CalcFees

Stripe Fee Calculator

Work out your Stripe costs per transaction -- online, in-person, or international. Updated for 2026.

$
Fees: 3.20% Profit: 96.80%

Total Fees

$3.20

Your Profit

$96.80

Fee Breakdown

Processing fee (2.9%) $2.90
Fixed fee $0.30
Total $3.20

Fee data last verified: March 2026. Source: Stripe official pricing. Report outdated fee

Estimates for informational purposes only. Always verify current rates on the official pricing page.

How Stripe Fees Work

Stripe's official pricing page publishes a flat 2.9% plus $0.30 on every domestic card transaction with no tiered rates or monthly minimums, and NerdWallet's credit card processing fees guide calls this one of the cleanest rate structures in the industry -- we built our calculator around that transparency because sellers switching from legacy processors with interchange-plus pricing and batch fees and statement charges genuinely cannot believe how simple the math becomes. Online card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.30, in-person swipes through Terminal drop to 2.7% plus $0.05, and international cards jump to 3.9% plus $0.30 with an additional 1% for currency conversion, which is a wider spread than most people expect. We track blended rates in our tool and a business doing 30-40% international sales sees an effective rate closer to 3.4% or 3.5% rather than the advertised 2.9% headline number, which is exactly why anyone with overseas customers needs to bake that international surcharge into their pricing from day one instead of discovering the gap in their quarterly reconciliation.

NerdWallet's Stripe vs PayPal comparison highlights the zero-upfront-cost model as a key reason Stripe became the default processor for startups and online-first businesses, and we see this play out constantly -- no monthly subscription, no setup fee, no minimum transaction requirements, and no long-term contract means a founder can integrate Stripe, process their first payment, and only pay the per-transaction fee without committing a single dollar beforehand. PayCompass's industry data showing Square used by 54% of US small businesses proves the market rewards transparent pricing, and we think Stripe's pay-as-you-go structure appeals to the same instinct because early-stage businesses cannot justify paying $25 or $50 monthly to a processor before making their first sale. The developer documentation and API quality are genuinely best-in-class from what we have seen building integrations, which means setup time is measured in hours rather than the weeks that legacy payment gateways typically demand, and that speed-to-launch advantage compounds for businesses testing Stripe alongside their current processor without any financial risk during the evaluation window.

Stripe Fee Types Explained

Payment Type Rate Fixed Fee
Online (US cards)2.9%$0.30
In-Person (Terminal)2.7%$0.05
International cards3.9%$0.30
International + conversion3.9% + 1%$0.30
ACH Direct Debit0.8%$0 (max $5)
Invoicing2.9% + 0.4%$0.30 + $0.30

When Each Fee Applies

Stripe's pricing page lists 2.9% plus $0.30 for domestic US card charges, but NerdWallet's credit card processing guide flags the international rate at 3.9% plus $0.30 -- with an additional 1% if Stripe handles currency conversion -- as the detail most sellers underestimate when budgeting their processing costs. We track blended rates across payment types in our calculator and a seller with 40% international customers is actually paying closer to 3.5-3.6% effective rather than the 2.9% they planned for, which is a gap wide enough to quietly eat into margins over months before anyone catches the discrepancy in their accounting. We think the smart play for businesses selling globally is factoring a one percent price adjustment into international orders from the beginning, because absorbing that surcharge as an unexpected cost month after month is how small businesses slowly bleed profit without understanding where it went.

Stripe's Terminal pricing at 2.7% plus just $0.05 per tap or swipe reflects what NerdWallet's processing comparison describes as the lower fraud risk of card-present transactions, and we see this discount as one of the most overlooked savings available to businesses with any physical sales channel. The difference between 2.7% plus $0.05 and 2.9% plus $0.30 looks small on a single transaction, but we built a scenario in our calculator showing a weekend of $10,000 in in-person sales costing $275 through Terminal versus $320 processed online -- that $45 gap means the Terminal hardware pays for itself remarkably fast and any business with a retail counter or pop-up presence should be routing those transactions through it immediately. PayCompass's data showing 54% of US small businesses on Square confirms that in-person sellers care deeply about per-swipe costs, and we think Stripe Terminal competes seriously in that space even though most people associate Stripe exclusively with online payments.

