Stripe — 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card charge with no setup or monthly fee — and then a per-unit price for every other thing Stripe does.
Short answer: Stripe’s Standard pricing is 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards, with no setup fees, monthly fees or hidden fees. International cards add 1.5%, currency conversion adds 1%, and manually entered cards add 0.5%. In-person payments through Terminal are 2.7% plus 5¢ for domestic cards with 1.5% added for international and $0.10 per authorisation for Tap to Pay. ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% capped at $5.00. Disputes cost $15.00 each to receive and $15.00 to counter manually, refunded on wins. Volume customers can negotiate a Custom package with interchange-plus pricing. Everything else — billing, invoicing, payouts, card issuing, identity, financial connections — carries its own published per-unit rate. Read from stripe.com/pricing on 1 October 2026.
On this page
Verdict at a glance
The headline rate has no floor attached to it: no setup fee, no monthly fee and no minimum, so the cost of having Stripe installed and taking no money is zero. For a business with irregular revenue that is materially different from a gateway with a monthly plan.
The 2.9% + 30¢ figure covers card acceptance and nothing else. Subscriptions, invoicing, payouts, card issuing, fraud tooling beyond Radar Lite, identity verification and bank-data access are each metered separately, and the combinations add up fast — Stripe Billing’s own subscription tier starts at $620.00 per month on a one-year contract.
Stripe’s pricing page is unusual in that it is honest about being a price list rather than a plan ladder. The number everyone comes for is Standard: 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction, with the page stating explicitly that there are no setup fees, monthly fees or hidden fees. Around it sit the modifiers you will actually pay — plus 1.5% for international cards, plus 1% when currency conversion is required, plus 0.5% for manually entered cards. In person, Terminal is 2.7% plus 5¢ domestic, with the same 1.5% international surcharge, $0.10 per authorisation for Tap to Pay on phones and an optional $0.05 per authorisation for point-to-point encryption; readers run $59.00 for the M2 and $299.00 to $329.00 for the S710, S700 and T600. Bank debits are cheaper and capped: ACH Direct Debit at 0.8% with a $5.00 maximum. Disputes are $15.00 to receive and $15.00 to counter manually, returned if you win; dispute deflection lookups are $15.00 per Visa resolution and $29.00 per Mastercard resolution. Then the rest of Stripe appears, each line with its own rate: $10.00 a month for a custom payments domain, 0.4% capped at $2.00 for post-payment invoices, $1.50 per instant bank verification, $0.10 per balance API call, $0.30 per institution per account holder per month for transaction feeds, $1.50 per domestic payout plus 0.75% for debit card payouts, $1.50 per international payout with cross-border fees from 0.25% and FX from 0.5%, $0.10 per virtual card and $3.50 per standard physical card, $0.15 per Shared Payment Token for agent-led purchases, $0.12 per standalone 3DS attempt. Stripe Billing’s annual subscription starts at $620.00 per month on a one-year contract, with a pay-as-you-go alternative. Four and a half stars. The documentation and the pricing transparency are both best in class and the absence of a monthly minimum is a genuine advantage for small and seasonal businesses. The half-star comes off because a realistic total is only knowable by assembling a dozen line items, and the volume discount that materially changes the headline rate is a conversation rather than a published tier.
Quick facts
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ideal team | Any business taking card payments online, from first sale upward |
| Learning curve | Low with Checkout, high with the raw API |
| Setup time | Hours for Checkout, days for a custom integration |
| Free trial | ✅ Not applicable — you pay per transaction only |
| Free tier | ✅ No setup, monthly or minimum fees |
| Entry | 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction |
| In person | 2.7% + 5¢ domestic via Terminal |
| Volume pricing | ⚠️ Custom and interchange-plus are quote-only |
Overview
Standard pricing is pay-as-you-go: 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards, explicitly with no setup, monthly or hidden fees. The surcharges are published alongside it — plus 0.5% for manually entered cards, plus 1.5% for international cards, plus 1% where currency conversion is required. Link, Stripe’s accelerated checkout, carries the same 2.9% plus 30¢ with 1.5% added for international transactions. Radar Lite fraud protection and pre-built UIs are included with Payments, and payment optimisations are included at no additional charge on standard pricing, with 3D Secure at $0.03 per attempt only for accounts on custom pricing and $0.12 per standalone 3DS attempt via the API.
