Stripe Pricing Calculator

How Stripe billing works

Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 on every successful card transaction — no monthly platform fee, no setup fee. You only pay when a customer pays you. For subscription businesses, each monthly renewal is treated as a separate transaction, so a $49/month plan generates one $1.72 fee per renewal (2.9% × $49 + $0.30).

The fixed $0.30 component matters most for low-value transactions. At $5, the effective rate is 8.9%; at $100, it drops to 3.2%. If your average order value is under $10, it's worth modeling your actual rates rather than relying on the headline 2.9%.

What's included in the standard rate

Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 covers a lot: Stripe Billing (subscription management, trials, proration, dunning), Stripe Checkout (hosted payment page), Stripe Elements (embedded UI components), and basic Radar (ML-powered fraud detection). You do not pay extra for subscription management — it is included at the standard processing rate.

Add-ons that cost extra: Stripe Tax ($0.50/transaction), Advanced Radar with manual review ($0.07/transaction), international cards (+1.5%), and currency conversion (+1.0%). These are disabled by default and only apply if you enable them.

Stripe vs Polar — which should you choose?

Both Stripe and Polar handle SaaS subscriptions, but they serve different audiences. Stripe is the industry standard — every payment partner, no-code tool, and enterprise procurement flow expects it. If you have enterprise customers, accounting integrations, or need global payment methods beyond cards (SEPA, iDEAL, ACH), Stripe is the pragmatic default.

Polar is built specifically for developer tools — it has native GitHub integration, license key delivery, benefit management, and a checkout that embeds cleanly in your app. Its 4% flat fee is simpler (no fixed per-transaction component) and can be cheaper for low average order values. If your product is a developer tool or open-source project, Polar is worth a serious look.

Volume discounts

Stripe's published rates apply up to roughly $80,000/month in processing volume. Above that, you can negotiate custom pricing — typically 2.2–2.5% + $0.15 for high-volume merchants. Contact Stripe sales once you hit $50k/month to start the conversation.

Frequently asked questions

Does Stripe charge a monthly fee?

No. Stripe Integrated (the standard plan) has no monthly fee. You pay only when you process a transaction. Stripe has premium add-ons (Stripe Radar Team, Stripe Terminal) with monthly fees, but the core payment processing is purely pay-per-transaction.

How does Stripe handle subscription billing?

Stripe Billing is included in the standard 2.9% + $0.30 rate. You can create subscription plans, set trials, handle proration on upgrades/downgrades, and use Stripe's built-in dunning (smart retries + customer notifications for failed payments) at no extra cost.

What about international customers?

Cards issued outside the US add a 1.5% surcharge. If your SaaS has significant international traffic, your effective rate may be higher than the headline 2.9%. Stripe's dashboard shows your average effective rate — use that number to calibrate this calculator.

Is Stripe right for MakerKit?

MakerKit supports both Stripe and Polar as billing providers. Stripe is the default choice for most SaaS businesses because of its ecosystem breadth. Polar is a strong alternative if you're building a developer tool and want simpler pricing with fewer moving parts.