Stripe's pricing page lists ACH Direct Debit at 0.8% per transaction capped at $5, and NerdWallet's processing fees guide highlights this as one of the most powerful cost-saving features available from any major processor -- we track the math in our calculator and a $500 invoice costs just $4 through ACH versus $14.80 on a credit card, a gap that only gets more dramatic as the amounts climb. Once you cross the $625 threshold every ACH payment costs exactly $5 regardless of whether the transaction is $625 or $25,000, which we think makes it genuinely irresponsible for B2B sellers, contractors, freelancers, and landlords billing in the hundreds or thousands to keep accepting credit cards from established clients. The tradeoff is that ACH payments take a few business days to settle and carry higher dispute risk on unfamiliar customers, but for repeat clients and subscription billing where trust is already established, we see no defensible reason to route those payments through cards at six times the processing cost.

Stripe's Invoicing product adds 0.4% plus $0.30 per paid invoice on top of the standard card rate, bringing the total to roughly 3.3% plus $0.60 per invoice payment -- NerdWallet's fee breakdown confirms this layering effect, and we track it in our calculator because the premium adds up far faster than most sellers expect when they first enable the feature. We ran the numbers on a business sending fifty invoices monthly averaging $300 each and that extra 0.4% plus $0.30 works out to roughly $75 per month in additional fees compared to using direct payment links for the same transactions, which is real money being spent on functionality many sellers do not actually need. We think Invoicing makes sense only when you genuinely require line-item breakdowns, payment terms, and automatic reminders sent to the client -- if you are just collecting a straightforward payment for a known amount, a simple Stripe Payment Link does the identical job at the base 2.9% plus $0.30 rate and you should switch to it immediately.

Tips to Lower Your Stripe Costs

  1. Use ACH for big-ticket items -- Stripe's pricing page shows ACH at 0.8% capped at $5, and we track the savings in our calculator showing a $500 payment costs $4 through ACH versus $14.80 on a card, which means any freelancer or B2B seller not actively pushing clients toward bank payments is overpaying by roughly 70% on every high-value transaction.
  2. Push for volume pricing -- NerdWallet's processing guide confirms Stripe negotiates custom rates above $80K monthly volume, and we think most businesses approaching that threshold fail to ask because they assume the published rate is final, when in reality Stripe's sales team routinely drops below 2.9% for committed volume.
  3. Ditch Invoicing for basic charges -- that extra 0.4% plus $0.30 per invoice adds up to $75 monthly on fifty average-sized invoices according to our calculator data, so we always recommend switching to direct payment links for any transaction that does not genuinely require line items, payment terms, or automatic reminders.
  4. Try Stripe Tax -- Stripe's own product page positions this as a native sales tax solution that plugs directly into your existing setup, and we think it saves most sellers both the cost and the integration headache of dealing with third-party tax tools that charge their own monthly subscription on top of everything else.

