# Stripe

Stripe is a payments infrastructure platform rated 4.4/5 on G2 (1,900+ reviews) and 4.7/5 on Capterra (3,300+ reviews). Profile: pricing, funding ~$9.4B, founders, integrations.

**Category:** Payments infrastructure / developer-first payment processing  
**Vendor:** Stripe, Inc.  
**Founded:** 2010  
**HQ:** San Francisco, California, US / Dublin, Ireland (dual HQ)  
**Website:** https://stripe.com  


## About

Stripe is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet: its core product is a set of APIs that let businesses accept and manage online payments, and over time it has expanded to cover billing, revenue recognition, fraud prevention, business banking, corporate cards, and tax compliance. It was co-founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick Collison (CEO) and John Collison (President) in San Francisco; Patrick was 21 years old at launch. Stripe is incorporated in the US and has operational headquarters in both San Francisco and Dublin, Ireland, reflecting its Irish founders' ties. The company processes hundreds of billions of dollars in payment volume annually and serves businesses ranging from early-stage startups to large enterprises including Amazon, Salesforce, Shopify, and Lyft. As of its 2023 secondary share sale, Stripe was valued at approximately $65 billion after a period of carrying a peak valuation of $95 billion in 2021. Stripe had raised approximately $9.4 billion in total funding as of mid-2026 and employed around 8,000 people globally.

## Ratings

| Source | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 4.4/5 | 1,900 |
| Capterra | 4.7/5 | 3,300 |
| Gartner Peer Insights | 4.3/5 | 82 |
| TrustRadius | 8.3/10 | 415 |

## Funding

~$9.4B across multiple rounds (2011-2023)

| Round | Amount | Date | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | $2M | 2011 | Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz |
| Series A | $18M | Feb 2012 | Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Redpoint |
| Series B | $80M | Jul 2014 | Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital |
| Series C | $100M | Dec 2015 | Visa, American Express, Kleiner Perkins |
| Series D | $150M | Nov 2016 | General Catalyst, CapitalG (Google) |
| Series G | $250M | Sep 2019 | Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst |
| Series H | $600M | Mar 2021 | Allianz X, Axa, Baillie Gifford (at $95B valuation) |
| Secondary / recapitalization | $6.5B | Mar 2023 | Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital (at $50B valuation, later revised to $65B) |

## Viability

Very low risk for the product; the open question is long-run exit path. Stripe is deeply embedded in the global internet economy and processes more payment volume than any developer-first alternative. An estimated $1 trillion+ in total payment volume passes through Stripe annually. The company has repeatedly said it is in no rush to IPO, but at a $65 billion valuation with $9.4 billion raised, an eventual public listing or large secondary market remains the likely outcome. The more relevant buyer risk is pricing: Stripe charges 2.9% + 30 cents for standard card processing, and while that is competitive for low volume, enterprise-scale businesses often negotiate lower rates directly or find Braintree (PayPal) or Adyen cheaper. The platform risk is lock-in: Stripe's API is clean but migrating billing, subscription logic, and webhook integrations to another provider is a multi-quarter engineering project.

## Pricing

Stripe has no monthly platform fee, which makes it look free until you process real volume. At 2.9% + 30c per successful card charge, a $50,000/month GMV business pays roughly $1,470/month in processing fees. International cards add 1.5%, currency conversion adds another 1%, and manual payment methods (ACH, SEPA) have separate rate cards. Stripe Billing (for subscriptions) adds 0.5-0.8% on top for its automation layer. This is competitive at low volume; at $500K+ monthly GMV, the math on negotiating or switching providers changes materially.

| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (no monthly fee) | 2.9% + 30¢ per card charge | Startups and SMBs: simple checkout, subscriptions, invoicing; no upfront cost |
| Custom (negotiated) | Volume-based discount from standard rates | Businesses processing $1M+ monthly who negotiate interchange-plus or flat-rate pricing directly with Stripe |
| Stripe Billing (add-on) | 0.5% on recurring revenue (Starter) or 0.8% (Scale) | SaaS and subscription businesses needing trial management, proration, dunning, and metered billing |
| Stripe Connect (marketplace) | 0.25% per payout + standard processing | Platforms and marketplaces that need to split and route payments to connected accounts (gig economy, SaaS platforms) |

## What reviewers say

_1,900+ G2 reviews at 4.4/5 and 3,300+ Capterra reviews at 4.7/5, plus TrustRadius and extensive developer community discussion on Hacker News and Reddit_

