The short answer
For a standard US online card payment, Stripe charges 2.9% of the amount plus a fixed $0.30 per transaction. On a $100 payment, the percentage slice is $2.90 and the fixed slice is $0.30, so the total fee is $3.20 and you keep $96.80. That is the rate most businesses pay most of the time. Everything below is a variation on it. Rates are Stripe's published US pricing as of October 2026.
The full rate card
How the payment is taken changes the rate. Online card payments: 2.9% plus $0.30. In-person chip or tap via Stripe Terminal: 2.7% plus $0.05. Manually keyed-in card numbers: 3.4% plus $0.30. International cards add 1.5% to the percentage, and if Stripe converts the currency, another 1%. ACH direct debit: 0.8% capped at $5.00. The micropayment rate of 5% plus $0.05 is available on request for merchants with high small-ticket volume. Card disputes cost $15 each. Refunds carry no extra fee, but Stripe does not return the original processing fee.
Worked examples
A $100 domestic online payment: 2.9% is $2.90, plus $0.30, for a $3.20 fee and $96.80 net. A $5 payment at the standard rate: 2.9% is $0.145, plus $0.30, for about $0.45, nearly 9% of the sale, which is why small tickets hurt and why the micropayment rate exists. The same $5 on micropayments: 5% is $0.25, plus $0.05, for $0.30. A $100 payment on a foreign card with currency conversion: 2.9 plus 1.5 plus 1 is 5.4%, which is $5.40, plus $0.30, for a $5.70 fee and $94.30 net. The two surcharges together nearly double the standard fee, so international mix is worth watching.
The reverse math: charging enough to net a target
To net an exact amount, gross up the charge with this formula: charge equals your target net plus the $0.30 fixed fee, divided by 0.971 (that is, 1 minus 0.029). To net exactly $100, charge ($100 + $0.30) divided by 0.971, which is $103.30. Check: 2.9% of $103.30 is $3.00, plus $0.30 is $3.30, and $103.30 minus $3.30 is $100.00. To net $1,000, charge ($1,000 + $0.30) divided by 0.971, which is $1,030.18. For other fee mixes, replace 0.029 with your total percentage rate: with international plus conversion (5.4%), the divisor is 0.946, so netting $100 takes a $106.03 charge. The calculator on the homepage runs this reverse math for any combination of toggles, so you never have to do it by hand.
How the fixed $0.30 punishes small tickets
The 30-cent fixed fee is the most misunderstood part of Stripe pricing because it makes the effective rate depend on ticket size. At $1, the fee is $0.33, a 33% effective rate. At $5, $0.45, or 9%. At $10, $0.59, or 5.9%. At $50, $1.75, or 3.5%. At $500, $14.80, or 2.96%. The percentage converges on 2.9% as amounts grow, but under $10 the fixed fee dominates. This is exactly the problem the micropayment rate (5% plus $0.05, available on request) solves: at $5 it costs $0.30 instead of $0.45, and the two rates cross over near $11.90. If your average sale is under $12, ask Stripe about micropayment pricing before optimizing anything else.
Volume pricing and enterprise rates
The published rates are the starting point, not the ceiling. Businesses processing high monthly volume can negotiate custom pricing with Stripe, including lower percentage rates, lower fixed fees, and interchange-plus pricing that passes the raw card-network cost through with a fixed markup. There is no published threshold, but if your monthly Stripe bill runs into the thousands, a conversation is worthwhile. Multi-product discounts can also apply when you use Billing, Invoicing, or Connect alongside Payments. The key preparation is knowing your effective rate and your mix: card-present versus card-not-present, domestic versus international, and average ticket size. Stripe prices risk and cost, so the cleaner your mix, the better your negotiated rate.
Should you pass the fee to customers?
Gross-up math answers "how," not "should." Three options exist. Absorb the fee: simplest, and on a $100 sale the $3.20 is 3.2% of margin, often invisible. Add a processing surcharge: permitted in most US states for credit cards, with disclosure rules that vary by state, but it complicates checkout and can annoy customers. Raise all prices slightly: the quietest option, spreading the fee across cash and card buyers alike. What you cannot do is pretend the fee does not exist: across $100,000 of card volume, 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction is roughly $3,000 plus the fixed slices, a line item that deserves a deliberate decision rather than drift.
What Stripe does not charge
There is no monthly fee, no setup fee, and no fee for failed charges on the standard plan. Standard payouts to your bank account are free. Payment Links and Checkout carry no extra fee beyond the processing rate. The add-ons that do cost extra are separate products: Invoicing at 0.4% per paid invoice, Billing at 0.7% of billing volume, and Connect platform fees for marketplaces. If all you do is take card payments online, 2.9% plus $0.30 is the whole story, and it has been stable for years.