About Stripe
Overview
Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform that enables businesses of all sizes to accept payments, manage revenue, and move money globally. It serves enterprises, startups, SaaS platforms, and marketplaces with a single API and no-code tools.
Unlike traditional payment gateways or merchant account providers, Stripe combines payment processing, billing automation, fraud prevention, embedded financial services, and banking-as-a-service in one unified platform. It supports 135+ currencies and 100+ payment methods across 195 countries.
Key Benefits
- Process payments in 135+ currencies with 100+ payment methods through a single integration — from Alipay to iDEAL.
- Maintain 99.999% average historical uptime while handling 250 million+ API requests per day.
- Manage 200M+ active subscriptions through Stripe Billing with support for any recurring revenue model.
- Block fraud using machine learning trained on data across millions of companies — no additional integration required.
- Offer accelerated checkout with Link, which autofills customers' saved cards for faster conversion.
- Scale from first transaction to $1 billion — 50% of Fortune 100 companies have used Stripe.
How It Works
A developer creates a Stripe account, obtains API keys, and integrates one of Stripe's libraries or prebuilt UI components into their application. Customers enter payment details on a Stripe-hosted checkout page or embedded Elements form; Stripe tokenizes the data and processes the transaction. The business receives payouts to its bank account on a rolling, weekly, or monthly schedule, and manages all operations — refunds, disputes, reports — from the Stripe Dashboard.
Use Cases
- Enterprise retailers like URBN consolidate $5 billion in online and in-store revenue onto Stripe Payments and Terminal.
- SaaS platforms such as Linear use Stripe Billing to handle subscription management and recurring payments.
- AI startups including ElevenLabs and Browserbase implement usage-based billing with Stripe Metronome.
- Vertical SaaS platforms embed payments and financial services for their users using Stripe Connect.
- Online marketplaces like Instacart power payouts to 600K+ shoppers across 100K stores using Connect and Issuing.
- Global publishers such as Le Monde transition all digital and print payments to Stripe in under three months.
Why Choose This Product
Stripe suits any business that needs a scalable, global payment platform — from early-stage startups incorporating via Stripe Atlas to Fortune 100 companies managing billions in revenue. The standard per-transaction pricing has no monthly or setup fees, but businesses with high volume or unique models must contact sales for custom rates.
Stripe Pros & Cons
- Operates in 195 countries with 135+ currencies
- 99.999% historical uptime for Stripe services
- 50% of Fortune 100 companies have used Stripe
- No setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees
- Built-in fraud prevention using machine learning
- 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction can be expensive for low-margin businesses
- Custom pricing requires contacting sales — no public self-serve for high-volume businesses
Key Features
Global payments
Accept payments in 135+ currencies via a single API integration, supporting 100+ local payment methods.
Fraud prevention
Radar uses machine learning trained across millions of companies to detect and block fraud without code.
Recurring billing
Manage subscriptions, invoices, and usage-based billing with support for 200M+ active subscriptions.
Embedded checkout
Prebuilt UI components and hosted checkout pages that securely capture payment details with no PCI burden.
Accelerated checkout
Link autofills customers' saved payment details across sites for faster, frictionless checkout.
Flexible integration
Combine no-code payment links, prebuilt forms, and flexible UI building blocks to design the checkout experience.
Platform tools
Onboard and verify platform users, manage payment operations, embed components, and mitigate risk for connected accounts.
Flexible payouts
Receive payouts on a rolling, weekly, or monthly schedule with like-for-like settlement in select regions.
Revenue optimization
Real-time retries, auto-updated cards, and 3D Secure authentication increase successful payment rates.
Security & compliance
PCI-compliant infrastructure with 99.999% average uptime and regulatory licenses globally.
Stripe Pricing
View full pricing →- Global access in 195 countries
- 135+ currencies supported
- 100+ payment methods
- Built-in fraud prevention with Radar
- 24x7 phone, chat, and email support
- 99.999% average historical uptime
- IC+ pricing
- Volume discounts
- Multi-product discounts
- Country-specific rates
| Feature | Standard $2.9% + $0.30 per transaction usage-based | Custom Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Global access in 195 countries | ||
| 135+ currencies supported | ||
| 100+ payment methods | ||
| Built-in fraud prevention with Radar | ||
| 24x7 phone, chat, and email support | ||
| 99.999% average historical uptime | ||
| IC+ pricing | ||
| Volume discounts | ||
| Multi-product discounts | ||
| Country-specific rates |
Pricing extracted from the product website and may change. Check the source for current details.
Frequently asked questions about Stripe
Does Stripe have a free plan?
No. Stripe operates on a pay-as-you-go model with no setup fees, monthly fees, or hidden fees. You pay 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card transaction.
What currencies and payment methods does Stripe support?
Stripe processes payments in 135+ currencies and supports 100+ payment methods including Alipay, iDEAL, and others. Businesses can accept payments from customers in 195 countries.
Does Stripe include fraud protection?
Yes. Stripe includes built-in fraud prevention via Radar, which uses machine learning trained on data across millions of companies. It adapts to new fraud patterns with no integration required.
What kind of customer support does Stripe offer?
Stripe offers support over email, phone, and chat 24x7. Email support is available in six languages. Developers can also get technical support on the official Stripe Developer Discord server.
Is Stripe free?
Stripe is a paid product. See the pricing section for current plans and starting prices.
How much does Stripe cost?
Stripe offers the following plans: Standard, Custom. See the pricing section for what's included in each tier and any per-seat or usage-based costs.