Stripe fees: what you'll really pay

The bottom line

A month with $10,000 in online sales over 200 orders costs about $350, and a slow month costs only what you sell.

Stripe is built for online checkouts. It takes cards in person too, but it isn’t a POS system. You bring your own POS software or use one that works with Stripe.

Stripe fees at a glance

Visit Stripe

Pricing model

flat

Contract

No contract

Payouts

2 business days (standard)

Monthly cost to take cards

$0 (Reader bought separately)

True cost: first year at $10,000/month in card sales (est.)

$3,539 (12 months of processing at 400 payments a month, plus the listed monthly cost, plus the Stripe Reader M2 at $59)

Payment type	Rate	Source
In person (card present)	2.7% + 5¢	stripe.com
Online	2.9% + 30¢	stripe.com
Keyed in	3.4% + 30¢	stripe.com
ACH	0.8%	stripe.com

Monthly fees and plans

• Standard pricing account fee: $0
• Cellular data per Terminal reader (optional): $10

Checked October 22, 2026 on stripe.com. Prices change, so confirm with Stripe before you sign.

Who it’s for

• Online shops and apps. Stripe’s page says it plugs into custom checkouts and “hundreds of third-party POS systems.”
• Businesses with uneven sales. No monthly fee means a quiet month doesn’t cost you a plan fee.
• Owners who don’t want a contract. There’s no closure fee.
• Larger online businesses. Stripe offers custom pricing, including interchange-plus and volume discounts, for “businesses with large payments volume or unique business models.”

Who should skip it

• Shops that just want a register. Stripe doesn’t list a POS plan, so you need hardware plus separate POS software.
• Businesses with many foreign customers. International cards add 1.5%, and currency conversion adds 1% more.
• Anyone who types in a lot of cards. Manually entered cards add 0.5%, for 3.4% + 30¢.
• Sellers who get a lot of disputes. Each one costs a fee, even when you win (see the catch).

The catch

Extras stack on top of the headline rate. An online sale from a foreign card that needs currency conversion costs 2.9% + 1.5% + 1%, or 5.4% + 30¢.

Disputes cost money even when you win. The first $15 is charged for every dispute you receive. Only the second $15, the fee for responding, comes back if you win.

Tap to Pay on a phone adds a fee. Stripe charges an extra 10¢ per authorization for Tap to Pay.

Buy now, pay later costs more. Klarna payments are 5.99% + 30¢.

What it costs at your size

These are our estimates, from Stripe’s published standard rates, assuming US-issued cards with no currency conversion unless stated.

Example 1: an online shop, $10,000 a month, 200 orders.

• Rate: 2.9% × $10,000 = $290
• Per-order fee: 200 × 30¢ = $60
• Monthly fee: $0
• Estimated total: $350 a month, an effective rate of 3.5%

Example 2: in person on a Stripe reader, $10,000 a month, 400 payments.

• Rate: 2.7% × $10,000 = $270
• Per-sale fee: 400 × 5¢ = $20
• Estimated total: $290 a month, an effective rate of 2.9%, plus your POS software and the reader

If you took those 400 payments with Tap to Pay on a phone instead, add 400 × 10¢ = $40.

More worked examples (3 to 4)

Example 3: a small online seller, $2,000 a month, 80 orders of $25.

• Rate: 2.9% × $2,000 = $58
• Per-order fee: 80 × 30¢ = $24
• Estimated total: $82 a month, an effective rate of 4.1%

On a $25 order, the 30¢ alone is 1.2%, so on small orders the fixed fee matters more than the percentage.

Example 4: a bigger online shop, $50,000 a month, 1,000 orders, 10% from international cards.

• Rate: 2.9% × $50,000 = $1,450
• Per-order fee: 1,000 × 30¢ = $300
• International cards: 1.5% × $5,000 = $75
• Estimated total: $1,825 a month, an effective rate of about 3.7%

Now add five disputes in a month. You fight all five and win three. Stripe charges $15 for each dispute received ($75) and $15 for each one you respond to ($75). You get the response fee back on the three you win ($45). That’s $105 in dispute fees, on top of the sales you lost.

