Stripe Fees in the UAE (2026): Every Rate, With Examples

By the Profitvana Editorial Team · Updated August 2026

Stripe's UAE pricing is unusually simple by its own standards — one domestic rate, one international surcharge, one conversion fee — but the fixed AED 1.00 per transaction reshapes the economics of anything cheap. Here are the 2026 numbers and where they bite.

The three rates that make up every UAE fee

Everything Stripe charges a UAE business on a card payment is built from these three lines, and they stack:

So a UAE customer paying with a UAE card in dirhams costs 2.9% + AED 1.00. A tourist paying with a European card in dirhams costs 3.9% + AED 1.00. A customer abroad paying in euros costs 4.9% + AED 1.00.

Component	Rate	When it applies
Domestic card rate	2.9% + AED 1.00	Card issued in the UAE
International card	+1%	Card issued outside the UAE
Currency conversion	+1%	Stripe converts the currency

The AED 1.00 fixed fee decides your small-order pricing

The percentage is the same on every order; the fixed dirham is not. Its weight falls as the order grows, and on small baskets it dominates the bill entirely.

At AED 20 the effective rate is 7.9% — nearly three times the headline. This is the arithmetic behind the minimum-order thresholds you see across UAE e-commerce, and it is why bundling low-value items into one order is worth more than any discount negotiation.

Order value	Stripe fee	Effective rate
AED 20	AED 1.58	7.9%
AED 50	AED 2.45	4.9%
AED 100	AED 3.90	3.9%
AED 500	AED 15.50	3.1%
AED 2,000	AED 59.00	3.0%

Selling to customers abroad

The UAE international surcharge is 1% — notably gentler than Stripe's UK ladder, where a non-EEA card costs more than double the domestic rate. For a Dubai business selling into Europe or Asia, the cross-border penalty is genuinely small.

Conversion is the part worth planning around. Pricing in dirhams and letting the customer's own bank convert avoids Stripe's 1% entirely; pricing in the customer's currency costs you that 1% on every order. On AED 500,000 of annual foreign sales that is AED 5,000 for a convenience most customers never asked for.

Stripe against PayPal in the UAE

The comparison most UAE businesses actually face is Stripe against PayPal, and the gap is wide. Stripe's 2.9% + AED 1.00 sits well below PayPal's UAE commercial rate, and the difference widens further on cross-border sales because PayPal's surcharge ladder is steeper.

The full PayPal side is in PayPal fees in the UAE. The short version: use Stripe as the default checkout, keep PayPal available for buyers who insist on it, and price the difference in rather than absorbing it.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Stripe charge in the UAE?

2.9% plus a fixed AED 1.00 per successful transaction on UAE-issued cards. Cards issued abroad add 1%, and another 1% applies if Stripe converts the currency.

Why is my effective Stripe rate higher than 2.9%?

The AED 1.00 fixed fee. On an AED 20 order it makes the effective rate 7.9%; on AED 100 it is 3.9%; only above roughly AED 500 does the effective rate settle near the headline.

Does Stripe charge extra for international customers in the UAE?

Yes, 1% on top of the domestic rate for a card issued outside the UAE, plus a further 1% if the currency has to be converted — so a worst case of 4.9% + AED 1.00.

Should I price my products in dirhams or the customer's currency?

Dirhams. Pricing in the buyer's currency triggers Stripe's 1% conversion fee on every order, while dirham pricing pushes the conversion to the buyer's own bank at no cost to you.

Stripe fees in other countries

Stripe prices every market differently — the same sale can cost twice as much depending on where your business is registered. We verify each of these against Stripe’s own published fee page for that country:

Sources

Stripe UAE pricing (official)