How Stripe's fees work
Stripe has no monthly fee on its standard plan. You pay for each successful payment. In the United States the standard price for a domestic card is 2.9% of the payment plus 30 cents. Cards issued outside the US add 1.5%, and if Stripe has to convert the currency, there is another 1%. ACH Direct Debit costs 0.8% with the fee capped at $5. If you want money in your bank account immediately, Instant Payouts cost 1.5% with a 50-cent minimum.
These surcharges stack. A European customer paying in euros with a card, for a US business that receives dollars, can cost 2.9% + 1.5% + 1% = 5.4% plus 30 cents. That is why international sales can quietly eat your margin.
What does Stripe cost on a typical payment?
On a $100 US card payment the fee is $2.90 plus $0.30, which is $3.20, so you receive $96.80. On a $20 payment the same fee is $0.58 plus $0.30, which is $0.88, an effective rate of 4.4%. Small payments cost more in percentage terms because the 30-cent fixed fee is a bigger share. On a $1,000 ACH payment the fee is capped at $5, or 0.5%, which is why ACH suits large invoices.
How much should you charge to receive an exact amount?
If you want to receive a specific amount, divide your target plus the fixed fee by one minus the percentage rate. For a US card, charge = (target + $0.30) ÷ (1 − 0.029). To receive $100 you would charge $103.30. The calculator does this for you and handles international cards, currency conversion and the ACH cap. In some places surcharging customers is restricted, so check your local rules before you add a fee line to a checkout.
Stripe compared with other options
Stripe's headline card rate is the same as PayPal's standard card rate for online sales in many cases, but the fixed fee and the extras are different. Our PayPal fee calculator shows the PayPal side of the comparison. Platforms such as Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad and Payhip act as the seller for you, including sales tax collection, and charge a higher percentage in return. If you sell digital products to a global audience, compare the total cost after tax handling, not just the card fee.