You finish the work and the customer says, “Send me something and I’ll pay when I get home.” A payment link gives them a checkout page they can open on their own phone instead of making you read out bank details or stand there with a card machine.
Providers such as Stripe, Square and PayPal currently offer hosted payment-link products. The exact setup, payment methods, fees and link types differ, but the basic workflow is similar.
What is a payment link?
Plain English
A payment link is a URL that opens a checkout page hosted by a payment provider. You share the link with a customer; they open it, review the payment and complete checkout using the payment methods available for that provider and account.
That means you normally do not need to build your own checkout page or ecommerce website just to take a payment. Stripe describes Payment Links as a no-code hosted payment page, while Square and PayPal both document links that can be shared through channels such as email, text or social media.
How to create a payment link step by step
The labels change between providers, but the useful decisions are almost always the same.
The basic workflow
Six steps from amount to paid
Choose the payment provider
Choose what kind of link you need
Enter the payment details
Check the customer view
Share the link with context
Track the payment afterwards
What should you put in a payment link?
A checkout page should make the payment recognisable. The customer should not have to search through an old message thread to work out why you are asking for £120.
Useful payment details
- The correct amount and currency.
- A short description of the work, booking or deposit.
- The customer or order reference where the provider supports it.
- A due date when the payment has an agreed deadline.
- Your business name or recognisable payment identity.
- A clear next step if the customer believes something is wrong.
Square, for example, asks for details such as the link title and amount, while Stripe Payment Links are built around the product, service or payment configuration you want the customer to check out with. The exact fields vary, so use the options that make the payment clearer rather than filling every box because it exists.
One-off payment link, reusable link or tracked payment request?
“Payment link” can describe a few slightly different things. Choosing the right one matters more than the wording on the button.
One payment
One-off payment link
Useful for a specific amount or piece of work when you simply need the customer to complete one checkout. The link may be tied to a particular payment or created from an invoice/request, depending on the provider.
Repeat checkout
Reusable payment link
Useful when many customers buy the same thing or you repeatedly charge the same type of amount. Stripe and Square both document links that can be shared with multiple customers, although the exact setup and tracking differ.
Customer-specific admin
Tracked payment request
Better when the payment belongs to a particular customer and job and you need to know what is still outstanding afterwards. The useful unit is the payment request, with the checkout link attached to it.
Formal billing document
Invoice with a payment link
Useful when the customer also needs an invoice or your business process already revolves around invoices. Some invoice products generate or attach a payment link so the document and checkout work together.
Can you create a payment link for free?
Free does not mean fee-free
Often, yes — if by “free” you mean there is no monthly subscription or upfront card-reader cost just to create the link. But the provider can still charge a processing fee when the customer pays.
Square currently advertises Payment Links with no monthly fee and charges when a sale is made. Other providers use their own pricing structures, so compare current transaction fees and any plan requirements before deciding which link is actually cheapest for your business.
If cost is the main decision, use the UK payment-link comparison rather than choosing from an old fee table copied into a how-to guide. Provider pricing changes; your workflow matters too.
Do you need a website to use a payment link?
No website required
No. The payment provider hosts the checkout page, so you can copy the link and send it directly to the customer. A website is optional rather than a prerequisite.
If not having a website is the main thing you are trying to solve, see the fuller guide to accepting payments online without a website. That covers payment links alongside the other ways a small business can take online payment without building ecommerce first.
How should you send a payment link to a customer?
Use the conversation that is already normal for that customer. The link does the checkout work; your message only needs to make the request recognisable and easy to act on.
Hi Sarah, thanks again for today. The £85 balance for the garden work is ready here: [payment link]. Give me a shout if anything looks wrong.
Specific beats clever: amount, what it is for, and the link.
If writing the message is the bit that slows you down, the free payment-link message tool can prepare the wording. For channel-specific examples, see the guide to sending payment links by WhatsApp, text and Instagram.
How payment links work in Simply Link
Where Simply Link fits
Simply Link treats the link as part of a Payment Request, so the unfinished payment still has somewhere to live after you press send.
In Simply Link, you create a Payment Request for the customer and work rather than generating an anonymous URL first. You can add the amount, customer, service and due date, preview what you are asking for, then make the request live.
The Simply Link payment workflow
One Payment Request stays with the payment from setup to paid.
- 1
CREATE
Choose the Customer, amount, due date and payment setup.
- 2
PREVIEW
Check what the customer will see before anything is sent.
- 3
MAKE LIVE
Turn the draft into a real Payment Request.
- 4
SHARE
Send the secure payment page by the channel that suits the job.
- 5
TRACK
See what is waiting, overdue, partly paid or complete.
- 6
PAID
Keep the payment and Activity history with the request.
Making a request live does not automatically send it. Once it is live, you choose how to share it — copy the payment link, email it or use WhatsApp. The customer opens the secure Stripe-powered payment page and chooses to pay, while the Payment Tracker keeps the request, status, reminders and Activity together.
That distinction matters if the real problem is not “how do I make a URL?” but “how do I stop this payment disappearing back into my messages and memory once I have sent it?”
What happens after you send the payment link?
Sometimes the customer pays immediately. Sometimes they say they will do it later. Sometimes nothing happens and three days later you are wondering whether you already reminded them.
That is why tracking matters. If you only need a one-off follow-up message, use the free payment reminder message tool. If unpaid links are becoming a repeated admin problem, the guide to automatic payment reminders covers the next stage.
How do you choose a payment-link provider?
Start with what happens around the payment rather than asking which logo has the lowest-looking headline price. For a solo service business, useful questions include whether the customer needs an account, what payment methods are available, whether the link is reusable, what happens when it is paid, what you can see afterwards and how the provider fits your existing admin.
Before you choose
Five questions worth asking
Who is this payment for?
How will the customer receive it?
What does the customer see?
What happens if they do not pay?
What does it actually cost?
If you want the provider-by-provider version, use the comparison of UK payment-link tools. If your question is specifically about accepting cards without carrying hardware, the card payments without a machine guide explains when a payment link, Tap to Pay or virtual terminal makes more sense.
The useful test is what happens after the link exists
Generating a URL is the easy part. The better setup is the one that lets the customer understand what they are paying for and lets you understand what is still unfinished afterwards.
Create the payment clearly, send it in the right context, then keep the payment state somewhere you can actually find again. That is what turns a payment link from a checkout shortcut into useful payment admin.