How Afterpay works
Each purchase is split into four payments: the first when you buy, then one every two weeks, so it's paid off in six weeks. Payments are taken automatically from the debit or credit card you link, and you can also pay early in the app. There's no interest and no account fee, but a late fee applies if a payment is missed, capped for each purchase.
You can use Afterpay online and in store at retailers that accept it, including through the Afterpay card in your phone's wallet. Your limit starts low and can rise as you pay on time.
How Zip Pay works
Zip Pay gives you a spending limit, a bit like a small credit account. You make a minimum repayment each month and choose how much more to pay, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. There's no interest, but a monthly account fee applies in any month you carry a balance, and late fees apply if you miss the minimum.
Zip works online and in store at retailers that accept it, and through its app and card at many that don't.
Signing up
Both need you to be 18 or over, live in Australia and have a mobile number, email address and a card or bank account to repay from. Since BNPL became regulated credit, both check your circumstances, and may check your credit report, before setting your limit. Zip usually asks for more detail upfront, as it gives you an ongoing limit rather than approving one purchase at a time.
Side by side
- Repayments: Afterpay is four fixed payments over six weeks. Zip Pay is a monthly minimum, and you choose the pace.
- Interest: neither charges interest on these products.
- Account fees: none with Afterpay. Zip Pay charges a monthly fee whenever you have a balance.
- Late fees: both charge them. Afterpay caps them per purchase.
- Limits: both start modestly and can rise with good repayment history. Zip Pay's limit is shared across everything you buy.
- Where you can use them: both are widely accepted online and in store, and both work through a card in your phone's wallet.
Pros and cons
- Afterpay's fixed schedule clears each purchase in six weeks, and costs nothing if you pay on time.
- Zip Pay is more flexible if your cash flow is uneven.
- With Zip Pay, paying only the minimum means the monthly fee keeps adding to the cost of what you bought.
- With either, it's easy to have several purchases on the go at once, which can add up to more than you planned.
Which suits you
If you want each purchase paid off quickly, Afterpay's fixed schedule can keep you on track. If you'd rather choose your own repayments, Zip Pay is more flexible, but clear the balance each month to avoid the fee. The comparison shows each provider's current fees and limits.
BNPL is regulated credit
Since 10 June 2025, buy now pay later providers need an Australian credit licence. They must check that a plan suits you before approving it, offer help if you're in hardship, and belong to AFCA, the free complaints service. Your BNPL accounts and repayments can also appear on your credit report.