Stripe Managed Payments Fees Calculator and Comparison
Stripe Managed Payments fees for your price and volume. See the merchant of record fee on top of Stripe's, what you keep, and who can use it.
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01Tool
Tool
Managed Payments fee a month
$343.00
3.5% of the $9,800.00 buyers pay, tax included, on top of Stripe's payment fees
You keep a month
$8,985.60
Effective rate
8.31%
- Stripe reviews each account before it switches Managed Payments on.
A month
- Charged 200 sales
- $9,800.00
- Card processing 2.9%
- -$284.20
- Non-US cards 1.5% on 40% of sales
- -$58.80
- Fixed fees $0.30 a sale
- -$60.00
- Stripe Billing 0.7%
- -$68.60
- Managed Payments 3.5%
- -$343.00
- Rounding per sale
- +$0.20
- You keep
- $8,985.60
Against Stripe Tax and other merchants of record
Managed Payments costs $294.00 a month more than Stripe with Stripe Tax Basic. Tax Basic calculates and collects the tax where you are registered, and registering, filing and paying it over stay with you. Tax Complete adds the registrations and filings from $90 a month on a one-year contract, but you remain the seller who owes the tax.
| Provider | Fees a month | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| CreemFiles and pays the tax for you | $462.00 | $9,338.00 |
| StripeYou file and pay the tax | $471.20 | $9,328.80 |
| Stripe + Stripe Tax BasicYou file and pay the tax | $520.40 | $9,279.60 |
| Polar ProFiles and pays the tax for you | $556.67 | $9,243.33 |
| PaddleFiles and pays the tax for you | $590.00 | $9,210.00 |
| Lemon SqueezyFiles and pays the tax for you | $698.40 | $9,101.60 |
| Stripe Managed PaymentsFiles and pays the tax for you | $814.40 | $8,985.60 |
Net leaves out payout fees, which Creem and Paddle do not publish.
02Guide
How it works
What Stripe charges on top
Managed Payments adds its own percentage to every successful transaction, and the payment fees underneath stay as they are: the card percentage, the fixed fee and the surcharge for a card issued outside the US. Stripe charges the Managed Payments percentage on everything the buyer pays, tax included, so a sale with VAT on it pays a little more than one without.
Subscriptions also pay Stripe Billing, which Stripe prices separately. There is no setup fee and no monthly minimum. The calculator rounds each sale's fee to the cent, then the month once, and leaves out disputes, refunds and local payment methods, which Stripe prices on their own.
What the fee covers
- Tax. Stripe calculates and collects sales tax, VAT and GST, registers with the tax authorities, files the returns and pays the tax over in every country on its coverage list.
- Fraud. Stripe sets the fraud rules and keeps the blocklists, with nothing for you to configure.
- Disputes. Stripe decides whether to counter or accept each dispute and submits the evidence itself, paying the evidence fee when it does. The fee for receiving a dispute is still yours.
- Buyers. Receipts, invoices and subscription emails come from Link, Stripe's consumer app, and so does payment and subscription support. The buyer sees the purchase as sold through Link, and their statement starts with LINK.COM.
What stays with you
- Product support. Link handles payment and subscription questions, and escalates to the support address in your Dashboard when it needs your input. If you do not answer in time, Stripe can refund the buyer without you.
- Tax Stripe cannot take on. Domestic sales in Japan, sales to businesses inside Singapore and buyers outside the coverage list stay yours. Stripe Tax can calculate those without its calculation fee, but registering and filing are up to you.
- Tax on refunds. A refund gives the buyer back the tax as well, and in some jurisdictions Stripe must still pay the original tax over, so it comes out of your balance.
- Your own domain. Managed Payments checkouts do not support custom domains.
Who can use it
Your business must be based in one of the locations Stripe lists: the US, Canada, every EU country, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. Stripe reviews each account before switching Managed Payments on, and it supports direct integrations only, so Connect platforms and the accounts they control are out.
The product must be digital and fully automated: software and SaaS, video games, digital media, online courses and web services such as hosting, sold directly to the buyer. Physical goods, professional services such as consulting or development, and live in-person events do not qualify, and each product needs a tax code from Stripe's eligible list.
