Test with Our Sandbox Processors
You don’t need your own Stripe, Paddle, or any other payment account to build and test a paywall. We provide two ready-made sandbox payment processors that any account can connect to any paywall — no credentials, no setup, no waiting.
Use them to validate your entire integration first. Opening your own payment provider account is only necessary when you’re ready to charge real customers.
What you can test with them
Sandbox processors simulate payments end to end, so everything downstream of the checkout behaves the way it will in production:
- The full checkout flow — the paywall opens, the customer picks a plan and completes payment
- Subscriptions — creation, renewals and trial periods
- Charges and balances — token and credit deduction if you use tokenization
- Access granting — entitlement checks and feature gating in your app
- Webhooks — your endpoint receives events just as it does in live mode
- Customer portal — cancellations and plan changes
No real money moves and no real card is ever charged.
Connecting a sandbox processor
Step 1: Open the Payment Processor Manager
Go to Paywalls, open your paywall, and click Payment Processor Manager.
Step 2: Switch to the Test tab
The drawer has Live and Test tabs. Both sandbox processors always appear in the Test tab, listed alongside any test processors of your own. You’ll recognise them by the caption:
Our sandbox processor — payments are simulated, use test card 4242 4242 4242 4242
Step 3: Select and save
Tick one or both, then click Save. If you connect more than one, set the traffic share for each — or use Distribute equally.
Step 4: Pay with a test card
With the paywall in test mode, open it and complete a purchase using card 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry date, and any CVC.
Moving to live
Sandbox processors are test mode only. They never appear in the Live tab and cannot process real payments.
When you’re ready to accept real money, create your own payment processor in live mode and connect it to the paywall.
A paywall in live mode uses only the processors connected in the Live tab. If a paywall has nothing but sandbox processors connected, it will have no way to take payment once you switch it to live.
FAQ
Do I need my own Stripe account just to try the platform?
No. Our two sandbox processors are available to every account and cover the whole test flow — checkout, subscriptions, webhooks and access granting. You only need your own processor account to accept real payments.
Can I use a sandbox processor in live mode?
No. They’re restricted to test mode and won’t appear in the Live tab.
Can I connect both sandbox processors at once?
Yes. Connect both and split the traffic between them — this is a good way to rehearse a multi-processor setup before you run one for real.
Some processors in the list are greyed out. Why?
Rows captioned “Managed processor” are platform-owned and can’t be selected or edited by yourself. Contact support if you believe you should have access to one.