Stripe Fee Calculator — Card, ACH, International & Payout Fees (2026)
Stripe's standard US online card rate is 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge. On a $500 payment that is $14.80, settling $485.20 — an effective 2.96%. A card issued outside the US adds 1.50%, and a currency conversion adds 1.00% on top of that. ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% capped at $5.00, so above $625 it becomes a flat fee. Rates effective 2026-08-21.
| Amount charged | $500.00 |
|---|---|
| Stripe — Online card — US card2.90% + $0.30 | −$14.80 |
| Effective fee rateThe fixed component means the effective rate falls as the transaction gets bigger. | 2.96% |
| You receive | $485.20 |
How much does Stripe take from a $100 payment?
Stripe takes $3.20 from a $100 payment — 3.20% — leaving $96.80 in your balance.
| Stripe — Online card — US card | −$3.20 |
|---|---|
| Total fees | −$3.20 |
| You keep | $96.80 |
Stripe fees at every common payment amount
| Sale price | Fees | Fee rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | −$0.59 | 5.9% | $9.41 |
| $25.00 | −$1.03 | 4.1% | $23.97 |
| $50.00 | −$1.75 | 3.5% | $48.25 |
| $100.00 | −$3.20 | 3.2% | $96.80 |
| $250.00 | −$7.55 | 3.0% | $242.45 |
| $500.00 | −$14.80 | 3.0% | $485.20 |
| $1,000.00 | −$29.30 | 2.9% | $970.70 |
| $5,000.00 | −$145.30 | 2.9% | $4,854.70 |
How Stripe's fee is calculated
A percentage plus a fixed fee on every successful charge, with surcharges that add to the rate. No monthly minimum, and nothing charged on a failed payment.
That last line is a different shape from everything above it, and the difference is the most valuable thing on this page.
The ACH cap, and where it starts binding
Stripe publishes ACH Direct Debit as "0.8%, capped at $5.00". Both numbers are on the pricing page. What is not on the pricing page is the amount where the cap takes over, which is the only number that matters when you are deciding how to bill a client:
Below $625, ACH is a percentage like anything else. Above it, ACH is a flat $5.00 — and because cards have no cap at all, the two diverge without limit:
| Payment | Card fee | ACH fee | Card costs | ACH effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | $3.20 | $0.80 | 4.0× | 0.800% |
| $500 | $14.80 | $4.00 | 3.7× | 0.800% |
| $625 (cap binds) | $18.43 | $5.00 | 3.7× | 0.800% |
| $1,000 | $29.30 | $5.00 | 5.9× | 0.500% |
| $5,000 | $145.30 | $5.00 | 29.1× | 0.100% |
| $25,000 | $725.30 | $5.00 | 145.1× | 0.020% |
Read the last column downward. ACH holds at 0.8% until the cap, then falls away to 0.020% on a $25,000 invoice, while the card rate never moves off 2.90%. At that size the card costs $720.30 more for accepting exactly the same money.
If you invoice businesses, this is the single largest lever available to you and it costs nothing to pull: offer ACH as the default payment method and card as the convenience option. The objections are genuine but bounded — ACH settles in days rather than instantly, works only for US bank accounts, and can fail for insufficient funds after appearing to succeed. Against a $720.30 saving on a single invoice, a few days of float is not a close call.
What stacking the surcharges costs
| Same $500 payment | Rate | Fee | You receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| US card, USD | 2.9% + $0.30 | $14.80 | $485.20 |
| Card issued outside the US | 4.40% + $0.30 | $22.30 | $477.70 |
| …and a currency conversion | 5.40% + $0.30 | $27.30 | $472.70 |
Stripe's 1.00% conversion charge is worth noting for what it is not: PayPal charges 4.00% for the same thing. On cross-border work that difference alone can outweigh the headline rate gap.
A worked example
A $500 invoice, card versus ACH
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice paid | what the client sends | $500.00 |
| Percentage fee | 2.9% × $500.00 | −$14.50 |
| Fixed fee | per successful charge | −$0.30 |
| Stripe takes (card) | 2.96% effective | −$14.80 |
| Settles to your bank | $485.20 | |
| The same invoice by ACH | 0.8%, under the cap | −$4.00 |
Even below the cap, ACH costs about a third of the card fee on this invoice. Switch the payment method in the calculator above to see it against your own amounts.
