Stripe Review: Is it the right payment gateway for your business?

Stripe is one of the best payment gateways you can choose, and a viable option for small and large businesses alike, offering multiple payment methods like digital wallets and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options, integrations with popular ecommerce platforms, and developer tools for creating customised payment experiences.

But it’s not the only option. If your own business is starting out with accepting online payments, you should consider all options and choose a system that has the features you need, as well as a fee structure that keeps things profitable for you as you grow.

Below, we’ll share our review of Stripe, including its core features, its costs, its pros and cons, and other important factors to consider before making the final decision for your business.

What is Stripe?

Stripe is a payment processing platform that allows businesses to accept and manage online payments. Founded in 2010, it provides the infrastructure needed for businesses to process card payments, digital wallets, bank transfers, and other payment methods through websites, apps, and in-person transactions.

Unlike traditional payment providers that mainly focus on card processing, Stripe offers a suite of tools covering areas like subscriptions, invoicing, marketplaces, fraud prevention, tax management, and customer identity verification. This makes it suitable for a wide range of businesses, from small online stores to large global platforms.

Stripe is also popular with digital businesses because of its developer-friendly APIs and flexible customisation options, which allow companies to build tailored checkout experiences and integrate payments directly into their business website or mobile apps.

Stripe pros and cons

Stripe offers an advanced platform with a range of features for businesses of all sizes. However, it’s important to consider both its strengths and limitations before deciding if it’s the right payment processing system for you. Below is a breakdown of its main advantages and disadvantages.

What are Stripe’s main features?

Stripe’s core features cover payment processing, merchant tools, automated billing and compliance systems, giving businesses everything they need to accept payments, manage revenue, and scale their operations.

While Stripe is best known as an online payment gateway, its platform has expanded to include tools for in-person payments, subscriptions, marketplaces, fraud prevention, tax management, and customer verification.

1. Global payment acceptance

Stripe supports 135+ currencies, as well as local payment methods like Klarna, Clearpay, iDEAL, SEPA, and ACH. It also offers built-in integration for digital wallets, including Apple Pay, Google Pay and Link (Stripe’s one-click checkout).

Stripe’s payment platform – Stripe Terminal – allows businesses to accept in-person payments at a physical POS and unifies both online and offline sales onto a single platform. It also offers:

• Flexible in-person options with certified card readers, including portable Bluetooth readers (Stripe Reader M2), Android-based handheld terminals (like Stripe Reader S700 and S710), and Tap to Pay on iPhone/Android smartphones without extra hardware.
• Developer-friendly Software Development Kits (SDKs) – like JavaScript, iOS, Android and React Native – to allow businesses to build fully customised checkout flows directly into their existing POS systems.
• Platform and marketplace support that integrates with Stripe Connect to allow platforms like Shopify and Mindbody to provide their own merchants with in-person card readers and split payouts automatically.

2. Business and revenue products

Stripe also comes with a range of tools to help businesses manage their revenue and day-to-day payment processes.

• Stripe Billing: manages recurring payments and subscriptions and allows businesses to create flexible pricing models, automate invoicing, handle failed payments, and manage customer subscriptions from a single dashboard. It supports everything from simple monthly plans to complex usage-based billing models, making it suitable for a range of subscription model businesses.
• Stripe Connect: Stripe’s platform payments solution that helps businesses build and operate marketplaces, platforms, and apps that need to facilitate payments between multiple parties. It allows platforms to onboard users or sellers, collect payments from customers, route funds between different accounts and manage payouts automatically.
• Stripe Invoicing: a tool for creating, sending, and managing invoices, allowing businesses to request and collect payments from customers without needing to build their own invoicing system. With this, businesses can accept online payments through different methods, automate recurring invoices, track payment status, and send reminders for unpaid invoices.

3. Fraud, security and compliance

Stripe’s security and compliance tools help businesses protect transactions, meet regulatory requirements, verify customers, and even support sustainability efforts. These features work alongside Stripe’s payment products to give businesses more control over security and compliance.

• Stripe Radar: machine-learning fraud prevention that uses data across the entire Stripe network to evaluate risk scores per transaction.
• Stripe Tax: automated calculation and collection of sales tax, value-added tax (VAT), and Goods and Services Tax (GST) based on customer location
• Stripe Identity: a built-in Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-fraud verification tool that allows companies to collect and verify information like government-issued IDs, selfies, and other identity details to help prevent fraud and meet compliance requirements.
• Stripe Climate: an automated sustainability feature that allows businesses to contribute a small percentage of their revenue directly to technologies that actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

How much does Stripe cost?

Stripe primarily operates on a pay-as-you-go model with no setup fees, monthly maintenance fees, or hidden cancellation costs.

Instead, you pay processing rates, which vary depending on the payment method or channel. The current fees are as follows:

• Online domestic cards: 1.5% + 20p
• In-person (Stripe Terminal): 1.4% + 20p
• Bank direct debits: 1% (capped at £4)
• International cards: 2.5% + 20p for EEA cards and 3.5% + 20p for non-EEA cards
• Currency conversion: 2% foreign exchange (FX) fee

Additional product and add-on fees

Stripe also charges additional fees for its extra services, such as Stripe Billing, Invoicing, and Tax. Here’s a breakdown of the costs:

How much does Stripe’s hardware cost?

