Stripe

What is Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform designed for businesses of all sizes. Its primary purpose is to allow companies to accept payments and manage their finances online. Founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick and John Collison, Stripe has dual headquarters in San Francisco, USA, and Dublin, Ireland. The platform provides a suite of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that developers can use to integrate payment processing directly into their websites and applications. Beyond simple payments, Stripe offers a range of products to handle subscriptions, invoicing, fraud prevention, and financing, making it a comprehensive solution for internet commerce.

Stripe Features

Stripe offers a wide array of features to manage online financial operations. Key features include:

• Payments: Accept credit cards, debit cards, and popular payment methods from around the world. It supports over 135 currencies and local payment methods to increase conversion rates.
• Billing: Create and manage recurring payments and subscriptions. It supports various models like per-seat, usage-based, or flat-rate billing.
• Connect: A product for marketplaces and platforms to facilitate payments between buyers and sellers. It handles onboarding, verification, and payouts for third-party vendors.
• Radar: An AI-driven fraud detection and prevention tool. It uses machine learning to identify and block fraudulent transactions in real-time.
• Invoicing: Create and send professional, customizable invoices to customers. It automates invoice tracking and collection.
• Terminal: Allows businesses to accept in-person payments using pre-certified card readers, extending online infrastructure to the physical world.
• Issuing: Create, manage, and distribute virtual and physical cards. Businesses can control spending and build new revenue streams.
• Atlas: A service that helps entrepreneurs incorporate a company in the U.S., set up a U.S. bank account, and start accepting payments with Stripe.
• Sigma: A custom reporting tool that provides access to Stripe data using standard SQL queries, allowing for detailed business analytics.

Stripe Pricing Plans

Stripe primarily operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model. There are no setup fees or monthly charges for the standard plan. Users are charged a percentage and a small fixed fee for each successful card transaction. The rates vary depending on the country and whether the card is domestic or international.

For businesses with large payment volumes or unique business models, Stripe offers a Custom plan. This plan includes everything in the standard offering, plus volume discounts, dedicated support, and access to beta products. This is suitable for large enterprises that require a tailored solution.

Stripe Free Plan

Stripe does not have a traditional free plan. Instead, its standard model is free to set up. You can create an account, access the dashboard, and integrate the APIs without any upfront cost. You only start paying when you process successful payments. This makes it accessible for startups and small businesses to get started without an initial investment. There is no free trial period because the core service is already free to access; charges are only applied to transactions.

How to use Stripe

Getting started with Stripe is a straightforward process:

1. Create an Account: Go to the Stripe website and sign up with your email address and a password. This gives you immediate access to the Stripe Dashboard in test mode.
2. Activate Your Account: To start processing real payments, you need to activate your account. This involves providing detailed information about your business, including your legal name, business address, tax identification number, and bank account details for payouts.
3. Integrate Stripe: You can integrate Stripe into your website or application in several ways. For developers, Stripe offers extensive libraries and APIs. For non-developers, Stripe integrates with hundreds of e-commerce platforms and plugins like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Squarespace. You can also use no-code tools like Payment Links to create a shareable payment page.
4. Manage Operations: Once integrated, you can monitor transactions, manage customers, handle disputes, and view payout schedules directly from the Stripe Dashboard.

Pros and Cons of Stripe

Pros:

• Developer-Friendly: Stripe is known for its powerful, well-documented APIs and extensive developer resources.
• Comprehensive Feature Set: It offers a full suite of tools beyond payments, including billing, invoicing, and fraud protection.
• Global Reach: Supports a vast number of currencies and local payment methods, making international sales easier.
• Scalability: The platform is built to support businesses as they grow, from small startups to large enterprises.
• Strong Integration Ecosystem: Connects with hundreds of third-party applications and services.

Cons:

• Transaction Fees: The pay-as-you-go fees can be relatively high for businesses with very low margins.
• Complexity for Beginners: The extensive features can be overwhelming for users without technical knowledge.
• Account Stability: Some businesses, particularly in high-risk industries, have reported issues with account holds or sudden terminations.
• Support: While support is available, getting immediate, high-level technical help can sometimes require a premium support plan.

Stripe integrations

Stripe offers a vast ecosystem of integrations with third-party applications and services. You can connect Stripe to your existing tools for accounting, CRM, e-commerce, and more. Popular integrations include:

• E-commerce Platforms: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and Squarespace offer built-in Stripe integration.
• CRM: Connect with Salesforce to sync customer and payment data for a unified view.
• Accounting: Integrate with Xero, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks to automate financial reconciliation.
• Website Builders: Platforms like Webflow and Wix have seamless integrations for accepting payments. Integration is typically managed through the third-party platform's settings or by using official plugins.

Stripe Alternatives

1. PayPal: A globally recognized payment platform. It is often easier for non-technical users to set up but offers less API flexibility than Stripe.
2. Adyen: A strong competitor focused on enterprise-level clients. It provides a single platform for online, in-app, and in-store payments with a focus on global optimization.
3. Braintree: A PayPal service that is also very developer-focused. It offers a similar feature set to Stripe and is a popular choice for mobile-first businesses.
4. Square: Excellent for businesses with both online and physical presences. Square's main strength is its point-of-sale (POS) hardware and software, but it also provides robust online payment processing.

Stripe API

Yes, Stripe provides a powerful and well-documented API that is central to its platform. Developers can use the API to build custom payment flows, manage subscriptions, handle payouts, and more.

To get an API key, you must first create a Stripe account. Once logged in, you can find your API keys in the Developers section of the Stripe Dashboard. You will have two types of keys: a publishable key (for the client-side) and a secret key (for server-side requests). These keys are available for free in both test and live modes.

Here is a basic example using cURL to create a payment charge:

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/charges \
   -u sk_test_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc: \
   -d amount=2000 \
   -d currency=usd \
   -d source=tok_mastercard \
   -d "description=Charge for jenny.rosen@example.com"

Stripe Affiliate program

Stripe does not have a traditional public affiliate program where individuals can earn commissions for referrals. Instead, it offers the Stripe Partner Program. This program is designed for developers, agencies, and software platforms that build solutions or provide services using Stripe. Partners can receive benefits like revenue sharing, co-marketing opportunities, dedicated support, and early access to new products. To join, you need to apply through the Stripe Partner portal on their website and meet certain criteria based on your business and integration with Stripe.