Stripe Fee Calculator

Calculate Stripe processing fees by country. See the exact net you will receive and the gross amount needed to invoice for a target net.

Enter Your Details

$
When Reverse Calculation is OFF: gross amount the buyer pays. When ON: amount you want to receive net of fees.
$
Optional — your cost of goods, used to compute Net Profit. Leave at 0 if not relevant.
Enable when the card is issued in a different country than your Stripe account — adds the international card surcharge.
Enable when the buyer pays in a different currency than your Stripe payout — adds the conversion surcharge.
Switch the calculator to compute the gross amount needed to net a target.
%
Varies by country — auto-filled from your country selection
$
Per-transaction flat fee added by Stripe
%
Applied only when International Card toggle is ON
%
Applied only when Currency Conversion toggle is ON

Your Results

Live
Amount to Charge —
Net Amount Received —
Total Fees —
Effective Fee Percentage —
Net Profit —
Stripe Fees (% + fixed) —
International Card Fees —
Currency Conversion Fees —

How Stripe Fees Work in 2026

Stripe charges a base processing fee per transaction (e.g. 2.9% + $0.30 in the US, 1.5% + £0.20 in the UK), plus two opt-in surcharges: an international card fee (1.5–2.0%) when the card is issued abroad, and a currency conversion fee (1.0%) when the buyer pays in a currency different from your payout.

  • Forward mode: enter the gross — see what arrives in your account net of fees.
  • Reverse mode: enter your target net — see the gross amount to invoice for. Perfect for SaaS pricing and freelancing.
  • Country presets: auto-fill the correct domestic rate and currency for your Stripe account region.
  • Three independent toggles: stack the surcharges only when they actually apply to your scenario.

What are Stripe fees?

Stripe is a developer-first payment processor used by online businesses to accept credit cards, debit cards, and local payment methods. Its standard pricing for US online card payments is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction — almost identical to PayPal's headline rate, but with no monthly minimum and no extra fees on most ancillary features.

International payments add 1% extra when the customer's card is non-US (3.9% + $0.30 total). Currency conversion adds 1% on top, settled at mid-market — significantly cheaper than PayPal's 3–4% conversion margin. For high-volume merchants, Stripe offers custom rates (Interchange Plus or volume-discounted flat rates) that can drop to 2.2–2.6%.

What sets Stripe apart isn't price — it's the developer experience: a clean API, hosted checkout that's easy to embed, native subscription billing, Connect for marketplaces, Radar for fraud, Atlas for incorporation. The fee is the cost of admission to a comprehensive ecosystem.

How to calculate Stripe fees

Stripe fees have the same percentage-plus-fixed structure as PayPal but with smaller stacked surcharges:

Formula: Fee = Transaction × percent_rate + fixed_fee + international_surcharge + conversion_fee

Where percent_rate is 2.9% (US online), fixed_fee is $0.30, international_surcharge is an extra 1% when the card is from a different country, and conversion_fee is 1% if the transaction is in a non-presentment currency. In-person card-present transactions are cheaper: 2.7% + $0.05.

Worked example. A US online merchant accepts a $100 card payment from a US buyer. Fee: $100 × 0.029 + $0.30 = $3.20 (3.2% effective). Net $96.80. If the buyer is in Spain (international card): fee becomes $100 × 0.039 + $0.30 = $4.20 (4.2% effective). If billing is in USD but the merchant has Stripe set to convert to EUR for payout: add 1% conversion = $5.20 total fee.

On low-ticket transactions, Stripe is meaningfully cheaper than PayPal because of the smaller fixed fee. At $10 transaction size: Stripe = $0.59 (5.9%) vs PayPal = $0.79 (7.9%). On $5 transaction: Stripe = $0.45 (9%) vs PayPal = $0.64 (12.8%). The gap widens as ticket size shrinks.

How to use this calculator

Select your country at the top — Stripe's rates differ by region (US 2.9%, UK 1.5% + 20p for European cards, EU varies). Enter the transaction amount.

Toggle International Card on if the buyer's card is from outside your country (adds the 1% international surcharge). Toggle Currency Conversion on if you're charging in one currency and settling in another (adds Stripe's 1% conversion fee, plus the FX spread). Results show the Stripe fee, net amount received, and effective fee rate. Use the reverse mode (set target net) to calculate the gross to charge if you need to receive a specific amount after fees — useful for fixed-price invoices or subscription products.

Real-world examples

Example 1 — SaaS product, $29/month subscription. US customer, US card. Fee per charge: $29 × 0.029 + $0.30 = $1.14 (3.9% effective). At 1,000 active subscribers: $1,140/month in Stripe fees — typical for a US SaaS company. Compare to PayPal at $29: $0.86 + $0.49 = $1.35 (4.65%). On $29k revenue, Stripe saves $210/month vs PayPal.

Example 2 — Ecommerce store, mixed buyer base. $75 product, 30% of buyers use international cards. Domestic fee: $75 × 0.029 + $0.30 = $2.48 (3.3%). International fee: $75 × 0.039 + $0.30 = $3.23 (4.3%). Weighted average: $2.71 per order (3.6%). On 500 orders/month at $75 average: $1,355 in monthly Stripe fees. Plan for this in your contribution-margin model — fees compound at scale.

