Stripe's credit card processing fees start at 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for online payments, and 2.7% plus 5 cents for in-person card reads

Stripe is a payment processor that lets businesses accept credit and debit cards. The company charges a percentage of each transaction plus a flat per-transaction fee. The exact rate depends on how you accept the card — online, in person, or over the phone — and what type of card the customer uses. There is no monthly fee, no setup fee, and no fee to hold money in your Stripe account.

Stripe does not negotiate custom rates based on your sales volume or industry the way some processors do. Every business on Stripe's standard pricing tier pays the same rate. If you process a very high volume of transactions, Stripe offers a separate Stripe Billing product with different pricing, but that requires a contract negotiation.

Key Takeaways

  • Online card transactions cost 2.9% plus 30 cents; in-person card reads cost 2.7% plus 5 cents; phone and mail orders cost 3.9% plus 30 cents.
  • Stripe charges the same rate to all businesses on its standard plan — there is no volume discount or industry-specific pricing without a custom contract.
  • International cards and certain card types (corporate cards, prepaid cards) may trigger higher fees, sometimes up to 3.9% plus 30 cents.
  • Stripe also charges for specific services: chargebacks cost $15 each, failed payment retries cost 0.8%, and some payment methods like ACH bank transfers have their own fees.
  • You pay Stripe's fees automatically — they are deducted from the money customers send you before it lands in your bank account.

Standard Stripe Pricing by Payment Method

Stripe's base rates depend on how the card information reaches Stripe. An online payment — where a customer enters their card details on your website or app — costs 2.9% of the transaction amount plus 30 cents. A card physically present at your location, read by a Stripe reader or terminal, costs 2.7% plus 5 cents. A phone or mail order, where you manually enter the card details, costs 3.9% plus 30 cents.

The percentage applies to the full transaction amount, including tax and shipping if you include those in the charge. The 30-cent or 5-cent fee is fixed per transaction, regardless of size. On a $100 online sale, you pay $2.90 plus $0.30, totaling $3.20. On a $10 sale, you still pay the $0.30 flat fee, making the total cost $0.59.

Stripe does not charge a fee on refunds you issue, but you do not get the original transaction fee back. If you charged a customer $100 and later refund $100, you keep paying the $3.20 fee from the original sale.

Higher Fees for International and Special Card Types

Cards issued outside the United States, or certain card types, trigger higher Stripe fees. An international card used for an online transaction costs 3.9% plus 30 cents instead of 2.9% plus 30 cents. The same applies to corporate cards, business cards, and some prepaid cards, even if issued in the US.

You do not control which cards trigger the higher rate — Stripe's system identifies the card type automatically when the transaction is processed. There is no way to refuse these cards or pass the extra fee to the customer at checkout. You absorb the difference.

Additional Fees Beyond the Per-Transaction Rate

Stripe charges separate fees for services beyond basic card processing. A chargeback — when a customer disputes a charge with their bank — costs $15 per dispute. Failed payment retries, where Stripe automatically attempts to charge a card again after an initial decline, cost 0.8% of the transaction amount.

If you use Stripe to send payouts to contractors or employees, Stripe charges 1% of the payout amount (minimum $1, maximum $25 per payout). ACH bank transfers, where you move money from Stripe to your bank account, cost $0.25 per transfer. Wire transfers cost $25 each.

Some payment methods Stripe offers — like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or certain regional payment methods — use the same per-transaction rate as the underlying card type. Others, like iDEAL (popular in the Netherlands) or Alipay, have their own fees, typically ranging from 1.5% to 3.5% plus a flat amount.

How Stripe Deducts Fees From Your Payouts

Stripe does not send you an invoice. Instead, fees are deducted automatically from the money customers send you. If a customer pays $100 with an online card and the fee is $3.20, Stripe deposits $96.80 into your bank account. This happens daily or on whatever payout schedule you set in your Stripe dashboard.

You can see the exact fee for each transaction in your Stripe dashboard under the Payments section. Click any transaction to view the breakdown: the amount charged, the fee deducted, and the net amount you received. This is useful for understanding which payment methods cost you the most and for calculating your effective processing cost across all transactions.

Stripe Pricing Compared to Other Processors

Square, another popular processor, charges 2.6% plus 10 cents for online payments and 2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person card reads — slightly lower than Stripe's online rate but higher for in-person. PayPal charges 2.2% plus 30 cents for online payments but does not offer in-person card reading without a separate hardware purchase. Authorize.net charges 2.9% plus 30 cents for online payments but requires a separate merchant account and gateway setup.

The difference between processors is usually less than half a percent on standard transactions. The real cost difference comes from features: Stripe includes invoicing, subscription billing, and terminal hardware in its base product, while competitors charge extra for these. If you need only basic card processing, a cheaper processor might save money. If you need invoicing or recurring billing, Stripe's all-in-one pricing may be lower overall.

What Stripe Does Not Charge For

Stripe does not charge a monthly fee, a setup fee, or a fee to hold money in your account. You do not pay to create a Stripe account, to add payment methods, or to generate invoices. There is no annual fee, no PCI compliance fee, and no fee to dispute a chargeback (though you do pay the $15 chargeback fee itself).

You also do not pay Stripe to access your transaction history, to read reports, or to use most of Stripe's dashboard features. Advanced features like Radar (fraud detection) and Sigma (custom reporting) are included at no extra cost for all Stripe accounts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Stripe charge a fee if a transaction is declined?

No, Stripe does not charge a transaction fee if the card is declined at the moment of payment. You do not pay the 2.9% or 2.7% fee. However, if you use Stripe's automatic retry feature for failed payments, each retry attempt costs 0.8% of the transaction amount, whether it succeeds or fails.

Can I negotiate a lower rate with Stripe?

Not through the standard Stripe account. Stripe offers the same rate to all businesses on its standard pricing plan. If you process very high transaction volumes (typically millions per month), you can contact Stripe's sales team to discuss Stripe Billing, which involves a custom contract and potentially different rates, but this is not available to most small and medium businesses.

What happens if a customer uses a virtual or prepaid card?

Virtual cards and prepaid cards are often flagged as higher-risk by Stripe's system and may trigger the 3.9% plus 30 cents rate instead of the standard 2.9% rate. You have no way to know in advance which cards will be flagged. The fee is determined automatically when the transaction processes.

Does Stripe charge differently for subscriptions or recurring payments?

No, recurring charges use the same per-transaction fee as one-time payments. A subscription billed monthly at $50 costs you 2.9% plus 30 cents each month, the same as a one-time $50 charge. Stripe does not offer a discount for recurring billing.

What is the fee for a chargeback, and can I avoid it?

Stripe charges $15 per chargeback, regardless of the transaction amount. You cannot avoid the fee, but you can dispute the chargeback if you believe it is invalid. Stripe provides tools to upload evidence (like shipping confirmation or customer communication) to fight the dispute, but the $15 fee applies whether you win or lose.