Payments go through Checkout, hosted or embedded, or through Payment Links. Subscriptions run on Stripe Billing and must start in a Managed Payments checkout; subscriptions you already have cannot be moved over. Buyers can pay from most countries, apart from the short restricted list in the rates table.
Managed Payments or Stripe Tax
Stripe has you drop automatic tax from a Managed Payments checkout, so the two never stack on one sale. With Stripe Tax you stay the merchant of record: Tax Basic calculates and collects where you are registered, Tax Complete adds the registrations and filings, and the tax liability stays yours either way. With Managed Payments, Stripe sells through Link and the liability moves to it.
Managed Payments can be switched on per transaction, so a business can keep plain Stripe at home and use Managed Payments for sales abroad, or for one product line only.
Against Lemon Squeezy, Paddle and Polar
All of them are merchants of record, so the comparison comes down to fees. Each has its own mix of a percentage, a fixed fee and surcharges, so the order changes with your price, your share of non-US cards and whether you bill subscriptions. Stripe bought Lemon Squeezy in 2024, and in January 2026 its CEO, JR Farr, wrote that the goal is an easy way for Lemon Squeezy users to move to Stripe Managed Payments. The merchant of record comparison sets out each provider's rates and payout fees in full.
03Rates
The numbers it uses
| Item | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Managed Payments Per successful transaction, on top of Stripe's payment fees | +3.5% | stripe.com |
| What the fee is charged on Sales tax, VAT or GST on the sale included | Total with tax | support.stripe.com |
| Setup fee or monthly minimum | None | stripe.com |
| Domestic card Stripe's US payment fee, still charged | 2.9% + $0.30 | stripe.com |
| Non-US card | +1.5% | stripe.com |
| Stripe Billing, pay as you go Subscriptions, priced separately from Managed Payments | 0.7% | stripe.com |
| Currency conversion Adaptive Pricing is always on, and the buyer pays 2% to 4% in the exchange rate | Paid by the buyer | docs.stripe.com |
| Dispute received Still charged under Managed Payments | $15 | stripe.com |
| Evidence fee when Stripe counters Stripe decides whether to counter and submits the evidence | Paid by Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Evidence fee when you counter Returned if you win | $15 | stripe.com |
| Tax on a refunded sale Where Stripe must still pay the original tax over | Taken from your balance | docs.stripe.com |
| Stripe Tax for uncovered sales Sales where Managed Payments can't take on the tax | No calculation fee | docs.stripe.com |
| Item | Handled by | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Calculating and collecting sales tax, VAT and GST | Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Registering, filing and paying the tax over In the 82 countries and territories Stripe covers | Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Tax where Stripe can't take on the liability Registering, collecting, filing and paying it over | You | docs.stripe.com |
| Fraud screening Stripe sets the rules and keeps the blocklists | Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Disputes Stripe counters or accepts each one | Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Receipts, invoices and subscription emails Sent from Link | Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Payment and subscription support Through Link. If Stripe asks for your input and hears nothing within 48 hours, it may refund the buyer | Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Refunds You refund from the Dashboard or the API, and Stripe can refund within 60 days of the sale | You or Stripe | docs.stripe.com |
| Product support | You | docs.stripe.com |
| Item | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Business locations Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States | 37 locations | docs.stripe.com |
| Products Software, video games, digital media, online courses and web services such as hosting, fully automated and sold directly | Digital only | docs.stripe.com |
| Physical goods Nor professional services such as consulting or development, nor live in-person events | Not supported | docs.stripe.com |
| Payment page Hosted or embedded Checkout; not Elements or other advanced integrations | Checkout or Payment Links | docs.stripe.com |
| Subscriptions Started through Checkout or Payment Links only | Through Stripe Billing | docs.stripe.com |
| Existing subscriptions Only subscriptions bought in a Managed Payments checkout | New ones only | docs.stripe.com |
| Connect platforms Nor Express accounts or accounts a platform controls | Not supported | docs.stripe.com |
| Buyer locations Stripe won't sell to Ascension Island, China, Cuba, Iran, Kosovo, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Tristan da Cunha | 9 places | docs.stripe.com |
| Where Stripe handles the tax Apart from domestic sales in Japan and business sales inside Singapore | 82 countries and territories | docs.stripe.com |
| Stripe API version | 2025-03-31.basil or later | docs.stripe.com |
04Questions
Questions
- How much does Stripe Managed Payments cost?
