Calculate exact Stripe payment gateway cuts for domestic cards, cross-border transactions, currency exchange, and determine what to bill clients.
Stripe is the world standard for internet payments, powering SaaS, e-commerce stores, and freelance consultants. While the 2.9% + $0.30 headline rate is well known, cross-border surcharges and automated billing fees can compound your true processing cost to over 5.4%.
| Transaction Type | Rate Structure | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Standard US Cards | 2.9% + $0.30 | Applies to all domestic US Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express cards. |
| International Cards | +1.5% additional | Applied when the customer's card was issued outside the United States. |
| Currency Conversion | +1.0% additional | Applied when the customer pays in a foreign currency that must be converted to your payout currency. |
| Stripe Billing (Subscriptions) | +0.5% | Automated recurring invoicing, smart retries, and customer portal. |
| Stripe Tax | +0.5% | Automated sales tax, VAT, and GST calculation per transaction. |
| ACH Direct Debit (US) | 0.8% ($5.00 cap) | Bank transfer payments capped at a maximum of $5.00 fee per transaction. |
If you are a freelancer or agency quoting a project for $1,000 net, sending an invoice for $1,029 will result in a shortfall because Stripe takes 2.9% of the full $1,029 (including the fee itself). To receive exactly $1,000, use the mathematical gross-up formula:
Invoice Amount = (Target Payout + $0.30) / (1 - 0.029) = $1,000.30 / 0.971 = $1,030.18
No. In accordance with Stripe's global refund policy, Stripe does not return the 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee when a refund is processed. The full original transaction amount is returned to the buyer, and the fee is absorbed as a cost by the merchant.
For standard US card processing, yes. Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30, whereas standard PayPal Commercial transactions charge 3.49% + $0.49. On a $100 payment, Stripe costs $3.20 while PayPal costs $3.98.
You can encourage ACH Direct Debit (capped at $5.00 maximum), qualify for non-profit 501(c)(3) discounted rates (2.2% + $0.30), or negotiate custom volume tiers once your business processes over $80,000/month.