Stripe
$452/mo est.
- In-person rate
- 2.7% + 5c
- Online rate
- 2.9% + 30c
- Monthly fee
- Free
- Terminal cost
- Reader M2 $59, WisePOS E $249, Reader S700 $349
- Contract length
- No contract
- Settlement time
- Standard payouts
- Est. monthly cost
- $452/mo
Stripe
Developer-first online payments with deep APIs, plus in-person processing through Stripe Terminal.
- In-person rate
- 2.7% + 5c
- Online rate
- 2.9% + 30c
- Monthly fee
- Free
- Contract
- No contract
Best for
Online businesses, marketplaces, and SaaS companies that want the deepest payment APIs.
Pricing breakdown
All prices in USDLast verified June 19, 2026Every fee we track, grouped by where it applies.
In-person payments
In-person terminal and tap-to-pay transactions.
- Transaction rate
- 2.7% + 5c
Stripe Terminal in-person rate.
- Monthly fee
- Free
Pure pay-as-you-go. Billing, Radar, Tax priced as add-ons.
- Terminal cost
- Reader M2 $59, WisePOS E $249, Reader S700 $349
- Setup fee
- Free
Online payments
Online checkout and keyed-in card transactions.
- Transaction rate
- 2.9% + 30c
Standard online. Keyed/manual 3.4% + 30c. +1.5% intl card, +1% currency conversion.
- Monthly fee
- Free
Pure pay-as-you-go. Billing, Radar, Tax priced as add-ons.
- Setup fee
- Free
Other fees
- Chargeback fee
- $15
Returned if you win the dispute. Exact current US figure: verify at the next refresh.
- Early termination fee
- None
No lock-in contract.
- Refund fee
- Free
Original processing fee not returned (industry standard).
- PCI compliance fee
- Included free
PCI handled via Stripe Elements / Terminal.
Contract terms
- Contract length
- No contract
- Settlement time
- Standard payouts
- Recurring billing
- Yes
Stripe Billing is industry-leading for subscriptions.
Accepted payment methods
Cards, wallets, and other methods supported by Stripe for US merchants.
Cards
- Visa
- Mastercard
- AMEX
- discover
- JCB
- UnionPay
Digital wallets
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
Buy now, pay later
- Afterpay
- Klarna
- affirm
Other
- ach
- Alipay
- WeChat Pay
Strengths and trade-offs
Pros
- Best-in-class APIs and developer experience
- No monthly or setup fees
- Industry-leading subscription billing (Stripe Billing)
- Native AI fraud protection and an official MCP server
Cons
- In-person is secondary to the online product
- Advanced features are priced as add-ons
- No retail-first hardware experience
About Stripe
Stripe sets the US benchmark for online and developer-integrated payments. It is the natural fit for e-commerce, marketplaces, subscriptions, and SaaS, with the deepest APIs and the best subscription billing engine on the market. Stripe Terminal adds in-person processing for businesses that need both.
Pricing is pure pay-as-you-go with no monthly or setup fees, and Stripe Radar brings machine-learning fraud protection. The in-person experience is solid but secondary to the online product, and many advanced capabilities are priced as separate add-ons.
Stripe was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco, USA.
How Stripe compares
Side-by-side with the closest alternatives by estimated cost.
Assumes $15,000/mo volume, $50 average transaction, 70% in-person and 30% online.
Square
$452/mo est.
- In-person rate
- 2.6% + 10c
- Online rate
- 2.9% + 30c
- Monthly fee
- Free
- Terminal cost
- Free reader; Reader $59, Terminal $299, Register $799
- Contract length
- Month-to-month
- Settlement time
- Next business day
- Est. monthly cost
- $452/mo
Chase Payment Solutions
$447/mo est.
- In-person rate
- 2.6% + 10c
- Online rate
- 2.9% + 25c
- Monthly fee
- Free
- Terminal cost
- Card Reader + Base $129, Countertop $399, Wireless $499, Smart Terminal $499
- Contract length
- Month-to-month
- Settlement time
- Same-day (Chase account)
- Est. monthly cost
- $447/mo
PayPal
$438/mo est.
- In-person rate
- 2.29% + 9c
- Online rate
- 2.99% + 49c
- Monthly fee
- Free
- Terminal cost
- PayPal Zettle reader ~$29 (first reader); extras ~$79
- Contract length
- Month-to-month
- Settlement time
- 1 business day
- Est. monthly cost
- $438/mo
Common questions about Stripe
The same questions US merchants ask before signing up.
Stripe is pure pay-as-you-go with no monthly or setup fee. Online payments are charged at 2.9% + 30c, and in-person payments through Stripe Terminal are charged at 2.7% + 5c. International cards and currency conversion add a small extra percentage. There is no contract, so you only pay per transaction.
Stripe is strongest online. It has the deepest payment APIs, the best subscription billing engine, and the widest set of integrations for e-commerce, marketplaces, and SaaS. Stripe Terminal adds in-person card processing at 2.7% + 5c, and it works well, but the online product is where Stripe leads the field.
No. Stripe's base monthly fee is Free, with pricing entirely per transaction. Add-on products like Billing, Radar, and Tax are priced separately if you use them, but the core processing has no fixed monthly cost and no minimum.
Yes. Stripe Radar uses machine learning to score and block fraud, with a natural-language Radar Assistant and Smart Disputes for chargebacks. Stripe also runs an official Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so AI assistants and agents can connect to Stripe directly rather than through a third-party tool.
Yes, and it is one of Stripe's standout strengths. Stripe Billing is widely considered the best subscription and recurring-billing engine on the market, handling trials, proration, metered usage, and dunning. That makes Stripe a natural fit for SaaS and any business with subscription revenue.
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