Stripe Pricing and Fees Explained

Stripe is one of the world’s most popular payment platforms, trusted by startups, SaaS companies, e-commerce brands, and global enterprises. Yet, the overly complex Stripe processing fees cause some business owners to ignore this payment provider, especially if they’re running a brick-and-mortar company. They are reluctant to pay Stripe credit card payment fees, as they simply don’t require 140+ currency processing in their operations.

Once you take into account foreign cards, subscriptions, refunds, and processing several currencies, the structure of Stripe payments fees quickly becomes exceedingly hard to navigate, all the while significantly impacting your profit margins. So, let’s learn more about Stripe payments transaction fees and determine whether your business can benefit from using this popular platform.

Stripe Fees Overview

What is Stripe? While you should definitely read the linked article if you want to know more, the short of it is that Stripe is a popular platform for handling international payments. It is especially popular among businesses, serving companies of all sizes. As for Stripe’s fee structure, the good news is that it doesn’t have complicated monthly plans or hidden service costs. Instead, the platform follows a pay-as-you-go approach and only applies fees when you successfully process a payment. Using a transaction-based model, Stripe takes a small percentage plus a fixed amount every time a customer completes a payment and adjusts rates depending on the payment and processing methods used.

Basically, businesses are offered two pricing packages:

• Standard pricing has per-transaction fees, no setup or monthly payments, and fixed rates. 
• Custom pricing offers bespoke solutions for larger businesses and allows for rate negotiation based on payment volume.

Speaking of Stripe fees, they fall into a few major categories:

• Stripe online payments fees are charged for transfer using popular banking cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and working with digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Alipay, Cash App Pay, etc.). The fixed rate for this method is 2.9% + 30 cents if the transaction is confirmed.
• In-person payments via POS terminals, where business owners get to enjoy a lower fee of 2.7% + 5 cents per successful transaction. However, to accept in-person payments, you’ll have to pay $59 for a mobile terminal or $249 for a countertop one.
• Stripe payment processing fees for international clients will cost an extra 1.5% for international cards and +1% if the transaction involves currency conversion.
• Other payment methods: ACH Direct Deposit entails a relatively low fee of 0.8% per transaction (but no more than $5). A bank transfer costs 0.5% (capped at $5) while a wire payment will cost you a substantial $15. Afterpay costs 6% + 30 cents per transaction.

How to Calculate Stripe Fees

Calculating Stripe payments processor fees is a pretty simple procedure, provided you know Stripe billing pricing, as all it takes is some elementary mathematics and a calculator. Let’s see how it works.

Calculating Online Payment

Stripe payment fees for online transactions are 2.9% + 30 cents per completed charge, so the fee for a $25 payment will be as follows:

Online Fee: ($25 * 0.029) + $0.3 = $0.725 + $0.3 = $1.03.

Payout: $25 - $1.03 = $23.97.

The specified rates apply only to online transactions, so they will come into play if you work through a website, marketplace, or specialized systems like Shopify, where your business’s showcase is hosted. However, the rates change when selling goods and services offline or receiving (or sending) payment from abroad.

Calculating In-Person Payment

Startups and business owners that operate mainly offline have a different set of rates to deal with: 2.7% + 5 cents per transaction. With this in mind:

In-Person Fee: ($25 * 0.027) + $0.05 = $0.675 + $0.05 = $0.73.

Payout: $25 - $0.73 = $24.27.

Please note that Stripe pricing and fees are subject to change depending on the platform’s current policy. Therefore, follow the updates on the system’s official website or in your personal account. Stripe usually sends notifications to let the entrepreneurs know about changes in pricing.

Calculating International Payment

Let’s say you are ready to sell your product to an international audience without raising its cost. The Stripe card payment fees you’ll have to pay amount to 2.9% + 2.5% extra, and the formula will look as follows:

International Payment Fee: ($25 * 0.054) + $0.3 = $1.65.

Payout: $25 - $1.65 = $23.35.

This formula applies specifically to Stripe international fees, which are quite loyal when compared to other third-party payment systems, gateways, and aggregators. However, the platform is quite flexible and allows you to partially personalize commissions, for example, for small businesses, startups, etc.

Calculating ACH, Wire, and Bank Transfer Payments

These transfer methods are popular for handling B2B payments, large invoices, subscriptions, and international business transactions, as they have lower fees and higher limits.

An ACH Direct Debit payment with Stripe entails a 0.8% fee capped at $5, which means that receiving $100 will cost you $0.80, and a $1,000 payment will entail a $5 charge.

