Free Stripe Fee Calculator

How to Use the Stripe Fee Calculator

This quick walkthrough shows the calculator in action. Stripe works the same way: enter a charge to see the 2.9% + $0.30 online fee (or 2.7% + $0.05 in person) and your exact net, or reverse-solve the price for a target payout. Use the platform dropdown to switch.

The tool has two modes. Pick the one that matches what you already know:

1. Charge to payout: Enter the amount you charge the customer. The calculator shows the processing fee and the net amount that lands in your Stripe balance. Add your item cost to see profit and profit margin too.
2. Net to charge: Enter the payout you want to keep. The calculator solves for the charge amount that leaves you exactly that much after Stripe's fee, then shows the breakdown so you can confirm it reconciles.

A small Payment method selector lets you switch between an online card charge and an in-person charge taken through Stripe Terminal, because the two have different rates. The calculator opens on Stripe, but you can use the platform dropdown to compare the same amount against Etsy, Square, PayPal, or any other supported platform.

The tool links to Stripe's official pricing page with the date we checked it. Rates change and vary by country and card type, so treat the numbers as a fast, accurate starting point and confirm anything critical against the source.

How Stripe Fees Work in the US

Stripe is a payment processor, not a marketplace. That means it charges one fee to move money from a customer's card into your account, and it does not take a separate selling or listing cut on top. Stripe's standard US pricing has two parts on every successful charge:

• A percentage of the charge amount.
• A fixed fee in cents, the same on every transaction no matter the size.

For a standard online card charge the rate is 2.9% + $0.30. For a card taken in person through Stripe Terminal the rate is lower, 2.7% + $0.05, because card-present payments carry less fraud risk. There is no monthly fee and no setup fee on Stripe's standard plan, so the per-charge fee is the whole cost for most sellers.

The percentage scales with the charge, but the fixed part does not. That single detail drives almost every decision about how to price and batch your payments.

A Worked Example

Say you charge a customer $100 online.

• Percentage fee: 2.9% of $100 = $2.90
• Fixed fee: $0.30
• Total Stripe fee: $3.20
• Net payout: $96.80

Take that same $100 in person through Terminal at 2.7% + $0.05 and the fee is $2.75, leaving you $97.25. The calculator prints this breakdown for any amount, so you never have to run the arithmetic by hand.

Why the $0.30 Fixed Fee Hurts Small Charges

On a big charge the flat $0.30 barely registers. On a small one it dominates. Watch what happens as the charge shrinks:

• Charge $100: fee $3.20, or about 3.2% of the payment.
• Charge $20: fee $0.88, or about 4.4%.
• Charge $5: fee $0.45, or about 9%.
• Charge $1: fee $0.33, or about 33% of the payment.

The effective percentage climbs as the amount falls because the fixed fee is a bigger slice of a smaller pie. If you sell low-priced items or take lots of tiny payments, that is where your margin quietly leaks. Two common fixes: set a sensible minimum charge, or aggregate several small items into one larger transaction so the $0.30 is paid once instead of many times.

Fees the Calculator Does Not Include

The tool models Stripe's core per-transaction processing fee, which is what applies to the overwhelming majority of card charges. It does not try to guess situational fees that depend on your specific setup, including:

• International cards: charges on cards issued outside your country carry an extra percentage.
• Currency conversion: presenting or settling in another currency adds a conversion fee.
• Instant payouts: moving your balance out immediately, rather than on the standard schedule, costs extra.
• Chargeback fees: a disputed payment carries a fixed fee, refunded if you win the dispute.
• Add-on products: Stripe Billing, Tax, Radar advanced fraud tools, and similar products have their own pricing.

If any of those apply to you, add them on top of the figure here and confirm the exact number on Stripe's pricing page. Leaving them out keeps the core estimate clean and honest rather than burying a headline rate under assumptions that may not fit your account.

Using the Reverse Mode to Set a Price

Most sellers know what they want to walk away with, not what to charge. The reverse mode is built for that. Switch to the Net to charge tab, type the payout you want to keep, and the calculator solves for the charge amount that nets exactly that after Stripe's fee.

This is the fast way to set an invoice total or a product price so your deposit lands on a round number. Because the fee has a fixed part, you cannot simply add 2.9% back on and be done; the tool handles the exact reconciliation for you and shows the breakdown so you can see the solved charge really does net your target.

Stripe vs Other Platforms

Because Stripe is a pure processor, its fee is often lower than a marketplace that bundles processing with a selling fee. A marketplace like Etsy or Poshmark takes a listing or selling cut and then charges processing on top, so more comes out of each sale. Stripe, PayPal, and Square are the processing layer only.

That is exactly why comparing them side by side is useful. Switch the platform dropdown to run the same charge through Square (which changes rate by how the card is taken), PayPal, or a full marketplace, and the calculator re-computes the breakdown for each. If you sell through your own checkout on Stripe as well as on a marketplace, you can see in seconds how much more of each sale you keep by driving buyers to your own store.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Stripe fee calculator work?

Enter the amount you charge the customer. The calculator applies Stripe's US processing fee - 2.9% + $0.30 for a standard online card charge, or 2.7% + $0.05 if you switch to in-person (Terminal) - and subtracts it to show the net amount that lands in your Stripe balance. Add your item cost to also see profit and profit margin.

What are Stripe's fees in the US?

Stripe's standard US pricing is 2.9% + $0.30 per successful online card charge, with no monthly fee and no setup fee. Card-present payments taken through Stripe Terminal are 2.7% + $0.05. There is no marketplace or selling fee because Stripe is a payment processor, not a marketplace. International cards and currency conversion carry extra percentages that are not included by default.

How much does Stripe take on a $100 charge?

On a standard online $100 charge, Stripe takes 2.9% ($2.90) plus $0.30, which is $3.20 in total, leaving you $96.80. Taken in person through Terminal at 2.7% + $0.05, the fee is $2.75, leaving you $97.25. The calculator shows this breakdown line by line for any amount you enter.

Why is the fixed $0.30 fee such a big deal on small charges?

The 2.9% is a small slice of a large charge but the flat $0.30 is fixed no matter the size, so it dominates on tiny transactions. On a $1 charge the fee is about $0.33 - roughly a third of the payment. That is why aggregating small payments into fewer, larger charges, or setting a sensible minimum, protects your margin.

What is the reverse mode for?

Switch to the reverse tab, type the net amount you want to keep, and the calculator solves for the charge amount that leaves you exactly that after Stripe's fee. It is the quickest way to set a price or an invoice total so your payout hits a round number after processing is deducted.

Does this include Stripe's other fees?

The calculator models Stripe's core per-transaction processing fee, which is what applies to the vast majority of card charges. It does not add optional or situational fees such as international card surcharges, currency conversion, instant payouts, chargeback fees, or Billing and Tax product fees. Always confirm against the official pricing page for your exact setup.

Are these Stripe rates current?

The rates are Stripe's published US standard pricing, and the tool links to stripe.com/pricing with the date we last checked it. Processing rates vary by country, card type, and product, and Stripe updates them from time to time, so treat the result as an accurate estimate and confirm the live figure on Stripe's pricing page before you rely on it.

Is this fee calculator free?

Yes. It is 100% free, runs entirely in your browser, needs no signup, and lets you compare Stripe against Etsy, Square, Shopify, PayPal, and other platforms with the same breakdown.