonomics' 1% is the relevant number. Comparing it to 0.5% hosted invoices is a different purchase.

WooCommerce: they win

Blockonomics ships a public WooCommerce plugin on WordPress.org (v3.10.1). Checkout can stay inside your store/theme. That is why people search for a Blockonomics alternative and then stay: they wanted a plugin, not a hosted payment page.

FinCobra does not have a public WooCommerce plugin. Woo is a private pilot. The public proof is the WooCommerce demo shop, which runs hosted checkout end to end. There is no public WordPress directory listing to install today. There is no Shopify plugin.

If you need production Woo from Plugins → Add New this week, Blockonomics wins. Do not pick FinCobra to “get a better Woo plugin.” We do not have one to install.

GET callbacks vs HMAC webhooks

Blockonomics notifies you with an HTTP GET to your callback URL. Official docs: query params for addr, status, value, txid, and an optional secret you put in the URL yourself. Your server returns 200. That is simple and it works for a Woo plugin.

FinCobra sends HTTP POST webhooks. The body is JSON invoice state. The X-Checkout-Signature header is an HMAC-SHA256 hex digest of the exact raw body, signed with your webhook secret. You verify the signature, then fetch the invoice before you fulfill.

GET + shared secret in the URL is easier to wire into a PHP plugin. HMAC over the POST body is what you want if your backend already verifies Stripe-style signatures. Neither is “more non-custodial.” They are different notification contracts.

If signed webhooks are the reason you opened this page, FinCobra is in the set. If GET callbacks inside Woo are the reason, Blockonomics already does that job.

How to decide in one pass

1. Need a public Woo plugin and in-theme Bitcoin checkout this week? Blockonomics. Stop.
2. Need BCH, or only the simplest BTC xpub plugin, and you are fine with GET callbacks and 1% after 10 txs? Blockonomics.
3. Need hosted invoices, HMAC webhooks, documented USDT/USDC, and 0.5% after $1k, and you can live without public Woo, Shopify, Lightning, and BCH? FinCobra Checkout.
4. Need a self-hosted node and 0% processing? Neither. Read the BTCPay alternative.
5. Need EUR/USD in a bank? Neither.

See a live walkthrough

If step 3 is the job, take a live Checkout walkthrough and configure your own wallets. Billing is Free Start $1,000 then 0.5% PAYG.

The demo is the private WooCommerce pilot, not a public plugin. Use it to watch hosted checkout, then attach the wallets you already control.

FinCobra Checkout is hosted invoices that settle to your wallets. It is not a Blockonomics Woo plugin with a prettier admin.