Stripe fee history 2011–2026
Profitvana Editorial Team · Updated November 9, 2026
Stripe's headline US rate has not moved since the company launched in September 2011: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge. Everything that has changed sits around it: refunds stopped returning the fee for new accounts in 2017, manually entered cards gained a 0.5-point surcharge in 2022, the international-card surcharge rose from 1% to 1.5% in 2023, Instant Payouts went from 1% to 1.5% in 2024, Billing was repriced in 2024, and disputes acquired a second $15 fee in 2025 and a third in November 2026.
Because the base rate is constant, the 'then and now' table shows the cost of a domestic card charge staying flat while the cost of a refund, an international customer or a dispute rose. Each entry carries a Stripe page or a named publication; Stripe's own change notices are often redirected to the pricing page after a year, so some entries rest on contemporary reports and are marked as such.
What a $100 sale cost in fees, then and now
| Year | Fees on $100 | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | $3.20 | 2.9% + 30¢; fee returned on refunds and on won disputes |
| 2018 | $3.20 | Same rate; fee kept on refunds for accounts created after Sept 2017 |
| 2023 | $3.20 ($4.70 for an international card) | +1.5% international surcharge from June 2023 |
| 2026 | $3.20 | Unchanged; dispute received $15 + countered $15 + appeal $15 |
Timeline (newest first)
official source
Dispute appeal fee and payout pricing
No appeal fee; Global Payouts flat $1.50→$15 per dispute appeal, not refunded even if won; payouts priced per rail after 50 free domestic payouts a month (ACH $0.50 next-day, $1.00 same-day; RTP $2.50; Fedwire $25)
Visible on the live pricing page from the first week of November 2026; Stripe published no separate announcement.
official source
Dispute fees
$15 'dispute received' fee, non-refundable→$15 received fee + a new $15 'countered' fee when you submit evidence, returned if you win; waived under Smart Disputes (30% of the recovered amount)
official source
Stablecoin payments (public preview)
1.5% of the USD amount for USDC, USDP and USDG payments
official source
Stripe Billing
Starter 0.5% / Scale 0.8% of Billing volume→Single 0.7% of Billing volume (existing users kept old pricing until 30 June 2025)
· announced May 21, 2024official source
Instant Payouts
1.0% of the payout, minimum $0.50→1.5% of the payout, minimum $0.50
· announced April 2023official source
International card surcharge
+1.0% when the card is issued outside the US→+1.5%
The same notice stated 'no change to our standard 2.9% + $0.30 pricing'. Currency conversion stayed at +1%.
Stripe support — June 2023 pricing updates for US businesses (now redirected to pricing)
official source
Manually entered card payments
2.9% + 30¢→3.4% + 30¢ (+0.5 points) for cards keyed into the Dashboard or a virtual terminal
Stripe support — price change for manually entered card payments
official source
Stripe Tax launched
0.5% per transaction where you are registered to collect tax
trade press
Refund fee retention extended to legacy accounts
Accounts created before September 2017 still had fees returned on refunds→Fees kept on refunds for all accounts
Planning Center changelog, February 2020 (partner notice of Stripe's change)
official source
Processing fee on refunds
Full 2.9% + 30¢ returned when a charge was refunded→Fee kept on refunds for accounts created after 14 September 2017
Stripe's current support page confirms the policy: processing, Connect and currency-conversion fees are not returned on refunds.
trade press
Refunds and won disputes
Fee kept on refunds; $15 dispute fee kept even when won→Full processing fee returned on refunds; $15 returned when a dispute is won
Both concessions were later withdrawn: refunds in 2017 (new accounts) and 2020 (all accounts); the won-dispute refund at a date Stripe has not documented.
trade press
US launch
2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge; no setup or monthly fees
How this timeline is built
Each entry carries the figure before and after the change and a source that states it: the platform’s own announcement or help page, an archived copy of its fee page on the Wayback Machine, or a named trade publication. Anything we could not confirm that way is left out rather than estimated. The current schedule, verified against the live fee page, is on the Stripe fee calculator; changes across all platforms are logged on fee changes. Corrections: tell us.
Frequently asked questions
Has Stripe ever raised its 2.9% + 30¢ rate?
No. The US domestic card rate is the same as at launch in 2011. Increases have come as surcharges and separate fees: +0.5 points for keyed-in cards (2022), +1.5% for international cards (2023, up from 1%), Instant Payouts 1.5% (2024) and extra dispute fees (2025, 2026).
Does Stripe refund its fee when I refund a customer?
Not any more. Accounts created after 14 September 2017 never had fees returned, and older accounts lost the concession in early 2020.