**Praised:**
- Developer experience is the most cited strength by a wide margin: Stripe's API documentation, SDKs, and Stripe CLI are described as the gold standard for payments infrastructure, making integration fast and debugging straightforward
- The dashboard is praised by non-technical finance and operations users as genuinely readable: transaction data, payout timing, dispute management, and revenue reporting are accessible without needing to read code or contact support
- Stripe Billing for SaaS subscription management is repeatedly called the best available product for handling trial logic, proration, metered billing, and dunning in one place without custom engineering

**Complaints:**
- Account holds and fund freezes are the most complained-about risk: Stripe's fraud prevention model occasionally flags legitimate businesses (especially new accounts or unusual transaction patterns) for account holds with little warning and slow support resolution, which is an existential problem for a business's cash flow
- Standard processing fees (2.9% + 30¢) add up at volume; reviewers at high-GMV businesses say they negotiated lower rates or left for Braintree or Adyen once monthly volume crossed a threshold where the fee difference justified the integration cost
- Customer support at the non-enterprise tier is email-only and can be slow; several reviewers describe taking 3-5 business days to resolve disputes or reconcile payout discrepancies, which is stressful when money is involved

## Compliance

- **SOC 2:** Yes (SOC 2 Type II)
- **GDPR:** Yes
- **HIPAA:** Yes (available with BAA for specific configurations)
- **SSO:** Yes (SSO available on enterprise plans)

## Integrations

- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- QuickBooks Online
- Xero
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Zapier
- NetSuite
- Chargebee
- Recurly

## FAQs

### How much does Stripe charge per transaction?

Stripe's standard rate is 2.9% + 30 cents per successful card charge for domestic cards in the US. International cards add a 1.5% fee on top. ACH direct debit is 0.8% capped at $5. Stripe Billing for subscription management adds 0.5% on monthly recurring revenue (Starter tier) or 0.8% (Scale tier). Businesses processing large volumes can negotiate custom rates directly with Stripe.

### Is Stripe good for SaaS companies?

Yes, Stripe is widely considered the default payments choice for SaaS companies, specifically because of Stripe Billing's subscription management, trial logic, proration, and dunning automation. The API-first design maps naturally to how SaaS engineering teams build. The trade-off at scale is cost: the 0.5-0.8% Billing fee on MRR adds up, and some SaaS companies at $5M+ ARR evaluate Maxio (formerly SaaSOptics) or Chargebee as the billing layer with Stripe as the payment processor underneath.

### Who founded Stripe?

Stripe was co-founded in 2010 by Patrick Collison and John Collison, two brothers from County Tipperary, Ireland. Patrick (CEO) was 21 at launch; John (President) was 19. They had previously sold a startup called Auctomatic to Live Current Media for $5 million in 2008, which funded their early Stripe work.

### Is Stripe a public company?

No. As of 2026 Stripe remains private. It was last valued at approximately $65 billion in 2023, following a period where its 2021 peak valuation was $95 billion. Patrick Collison has stated publicly that Stripe is in no rush to IPO, and the company has enough capital on its balance sheet to operate independently. An eventual public listing remains speculated but not announced.

### Is Stripe PCI and SOC 2 compliant?

Yes. Stripe is a PCI DSS Level 1 certified service provider, the highest level of payment card industry compliance. It also holds SOC 2 Type II certification, supports GDPR, and offers HIPAA BAAs for specific configurations. Using Stripe's hosted payment fields (Stripe Elements or Stripe Checkout) shifts the bulk of PCI scope away from the merchant.


## Sources

- [G2: Stripe reviews](https://www.g2.com/products/stripe/reviews): rating 4.4/5, 1,900+ reviews
- [Capterra: Stripe](https://www.capterra.com/p/158445/Stripe/): rating 4.7/5, 3,300+ reviews, sub-scores, demographics
- [TrustRadius: Stripe](https://www.trustradius.com/products/stripe/reviews): score 8.3/10, 415+ reviews
- [Wikipedia: Stripe, Inc.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripe,_Inc.): founding, founders, valuation history, payment volume, funding rounds
- [Crunchbase: Stripe](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/stripe): ~$9.4B total funding, full funding round history, investors
- [LinkedIn: Stripe company page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/stripe/): employee count ~8,000, HQ, specialties
- [Stripe pricing page](https://stripe.com/pricing): standard rate 2.9% + 30c, Billing add-on 0.5%/0.8%, international card fees
- [Stripe newsroom: 2023 recapitalization](https://stripe.com/newsroom/news/stripe-valuation): $6.5B secondary raise at $50B valuation (later revised to $65B)