Stripe: The Online Payment Standard
Stripe is the most popular payment gateway for internet businesses. The company processes payments for millions of companies, from startups to enterprises like Amazon and Shopify. Stripe’s key advantage is ease of integration and a powerful API.
Official website: stripe.com
Features
Payment acceptance:
- Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, UnionPay)
- 135+ currencies and local payment methods (iDEAL, SEPA, Alipay, WeChat Pay)
- Apple Pay, Google Pay
- Subscriptions and recurring payments (Stripe Billing)
- Pay-by-link (Payment Links)
Financial management:
- Automatic tax calculation and collection (Stripe Tax)
- Invoicing (Stripe Invoicing)
- Refund and chargeback management
- Real-time reporting and analytics
Security and compliance:
- PCI DSS Level 1
- 3D Secure 2.0
- Fraud monitoring (Stripe Radar)
- GDPR, PSD2 compliance
Integrations:
- Developer API (libraries for Python, Ruby, JS, PHP, Go, Java)
- Ready-made plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento
- No-code solutions: Stripe Checkout, Payment Links
Pricing
Stripe operates on a pay-as-you-go model with no monthly fees:
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Card payments (EU) | 1.5% + €0.25 |
| Card payments (US) | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| International cards | +1.5% |
| Currency conversion | +2% |
| Stripe Billing | 0.5-0.8% of revenue |
Pros
- Best-in-industry documentation and developer experience
- Fast integration — a payment form can be live within an hour
- 135+ currencies and dozens of local payment methods
- Reliability — 99.99% uptime
- Transparent pricing with no hidden fees
Cons
- High fees for micropayments
- Frequent complaints about account freezes without warning
- Unavailable in some countries (including Russia)
- Complex accounting due to separate charges for each service
Stripe Affiliate Program
Stripe uses PartnerStack for its affiliate program:
- Commission: $100 per new customer (after first payment processed)
- Cookie window: 30 days
- Payouts: monthly via PartnerStack
- Target audience: developers, SaaS startups, e-commerce
This is a flat payout rather than a percentage — a plus for affiliates, because you earn regardless of the customer’s revenue. The downside is no recurring income.
Tip: Comparing Stripe with other payment gateways is classic affiliate content. Technical audiences (developers) convert well through integration tutorials.
Competitors
- Paddle — Merchant of Record for SaaS
- LemonSqueezy — MoR for indie developers
- Square — POS + online payments
- Adyen — enterprise payments