Stripe Billing Pricing (2026): 0.7% Fee, $620 Plans and the All-In Cost at Each Stage
Stripe Billing charges 0.7% of Billing volume on a pay-as-you-go basis, on top of Stripe's card processing at 2.9% + 30¢ per successful US card charge. Pay-monthly plans start at $620 per month on a 1-year contract and only pay off near the top of their volume tier. It fits a SaaS founder who sells mostly in the US, already runs on Stripe and is willing to handle sales tax and VAT themselves: at $10K MRR and 500 charges the all-in cost is about $510 a month, or 5.1 points of revenue. It fits less well if you sell to consumers in many countries and want someone else to be the seller of record and carry the tax liability; then a merchant of record such as Paddle or Stripe Managed Payments costs more but does that work.
Stripe Billing pricing (2026)
| Plan | Price (monthly / billed yearly) | For / limits |
|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go | 0.7% of Billing volume | Low or unpredictable volume; no recurring fees |
| Pay monthly, up to $100,000 Billing volume | $620 per month, 1-year contract | Up to $100,000 Billing volume per month; 0.67% for additional Billing volume |
| Pay monthly, up to $250,000 Billing volume | $1,500 per month, 1-year contract | Up to $250,000 Billing volume per month; 0.67% for additional Billing volume |
| Pay monthly, up to $500,000 Billing volume | $2,950 per month, 1-year contract | Up to $500,000 Billing volume per month; 0.67% for additional Billing volume |
| Pay monthly, up to $1,000,000 Billing volume | $5,750 per month, 1-year contract | Up to $1,000,000 Billing volume per month; 0.67% for additional Billing volume |
| Custom | Custom pricing | $1,000,000+ Billing volume per month, or unique business models |
| Add-on: Stripe Payments, US domestic cards | 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction | +0.5% manually entered cards, +1.5% international cards, +1% if currency conversion is required. Source: https://stripe.com/us/pricing |
| Add-on: ACH Direct Debit | 0.8%, $5.00 cap | Source: https://stripe.com/us/pricing and https://stripe.com/us/pricing/local-payment-methods |
| Add-on: Dispute fees | $15.00 per dispute received; $15.00 per dispute countered | Countered fee is returned if you win; received fee is not. Countered fee applies to disputes countered after June 17, 2025. |
| Add-on: Stripe Tax Basic | 0.5% per transaction where you're registered (no-code); $0.50 per transaction (API) | Tax Complete starts at $90 per month on a 1-year contract (tiers $90 / $430 / $1,000 / $1,500). Source: https://stripe.com/us/tax/pricing |
| Add-on: Stripe Invoicing (one-off invoices) | 0.4% per paid invoice (Starter); 0.5% (Plus) | Not charged on subscription invoices, which count as Billing volume. Source: https://stripe.com/us/invoicing/pricing |
| Add-on: Stripe Managed Payments (merchant of record) | 3.5% per successful transaction, on top of Payments fees | Includes indirect tax compliance, fraud prevention, dispute responses and transaction-level support through Link. Billing is charged separately. Source: https://stripe.com/us/managed-payments |
| Add-on: Custom domain (checkout or customer portal) | $10 per month | |
| Add-on: Metronome (advanced usage-based billing) | Startup: $0.04 per 1K ingest events + 0.8% of billing volume | Basic usage-based billing via the Meters API stays in Billing pricing, up to 100M events per month. |
Prices verified on stripe.com/us/billing/pricing on October 11, 2026.
The pay-monthly plans are an annual subscription paid monthly. They renew automatically and a cancellation takes effect at the end of the term, per Stripe's subscription policy (last updated July 1, 2026). Prices are from Stripe's Billing pricing page, read on October 11, 2026.
What it costs at pre-seed, seed and Series A
| All-in billing cost | Pre-seed $10,000 MRR, 500 charges | Seed $50,000 MRR, 2,000 charges | Series A $250,000 MRR, 8,000 charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Billing | $510/mo 5.10 pts | $2,400/mo 4.80 pts | $11,150/mo 4.46 pts |
| Paddle (merchant of record) | $750/mo 7.50 pts | $3,500/mo 7.00 pts | $16,500/mo 6.60 pts |
| Stripe Managed Payments (merchant of record) | $860/mo 8.60 pts | $4,150/mo 8.30 pts | $20,150/mo 8.06 pts |
Platform fee plus card processing at Stripe's US rate (2.9% + 30¢) wherever the tool's own fee does not include it. A merchant of record also collects and files sales tax and VAT. "pts" = share of revenue, which comes straight off gross margin. Cheapest plan per tool at each volume. Fees verified on the vendors' pricing pages, latest on October 11, 2026. Run your own numbers.
