Stripe vs Braintree: 2023 Comparison (Stripe Wins)
Meaghan has provided content and guidance for indie retailers as the editor for a number of retail publications and a speaker at trade shows. She is Fit Small Business’s authority on retail and ecommerce.
Anna is a retail expert writer for Fit Small Business with over six years of evaluating dozens of software for small business. She holds a double degree in Accountancy and Financial Management and is currently pursuing further education in financial and payment technology.
This article is part of a larger series on Payments.
Stripe and Braintree are popular and highly customizable payment processors typically used for online payments. They both have excellent developer tools, standard flat-rate transaction fees for smaller businesses, and custom interchange-plus pricing available for larger companies.
While Braintree came out ahead for stability and affordability, Stripe is better for ecommerce and international sales tools, billing and invoicing, in-person payments, and security, making it the best overall online payment processor.
- Stripe: (Best overall) Best for availability of prebuilt integrations with popular small business software, excellent developer documentation, international sales, recurring billing, and marketplace sales.
- Braintree: Best for free sandbox testing tools, individual merchant accounts, accepting PayPal and Venmo payments, and affordability.
Stripe vs Braintree Quick Comparison
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
Best for | Easy setup, international sales, B2B | Account stability, customer support, affordability |
Monthly fee | $0 | $0 |
Online transaction fees | 2.9% + 30 cents | 2.59% + 49 cents (US—varies by country) American Express: 3.5% |
In-person transaction fees | 2.7% plus 5 cents | 2.59% + 49 cents (US—varies by country) American Express: 3.5% |
Invoice fee | 0.4% to 0.5%, 25/month free | N/A |
Average payout | 2 business days, per a schedule you set; instant payout for 1%, minimum 50 cents | 2 business days—4 weeks, depending on your bank |
Online payments | Checkout pages; integrate with ecommerce, mobile apps, CRM software, and more | Integrate with ecommerce, mobile apps, CRM software, and more |
POS features | Custom build or connect to existing POS | Third-party or through PayPal Zettle |
POS Hardware | Offers pre-certified card readers only | Card-readers, all-in-one register, accessories—PayPal Zettle |
Integrations | 688 in areas of payments, operations, marketing, and finance | <100 itself; more through PayPal |
Offline Payments Processing | Yes | No |
Average user rating | 4.66 out of 5 | 3.79 out of 5 |
Ease of use | Very good | Good |
Customer service | 24/7 chat and phone support, email, resource library | Extended business hours, emergency support 24/7, in-app troubleshooting, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and resource library |
Free trial | No | Sandbox to test Braintree |
The major difference between the two is that Braintree offers individual merchant accounts, which are stabler but require approval and time to set up. Stripe, meanwhile, is purely an aggregator, which means it can onboard you fast but is more likely to have problems with frozen funds.
While Stripe edged out Braintree in our evaluation of best merchant accounts, both are good platforms. If you have a small business, the best online payment processor for you is likely the one that is easy to integrate with your existing software and website.
When to Use an Alternative
Braintree and Stripe are best for companies that have a developer who can get into the code to take maximum advantage of their customizability. If that’s not your company, check out our list of best merchant services for something more suitable. Square is our top recommendation.
Most Affordable: Stripe
| | |
|---|---|---|
Monthly POS subscription | Varies (third party) | $0 |
Monthly Ecommerce subscription | Varies (third party) | Varies (third party) |
Card reader pricing | $59–$299 | $24.99 (PayPal Here) |
POS register pricing | $249 (Wise Mobile POS Terminal) | Varies |
Card-present transaction fees | 2.7% + 5 cents, 2.9% + 30 cents for touchless | 2.59% plus 49 cents (US—varies by country) American Express: 3.5%* 3.49% plus $.49 cents (for Venmo; available in the US only) |
Ecommerce transaction fees | 2.9% plus 30 cents, 3.4% plus 30 cents for keyed-in | 2.59% + 49 cents (US—varies by country) American Express: 3.5%* |
ACH transaction fees | 0.8%, $5 cap | 0.75%, $5 cap |
Invoice fee | 0.4%, 25/month free; 0.5% recurring | Third-party integration |
Additional fees for international payments | Starts at 80 cents | 0.1% |
Interchange-plus available | Yes | Yes |
Chargeback fees | $15; refundable | $15 |
Special pricing for nonprofits | Custom | 1.99% + 49 cents |
*If you have your own Amex account, the fee is 15 cents per transaction.
