RealEx Developer Dublin
I have recently been integrating Realex into a WordPress website. It was not my first experience with the Realex API but it had been a long time. I remembered it being a trickier platform to integrate than the other payment solutions such as Stripe or Paypal but I assumed my current level of programming would make it a straightforward installation, and the Realex website reassured me with lines such as "integration in 5 minutes".
... seven frustrating hours later and the payments were ready to go.
It wasn't entirely the payment platforms fault as I was trying to integrate it on an existing WordPress website which needed to use the Gravity Forms plugin for its particular payment process. This led to a triad of complications and a lot of time was spent figuring out how I could get WordPress, Gravity Forms and Realex to work together. I wasn't greatly aided by Realex's documentation but the Realex staff were very patient in dealing with my phone calls and email queries, and we got there in the end.
I am now more confident at integrating Realex, and I kept meticulous notes on how the platform works for any future integrations my clients want me to perform.
No hosted payment page for Gravity Forms
Sadly, the only option that can be somewhat easily integrated with Gravity Forms, is the RealEx Redirect option. This takes users away from your site to a payment page hosted by RealEx and then redirects users back to your gravity form once payment is complete. You cannot take credit card details directly on your Gravity Form without some heavy customisation of the plugin's code, and that's something that I would not attempt myself.
A better way to install Realex
In other cases it it possible to integrate Realex using their PHP Software Development Kit and JavaScript plugin. Using modern web development techniques Realex can be a powerful payment solution. It should also play nicely with my Laravel websites.
Why use Realex at all?
Realex charges much less that other payment providers and it is very customisable once you get familiar with the API.