What Stripe's Pricing Page Says About API Fees
A plain-English read of Stripe's own pricing page: what each successful charge costs through its API, and what it does not charge.
You have built the checkout form, tested the webhooks, and the test charges go through. The next question is what each real charge will cost. Stripe's pricing page spells all of this out, and what follows is a read of that page. Published rates move, so double-check Stripe's page before you flip to live mode.
Pay-as-you-go standard pricing
According to Stripe's pricing page, standard pricing is pay-as-you-go. Stripe's page says its standard plan has no setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees. There are no closure fees either. The page also states that every fee a standard-pricing business can face appears on its website.
The standard online card rate
Most charges sent through the API land under the online card rate. Per Stripe's pricing page, the standard online rate works out to 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards. That percentage scales with the sale. The flat 30¢ is the same on a $10 charge and a $500 charge, so small tickets carry a heavier share of it. The fee applies per successful transaction.
In-person and manually entered cards
Not every charge comes through a web form. Per Stripe's pricing page, in-person card payments run 2.7% + 5¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards. If you sell at a counter as well as online, that is the rate for the tap on the reader.
When a card number is keyed in rather than read by a reader, Stripe's pricing page says manually entered cards add 0.5% to the online card rate. That means an order taken over the phone and typed in costs more than the same card run through your hosted checkout. If a good share of your orders arrive by phone, that 0.5% matters more than the headline rate.
International cards and currency conversion
Per Stripe's pricing page, international cards add 1.5% and currency conversion adds 1%. These stack on top of the base rate, and they are separate. If your customers are mostly in the United States, this line may never touch you. If you sell across borders, work out what the two add-ons do to your average sale.
ACH Direct Debit
Per Stripe's pricing page, ACH Direct Debit costs 0.8% with a $5.00 cap. The cap is the part to notice. On a large bank transfer, the fee stops growing at $5.00, which makes this method cheap for big invoices. On a small one, 0.8% is what you pay. If your API takes bank payments for large amounts, this rate and cap are worth reading closely on Stripe's page.
Refunds
Refunds are where the money does not all come back. Per Stripe's pricing page, the payment processing, Connect and currency conversion fees from the original transaction are not returned. Per Stripe's pricing page, businesses on standard pricing may face fees for refunds when bank transfers are used. For all other payment methods there are no fees for issuing refunds. Custom pricing may add refund fees too, based on your fee schedule with Stripe.
Payouts and Instant Payouts
Getting your money to your bank is free on the normal schedule. Per Stripe's pricing page, payouts on its standard schedule are free. Per Stripe's pricing page, Instant Payouts cost 1.5% of Instant Payouts volume with a minimum fee of 50¢.
Custom pricing for large volumes
Standard pricing is not the only option. Per Stripe's pricing page, Stripe offers custom pricing for businesses with large processing volumes, and eligibility varies by market. Its sales team can build a custom package. The package can bundle Payments, Radar, Connect, Invoicing, Billing and other products. Per Stripe's pricing page, custom packages can include IC+ pricing, discounted flat rates, subscriptions, and buy-rates for platforms. Per Stripe's pricing page, Stripe offers volume-based discounts based on volume tiers, commitments, and product usage. The discounts depend on how much you process, what you commit to, and which products you use. If your API volume is large, this is a conversation to have with Stripe's sales team, not a rate to guess at.
Add-ons priced separately
Some products sit outside the standard per-charge rates. Per Stripe's pricing page, Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams and Stripe Connect with platform-controlled pricing are priced separately. Per Stripe's pricing page, its Billing pay-as-you-go plan charges 0.7% of Billing volume with no recurring fees. Per Stripe's pricing page, its Starter invoicing plan charges 0.4% per paid invoice. Per Stripe's pricing page, basic usage-based billing features remain available via Stripe's Meters API as part of Billing pricing.
One item is free. Stripe's page says 3D Secure comes at no extra charge on standard payments pricing. It says standalone 3DS can get custom pricing.
A few smaller lines on the page
Per Stripe's pricing page, each transaction through its payment APIs includes 10 calculation API calls. Per Stripe's pricing page, Stripe is required to charge tax on certain products and services. Per Stripe's pricing page, tax is charged based on your location or your business or tax status. Per Stripe's pricing page, dashboards, tools, and APIs give you transparency into your costs.
Confirm before you go live
Every figure in this article comes from Stripe's pricing page at the time of writing. Published prices change, and a rate you read here may not match the rate on the day you sign. Before you switch your API keys to live mode, open Stripe's pricing page. Check each rate that fits you. Check the rate for online cards. Check the in-person rate if you use a reader. Check the manual entry add-on and the international add-ons. Check ACH if you take bank payments. Stripe's page is the source of truth, and it is the page to read with your own sales numbers in hand. See our article on a forty dollar sale.