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Subscription billing · by Stripe

Stripe Billing

Stripe's subscription and invoicing layer on top of Stripe Payments, priced as a percentage of billing volume or as an annual plan paid monthly.

Visit stripe.com ↗ Alternatives Paid EU region
Stripe Billing homepage
§1

Overview

Stripe Billing adds recurring plans, trials, coupons, proration, quotes, invoices and dunning to a Stripe account. Customers can manage their subscription and cards through a Stripe-hosted portal, and Smart Retries try failed renewals at the times most likely to succeed.

There are two ways to pay. Pay as you go charges 0.7% of billing volume with no commitment. Pay monthly plans run on a one-year contract, starting at $620 a month for up to $100,000 of monthly billing volume, with 0.67% on volume above the tier. Both are charged on top of normal payment processing.

Basic usage-based billing through the Meters API is included, with up to 100 million events a month. More complex usage and contract billing is handled by Metronome, a Stripe company, which is priced separately.

Billing does not make Stripe the seller: tax registration and filing remain yours unless you combine it with Managed Payments for digital products.

§2

Pricing and plans

Plan Price What you get
Pay as you go 0.7% of Billing volume Includes Billing transactions processed on and off Stripe; excludes one-off invoices
Pay monthly $620 $620/mo 1-year contract; up to $100,000 billing volume per month, 0.67% beyond
Pay monthly $1,500 $1,500/mo Up to $250,000 billing volume per month
Pay monthly $2,950 $2,950/mo Up to $500,000 billing volume per month
Pay monthly $5,750 $5,750/mo Up to $1,000,000 billing volume per month; custom above

Billing fees are in addition to payment processing (2.9% + 30¢ for US cards). The 0.7% pay-as-you-go rate is shown on Stripe's Singapore Billing pricing page and in Stripe's US pricing overview; the US Billing page did not render the number when read. A custom domain for the customer portal is $10/mo. Advanced usage-based billing is sold through Metronome (contact sales); basic metering via the Meters API is included with up to 100M events per month.

Source: stripe.com/billing/pricing · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

Subscriptions and invoicing
Recurring and one-off invoices, trials, coupons, proration and multiphase subscription schedules.
Smart Retries and reminders
Machine-learning retry timing for failed payments and prebuilt reminder emails for overdue invoices.
Customer portal
Stripe-hosted page where customers update cards, switch plans and cancel; custom domain $10/mo.
Meters API
Usage-based pricing with up to 100M events a month included in Billing pricing.
Quotes
Send an estimate before creating a subscription, for sales-assisted deals.
Invoice auto-reconciliation
Matches ACH credit and wire payments to recurring invoices automatically.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • No extra vendor or sync layer if you already use Stripe Payments
  • Pay-as-you-go option with no minimum
  • Payment Links and Checkout support subscriptions with little or no code
  • Works with Managed Payments when you want a merchant of record

Limitations

  • The billing percentage stacks on top of processing fees
  • Advanced usage and contract billing moves to Metronome at separate, sales-quoted pricing
  • Monthly plans need a one-year contract
  • Tax compliance stays with you unless you add Stripe Tax or Managed Payments
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • SaaS products already processing on Stripe
  • Seat or tiered subscriptions with standard dunning needs
  • Teams that want no-code subscription checkout via Payment Links

Look elsewhere if

  • Companies that want billing independent of their payment processor (see Chargebee, Lago)
  • Sellers who want tax handled for them without extra setup (see Paddle or Polar)
§6

Alternatives to Stripe Billing

Tool From Free option Stages
Paddle Merchant of record for software
Usage-based Paid
Razorpay Payment gateway (India, plus US, Singapore, Malaysia)
Usage-based Paid
Stripe Payments Payment processor (API-first)
Usage-based Paid
Lago Open-source usage-based billing
— Open source
Polar Merchant of record with usage billing
Usage-based Paid
FastSpring Merchant of record for software
— Paid

All payments and billing →

§7

Questions

How much does Stripe Billing cost?

0.7% of billing volume on pay as you go, or annual plans from $620 a month for up to $100,000 of monthly billing volume. Payment processing is charged separately.

Is Stripe Billing separate from Stripe Payments?

Yes. Billing is the subscription layer and has its own fee; card processing is charged by Stripe Payments at its usual rates.

Does Stripe Billing support usage-based pricing?

Basic metering through the Meters API is included up to 100M events a month; complex usage billing is sold through Metronome.

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