Pyrus vs Cryptopay 2026 — Virtual Card for Foreign SaaS
After 2022, Russian and CIS developers, marketers and digital-business operators lost direct Visa/Mastercard access for paying OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe, AWS, Meta Ads and dozens of other SaaS. A handful of crypto-card issuers survived. In 2026 the two leaders are Pyrus and Cryptopay. Here is the by-the-numbers comparison.
BIN coverage and issuers
Pyrus runs on Estonian and UK issuing partners (Mastercard 5375 24, Visa 4288 19). Cards issue in 30–60 minutes with 3–5 simultaneous on one account. Cryptopay uses Lithuanian SatchelPay (Visa 4571 28) and Estonian Wallester (Mastercard 5273 76) — both historically maintain high approval at western merchants.
| Metric | Pyrus | Cryptopay |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer country | Estonia, UK | Lithuania, Estonia |
| Network | Visa, Mastercard | Visa, Mastercard |
| BIN country | GB, EE | LT, EE |
| Card cost | $5–10 | $9 single / $25 for 5 |
| Issue time | 30 minutes | 5 minutes |
| OpenAI approval | 71% | 89% |
| Anthropic approval | 68% | 87% |
| Stripe checkout approval | 84% | 91% |
| Meta Ads approval | 92% | 88% |
| Per-transaction limit | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| Monthly limit | $25,000 | $50,000 |
| 3DS method | SMS + push | App push |
| Top-up rails | USDT, SBP via broker | USDT, BTC, ETH, USDC |
The top-up reality
In 2026 Pyrus accepts native USDT TRC-20/ERC-20/BEP-20 at 1–1.5% and offers an SBP-to-card route through a partner at +2–3%. To get $100 on a card you will pay 2.5–4% in total costs.
Cryptopay accepts only crypto. A plus if you already hold USDT (1% top-up fee), a minus if you only have rubles — you will need to bridge through Bybit P2P first.
Which SaaS prefers which card
OpenAI API. Very sensitive to high-risk BINs after the February 2026 fraud-warning sweep. Cryptopay (Lithuanian BIN) clears stably; on Pyrus roughly one in three cards goes to hold.
Anthropic. Same pattern, hard fraud filter, Cryptopay works better. If a Pyrus card declines — try paying through a Replit/Cursor reseller layer.
Stripe Atlas / Stripe Dashboard fees. Both work, gap is 5–7%.
Meta Ads. Pyrus has a small edge (92% vs 88%) because Meta knows the UK issuer well.
Google Workspace / Cloud. Both accepted, but Cryptopay triggers fewer follow-up verifications.
Verdict
Pick Cryptopay if the primary use is OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and large recurring subs. Pick Pyrus if you do not always have USDT and need the SBP→card route, or if Meta Ads / TikTok Ads is your main spend.
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