01
Do I need PCI compliance?
Three questions settle it: do you take cards, how do you take them, and how many transactions a year. For most small shops on a hosted checkout, the answer is far shorter than the internet makes it sound.
PCI DSS · For small business
Most PCI advice is written to sell you something. This isn’t.
Short, specific answers to the three questions small merchants actually have: does this apply to me, which form do I file, and what should it cost.
The guides4 entries
02
What it actually costs
2026 line-item pricing for SAQs, ASV scans, pen tests and QSA assessments — plus the specific fees already sitting on your processor statement, and which of them you can get removed.
03
Which SAQ is yours
SAQ A, A-EP, B, C or D — decided by how card data reaches you, not by your size. This is the single biggest driver of what compliance ends up costing you.
04
Why your statement says “PCI fee”
A real annual PCI fee runs about $79–$120. A monthly charge of $20–$100 is almost always a non-compliance penalty for not submitting your SAQ — and it usually disappears once you do.
One email when something actually changes
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