What is Stripe?
Stripe processes card, wallet, bank debit and buy now pay later payments through one API, and builds billing, invoicing, sales tax, fraud screening and payouts on top. There is no monthly fee for the core product: you pay a share of each payment, and add-ons such as Billing and Tax are priced separately, so the bill grows with the parts you switch on.
The main difference from Paddle is who the seller is. On standard Stripe, your business is the merchant, so you register for and file sales tax and VAT yourself, with Stripe Tax doing the sums. Managed Payments makes Stripe the merchant of record for digital products, for 3.5% on top.
Who is Stripe best for?
Stripe is best for online businesses and developers who want to take payments and run subscriptions through one API, from first sale to large volume.
SaaS and app developers
The API and SDKs let a developer add checkout, subscriptions and usage billing without writing payment logic from scratch.
Online stores
Checkout, Payment Links and 100+ payment methods cover cards, wallets and local options, and Terminal readers take the same payments in person.
Platforms and marketplaces
Connect onboards sellers, splits payments and pays them out, at no extra cost when Stripe sets and collects your users' fees.
Founders forming a US company
Atlas incorporates a US company and gets the EIN for a one-time $500, including government fees and a year of registered agent service.
What's included with Stripe?
Hosted checkout and payment links, subscription billing, sales tax, fraud screening, marketplace payouts, card readers and an optional merchant of record service.
- Checkout and Payment Links
- A hosted payment page and no-code payment links come with the card rate; a custom domain for them costs $10 a month.
- Billing
- Subscriptions, usage-based pricing and automatic retries of failed payments, for 0.7% of billing volume or a yearly contract.
- Tax
- Calculates and collects sales tax, VAT and GST in 100+ countries; the Tax Complete plan also registers and files in 90+ countries.
- Radar
- Machine learning screens card payments for fraud by default; fuller Radar plans cost $0.05 per screened payment or from $10 a month.
- Connect
- Onboarding, verification, split payments and payouts for platforms that take payments on behalf of other businesses.
- Terminal
- Card readers from $59 and Tap to Pay on phones, at 2.7% + 5¢ per in-person card payment.
- Managed Payments
- Stripe acts as merchant of record for software and digital goods, taking on tax filing, fraud, disputes and buyer support.
How does Stripe work?
Open an account
Sign up online; Stripe asks for no contract and no bank details before you start building.
Add a way to pay
Drop in Checkout, build your own form with Elements, or share a Payment Link with no code.
Switch on what you need
Add Billing for subscriptions, Tax for sales tax, or Connect if other sellers get paid through you.
Get paid out
Funds go to your bank on a rolling, weekly or monthly schedule, or within minutes with Instant Payouts for 1.5%.
How much does Stripe cost?
Stripe has no monthly fee: US card payments cost 2.9% + 30¢ online and 2.7% + 5¢ in person, and Billing, Tax and Managed Payments add their own percentages.
- Plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% if currency is converted
- Plus 0.5% for manually entered cards
- No setup or monthly fees
- Stripe is merchant of record for digital goods
- Tax filing, fraud, disputes and buyer support included
- Plus 1.5% for international cards
- Readers from $59
- Tap to Pay: $0.10 per authorization
- Pay as you go, no recurring fee
- Or from $620 a month on a one-year contract
- Invoicing alone: 0.4% per paid invoice
US rates; other countries have their own price lists. ACH Direct Debit costs 0.8%, capped at $5, and Klarna 5.99% + 30¢. Stripe Tax costs 0.5% per transaction (no-code) or $0.50 per API transaction, and Tax Complete starts at $90 a month on a one-year contract. Each card dispute costs $15. Large or unusual businesses can ask sales for custom pricing, including interchange-plus and volume rates. Full pricing on stripe.com. We checked these prices on .
How do readers rate Stripe?
No one has rated Stripe yet. Be the first.
Sign in to rate. One rating per account.
Stripe pros and cons
It has the best-regarded API and the widest payment coverage, but frozen accounts, slow help during reviews and stacked fees are the common complaints.
Pros
- Developers keep naming its documentation and API the best in payments, so a first integration is usually quick.
- One account covers cards, wallets, bank debits, buy now pay later and local methods, so most businesses never need a second processor.