Stripe provides a range of devices for businesses to accept in-person payments – all supported by Stripe Terminal:

• Stripe Reader S700 (£229): a handheld card reader that can be customised to run your POS app.
• Stripe Reader S710 (£229): a handheld card reader that can be customised to run your POS app, plus cellular capability.
• BBPOS Wisepad 3 (£49): a compact mobile card reader with a built-in PIN pad.
• BBPOS WisePOS E (£179): a portable card reader with a touchscreen display for both countertop and handheld payments.
• Verifone V660p (Custom): a handheld card reader with a built-in receipt printer.
• Verifone UX700 (Custom): a compact, weather-proof device designed for self-service transactions.
• Verifone P630 (Custom): a portable countertop card reader with a 3.5-inch display and PIN pad.

What businesses are prohibited from Stripe?

Stripe has a comprehensive list of all businesses that it doesn’t allow or support, which is updated fairly regularly (the last update was May 2026). These include, but are not limited to:

• Substances designed to mimic illegal drugs
• Fake references or ID-providing services
• Certain adult content and services (such as adult video stores, gentlemen’s clubs or AI-generated content)
• Debt relief (like debt settlement, negotiation, and consolidation)
• Certain financial products and services (including ATMs, cheque cashing, and peer-to-peer money transmission(
• Gambling
• Illegal weapons, explosives and dangerous materials
• Certain legal services (bankruptcy lawyers, bail bonds and law firms collecting funds other than legal service fees)
• Products and services that infringe on intellectual property rights (like counterfeit goods or illegally imported/exported products)
• Non-fiat currency (such as cryptocurrency)
• Travel (including commercial airlines and timeshare services)

What are some alternatives to Stripe?

The top alternatives to Stripe are Square, PayPal, Adyen and Checkout.com. Each platform offers a different set of features and is suited to different types of businesses. Choosing the right alternative depends on factors like buiness size, payment needs, pricing structure, and required features.

Best alternatives to Stripe: overview

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		Best for:	Transaction fees from
Square	PayPal	Adyen	Checkout.com
Small-to-midsize businesses, hybrid retail, and in-person POS setup	Businesses selling internationally	High-volume, enterprise, and mid-market businesses	Enterprise ecommerce, fintechs, and high-volume digital platforms
1.4% + 25p	1.2% + 30p	11p + payment method fee (variable)	Custom-quoted

1. Square

• Transaction fees: 1.75% (in-person), 1.4% + 25p (online/UK cards), 2.5% + 25p (online/non-UK cards), 2.5% (keyed-in), 6% + 30p (BNPL)

Square is an all-in-one financial ecosystem primarily designed for small-to-midsize businesses, local retail, food service, and service-based firms. It combines payment processing, POS hardware, ecommerce tools, and business management software under a unified platform.

Square offers free POS software customised for different industries (including retail, hospitality, and appointment scheduling), a range of affordable proprietary hardware (from as low as £19), omnichannel selling (like direct integrations for ecommerce via Square Online and shareable payment links) and integrated add-ons for employee time tracking, payroll processing, customer loyalty programs, and more.

Read our full review of Square to learn more about the platform and what it can offer your business.

2. PayPal

• Transaction fees: 2.9% + 30p (online), 1.75% (in-person), 1.2% + 30p (advanced card payments), 1.5% + 10p (QR code/over £10), 2% + 5p (£10 and under)

PayPal is one of the world’s most widely recognised digital payment platforms, allowing users and businesses to send, receive, and process payments across 200+ countries and markets.

Its core offerings include a one-click payment option for ecommerce sites (allowing customers to pay using their saved PayPal balance, linked accounts or credit cards without re-entering details), integration of credit cards and digital wallets (Apple Pay and Google Pay) through its Braintree engine, proprietary hardware (from £29 + VAT) and built-in BNPL financing options.

3. Adyen

• Transaction fees: 11p (fixed) + fee determined by the payment method (variable)

Adyen is an enterprise-grade payment technology platform built mainly for mid-market enterprises. Unlike aggregators like Stripe or Square, Adyen acts as an all-in-one payment gateway, risk management system, and direct merchant acquiring bank.

Adyen provides a single platform for managing online, mobile and in-store payments across multiple regions, helps businesses process payments closer to the customer’s bank to reduce reliance on third-party processors, connects in-person and online payment channels through its POS solutions, and uses machine learning to analyse transactions to identify potential fraud.

4. Checkout.com

• Transaction fees: Quote-based (not publicly available)

Checkout.com is a UK-based global payment fintech built specifically for high-growth enterprise merchants, digital platforms, and fintechs. Like Adyen, it operates as both a direct payment gateway and an acquiring bank, prioritising high payment authorisation rates and multi-currency processing.

Its global acquiring capabilities allow businesses to process payments locally in key regions, while its intelligent routing tools use machine learning to help improve transaction approval rates, manage 3D Secure (3DS) authentication, and retry declined payments where possible.

Final thoughts

Stripe is a good choice for businesses looking for an affordable, secure and reliable payment gateway. With a range of multi-currency support, customised checkout capabilities and a range of tools that go beyond basic card processing.

That said, it isn’t the most user-friendly platform, as it comes with a steeper learning curve that requires either technical knowledge or coding experience. Also, as Stripe operates as a third-party aggregator rather than providing businesses with a dedicated merchant account, some users may experience sudden account reviews, payout delays, or temporary restrictions when unusual activity, rapid sales growth, or potential risk indicators are detected.

All in all, Stripe is best suited to businesses that value flexibility, scalability and customisation, particularly those with access to technical resources. Smaller businesses or those looking for a simpler, all-in-one payment solution may find other providers like Square or PayPal better aligned with their needs.

For more information on payment gateways, check out our guide on the best payment gateways and online payment systems.