What We Recommend Stripe For
After spending years reviewing merchant services, we can say Stripe stands out as the best payment solutions provider for growing, tech-savvy online businesses, especially startups. Its developer-friendly platform is particularly popular among software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses, direct-to-consumer ecommerce businesses, B2B platforms, and large online marketplaces.
In particular, Stripe is best for:
- Creating a fully customizable and secure checkout: Stripe comes with a “developer-centric” platform to provide the most flexible and scalable solution for designing checkout carts. It also includes the assurance of strict PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance in its free account. It’s one of our top picks for customizable payment gateways and online checkouts.
- Fast-growing ecommerce businesses or service providers: Stripe’s highly customizable nature will easily keep up with fast-growing ecommerce businesses and service providers that process recurring online payments. Software developers can scale their business’ checkout process using reliable APIs and integrations as it develops from startup to enterprise.
- B2B businesses: Stripe is our leading B2B payment solution for online businesses. It can process international transactions for over 135 currencies and accept extremely small, as well as large, payments. Aside from recurring billing and invoicing, Stripe can process domestic ACH transactions.
See how Stripe compares to top online payment processors PayPal and Square.
When Stripe Would Not Be a Good Fit
- Businesses processing primarily in-person transactions: While Stripe now offers the ability to create your own in-person checkout solution, most small businesses would be better served with a plug-and-play option that does not require a custom build. Those needing to accept mobile or in-store payments would benefit more from using Square over Stripe. Many of our other top-recommended merchant services, including Payment Depot and Stax by Fattmerchant, also offer solid support for in-person transactions.
- Businesses lacking access to technical expertise: Stripe is a “developer-first” platform, so a certain level of technical expertise is expected among its users to maximize its features. So, while subscribing to Stripe is free, the complexity of its setup process affected Stripe’s ranking in our evaluation of the best free merchant accounts.
- Ecommerce businesses requiring only a basic setup: Some small and startup online businesses do not require a highly customized checkout process. If all you need is credible online payment processing, a more recognized brand like PayPal is a better fit than Stripe.
Stripe may not be the best fit for all types of online businesses. Based on your requirements, you may prefer alternatives to Stripe that are simpler and more affordable or offer additional features.
Stripe Overview
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Free merchant account | Limited option for in-person processing |
| Highly customizable, secure platform | Complex installation process |
| Low-cost ACH processing | Lacks reporting solution |
| Powerful, well-documented APIs | Expensive chargeback fee |
Unless you run a business that falls under Stripe’s Restricted Business list, sign-up and approval will take only a few minutes. If you have no access to technical experts but still prefer to use Stripe as your payment processor, you can always sign up with one of Stripe’s many marketplace and platform partners.
Stripe Pricing
Stripe supports many integrated payment methods, including card transactions, digital wallets, bank transfers, and international payments. Fees start at 2.9% + 30 cents per successful transaction—and there are no monthly or additional gateway fees.
Payment Types | Transaction Fee |
|---|---|
Online | 2.9% + 30 cents |
In-person via Terminal | Starts at 2.7% + 5 cents |
Digital Wallet | 2.9% + 30 cents |
Recurring Payment | 0.5% or 0.8% depending on plan |
Invoicing | 0.4% or 0.5% depending on plan |
ACH Credit | $1/payment |
Wire Transfer | $8/payment |
Check Payment | $5/payment or $15/bounced check |
ACH Direct Debit | 0.8% capped at $5 or $4/failed payment |
International Payment | Starts at 80 cents |
- Cards payments and digital wallets: For online, in-person, and digital wallet payments, Stripe charges an additional 1% for international cards and another 1% if the transaction requires currency conversion.
- Bank debit and transfers: Stripe automatically reconciles all ACH credit, wire, and check payments and charges $7 for every successful payment.
- ACH direct debits: Disputed ACH direct debit payments are charged a fee of $15.
- Instant Payouts: Access with an eligible debit card, costs 1% of Instant Payouts volume, and has a minimum fee of 50 cents.
Stripe Payments Calculator
Enter your current in-store and/or online sales volumes and average order values for an estimate on the monthly fees you would pay using Stripe.
Visit Stripe for additional pricing information
Stripe Hardware
Though limited, in-person payments are also available through Stripe Terminal, which works with pre-certified third-party hardware and a software development kit (SDK) for either a native mobile app or a web platform.