- Stripe adds a percentage to each successful Managed Payments transaction, on top of its usual payment fees, and charges it on the total including sales tax or VAT. There is no setup fee or monthly minimum. Subscriptions also pay Stripe Billing, which Stripe prices separately. The rates table lists each figure with the page it was read from.
- What does Stripe Managed Payments cover, and what does it not?
- It covers sales tax, VAT and GST in the countries Stripe supports, from calculating the tax to filing and paying it over, along with fraud screening, dispute handling and payment support for your buyers through Link. It does not cover the fee for receiving a dispute, Stripe Billing, local payment methods, support for your product, or tax where Stripe cannot take on the liability, such as domestic sales in Japan.
- Who can use Stripe Managed Payments?
- Businesses based in the US, Canada, the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore that sell fully automated digital products, such as SaaS, software, digital media or online courses, directly to buyers. Stripe reviews each account first, and Connect platforms cannot use it.
- Is Stripe Managed Payments cheaper than Lemon Squeezy, Paddle or Polar?
- It depends on your numbers. Managed Payments stacks its own percentage on Stripe's card fee and its surcharges for non-US cards and Billing, while the others each have their own percentage, fixed fee and surcharges. Enter your price, volume and share of non-US cards above to see the ranking for your sales.
- Can I use Stripe Tax with Managed Payments?
- Not on the same sale. Stripe has you remove automatic tax from a Managed Payments checkout, because Managed Payments calculates and withholds the tax itself. Stripe Tax is the only tax tool it works with, for the sales where Managed Payments cannot take on the tax, and Stripe waives its calculation fee on those.
- Does Stripe Managed Payments work with subscriptions?
- Yes, through Stripe Billing, as long as each subscription starts in a Managed Payments Checkout Session or Payment Link. Subscriptions you already have cannot be moved over, and Billing's own fee applies on top of Managed Payments.
05Sources
Sources
Every fact on this page was read from these pages on .
- Stripe, Pricingstripe.com/
pricing - Stripe, Managed Paymentsstripe.com/
managed-payments - Stripe Support, Managed Payments pricingsupport.stripe.com/
questions/ managed-payments-pricing - Stripe docs, Managed Paymentsdocs.stripe.com/
payments/ managed-payments - Stripe docs, Managed Payments eligibilitydocs.stripe.com/
payments/ managed-payments/ eligibility - Stripe docs, How Managed Payments worksdocs.stripe.com/
payments/ managed-payments/ how-it-works - Stripe docs, Tax compliance with Managed Paymentsdocs.stripe.com/
payments/ managed-payments/ tax-compliance - Stripe docs, Update your Checkout integration for Managed Paymentsdocs.stripe.com/
payments/ managed-payments/ update-checkout - Stripe docs, Adaptive Pricingdocs.stripe.com/
payments/ currencies/ localize-prices/ adaptive-pricing - Paddle, Pricingpaddle.com/
pricing - Polar docs, Feespolar.sh/
docs/ merchant-of-record/ fees - Lemon Squeezy docs, Feesdocs.lemonsqueezy.com/
help/ getting-started/ fees - Lemon Squeezy, 2026 Update, Lemon Squeezy + Stripe Managed Paymentslemonsqueezy.com/
blog/ 2026-update - Creem, Pricingcreem.io/
pricing
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Nuxter
Building a SaaS on Nuxt?
Nuxter's Stripe adapter turns Managed Payments on with one environment variable, sends every buyer to Stripe's hosted Checkout and pins a Stripe API version Managed Payments accepts. It refuses to run Managed Payments together with Stripe Tax. Adapters for Polar, Lemon Squeezy and Creem ship beside it.