Who this is for
Anyone building on Stripe who wants to know the real cost of a payment rather than the headline rate, and in particular anyone invoicing US businesses. Run your largest typical invoice through it twice — once as a card, once as ACH. If the second number surprises you, that is the point of the page.
What this does not account for
- Stripe Billing, Tax, Radar, and Connect, which are priced separately and can add 0.4% to 0.7% each on top of processing.
- Payout timing. The standard schedule is free; instant payouts cost 1.0% with a $0.50 minimum.
- Disputes at $15.00 each, refunded if you win.
- Negotiated rates. Above meaningful volume Stripe's published pricing becomes a starting point rather than a fixed schedule.
- Non-US accounts, where both rates and available methods differ.
Sources and dates
Rates come from Stripe's published US pricing, listed below with the date it was checked. The cap threshold and every figure in the comparison tables are computed from those rates by the calculator on this page rather than quoted. Note the confidence flag on the source: Stripe's pricing page redirects by geography, so these figures still need a human check from a US connection. If a number here disagrees with your Stripe dashboard, trust the dashboard and let us know.
Questions people actually ask about this
What does Stripe charge per transaction?
2.9% + $0.30 for a standard US online card payment. On $500 that is $14.80, an effective 2.96% — the fixed 30¢ means the effective rate is always above the headline and rises sharply on small charges.
Stripe charges only on successful charges. There is no monthly fee, no setup fee, and no charge for failed payments, which is the main structural difference from a traditional merchant account.
When is Stripe ACH cheaper than taking a card?
Always, and the gap widens without limit. ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% capped at $5.00, while cards are 2.9% + $0.30 with no cap at all. Because ACH has both the lower rate and the lower fixed component, there is no crossover — it is cheaper at every amount.
The number worth knowing is where the cap starts binding: $5.00 ÷ 0.8% = $625. Below that ACH behaves like a percentage; above it, it is a flat $5.00 no matter how large the invoice. On a $25,000 payment the card costs $725.30 and ACH costs $5.00 — 145× more, an effective 0.020% against 2.90%.
The trade-offs are real: ACH settles in days rather than instantly, is US-only, and can fail after the fact for insufficient funds. For recurring B2B invoices of any size, those are usually worth the saving.
How much does Stripe charge for international cards?
An extra 1.50% when the card was issued outside the US, and a further 1.00% if a currency conversion is required. They add to the rate rather than replacing it.
On the $500 payment above: $14.80 domestically, $22.30 on an international card, $27.30 with a conversion as well. Stripe's conversion surcharge is materially smaller than PayPal's — see the PayPal fee calculator, where the same conversion costs 4%.
What does a disputed payment cost?
$15.00 per dispute, on top of losing the disputed amount and its original processing fee. The fee is returned if you win. Stripe does not charge for refunds, but the original processing fee is not returned on a refund — so a refunded $500 order still costs you the $14.80 it cost to accept.
Is Stripe cheaper than PayPal?
For standard online card payments, yes: 2.9% + $0.30 against PayPal's 3.49% + $0.49. On $500 that is $14.80 versus $17.94 — Stripe keeps about $3 more of every such payment in your account.
The comparison flips in two places. PayPal's micropayments schedule beats both on payments under about $26.67, and PayPal's buyer-side ubiquity converts some customers who would abandon a card form. Stripe's ACH cap has no PayPal equivalent, which makes Stripe decisively cheaper for large invoices.
What is the instant payout fee?
1.0% of the payout amount, minimum $0.50, to receive funds in minutes rather than on the standard schedule. It is charged on the payout, not the payment, so it stacks on top of everything above. Used routinely rather than in emergencies it can quietly exceed your entire card processing cost.
Where these numbers come from
These rates have not yet been verified against the live source. They were seeded from published rate cards and are shown here for structure. Check the platform's own fee page before pricing anything.
Rate schedule version 2026.2, effective .
- PayPal — Merchant fees (US) retrieved 2026-08-02
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- Square — Understanding our fees retrieved 2026-08-21
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