Features | Native Mobile App | Desktop or Mobile Web |
|---|---|---|
Stripe SDK | iOS and Android | JavaScript |
Card Reader |
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Stripe Reader M2 is Stripe's newest Bluetooth-enabled card reader that accepts EMV chip, contactless, and swipe payments.(Source: Stripe)
The BBPOS Chipper 2X BT is a battery-powered card reader for mobile point of sale. Features include Bluetooth connectivity, end-to-end encryption, and EMV chip, contactless, and swipe payment processing.(Source: Stripe)
The BBPOS WisePOS E is a hybrid countertop and handheld terminal for in-store and curbside payment processing. It features a 5” touch-screen display, end-to-end and point-to-point encryption, EMV chip, contactless, and swipe payments processing, and Wi-Fi connectivity.(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Alternatives & Fees Comparison
 |  |  |  | |
Best for | Low-volume merchants with less than $10,000 monthly transactions | Those needing payment processing for occasional sales | Established businesses processing invoices or recurring payments | High-volume merchants with large transaction amounts |
Monthly fee | Starts at $0 | Starts at $0 | Starts at $99 | Starts at $79 |
Card-present transaction fee | 2.6% + 10 cents | 2.29% + 9 cents | Interchange + 8 cents | Interchange + 7–15 cents |
Keyed transaction fee | 3.5% + 15 cents | 3.49% + 9 cents | Interchange + 15 cents | Interchange + 7–15 cents |
Ecommerce transaction fee | 2.9% + 30 cents | Starts at 3.49% + 49 cents | Interchange + 15 cents | Interchange + 7–15 cents |
Looking for the lowest rates? The payment processing rates you will pay can vary based on your business’s size, type, and average order value. To find the most affordable option and compare multiple processing rates, read our guide on the cheapest credit card processing.
Stripe Features
Stripe comes with a wide range of features that helps you build an easy and seamless online payment processing experience for your customers. Let’s take a look at Stripe’s most notable features below:
- Unified dashboard: This is where you can manage roles and permissions, make notes on your collaborations, and take action via the dashboard app on your iOS and Android devices.
- Developer integrations: Experienced coders can utilize comprehensive testing tools, over 450 platforms and extensions, and a dedicated developer dashboard.
- Global payments: Stripe can cater to 195 countries and 135+ currencies, subsidiary support, and local payment methods (such as ACH Credit or Direct Debit, wire, checks, Alipay, iDEAL, EPS, and SEPA Direct Debit). Note that you cannot accept PayPal payments with Stripe.
- Deposit speed: Stripe deposits your funds into your account in two business days. Meanwhile, Instant Payouts is Stripe’s solution for providing you instant access to your funds by sending them to a supported debit card or bank account (available for a fee).
- Dispute handling: Evidence submission is automated, and you can measure and monitor all disputes. Stripe also integrates directly with card networks.
- Data security: Stripe keeps all payment information encrypted and secure during collection with a PCI Service Provider Level 1 certification, the highest level awarded to a payments software provider.
- No code, social media selling: Create payment links to sell products or services, start a subscription, or collect a donation—which you can post on social media or send to your customers via messaging or email.
- Custom checkout: You can design your checkout flow on both desktop and mobile with the help of Stripe’s custom UI toolkit. This is especially helpful for international payments, as you can customize the look and feel of features such as language and payment options.
Stripe Standout Tools
Stripe has advanced solutions for optimizing online payments, more so if you know how to code. Here are Stripe’s standout tools for payment processing, business operations, and financing management.
Stripe Checkout
This is Stripe’s hosted checkout page where you can create customizations and decide on the level of customization you would like to provide your customers. It is optimized for accepting one-time or subscription purchases and can accommodate both local and international payments—all while ensuring key considerations such as page load time, animations, device screen compatibility, and language.
Stripe’s hosted checkout pages help reduce cart abandonment by providing features such as address auto-complete, 1-click payment using Link with Stripe, real-time card validation, descriptive error messages, third-party autofill, and card brand identification.
(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Payment Links
While Stripe is popular for developers, it also provides payment processing solutions that don’t require any coding skills. Stripe lets you create payment links to sell products or services, start a subscription, or collect a donation—which you can post on social media or send to customers via messaging or email. Once you’ve sent out the links, your Stripe Dashboard will help you track outstanding invoices and notify you of a successful payment.
Sell anywhere with Stripe’s Payment Links without using any line of code.
(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Invoicing
Stripe’s invoicing tool allows you to build custom invoices for any type of pricing model with options for either a Stripe-hosted invoice (no-code required) or API to add more advanced customizations—such as adding automatic email reminders and aging reports generation. You can collect one-time or recurring payments, add line items, specify discounts, and customize tax rates directly to your invoices.
Stripe Invoicing Plans:
- Starter Plan: Costs 0.4% per paid invoice, has 25 free invoices per month, and includes hosted invoice page and insight and analytic tools
- Plus Plan: Costs 0.5% per paid invoice and adds estimate building, automatic collection, and auto reconciliation tools on top of the Starter Plan
Stripe invoices are optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop and are available as a PDF download. Stripe Invoicing includes a responsive design that offers Apple Pay and Google Pay payment options.