A domestic bank transfer costs 0.5% (capped at $5) while an international bank transfer will additionally entail 1.5% + 1% if currency conversion is required. So, a domestic transfer of both $1,000 and, say, $2,000 will cost only $5, while an international bank transfer costs $5 + ($1.000 * 0.025) = $30.

Both international and domestic wire payments are priced at $15 per payment, making this method a natural choice for large one-off transactions.

Fees for Non-Profit Organizations

Many platforms offer special pricing for registered non-profits. The same is true for Stripe, which allows eligible non-profits apply for custom pricing plans. Normally, non-profits are charged less per transaction, enjoy smaller fixed processing fees, and get waived or reduced fees for tools like invoicing, recurring billing, and international donations.

Stripe International & Currency Conversion Fees

With Stripe, you can accept payments from almost anywhere in the world. But when money crosses borders and currencies, extra costs inevitably come into play. So, how much does Stripe charge for international transactions?

When a customer initiates a transaction from another country or in a foreign currency, the platform applies two separate charges on top of standard processing fees:

• 1.5% international transaction fee.
• 1% currency conversion fee on top of the exchange rate.

Refund & Chargeback Fees

When you refund a customer through Stripe, the payment amount goes back to the buyer, but Stripe does not return the fixed processing fee from the original transaction ($0.30).

When dealing with chargebacks in case of customer disputes on card transactions, you’ll have to pay a $15 dispute fee per return. However, if you win the dispute, the platform will waive the fee.

Understanding Payouts: Instant & Deferred

With dozens of transfer methods, Stripe can process payments near-instantaneously for both online and in-person transactions, which is one of the major Stripe benefits. First, Stripe’s API sends instant requests to the client’s bank or wallet to determine whether there are enough funds to complete the transaction. Then, the platform also receives a prompt response from the merchant’s account holder if the merchant is ready to receive payments, and the deal is finalized. The whole process takes around 30 minutes.

If a merchant wants to speed up this process, it will cost them an extra 1% per transaction. Otherwise, they have to deal with the original transaction and must wait 1 business day to receive the payout, which can be deferred for up to 1 month. They can also choose the exact day each month when the money will be transferred to their account, and don’t have to pay any additional fees.

Comparison of Stripe's Fees With Other Payment Gateways

So, what are Stripe costs compared to other payment aggregators? Let’s compare the platform's conditions with those of its closest competitors to determine whether Stripe is really as good as it seems at first glance. We have prepared a comprehensive table with information on several popular payment platforms and their key commissions, taxes, and other details.

Stripe leads the market in terms of available payment options and keeps its fees reasonable for big and small businesses alike, especially in the online sector. Another well-known worldwide platform, PayPal, covers even more countries and offers lower prices, but has a shorter list of connected payment methods.

For small businesses with limited online sales, Square should also be considered because of its low fees. If we’re talking about companies that need POS terminals to handle in-person payments, Clover is probably just the thing.

If you want to manage your finances in the international market, pay attention to Stripe and PayPal. Square has limited options outside NA and EU, while Clover charges higher fees due to Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), which can reach up to 3–4%. If you decide to switch services for any reason, knowing how to close a Stripe account properly will help you avoid legal issues later down the line.

Ways to Lower Stripe Fees

Accepting payments with Stripe is easy, yet it comes at a cost that might quietly eat into your profits. With the right strategy, though, you can lower Stripe fees:

• Switch high-value payments to ACH and bank transfers, with fees capped at $5.
• Set your checkout to your payout currency and use multi-currency balances to avoid currency conversion fees.
• If you’re dealing with a high payment volume, negotiate custom pricing with Stripe to secure lower processing rates and international fees.

Consider Rates as Your Trusted Partner

Knowing how much Stripe transaction fees are and how the platform works is not all there is to it. To maximize profits and avoid losing money on international transactions, it is essential to stay informed about the latest exchange rates. This is where Rates come to the rescue.

Our platform provides a comprehensive knowledge of all exchangers in your city, and can track the dynamics of their exchange rates. Extensive graphs, geolocating, and a user-friendly interface — all so you can find the best deal possible.

Take advantage of Rates.fm now, and don't spend additional money on currency exchange.

Conclusion

Many businesses use Stripe as a payment gateway when integrating into the local or global market, and for a good reason. Stripe offers competitive fees, covers multiple payment methods, supports many currencies, provides a whole bunch of helpful tools, and offers a great degree of flexibility to large merchants. So, when used wisely, it’s a great payment processor for businesses. However, Stripe’s competitors like PayPal or Square can be more cost-efficient for online or in-person payments.

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