While Braintree has cheaper transaction rates, Stripe’s set of available features offer more value for what you pay. It also does not charge separate fees for certain credit card brands, supports more payment methods, and offers 24/7 customer support.
This is why Stripe also scored better vs Braintree in our evaluation of Cheapest Credit Card Processing Companies and Free Merchant Accounts. Braintree, while receiving decent scores for its affordable rates, did not make our roundup.
The two providers have a few things in common, such as interchange-plus pricing for high-volume sellers, discounted rates for nonprofits, and similar chargeback fees. However, Braintree is better if you often accept in-person PayPal payments as Stripe does not work directly with PayPal Zettle. With Braintree, you can offer customers the option to use PayPal payment methods without additional cost.
Best for Ecommerce: Stripe
| | |
|---|---|---|
Best for | Most ecommerce businesses | Accepting PayPal and Venmo payments |
Compatible Online Sales Channels | 408 integrations, including online stores, sales funnels, crowdfunding, email marketing, and more | Ecommerce, social media, online stores, apps, online sales funnels, and more |
POS Features | Custom build, unifies online and in-store payments, customer management, fleet management tools | Custom build, integrations, PayPal Zettle |
Invoicing | Simple, recurring | Third party |
Virtual terminal | Same as POS | Through PayPal ($30/month) |
Product catalog | In Beta | None |
Customer management | Basic customer information + account updater | Basic + account updater |
Payment features | Split tender, discounts, tips, digital receipts, refunds, chargeback protection, international payments | Depends on POS |
Both of these payment processors do an excellent job managing sales on other websites, but Stripe offers more features. For example, Stripe Checkout gives you a prebuilt hosted payment page for one-time purchases and subscriptions. It offers a mobile app for back-end management like getting notices of new payments, issuing refunds, and viewing sales data. It also has invoicing and billing tools. Braintree, meanwhile, requires a third-party integration for invoicing, although it handles subscriptions.
Stripe made our list of top payment gateways for small businesses with a score of 4.54 out of 5
Stripe Checkout lets you create a hosted payment page. (Source: Stripe)
Braintree’s chief advantage over Stripe is that it is a member of the PayPal family. Thus, it can operate under the PayPal name, giving you worldwide brand recognition, which has been shown to improve online sales. It has the advantages of PayPal Zettle’s POS system as well as the ability to process PayPal and Venmo. Learn how Stripe stacks against PayPal.
Best for Billing & Invoices: Stripe
| | |
|---|---|---|
Invoice fee | 0.4%, 25/month free | N/A |
Recurring billing fees | +0.5% to 0.8% per transaction | Standard pricing, depending on method |
ACH transaction fees | 0.8%, $5 cap | 0.75%, $5 cap |
ACH limitations | None | US businesses only |
ACH Debit | Available | Available |
Invoicing | Simple, recurring | Third party |
Card-on-file | ✓ | ✓ |
Subscriptions | ✓ | ✓ |
Stripe’s invoicing tools make it the better choice for billing and subscriptions. Braintree requires a third-party integration for invoices, but Stripe Invoicing lets you create and send an invoice in minutes with no coding. It also lets you automate payment requests, such as for billing.
Stripe offers a choice of payment options, from ACH to Google Pay, and supports any country where Stripe is offered. B2B merchants often use invoicing and ACH payment processing features and Stripe excelled in both criteria, not to mention offering several B2B-specific software integrations. It joins our list of top B2B payment processors with an overall score of 4.15 out of 5.
Stripe Invoicing lets you create branded invoices quickly. (Source: Stripe)
Meanwhile, Braintree only allows ACH payments for US-registered businesses and only in USD to US banks. This limits its usefulness for international invoicing, even with a third-party app.
ACH credit vs ACH debit:
The difference between ACH credit and ACH debit is push and pull. In ACH credit, the customer agreed to send—or push—funds into your account from theirs. In other words, they need to give permission each time. In ACH debit, however, the customer permits you to pull funds from their account into yours. This means, for example, if they have a regular subscription of $20 a month, you would be authorized to collect that $20 automatically, without having them approve it each month. Learn more about how to accept ACH payments.
Braintree has an advantage over Stripe for merchants looking for an easy way to set up loyalty and rewards programs. It offers Braintree Extend, a secure data sharing feature that powers Yelp Cash Back for rewards and rebates. Braintree Extend can also be used to create seamless integration with other third-party software and provide customers a seamless checkout process without the need for a complex set up.