- No monthly fee on the core product, so a new business pays nothing until it makes a sale.
- Billing, Tax, Connect and Terminal plug into the same account and dashboard when the business needs them.
Cons
- The most repeated complaint on Reddit and Hacker News is accounts frozen or funds held for months after a risk review, often with little explanation.
- The real rate climbs above 2.9% + 30¢: users report 3.4% to 7% once international cards, currency conversion, Billing and Tax are added.
- When an account is under review, users say it is hard to reach a person, and replies are often templated.
- Stripe is not the merchant of record by default, so you still register for and remit sales tax and VAT unless you pay extra for Managed Payments.
How do I connect Stripe to my AI agent?
Stripe MCP is Stripe's official MCP server. Add it to your agent once, then ask it to look up Stripe customers, payments and products.
Gives your agent access to your Stripe account, so it can find customers, check payments and refunds, and create products, prices or payment links as you ask.
$ claude mcp add --transport http stripe https://mcp.stripe.com
Claude Code connects to Stripe over the web.
Stripe's setup guide covers the sign-in.
Then ask your agent
- Runs
- On the web
- Sign-in
- See guide
- Checked
- Answered 13 Nov
What are the best Stripe alternatives?
Three tools on Recaply do Stripe's job. Gumroad is open source, so you can run it on your own server.
PaddlePaidChoose it when you sell software, apps or games worldwide and would rather pay one 5% + 50¢ fee than register for and file sales tax and VAT yourself.
GumroadOpen SourceChoose it when you sell ebooks, courses or templates and want a ready-made storefront with sales tax handled, for 10% + 50¢ per direct sale and no monthly fee.
CopeCartPaidChoose it when you sell courses or coaching to buyers in Europe and want checkout, VAT and invoices handled for you, from 3.9% + €1 per sale.
Questions about Stripe
What is Stripe?
Stripe is a payments company whose API lets online and in-person businesses take cards, wallets and bank payments, then run subscriptions, invoices, tax and payouts from the same account.
Who is Stripe for?
Stripe is best for online businesses and developers who want to take payments and run subscriptions through one API, from first sale to large volume.
Is Stripe free?
Stripe has no setup or monthly fee, but it is not free: it takes a fee on every payment. In the US that is 2.9% + 30¢ per domestic card payment online, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% when currency is converted.
How much does Stripe charge for a chargeback?
Stripe charges $15 for each card dispute you receive, and another $15 if you counter it, which is refunded if you win. Smart Disputes, which builds the evidence for you, takes 30% of the amount on disputes you win.
Does Stripe have an MCP server?
Yes. Stripe MCP is Stripe's official MCP server, so agents such as Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and GitHub Copilot can look up Stripe customers, payments and products. Stripe runs it on the web.
Is there an open source alternative to Stripe?
Yes. Gumroad is an open source tool that does the same job, so you can run your own.
What are the best Stripe alternatives?
The closest alternatives on Recaply are Paddle, Gumroad and CopeCart.
Where can I try Stripe?
On its official website, stripe.com.
Does Stripe collect and file sales tax for me?
Not by default. Stripe Tax calculates and collects tax for 0.5% per transaction, and the Tax Complete plan from $90 a month also registers and files in 90+ countries. Managed Payments goes further: Stripe becomes the merchant of record for digital goods for an extra 3.5%.
Is Stripe cheaper than Paddle?
On the card fee, yes: 2.9% + 30¢ against Paddle's 5% + 50¢. Paddle's fee also covers tax filing, fraud and buyer support as merchant of record. With Stripe's Managed Payments added, Stripe costs 6.4% + 30¢ for a US card payment.
Which countries can use Stripe?
Businesses in 51 countries and regions can open a Stripe account, including the US, UK, most of the EU, Japan, India and Brazil, with India and Indonesia in preview. Once set up, they can sell to customers anywhere.
Our verdict
Stripe is the default way to take payments online if you can write a little code or hire someone who can.
Its API and docs are the reference point for the industry, it covers 135+ currencies and 100+ payment methods, and you pay nothing until you sell.
- Skip it for
- Sellers of digital products who never want to touch sales tax or VAT and would rather pay a merchant of record such as Paddle.
- Check first
- Add up the international, currency conversion, Billing and Tax fees against your real sales mix before you commit.
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