How this stripe fee calculator works — the exact math
The percentage applies to the total amount you charge — Stripe doesn't split item from shipping or tax — and the $0.30 fixed fee lands once per successful charge. Surcharges (+1.5% international, +1% currency conversion, +0.5% keyed-in) stack onto the 2.9% before the same math runs. Reverse mode rearranges the equation: add the fixed fee to your target net, then divide by one minus the combined rate.
Here's the equation I make every new freelancer write on a sticky note: charge = (net + $0.30) ÷ (1 − 0.029). That's the whole secret to never eating a processing fee again. Not a plugin, not a premium plan. Ninth-grade algebra.
I run my wholesale side through Stripe — bulk lots of vintage denim invoiced to boutiques — while the single-pair sales go through marketplaces. Different worlds, same discipline: know your net before the money moves. This page covers every rate Stripe actually publishes, with the dates they changed, because half the fee pages ranking for this stuff are quietly two years stale.
The gross-up formula, worked twice
Stripe's standard online rate is 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge. Simple to say. Sneaky to reverse. If you want to walk away with exactly $100 and you just add $3.20 to the invoice, you'll come up short — the 2.9% applies to the new, bigger total, including the part you added to cover the fee.
So you divide instead of add. To net $100, charge (100 + 0.30) ÷ 0.971 = $103.30. To net $1,000, charge $1,030.17. The reverse tab on the calculator above — "I want to net $X" — runs this equation for any rate combination, so an international card or a keyed-in number doesn't break the math.
Why do I care this much? Because the error compounds quietly. Undershoot every invoice by a fraction of a percent and by December you've donated a full invoice's worth of margin to arithmetic. I've watched sellers audit their software stack for savings while this leak ran in the background the whole time.
What this stripe fee calculator covers — it's more than 2.9% + $0.30
Most stripe fees calculator pages run one rate and call it a day. Stripe publishes a stack of them, and the surcharges add percentage points to the base rate on the same charge — they don't compound. Everything below is verified against Stripe's official pricing page as of July 15, 2026.
| Payment type | Rate | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Online card (domestic) | 2.9% + $0.30 | Per successful charge; unchanged 2024–2026 |
| International card | +1.5% | Added to the base rate, not compounded |
| Currency conversion | +1% | Stacks with the international surcharge |
| Manually keyed card | +0.5% | Typing a number in costs extra |
| In-person (Terminal) | 2.7% + $0.05 | A nickel fixed fee, not thirty cents |
| ACH Direct Debit | 0.8%, capped at $5 | Cap reached at $625 |
| Invoicing add-on | 0.4% Starter / 0.5% Plus | Charged on top of processing |
| Instant Payouts | 1.5%, min $0.50 | Raised from 1% on June 1, 2024 |
| Disputes | $15 + $15 to counter | Counter fee added June 17, 2025; refunded only if you win |
Two things the table understates. In-person through Terminal is genuinely cheap — 2.7% with a five-cent fixed fee matters at counter volume. And the worst case online is real: 2.9 base plus 1.5 international plus 1.0 conversion is 5.4% + $0.30 before you've done anything wrong.
What is the stripe processing fee in 2026?
The core stripe processing fee is 2.9% + $0.30 per successful online charge on a domestic card — unchanged from 2024 through 2026, which is rare; almost every platform I track raised something in that window. The percentage applies to the full amount you charge, item plus shipping plus tax combined. Stripe doesn't split the base the way marketplaces do, which actually makes the math easier to check on your payout report.
What's the stripe fee for $100?
$3.20 — that's 2.9% ($2.90) plus the $0.30 fixed fee, for a net payout of $96.80. Run the same $100 on an international card that needs currency conversion and total fees hit $5.70. The fixed fee is why small charges hurt: a $10 charge pays $0.59, an effective 5.9%.
| You charge | Stripe fee | You keep | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | $0.59 | $9.41 | 5.90% |
| $50 | $1.75 | $48.25 | 3.50% |
| $100 | $3.20 | $96.80 | 3.20% |
| $500 | $14.80 | $485.20 | 2.96% |
| $1,000 | $29.30 | $970.70 | 2.93% |
| $5,000 | $145.30 | $4,854.70 | 2.91% |
Computed data — net-proceeds.com
How to pass stripe fees to customer — the clean way and the risky way
Two options. Option one is the visible surcharge: a "3% card processing fee" line at checkout. Where it's allowed it works, but surcharging rules vary by state — some restrict or cap credit card surcharges, and the card networks pile their own registration and disclosure requirements on top. I'm a reseller, not a lawyer. Check your state before bolting a fee line onto anything.
Option two — the one I actually use — is fee-inclusive pricing. Run the gross-up formula, quote the grossed-up number, never mention the fee at all. The boutique that owes me $1,000 for a lot of 24 pairs gets an invoice for $1,030.17. The line item says "lot of 24." Stripe's cut comes out of the extra $30.17 instead of my margin, and there's no surcharge disclosure, no state-by-state homework, no awkward footnote.
Reverse mode exists for exactly this. Type the net you want, quote what it returns, done.
Invoices over $625 belong on ACH — full stop
Stripe's ACH Direct Debit rate is 0.8% capped at $5.00, and the cap is reached at $625. Read that again: past $625, every additional dollar processes free.
A $1,000 invoice costs $29.30 by card and $5.00 by ACH. A $5,000 invoice: $145.30 by card, still $5.00 by ACH. That's $140.30 back on a single large invoice, for the price of asking a client to click a bank link instead of typing a card number. My wholesale accounts didn't blink when I switched them — most preferred it.