At this size, it’s worth asking Stripe about custom pricing. It doesn’t publish a volume where that starts.

Try your own numbers in the Stripe fee calculator, or compare providers side by side in the fee calculator.

What Stripe charges on one payment

The fee depends on how the customer pays. By our math from Stripe’s published US rates:

Payment type	Rate	$25 sale	$100 sale	$1,000 sale
In person, on a Stripe reader	2.7% + 5¢	$0.73	$2.75	$27.05
Online, US card	2.9% + 30¢	$1.03	$3.20	$29.30
Typed in by hand	3.4% + 30¢	$1.15	$3.70	$34.30
Online, international card	4.4% + 30¢	$1.40	$4.70	$44.30
International card plus currency conversion	5.4% + 30¢	$1.65	$5.70	$54.30
ACH Direct Debit	0.8%, $5 cap	$0.20	$0.80	$5.00

The bottom row is the one most owners miss. If you bill clients for large amounts, asking them to pay by bank can save more than any rate you could negotiate.

How much does it cost to start with Stripe?

Opening a Stripe account costs nothing. You pay only when you take a payment.

Selling online, that may be all you need, if your website or shop software already works with Stripe. Selling in person, you’ll also need:

• A reader. Stripe lists the Reader M2 at $59, the S700 and S710 at $299 each, and the T600 at $329.
• Or your phone. Tap to Pay has no hardware cost, but adds its per-authorization fee.
• Cellular data, if you want it. It’s optional, at $10 a month per reader.
• POS software. The price depends on which compatible POS you pick.

First-year estimate for Example 2, on an S700:

• Card fees: 12 × $290 = $3,480
• Reader: $299
• Estimated first year: $3,779, plus your POS software, and plus $120 if you add cellular data

For Example 1, the online shop, the first year is 12 × $350 = $4,200 in card fees, with no hardware.

How to lower your Stripe fees

You can’t change Stripe’s standard rates, but you can change which rate you pay.

1. Take large payments by bank. A $2,500 invoice costs $5 by ACH Direct Debit, against $72.80 by card.
2. Don’t type cards in. Manual entry adds 0.5%. On $5,000 a month of phone orders, that’s $25 a month.
3. Use a reader, not Tap to Pay, at a busy counter. At 400 payments a month, Tap to Pay’s extra fee is $40, so a $59 reader pays for itself in under two months.
4. Wait for standard payouts. Instant Payouts cost 1.5%, with a 50¢ minimum. Moving $1,000 instantly costs $15. Standard payouts cost nothing extra.
5. Fight only the disputes you can win. The response fee comes back only if you win.
6. Ask about custom pricing once you’re large (see Example 4).

Running your shop on Shopify? Check this first

If your online store is on Shopify, using Stripe instead of Shopify Payments costs extra. Shopify adds its own third-party transaction fee on every sale: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.

On Example 1’s $10,000 month, that’s 2% × $10,000 = $200 extra on Shopify Basic, for an estimated $550 in total. Shopify’s own online rate on Basic is 2.9% + 30¢, the same as Stripe’s. So on Shopify, Stripe rarely makes sense on cost. See our Shopify fees page.

Who pays Stripe’s fee?

Your business does, not your customer. Adding a fee to the customer’s bill is a surcharge, and the rules depend on your state and the card networks. See our credit card surcharge guide before you try it.

Compared with

• Square: 3.3% + 30¢ online on its Free plan, or 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus at $49 a month per location. It includes POS software, which Stripe doesn’t.
• Helcim: interchange-plus with a published markup of 0.50% + 25¢ for online and keyed payments, and no monthly fee. Your total moves with your card mix.
• PayPal: standard online card payments cost 2.99% + 49¢, and its Advanced card payments 2.89% + 29¢. See Stripe vs PayPal.