Read the table in gross-margin points, because that is where billing fees land. Stripe Payments plus Billing takes 5.10 points at pre-seed, 4.80 at seed and 4.46 at Series A. Most of that is card processing, not Billing: the 30¢ fixed fee alone is 1.5 points on a $20 charge, so a low price per charge hurts more than the 0.7%. The two merchant-of-record options cost 2.1 to 3.6 points more, and in exchange they collect, file and remit sales tax and VAT. The pay-monthly plan only wins near the top of its tier. At $50K MRR the $620 plan would cost more than 0.7% of volume ($350), so pay as you go is cheaper; at $250K the $1,500 plan saves $250 a month for a 1-year commitment. To model your own mix, run your own numbers in our billing-fees calculator.
What the price actually covers
- Billing volume is broader than Stripe charges. Stripe counts all transactions "processed on or off Stripe" that use Billing functionality: subscriptions, subscription schedules and usage-based billing. One-off invoices are excluded.
- Subscription invoices do not pay the Invoicing fee. Stripe Invoicing (0.4% per paid invoice on Starter, 0.5% on Plus) applies to one-off invoices. A subscription invoice is Billing volume, so you pay the 0.7%, not both.
- Usage-based billing. Basic metering through the Meters API stays inside Billing pricing, with up to 100M events a month included. Advanced usage-based billing now points to Metronome, which Stripe finished acquiring on January 14, 2026; its Startup pricing is $0.04 per 1K ingested events plus 0.8% of billing volume. If you plan usage-based pricing, check which side of that line your model falls on.
- Above $1M a month of Billing volume, pricing is custom.
One note on older numbers: Stripe retired Billing Starter (0.5%) and Billing Scale (0.8%) on July 10, 2024 and moved everyone to a single 0.7% rate; legacy Starter customers kept 0.5% until June 30, 2025. Pages that still quote a "0.5-0.8%" range describe plans that no longer exist. The $620 to $5,750 pay-monthly tiers, with 0.67% on volume above the tier, are the current alternative.
Add-ons and hidden costs
- Card surcharges: +1.5% for international cards, +1% when currency conversion is required, +0.5% for manually entered cards. If 30% of your volume is foreign cards paying in their own currency, the pre-seed cost rises from 5.10 to 5.85 points.
- ACH Direct Debit: 0.8% with a $5.00 cap, which makes it far cheaper than cards for large annual invoices.
- Sales tax: Stripe Tax Basic is 0.5% per transaction where you are registered (no-code) or $0.50 per transaction via the API. On 100% of volume that takes the stack to 5.60, 5.30 and 5.06 points at the three stages. Tax Basic calculates and collects; filing needs Tax Complete (from $90 a month, 1-year contract), and neither makes Stripe liable for your tax.
- Disputes: $15 per dispute received, plus $15 per dispute you counter manually (since June 17, 2025). The countered fee comes back if you win; the received fee does not.
- Custom domain for the customer portal: $10 a month.
Subscription revenue billed through Stripe still has to be recognized over the service period, so the billing tool does not settle your revenue recognition or deferred revenue schedule on its own.
Not hands-on tested yet: we have not run a live account on Stripe Billing. Prices and terms come from Stripe Billing's published pricing page and help docs, read on October 11, 2026.
Alternatives at a glance
- Paddle, 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction as merchant of record, no monthly fee. See Paddle pricing.
- Stripe Managed Payments, Stripe's own merchant of record, generally available since April 29, 2026: 3.5% per transaction on top of Payments fees, with Billing charged separately. See Paddle vs Stripe.
- Polar, a merchant of record with a free Starter plan at 5% + 50¢ and paid plans from $20 a month at 3.8% + 40¢. See Chargebee alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Stripe Billing cost?
0.7% of Billing volume on pay as you go, or $620, $1,500, $2,950 or $5,750 a month on a 1-year plan covering up to $100K, $250K, $500K or $1M of monthly volume, with 0.67% above the tier. Card processing (2.9% + 30¢ for US cards) is charged on top.
How much is the Stripe fee on a $100 subscription charge?
$3.90 for a US card on pay as you go: $3.20 in card processing plus $0.70 for Billing. An international card adds $1.50, and currency conversion another $1.00.
Is Stripe Billing pricing negotiable?
Stripe offers custom Billing pricing above $1M of monthly Billing volume or for unusual business models, and custom Payments packages (IC+ pricing, volume and multi-product discounts). Below that, the published rates apply.
Can I lower my Stripe fees?
Annual billing shrinks the 30¢ fixed fee as a share of revenue, and ACH (0.8%, $5 cap) beats cards on large invoices.
Does Stripe Billing handle sales tax and VAT?
Not by itself. Stripe Tax is a separate product (0.5% per transaction where registered, or Tax Complete from $90 a month with filings), and you remain the seller responsible for the tax. For that responsibility to move, you need a merchant of record such as Paddle or Stripe Managed Payments.
Related: Paddle vs Stripe · Chargebee vs Stripe Billing · billing software costs by stage · SaaS gross margin.