Caveats, because there are always caveats: ACH settles slower than cards, and Stripe's documentation lists ACH failure and dispute fees that the main pricing page doesn't show. Confirm those in the docs before moving a recurring client over. But for invoice-based work, this is the single biggest processing saving available, and it costs nothing.
Chasing a cheaper processor is a rounding-error hobby
Every freelancer forum has the thread: someone found 2.6% somewhere and swears the 2.9% crowd is getting robbed. Run the numbers. On $5,000 a month of card volume, the spread between 2.9% and 2.6% is $15 a month. That's a mispriced shipping label, not a business decision. Meanwhile the same person is taking every payout instant at 1.5% and keying card numbers in by hand at +0.5%.
The levers that actually move money, in the order they've paid me: move big invoices to ACH ($24.30 saved on every $1,000 versus card); stop taking instant payouts (standard bank payouts are free — the instant fee went from 1% to 1.5% on June 1, 2024); and stop keying cards in. Rate-shopping is what you do after those three, if you're bored.
And if you sell physical goods, the comparison that matters isn't Stripe versus a 2.6% rival at all — it's direct checkout versus marketplace. eBay takes 13.6% + $0.40 on most categories, so a $100 sale nets $86.00 there against $96.80 through Stripe. The eBay fee calculator shows the full math — the marketplace brings the buyer, but you should know exactly what that buyer costs. You can also compare fees across every platform from one input.
Three dated changes older fee pages miss
June 1, 2024: Instant Payouts went from 1% to 1.5% of the payout, with a $0.50 minimum. June 17, 2025: Stripe added a $15 dispute-countered fee on top of the existing $15 dispute fee — the first $15 isn't returned even when you win; the second is refunded only if you win. July 10, 2024: the Billing plans consolidated to a single 0.7% rate, and Invoicing now runs 0.4% per paid invoice on Starter (0.5% on Plus), layered on top of normal processing. The core card rates, to Stripe's credit, haven't moved at all in that window.
One more honest note: below roughly $25, Stripe's fixed fee makes it the wrong tool for casual payments anyway. On a $25 charge Stripe takes $1.03 where Venmo's goods-and-services rate takes $0.75, no fixed fee — the Venmo fee calculator covers that side, and the Cash App fee calculator handles its 2.6% + $0.15 business rate ($2.75 on $100).
Taking cards at a counter too? Square's Free plan runs 2.6% + $0.15 in person but 3.3% + $0.30 online since early 2026 — the gap changed the calculus for hybrid sellers.
Compare with the Square fee calculatorFrequently Asked Questions
How much does Stripe charge per transaction?
Stripe's standard online rate is 2.9% plus $0.30 per successful domestic card charge, verified against stripe.com/pricing on July 15, 2026. Surcharges stack on the percentage: +1.5% for international cards, +1% for currency conversion, +0.5% for manually keyed cards — so the worst case online is 5.4% plus $0.30. In-person payments through Stripe Terminal run 2.7% plus $0.05, and ACH Direct Debit costs 0.8% capped at $5. There's no monthly fee, setup fee, or PCI fee on the standard plan; you pay per transaction, and the core card rates haven't moved between 2024 and 2026.
How do I calculate Stripe fees in reverse?
Use the gross-up formula: charge = (net + $0.30) ÷ (1 − 0.029). To walk away with $100, bill $103.30. To keep $1,000, bill $1,030.17. The algebra works because the fee has two parts — adding the fixed $0.30 to your target first, then dividing by 0.971, accounts for the 2.9% Stripe takes from whatever total you charge. Simply adding 2.9% plus $0.30 to your invoice leaves you short, because the fee applies to the fee you added. The reverse mode in the calculator above runs this exact equation for any rate combination, including international and keyed-in cards.
Why is my Stripe fee higher than 2.9%?
Two usual reasons. First, surcharges: a non-US card adds 1.5%, currency conversion adds another 1%, and a manually keyed card adds 0.5% — a $100 charge on an international card needing conversion costs $5.70 in total fees, not $3.20. Second, the fixed $0.30 punishes small charges: on a $10 payment the fee is $0.59, an effective 5.9%. The advertised 2.9% is only approached on large charges — a $5,000 payment works out to 2.91%. If your effective rate looks high, check your average transaction size before blaming the rate card.
What does Stripe charge for ACH payments?
ACH Direct Debit costs 0.8% of the payment, capped at $5.00, with no minimum. The cap kicks in at $625, so every dollar above that processes free — which is why large invoices belong on ACH. A $1,000 invoice paid by ACH costs $5.00; the same invoice on a card costs $29.30. One caveat from my own books: ACH settles slower than cards, and Stripe's documentation lists ACH failure and dispute fees the main pricing page doesn't display, so confirm those in the current docs before you move a standing client over.
How much is the Stripe instant payout fee?
Instant Payouts cost 1.5% of the payout amount with a $0.50 minimum — raised from 1% on June 1, 2024. That's a fee for accessing your own money faster. Standard payouts to your bank are free and take a couple of business days, so the 1.5% only ever buys speed. If you're taking instant payouts on your full volume, you're adding 1.5 points to your effective processing cost — more than the entire rate spread you'd save by switching from Stripe to the cheapest mainstream rival. Reserve it for genuine cash crunches, not habit.
Does Stripe have monthly fees?
No — the standard pay-as-you-go plan has no monthly fee, no setup fee, and no PCI compliance fee. You pay per transaction only. The optional products are where budgets quietly leak: Invoicing adds 0.4% per paid invoice on the Starter plan (0.5% on Plus) on top of processing, Billing for subscriptions runs 0.7% of volume, and Stripe Tax adds 0.5% per transaction where you're registered. Disputes are the sharpest edge: a $15 dispute fee that isn't returned even if you win, plus — since June 17, 2025 — another $15 to counter a dispute manually, refunded only when you win.