Example 3 — Digital goods, $5 average order. A creator selling $5 templates. Fee: $5 × 0.029 + $0.30 = $0.45 (9% effective). On 200 sales/month: $90/month in fees out of $1,000 revenue. Stripe is still cheaper than PayPal here ($0.64 = 12.8%) but neither is great for sub-$10 average tickets. Consider Stripe's subscription tier with annual prepay to lift effective ticket size, or batch low-priced items into bundles.

Common mistakes and benchmarks

The most common mistake is forgetting the international surcharge. A US business serving a global audience sees 20–40% of its transactions from foreign cards, each paying 1% extra. If you model fees at 2.9% flat, you'll be off by 0.2–0.4 percentage points — meaningful at scale.

Second is misusing currency conversion. If you charge in USD but want EUR payouts, Stripe applies a 1% conversion fee. If you charge in the buyer's native currency (EUR) and settle in EUR, no conversion fee. Setting up local-currency pricing per region requires more work (Stripe's adaptive pricing or per-locale pages) but eliminates the conversion overhead.

Benchmarks. Effective Stripe rate for US online businesses: 3.0–3.5%. International-heavy businesses: 3.5–4.2%. In-person retail: 2.8–2.9%. SaaS subscriptions with $25+ average: 3.0–3.5%. Volume-discounted enterprise accounts (above $50k/month): 2.2–2.7%. Compare directly against PayPal using the PayPal fee calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for US online card payments. UK is 1.5% + 20p for European cards, 2.5% + 20p for international. EU rates depend on the country. International cards add 1% (3.9% total). Currency conversion adds another 1%. In-person card-present transactions are 2.7% + $0.05. ACH/bank-debit is 0.8% (capped at $5). Volume-based discounts available for businesses above $50k/month revenue.

Multiply transaction amount by 2.9% (or your country's rate) and add $0.30. For $100 in the US: $100 × 0.029 + $0.30 = $3.20. Add 1% if the card is international (3.9% total). Add another 1% if currency conversion is involved. For a $100 transaction from a UK buyer to a US merchant with conversion: $100 × 0.049 + $0.30 = $5.20. The calculator runs this math instantly for any country pair.

3.0–3.5% for US online merchants. 3.5–4.2% for businesses with heavy international card share. SaaS companies running monthly subscriptions at $25+ average see roughly 3.2%. Above $50k/month in revenue, custom Stripe rates drop effective costs to 2.2–2.7%. The fixed $0.30 fee disproportionately impacts low-ticket transactions: $10 average order = 5.9% effective; $50 average = 3.5%; $200 average = 3.05%. Annual prepay plans and bundling lift average ticket size and meaningfully lower effective rate.

Stripe is 0.1–0.3% cheaper on domestic transactions and significantly cheaper on small transactions due to the lower fixed fee ($0.30 vs $0.49 in the US). PayPal's strengths: faster setup, brand recognition that lifts conversion, free Friends-and-Family within country. Most online businesses offer both — Stripe for the default checkout, PayPal as an option since 5–15% of buyers prefer it. See the PayPal fee calculator for a direct comparison.

Yes if: you're technical or have a developer, your business model involves subscriptions (Stripe Billing is the best-in-class), you operate a marketplace (Stripe Connect handles splits and payouts), or you're scaling beyond simple checkout and need APIs. Skip Stripe if: you need an extremely low-friction setup with zero code (Shopify or Squarespace's built-in payments are simpler), or you're serving emerging markets where local payment methods matter more than card payments.

The fixed $0.30 fee disproportionately impacts low-ticket sales. On a $5 transaction, $0.30 is 6% of the order before the percentage component even applies. On $1, it's 30%. Stripe has a Micropayments program (5% + $0.05) for sub-$10 transactions but you have to apply and qualify. For most small-ticket businesses, the fix is bundling multiple items into single transactions to lift ticket size.

If you run Shopify already, Shopify Payments is the default — it skips Shopify's additional transaction fee (0.5–2%) that applies to non-Shopify processors. Use Stripe directly when: not on Shopify, building a custom checkout, running a SaaS where you control the billing logic, or operating a marketplace where you need Connect's payout splits. Some Shopify stores still use Stripe for specific use cases (B2B invoicing, subscription products) alongside Shopify Payments for retail.

Stripe's recurring/subscription tier (use the Stripe subscription calculator instead), ACH and bank-debit pricing (different fee structure, 0.8% capped at $5), in-person card-present rates (2.7% + $0.05), volume-discount tiers (custom for high-revenue accounts), chargeback fees ($15 per disputed transaction), and Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams ($0.07 per screened transaction). It also excludes monthly costs for products like Atlas or Tax that aren't transaction-fee-based.

PayPal Fee Calculator

Domestic PayPal transaction fees and net amount received.

PayPal International Fee Calculator

Cross-border PayPal fees, FX margin and net payout.

Shopify Fee Calculator

Compare Shopify plan and transaction fees per tier.

Profit Margin Calculator

Coming soon

Calculate gross and net profit margin for any product or business.

VAT Calculator

Coming soon

Add or remove VAT for any country, with custom rates.