A $100 card payment costs you $3.20 on Stripe, and you keep $96.80. A $100 bank debit costs $0.80. A $1,000 bank debit costs $5.00, because the fee is capped. Same company, very different bills.
Stripe has no monthly fee on standard pricing, so what you pay depends on how customers pay and how you take your money out. Here is the list.
These are US rates from stripe.com/pricing, which I read on 20 October 2026. Rates vary by country, so check Stripe's page for yours.
What do card payments cost?
- Domestic cards, online: 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction. Digital wallets use the same rate.
- International cards: an extra 1.5%.
- Currency conversion: an extra 1% when it's needed.
So a $100 domestic card payment costs $3.20. An international card adds $1.50, and if it also needs conversion, another $1. I work out the price you'd have to charge to cover those in how much to charge to receive an exact amount.
What do bank debits cost?
ACH Direct Debit is 0.8%, capped at $5.00 per payment.
| Payment | Card (2.9% + $0.30) | ACH (0.8%, max $5) |
|---|---|---|
| $100 | $3.20 | $0.80 |
| $500 | $14.80 | $4.00 |
| $1,000 | $29.30 | $5.00 |
For larger invoices the gap is big. A $1,000 payment costs 0.5% by ACH, against 2.9% by card. Bank debits have their own timing and failure rules, which I haven't covered here. Stripe's page lists other bank payment types separately.
What does getting paid out cost?
Standard payouts to your bank are free. Instant payouts cost 1.5% of the amount, with a minimum fee of 50 cents.
- Instant payout of $500: $7.50.
- Instant payout of $20: the 1.5% would be 30 cents, so the 50 cent minimum applies. That's 2.5%.
If you can wait for the standard schedule, you skip this fee.
What happens to the fees on a refund?
Stripe's page says there's no fee for refunds on most payment methods, but the original processing fees aren't returned. If you refund a $100 card payment, you lose the $3.20 you paid to take it, plus the $100.
What do disputes cost?
- Dispute received: $15 each time one is opened against you.
- Dispute countered: $15 when you respond manually. It's refunded if you win and not if you lose.
Lose a $100 dispute after countering it, and you're out $100 plus $15 plus $15, which is $130. That's why it can be worth thinking about whether a small dispute is worth fighting.
What isn't covered here?
Stripe lists extra fees for invoicing, billing, custom domains and other products, and some bank payment types are on separate pages. I haven't covered those. I also didn't find a fee for Link beyond the card rates, so I haven't claimed one.
How do I run my own numbers?
- Open the Stripe and PayPal calculator.
- Choose the Stripe preset, or Stripe international for overseas cards.
- Enter the price and see what you keep.
- Use the reverse mode to find what to charge for a target payout.
To compare with PayPal, see Stripe vs PayPal fees and PayPal merchant fees explained.
Who is writing this?
I'm Saqib, the developer behind PayoutCalc. I haven't run a shop on Stripe, so I rely on its published rates and arithmetic. If a rate has changed, tell me and I'll fix it.