(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Billing
Stripe’s billing feature is especially useful for subscriptions where you can design different pricing structures such as one-time, recurring, usage-based and tiered pricing. You can also set up billing adjustments if you offer promotions and trial periods, and customize the billing frequency.
Stripe offers its billing tools in two plans:
- Starter Plan: Charges 0.5% for paid recurring charges and includes automatic collection and customer portal tools
- Scale Plan: Costs 0.8% on recurring charges and adds estimates building tools and NetSuite integration (through Stripe Connector) on top of the Starter plan
Stripe Billing provides you with a Stripe-hosted customer-facing portal so your customers can manage their own subscriptions.
(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Terminal
This is Stripe’s in-person payments solution for mobile and web platforms. It includes an SDK and pre-certified third-party hardware but will require a separate POS software subscription. You will also need to configure the integration yourself—unless your POS comes with a pre-built solution.
There are no extra fees for using Stripe Terminal, except for a different in-person fee of 2.7% + 5 cents per transaction. You will also need to purchase a mobile card reader that starts at $59.
You can manage multiple card readers from your dashboard.
(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Capital
Stripe offers financing options for businesses requiring short-term funds (loan is payable for up to 18 months). There is no lengthy application process, and qualification is determined by your credit history with Stripe. Once you’re approved, you get access to the funds as early as the next business day.
Stripe Capital charges a flat fee based on a percentage of your daily sales, which you can customize depending on your preferred loan terms. This means that repayment is automatic until your loan is paid—and you don’t incur any late fees.
Stripe merchant account holders with at least six months of payment processing history are automatically considered for loan prequalification.
(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Radar
This is Stripe’s machine-learning fraud prevention tool that uses billions of data points to continually adapt to how you do your business. It includes advanced payment, hardware and account protection tools, and secure data migration—so transactions are protected from start to finish. For businesses accepting international payments, Stripe also includes an identification recognition feature that can recognize IDs from over 33 countries.
Stripe charges 5 cents per screened transaction, but this fee is waived for payments that are billed the standard 2.9% + 30 cent transaction fee.
Customization is key for Stripe’s advanced security features. Aside from built-in PCI compliance, chargeback protection, and dispute management, it has developed payment, hardware, and account protection tools that go beyond the standard. For instance, you can customize your acceptable payment risk by setting your own risk level scores. It also offers secure data migration, so you can safely transfer transaction details and customer payment information to and from different payment processors.
Manage and resolve disputes with the help of Stripe’s dispute management system.
(Source: Stripe)
Stripe Ease of Use
- Plug-and-play integrations: Adding Stripe as a payment processor is easy if you already have your online store. It offers a wide range of plug-and-play integrations for all of its third-party platform partners, so it will only take minutes to set up Stripe as your checkout option.
- Ready-to-go checkout templates: Users with basic software development skills can start their customization with Stripe’s checkout forms and templates, which include extensive tutorials and a knowledge base for easy setup.
- Third-party platform sign-up option: Users can sign up quickly without writing any code by registering through Stripe’s third-party partner platform.
- Customer support: Stripe offers 24/7 email, phone, and chat support for its users. You also get access to its comprehensive knowledge base, detailed API documentation, and FAQs. Premium support is also available as an add-on purchase.
Stripe has over 450 integrations for accounting software, CRM platforms, POS systems, and more. Its most popular ecommerce tool integrations include WooCommerce, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, BigCommerce, and 3dcart.
What Users Think of Stripe
Stripe gets mixed feedback from users. Most of its positive reviews are for Stripe’s seamless integration with popular online platforms. In particular, users found Stripe’s customization and subscription features extremely useful for creating invoices and recurring payments.
- Capterra: Over 2,100 users rated Stripe an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
- G2: More than 140 users rated Stripe an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Negative reviews from users highlight charges they got from disputes and the lengthy payment holding time. There are also some complaints about the learning curve to set up and use the platform. If your business lacks access to a certain degree of software development skills, Stripe may not be the right fit.
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
Customizable invoicing | Learning curve to using the platform |
Subscription feature | Poor customer service |
Compatibility with most ecommerce platforms and marketplaces | Extended holding time of payments before being credited to the bank |
Bottom Line
Stripe is a pay-as-you-go payment platform for ecommerce businesses and service providers. It provides notable features—such as exceptional data security, global payment capabilities, unified dashboard tools, and machine learning fraud prevention.
It is also developer-friendly, which means it offers integration and customization options that require a certain degree of understanding software development. To help with this, Stripe offers an array of free and open-source tools to help users customize their online checkout. Head over Stripe to create a free account.
