Stripe Pricing - What It Actually Costs When You're Not a Fortune 500

Stripe's pricing is simple: 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction. That's it. No setup fees, no monthly fees, no bullshit.

The Numbers That Actually Matter

Here's what you pay for cards that actually work:

• Domestic cards: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
• International cards: 4.4% + 30¢... or maybe 4.3%? (they add like 1.5% for foreign cards)
• Currency conversion: Another 1% or so if you're dealing with different currencies
• Manual entry (phone orders): Extra 0.5% because typing card numbers is risky

Works with all the cards people actually use: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover. Apple Pay and Google Pay work at the same rates - no surprises there.

Other Ways People Can Pay You

Stripe supports over 100 payment methods, though most are regional bullshit. The useful ones:

Bank transfers (cheaper for big purchases):

• ACH Direct Debit: 0.8% with $5 max - great for SaaS subscriptions
• Link instant bank payments: 2.6% + 30¢ - Stripe's version of PayPal instant transfer

Buy Now Pay Later (expensive but customers love it):

• Klarna: 5.99% + 30¢ - you eat the cost but customers convert better

Crypto (because someone asked):

• USDC and stablecoins: 1.5% flat - no percentage games

Why Stripe Actually Doesn't Screw You

Unlike traditional processors, Stripe doesn't hide fees in your monthly statement. No setup fees, no monthly fees, no "eat shit and die" penalties when you try to leave.

Traditional processors love to advertise "1.8% rates!" then hit you with:

• Monthly gateway fees ($10-50)
• PCI compliance fees ($5-15)
• Statement fees ($10-25)
• Early termination penalties (because they hate you)

Stripe's optional fees (the real ones to watch):

• Instant payouts: 1.5% if you need money NOW instead of waiting 2 days
• Chargebacks: $15 per dispute whether you win or lose
• Custom domain: $10/month to make checkout pages not look like ass

Enterprise Pricing (For When You're Actually Big)

If you're processing over $1M monthly, Stripe will actually negotiate with you:

• Interchange-plus pricing: Pay card network costs + Stripe's cut (usually cheaper)
• Volume discounts: More money = better rates
• Bundle deals: Use more Stripe products, pay less per transaction
• Real human support: Not just chatbots and documentation

You need consistent $1M+ monthly volume to get their attention, though they'll consider smaller businesses if your model is interesting. Don't bother asking unless you're actually doing these numbers - they can see your volume.

Real Experience: Why We Switched from PayPal

We started with PayPal Pro (big mistake). Their API documentation was garbage, integration took 6 weeks instead of 6 hours, and they randomly held $50K in revenue for "security review" with zero explanation.

Switched to Stripe in 2019 - fuck, maybe it was late 2018? Integration took literally one afternoon. Test mode works exactly like production (revolutionary fucking concept). No random fund holds, no shitty PHP SDKs, just APIs that actually work.

Yes, Stripe costs more per transaction. But the developer time savings, lack of compliance headaches, and not having your money held hostage makes it worth every penny. We've processed over $2M through Stripe with zero issues that weren't our fault.

Ready to dig into the numbers? The next section breaks down exactly what you'll pay for every Stripe service, with real-world scenarios that show what your actual monthly costs will look like.

Stripe has a bunch of other services that sound great until you see the bill. Here's what they actually cost and the gotchas nobody tells you about.

Stripe Billing (Subscription Hell Made Easy)

Stripe Billing saves you from building your own subscription nightmare, but it's not cheap:

Pay-as-you-go: 0.7% or 0.8% of billing volume, something like that. Sounds reasonable until you realize this is ON TOP OF transaction fees. So if you're doing $100K monthly recurring, that's $700 just for billing management.

Monthly plans: Start at $620/month with annual commitment. Only makes sense if you're doing $100K+ monthly and need the advanced features like usage billing and revenue recognition.

Real gotcha: This billing percentage bullshit applies to ALL subscription volume, even if customers pay through bank transfer or other methods. You pay Stripe billing fees even when Stripe doesn't process the payment.

Stripe Tax (Because Taxes Suck)

Tax calculation: 0.5% per transaction where you need to collect tax, OR 50¢ per API call for custom integrations.

Tax Complete: $90/month minimum for automated filing and registrations across 90+ countries.

Reality check: Tax gets expensive as hell if you're selling internationally. We calculated it would cost us $400/month just for tax compliance on $80K revenue. Sometimes it's cheaper to just hire an accountant - learned this after wasting three weeks trying to understand VAT.

Stripe Connect (Marketplace Money Splitting)

Connect is... complicated. Like, really fucking complicated. Lets you split payments between multiple parties, but the pricing gets messy:

Standard Connect takes their usual 2.9% + 30¢, but then you can take a cut as the platform. The sellers pay the processing fees unless you're feeling generous.

Express Connect: Sellers deal with their own Stripe bullshit, you just connect the pieces. Less work for you, but you can't control their crappy setup.

Custom Connect: You control everything, sellers never see Stripe branding. More complex integration but worth it if you want to look professional.

Gotcha: International sellers cost extra (that 1.5% international fee), and instant payouts to sellers cost 1.5% of the payout amount. Adds up fast in global marketplaces.

Stripe Radar (Fraud Detection That Actually Works)

Basic Radar: Included free with standard payments. Catches obvious fraud using their network data. Actually works pretty well - reduced our chargebacks by 60% without any configuration.

Radar for Fraud Teams: 7¢ per transaction screened (2¢ if you're on custom pricing). Lets you write custom rules, see fraud analytics, and manually review suspicious orders.

Reality: Worth it if you're getting hit with fraud. The 7¢ per transaction hurts when you're doing volume, but chargebacks cost $15 each plus the lost product. Do the math.

Identity Verification and Other Financial Stuff

Stripe Identity: $1.50 per ID verification, 50¢ for ID number lookups. Expensive but works for compliance-heavy businesses.

Stripe Issuing: 10¢ per virtual card, $3.50 per physical card. Plus the usual processing fees when people use the cards. Only makes sense for specific use cases like employee expense cards or marketplace payouts.

Atlas: $500 to incorporate in Delaware if you're not in the US. Includes EIN, bank setup, etc. Then $100/year ongoing. Useful for international founders who need US market access.

Why You're Probably Still Going to Use Stripe

Yeah, Stripe costs more per transaction than some competitors. But when you factor in the weeks you'll save not building your own payment system, it's worth it.

Developer time: Stripe's APIs actually work, unlike most payment processors. Their documentation doesn't suck, and the test environment works like production. This saves months of developer time.

No compliance headaches: PCI compliance, fraud detection, and tax calculation are included. You don't want to deal with PCI audits or build your own fraud detection system.

Support that doesn't hate you: Unlike PayPal, Stripe won't hold your money hostage for random "security reviews". Their support responds fast and actually understands technical issues.

It scales without breaking: Started at $1K monthly, now doing $500K+ monthly with the same integration. No capacity planning, no contract renegotiations, no bullshit.

The math: Traditional processors might be "cheaper" at 1.8% + fees, but add $50-150 monthly in bullshit fees, terrible APIs that take months to integrate, and support that doesn't give a shit. Stripe ends up cheaper when you factor in real costs.

Still have questions about specific costs or edge cases? The FAQ below covers the messy details that Stripe's marketing team would rather not talk about.