In-person acceptance through Terminal is 2.7% plus 5¢ per successful domestic card transaction, with 1.5% added for international cards, $0.10 per authorisation for Tap to Pay on a compatible phone and an optional $0.05 per authorisation for point-to-point encryption. Hardware is listed: $59.00 for the Stripe Reader M2 and $299.00, $299.00 and $329.00 for the S710, S700 and T600 respectively, with cellular readers including unlimited cellular data and Apps on Device limited to 10 GB per reader per month at $10.00 per reader per month. Bank payments are the cheap path: ACH Direct Debit at 0.8% capped at $5.00 per transaction.
Disputes and the wider platform each have published unit prices. A received dispute costs $15.00 and a manually countered dispute $15.00, refunded when you win; deflection lookups are $15.00 per Visa resolution, a Compelling Evidence 3.0 block is $15.00 per Visa and $29.00 per Mastercard resolution. Elsewhere: $10.00 per month for a custom domain on hosted payment pages, 0.4% of transaction total capped at $2.00 per post-payment invoice, $1.50 per successful instant bank-account verification with micro-deposit verification free, $0.10 per successful balance API call, $1.50 per account-owner API call, $0.30 per institution per account holder per month for transaction feeds, $2.00 per wire funding, $1.50 per domestic payout and $1.50 plus 0.75% for debit card payouts with a 50¢ minimum, $1.50 per international payout with cross-border fees from 0.25% and FX from 0.5%, $0.10 per virtual card and $3.50 per standard physical card, and $0.15 per Shared Payment Token issued for agent-facilitated purchases. Stripe Billing offers an annual subscription paid monthly from $620.00 per month on a one-year contract, or pay-as-you-go. Businesses with large volume or unusual models are directed to a Custom package with interchange-plus pricing and volume discounts, which carries no figure.
Key features
- Card acceptance2.9% + 30¢ domestic, no monthly fee
- Checkout and Linkprebuilt payment pages at the same rate
- Terminal2.7% + 5¢ in person, readers from $59.00
- ACH Direct Debit0.8% capped at $5.00
- Radar Liteincluded with Payments
- Billing and invoicing⚠️ metered; subscription from $620.00/mo
- Global payouts$1.50 domestic and international per payout
- Issuing$0.10 virtual, $3.50 standard physical card
- Financial Connections$1.50 per instant verification
- Shared Payment Tokens$0.15 each, for agent purchases
Pricing (as of 2026-10-01)
Model: pay-as-you-go per transaction with no setup, monthly or minimum fee; every additional product metered separately · Free tier: ✅ No setup, monthly or minimum fees — you pay only on successful transactions · Entry paid: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard — online cards | 2.9% + 30¢ | Per successful domestic card transaction · +0.5% manually entered · +1.5% international · +1% currency conversion |
| Terminal — in person | 2.7% + 5¢ | Domestic cards · +1.5% international · +$0.10 per Tap to Pay authorisation · readers $59.00–$329.00 |
| ACH Direct Debit | 0.8% | Capped at $5.00 per transaction |
| Disputes | $15.00 | Per dispute received and per manually countered dispute; refunded on wins |
| Billing subscription | From $620.00/mo | Annual subscription paid monthly on a one-year contract, by volume tier; pay-as-you-go alternative available |
| Custom | Quote | Interchange-plus pricing and volume discounts for large or unusual businesses |
⚠️ Stripe publishes no plan price, so there is no single figure to quote. The 2.9% + 30¢ rate covers domestic online card acceptance only; everything else on the platform has its own per-unit price.
⚠️ Before signing, get the Custom package terms in writing if volume is material: interchange-plus pricing, the volume discount schedule, and which products are included at which rate. The page offers Custom to businesses with large payments volume or unique business models and quotes no figure.
The surcharges are the part most estimates miss: +0.5% manually entered, +1.5% international cards, +1% when currency conversion is required. A business selling cross-border pays meaningfully more than 2.9%.
Disputes are $15.00 to receive and $15.00 to counter manually, refunded if you win. Deflection lookups are $15.00 per Visa resolution and a Compelling Evidence 3.0 block is $29.00 per Mastercard resolution.
Stripe Billing is a separate line: an annual subscription paid monthly starting at $620.00 per month on a one-year contract, based on a volume tier, or a pay-as-you-go option. Post-payment invoices are 0.4% of the transaction total capped at $2.00.