Best for International Sales: Stripe
| | |
|---|---|---|
Merchant countries | 47 | 45 |
Number currencies | 135+ | 130+ |
Number countries | 195+ | 200+ |
Number languages | 34 | 23 |
Present in local currency | Yes | Yes |
Payment methods (not credit cards) | 22 | 9 |
Credit cards supported | 9 | 8 |
International Processing Fees | 1.5% fee; 1% spread for currency conversion | 1% fee; 1% spread for currency conversion |
4.23 out of 5 | 4 out of 5 | |
While both are powerhouses for international payment processing, in Stripe vs Braintree, Stripe wins. It offers more options, both in languages and payment methods. For example, it’s better suited for Asia because it takes AliPay, GrabPay, and WeChat Pay, which are popular near-field communication (NFC) providers for China and Southeast Asia.
Stripe offers more payment options than Braintree. Pictured here are the credit cards.
(Source: Stripe)
They are similar in the number of countries in which they accept merchants and are accepted as payment processors. Braintree may have a small advantage in Europe, while Stripe has a greater presence in Asia and the Americas.
Braintree works with some of the smaller European countries Stripe does not reach, both for merchants and payment processing. It supports Maestro credit cards, which is common for Europe. Stripe does not support this card. Its pricing schedule is simpler than Stripe’s as well.
For example, in the US it charges a single flat rate and 1% additions for transactions in foreign currency and cards issued outside the US. Stripe, meanwhile, charges different rates for different payment methods.
Best for Security: Stripe
| | |
|---|---|---|
Chargeback Fees | $15; refundable | $15 |
Dispute Management Tools | ✓ | ✓ |
Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance | ✓ | ✓ |
Identity Verification | ✓ | ✕ |
Fraud prevention | Chargeback protection, advanced machine-learning fraud protection, customizable risk levels | Advanced fraud protection with machine learning, customizable risk levels |
Transaction security | PCI DSS Level 1, AES-256 encryption, SSAE18 SOC 1 & 2 reports, PSDS2 and SCA Compliant | PCI Level 1, TSL data encryption, 3D Secure 2 and SCA Compliant |
You can trust both Stripe and Braintree to ensure highly secure transactions, even across borders, but Stripe wins this feature by a small margin. Not only are the chargeback fees refundable, but Stripe also supports online identity verification that’s both highly customizable and proprietary so that there’s no need to pay any additional cost of integrations.
Stripe Identity lets you verify local and international IDs with available user interface customization. (Source: Stripe)
While Stripe boasts more certifications, Braintree has 3D Secure 2, which is becoming standard in the European Union (EU). So, if the majority of international customers are from that part of the world, Braintree is the better option.
Other than that, Stripe and Braintree are practically equal. Both have PCI DSS Level 1 compliance and encrypted transactions and offer basic and advanced fraud protection tools—Stripe with machine learning and Braintree with customizable security rules.
Best for Ease of Use: Stripe
| | |
|---|---|---|
Onboarding help | Automated, certified developers (fee) | For setting up the account |
Online help articles | ✓ | ✓ |
Customize checkout | ✓ | ✓ |
Video tutorials | ✓ | No |
Customer support | 24/7 | Extended business hours, emergency support 24/7 (with contact form) |
Frozen accounts complaints | Low | Very low |
Reserves account | ✓ | Occasionally |
User ease of use score (2022)* | 4.64 out of 5 | 4 out of 5 |
*Ease-of-use score is based on the average score over multiple third-party user-review sites, but in the ease-of-use category alone.
Stripe is the clear winner for ease of use, from help features to user feedback. Both services are developer-centric, but Stripe has more tools that can be used by the layperson such as building an online checkout page. It also offers video tutorials for many of its key tasks. It has 24/7 customer support. Braintree does, too, but by contact form.
Braintree does come out ahead for issues with frozen accounts. An analysis by CardPaymentOptions.com showed it has fewer complaints of held funds than Stripe. This is in part because of each merchant having its own account. In addition, it only occasionally creates a reserve fund. However, Braintree is not as responsive as Stripe in responding to complaints.
Bottom Line
In the argument of Braintree vs Stripe, the devil is in the details. We found Stripe to be better overall, including for multichannel commerce (online and in-person) as well as invoicing and billing. It offers an aggregated merchant account, which is good for startups and quick approval but can have account stability issues. Braintree, meanwhile, offers independent merchant accounts, which are more stable and great for established businesses. Its subscription tools surpass Stripe’s, and it has the advantage of being a member of the PayPal family.
