You've probably never heard of Braintree, yet you've used it. As the invisible infrastructure powering payments for Uber, Airbnb, and millions of other merchants, Braintree represents the ultimate B2B success story: becoming so ubiquitous you disappear into the background. But what happens when the background starts to crack?

"In payments, being invisible is the ultimate success metric—until it isn't."

The Trustpilot rating of 1.4/5 from 276 reviews tells a different story than the polished marketing copy. For payment processors, this is catastrophic territory. While Stripe sits at 4.3/5 and Square at 4.7/5, Braintree's abysmal rating suggests deep operational issues. Either their support is failing merchants, or their onboarding is creating friction—either way, the customer experience is breaking down.

• Built on PayPal's infrastructure but operates independently—creating both strengths and conflicts
• Heavy reliance on direct traffic (43%) suggests a captive audience, not a growing one
• The 1.4/5 Trustpilot rating is a red flag that contradicts their enterprise positioning
• Tech stack shows modern foundations (Tailwind, PWA) but lacks the innovation edge of competitors