Ratings breakdown
Pros
- No setup fee, monthly fee or minimum
- Headline rate published plainly with every surcharge listed
- Radar Lite fraud protection included with Payments
- ACH at 0.8% capped at $5.00 for high-value invoices
- In-person rate lower than online at 2.7% + 5¢
- Dispute fees refunded on wins
Cons
- ⚠️ No plan price — the total is a sum of metered line items
- ⚠️ Volume and interchange-plus pricing is quote-only
- Stripe Billing’s subscription starts at $620.00 a month on a one-year contract
- Cross-border selling adds up to 2.5% on top of the headline
- Transaction feeds billed monthly per institution per account holder
- 3D Secure at $0.03 per attempt applies only to custom-pricing accounts
Who it’s for
- Online businesses that want to start taking cards this week
- Developers who need payments, subscriptions and payouts from one API
- Marketplaces and platforms paying out to many recipients
- Businesses with seasonal revenue that cannot carry a monthly gateway fee
Who it’s not for
- Merchants with volume large enough to negotiate interchange-plus elsewhere first
- Businesses wanting one predictable monthly bill
- Teams needing a fixed subscription price for billing and invoicing
- Anyone selling mostly cross-border who has not modelled the surcharges
Best use cases
- Taking first card payments through hosted Checkout
- Running subscriptions and dunning through Stripe Billing
- Paying out to contractors in 50+ countries
- Accepting ACH for invoices above $625 where the 0.8% cap bites
- Issuing virtual cards for ad spend at $0.10 each
Integrations
Stripe is the payment layer most other tools assume: Shopify, WooCommerce and Ecwid all settle through it, Kajabi and HoneyBook charge their own processing margin on top of it, and Supabase and Vercel projects reach it through official SDKs. Stripe’s Shared Payment Tokens at $0.15 each are its answer to agent-initiated purchasing.
Alternatives
PayPal and Adyen are the direct processing rivals, neither of which this site has reviewed. Within the coverage here, the useful comparison is against platforms that bundle payments into a subscription: HoneyBook charges from 2.9% + 25¢ on top of its monthly plan, Kajabi and Shopify add their own margins, and QuickBooks Online handles the accounting side rather than acceptance.
Recent changes
Read from stripe.com/pricing on 1 October 2026. Standard pricing remains 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction with no setup, monthly or hidden fees, plus 0.5% for manually entered cards, 1.5% for international cards and 1% where currency conversion is required. Terminal is 2.7% plus 5¢ domestic with $0.10 per Tap to Pay authorisation and an optional $0.05 per authorisation for point-to-point encryption; readers are listed at $59.00 for the M2 and $299.00 to $329.00 for the S710, S700 and T600, with Apps on Device at $10.00 per reader per month. ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% capped at $5.00 and disputes are $15.00. The newest line is Shared Payment Tokens at $0.15 per token issued, described as a secure primitive that helps agents facilitate purchases on behalf of customers — Stripe’s pricing for agentic commerce. Stripe Billing lists an annual subscription paid monthly from $620.00 per month on a one-year contract alongside pay-as-you-go, and Custom interchange-plus pricing remains quote-only.
Frequently asked questions
What does Stripe charge per transaction?
2.9% plus 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction on Standard pricing, with no setup, monthly or hidden fees. Manually entered cards add 0.5%, international cards 1.5% and currency conversion 1%. Read from stripe.com/pricing on 1 October 2026.
Does Stripe have a monthly fee?
No. The pricing page states there are no setup fees, monthly fees or hidden fees on Standard pricing — you pay only when a transaction succeeds. Individual products such as Stripe Billing and custom domains do carry monthly charges.
How much does Stripe charge for in-person payments?
Terminal is 2.7% plus 5¢ per successful domestic card transaction, with 1.5% added for international cards and $0.10 per authorisation for Tap to Pay. Readers cost $59.00 for the M2 and $299.00 to $329.00 for the larger models.
What do Stripe disputes cost?
$15.00 for each dispute received and $15.00 for each dispute you counter manually, with the fee returned on disputes you win. Network fees may also apply in rare cases, and deflection lookups are priced separately.
Is ACH cheaper than cards on Stripe?
Usually, because it is capped. ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% with a $5.00 maximum per transaction, so above roughly $625 it costs less than the 2.9% card rate and the gap widens with the invoice size.
Can I negotiate a lower Stripe rate?
The page offers a Custom package with interchange-plus pricing and volume discounts for businesses with large payments volume or unique models, and publishes no figure for it. Ask for the discount schedule and which products are included at which rate in writing.
Sources
- Stripe – pricing page, Standard and Custom (read 2026-10-01)
- Stripe – Terminal, hardware and in-person rates (read 2026-10-01)
- Stripe – billing, payouts, issuing and financial connections rates (read 2026-10-01)
Compiled from public sources; last verified 2026-10-01. Pricing is subject to change — verify with the vendor. Ratings reflect editorial opinion based on documented capabilities, published pricing, and aggregated user reviews. DigiJaws does not accept payment for review placement or rating.
Stripe Review (4.5/5): Pricing & Fees (2026). DigiJaws, 2026. https://digijaws.com/reviews/stripe-review/