Stripe vs Other Platforms

NerdWallet's Stripe vs PayPal comparison confirms the gap at 2.9% plus $0.30 versus PayPal's 3.49% plus $0.49, which works out to $3.20 versus $3.98 on a hundred-dollar sale -- we track this in our comparison tool and over a thousand transactions that $0.78 difference compounds into $780 in annual savings, wide enough that the choice between the two platforms is essentially a straightforward math problem for online-only sellers. PayCompass reports Square processes payments for 54% of US small businesses at 2.6% plus $0.10 for in-person swipes, beating both Stripe and PayPal at the point of sale, so brick-and-mortar businesses with minimal online revenue would genuinely do better there. Baymard Institute's research across 50 studies found a 70.22% average cart abandonment rate with about 10% of shoppers leaving over missing payment options, which is why we think the smartest strategy is not choosing one processor exclusively but rather using Stripe as your primary online gateway while keeping PayPal available at checkout for the segment of buyers who refuse to purchase without it. Check our full comparison for the complete side-by-side breakdown across every payment method and platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Stripe charge per transaction?
Stripe's official pricing page lists 2.9% plus $0.30 on every domestic online card payment, and NerdWallet's Stripe vs PayPal comparison confirms this makes it one of the most straightforward rate cards in the industry -- we built our calculator around this simplicity because a hundred-dollar sale always costs exactly $3.20 with no ambiguity or hidden surcharges lurking in your monthly statement. In-person payments through Stripe Terminal drop to 2.7% plus just $0.05, which we see as a meaningful discount since card-present transactions carry far less fraud risk and Stripe passes that savings directly to the merchant. International cards bump the rate to 3.9% plus $0.30 with an additional 1% for currency conversion, and we track sellers in our data who do 30-40% overseas business paying an effective blended rate closer to 3.5% than the advertised 2.9%, which is exactly why anyone with a global customer base needs to price that surcharge in from day one or watch their margins quietly erode.
What percentage does Stripe take?
Stripe's pricing page shows a range from 0.8% all the way to 3.9% depending on payment method, and NerdWallet's credit card processing fees guide highlights that this spread matters enormously because the way your customer chooses to pay affects your margins just as much as the sale amount itself. We track all six payment types in our calculator and the ACH Direct Debit option at 0.8% capped at $5 per transaction is the standout -- a thousand-dollar invoice costs just five dollars to process through ACH versus $29.30 on a credit card, which completely changes the economics for anyone billing clients in the hundreds or thousands. Standard online card transactions sit at 2.9%, Terminal swipes come in at 2.7%, and we think most businesses leave serious money on the table by defaulting everything to card payments when ACH is available and their customers would accept it without complaint.
Are there hidden fees on Stripe?
We built this calculator partly to prove a point that NerdWallet's processing guide also makes -- Stripe genuinely has no hidden fees, which sounds like marketing until you compare it against legacy processors that stack gateway fees, statement fees, and PCI compliance charges you only discover three months after signing the contract. The only additional charges come from optional products you deliberately turn on, like Invoicing at 0.4% plus $0.30 or Radar for extra fraud screening, and none of those activate without you clicking a button first. We think the zero-monthly-fee model is what made Stripe the default for startups, and after years of building calculators for other platforms we can confirm that this level of pricing transparency is genuinely unusual in the industry.
How to reduce Stripe fees?
The single biggest thing you can do to cut Stripe costs is push clients toward ACH bank payments -- Stripe's pricing page shows 0.8% capped at five dollars, which means a $500 invoice costs $4 through ACH versus $14.80 on a credit card and that gap gets wider on every dollar above it. We track this in our calculator because B2B sellers and freelancers billing in the hundreds or thousands are the ones leaving the most money on the table by defaulting to card payments when their clients would happily pay from a bank account if anyone actually asked them to. NerdWallet's processing fees guide notes that Stripe negotiates custom pricing above $80K monthly volume, so businesses approaching that threshold should absolutely request a rate review rather than accepting the standard 2.9% as permanent.
Stripe fees vs PayPal fees — which is cheaper?
Here is what our comparison tool shows every time someone asks -- Stripe takes $3.20 on a hundred-dollar sale while PayPal takes $3.98, and NerdWallet's head-to-head review confirms that $0.78 gap compounds into $780 over a thousand orders, which is real money most online sellers leave on the table out of pure habit. The detail we think gets overlooked is that PayPal's fixed fee is 19 cents higher per transaction regardless of sale amount, so the gap actually widens on small orders where that flat charge does the most damage. PayCompass reports Square handles 54% of US small business payments at 2.6% plus $0.10 for in-person swipes, beating both Stripe and PayPal at the point of sale -- so the cheapest option depends entirely on your sales channel mix. Check our <a href="/payment-processing-comparison/">full comparison</a> for the complete side-by-side breakdown.
Does Stripe have monthly fees?
Stripe's pricing page explicitly states zero monthly fees, zero setup costs, and zero cancellation penalties, which NerdWallet's processing comparison highlights as a major advantage over legacy processors that lock merchants into annual contracts with early termination charges -- we see this as the primary reason Stripe became the default choice for startups that cannot justify paying $25 or $50 per month before making their first sale. You only pay when money actually moves through the system, and the per-transaction pricing stays identical whether you process one sale a month or ten thousand, which we think removes the pressure that kills so many early-stage businesses forced into minimum volume commitments. The only recurring costs come from optional add-ons like Invoicing at 0.4% plus $0.30 per paid invoice, currency conversion at 1%, or Radar for Fraud Teams, but for most businesses just accepting standard payments the core product costs literally nothing until a customer pays you.
How much does Stripe charge?
Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 on every domestic online card payment with no monthly fees, no setup costs, and no cancellation penalties -- which NerdWallet's processing guide calls one of the most transparent rate cards in the industry. The rate drops to 2.7% plus $0.05 for in-person Terminal payments and all the way to 0.8% capped at $5 for ACH bank transfers, which is why B2B sellers and freelancers invoicing in the hundreds or thousands should be pushing clients toward bank payments instead of defaulting everything to cards.

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