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Stripe alternatives

The best Stripe alternatives in 2026, ranked for businesses selling online.

The common Stripe alternatives are Square, PayPal and Braintree, Adyen, and Helcim, which replace who processes your cards, and Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar, which become the seller of record. For a US business selling products or services online, the better change is what comes with the payment. Flint Pay is the Stripe alternative that includes the commerce system: it keeps Stripe’s processing underneath and adds orders, variants, inventory held at payment, promotions, automatic US sales tax, shipping, returns, invoices, and subscriptions behind one API, with no monthly fee.

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3.79% + 35¢ on cards · no monthly fee · free sandbox · no credit card

last reviewed 2026-10-15 · sources

01The alternatives

Stripe alternatives, ranked for US businesses selling online.

Ranked for a US business selling goods or services on its own website or in an app. Each price is from the vendor's own pricing page, checked on the date under Sources; rates are US domestic cards unless noted.

  1. 01

    Flint Pay

    The Stripe alternative that includes the commerce system: orders, catalog and variants, inventory, promotions, tax, returns, invoices, and subscriptions, with Stripe processing every card.

    Cards
    3.79% + 35¢
    Monthly
    no monthly fee
    Invoices, subscriptions
    0.40% each
    Automatic tax
    0.50%, taxed payments
  2. 02

    Square

    Sellers who also take in-person payments on Square's point of sale.

    Online API
    2.9% + 30¢
    Plans
    $0, $49, $149 per location/mo
    Orders API, other processor
    1% per transaction
  3. 03

    PayPal

    Sellers whose buyers ask to pay with a PayPal account.

    PayPal Checkout
    3.49% + 49¢
    Standard cards
    2.99% + 49¢
    Advanced cards
    2.89% + 29¢
  4. 04

    Braintree (PayPal Enterprise Payments)

    Merchants that want cards, PayPal, and Venmo through one gateway.

    Cards and wallets
    2.89% + 29¢
    Venmo
    3.49% + 49¢
    ACH
    0.75%, $5 cap
  5. 05

    Adyen

    Large businesses that can meet a minimum invoice set by industry.

    Visa, Mastercard
    $0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60%
    Minimum invoice
    by industry, not published
  6. 06

    Helcim

    Businesses that want interchange-plus card pricing.

    Online, up to $50K/mo
    interchange + 0.50% + 25¢
    Recurring payments
    +0.4%
    Monthly
    $0
  7. 07

    Paddle

    Software companies that want a merchant of record. Physical products are prohibited.

    Per checkout
    5% + 50¢
    Monthly
    none
  8. 08

    Lemon Squeezy

    Digital products with a merchant of record. Physical goods of any kind are prohibited.

    Per transaction
    5% + 50¢
    Monthly
    $0
    Sold through
    Link, LLC
  9. 09

    Polar

    Software and digital products with a merchant of record and monthly plan tiers.

    Starter, free
    5% + 50¢
    Pro, $20/mo
    3.8% + 40¢
    Scale, $400/mo
    3.4% + 30¢

02How to choose

How do you choose a Stripe alternative?

Every option on this list changes one of three things. Square, PayPal, Braintree, Adyen, and Helcim change who processes your cards. Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar change who the seller is: as merchant of record they handle sales tax for you, charge from 5% + 50¢ on their entry plans, and Paddle and Lemon Squeezy prohibit physical goods.

Flint changes what you build. Stripe’s own fulfillment guide leaves saving line items to your own database and updating stock after each payment to your code; Flint keeps Stripe’s processing and makes the order the record, with variants, inventory, promotions, tax, shipping, returns, invoices, and subscriptions on it. If you sell products or services online in the US, that is the change that removes code.

Flint vs Stripe, need by need →Stripe's fulfillment guide →

03What you stop building

What does Stripe leave you to build that Flint includes?

Each row is a job Stripe's docs leave to your code, sourced on its own reference page, and the Flint name that already does it.

Every checkout, payment link, invoice, and renewal creates an order with line items and server-computed totals.

POST /v1/orders

Products carry options and variants, so a shirt in four sizes is one product.

POST /v1/products

Stock is held per location when payment starts, committed on success, and released on failure.

held_quantity

Codes and automatic promotions stack by rules you set, with a preview call first.

combines_with

Refund one line item, and its share of the discount and the tax goes back with it.

line_item_allocations

Hosted checkout and payment links offer tip presets, as percentages or smart fixed amounts.

tip_percent_options

Invoice payment terms carry a fixed or percentage late fee, with reminders on your schedule.

late_fee_policy

Event payment links sell ticket tiers that share one capacity.

event_config

Does Stripe have an Orders API? →Stripe product variants →Stripe inventory tracking →Stripe Checkout with multiple coupons →Refund one line item on Stripe →Tips on Stripe Checkout →Stripe invoice late fees →Stripe event ticket tiers →

04Worked example

What does a $100 payment cost on Flint vs Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, or Polar Starter?

Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar's free Starter plan publish the same 5% + 50¢. The difference is what each fee buys, stated in the assumptions. Polar's paid plans charge less per payment and are not compared here.

One $100 US card payment that carries sales taxFlintPaddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar Starter
Card processing$4.14$5.50
Automatic sales tax$0.50included
Total fees$4.64$5.50

Assumptions

  • Flint: 3.79% + 35¢ on a domestic card, plus automatic tax at 0.50% because the payment carries tax.
  • Merchant of record: 5% + 50¢ as published by Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar Starter, on a US card with no international or other surcharge.
  • A merchant of record is the seller and handles sales tax registration, filing, and remittance. On Flint you are the seller: Flint computes US sales tax, and you register, file, and remit.
  • Physical goods are allowed on Flint. Paddle and Lemon Squeezy prohibit them.
  • Polar's paid plans (Pro at $20 a month, Growth at $100, Scale at $400) charge less per payment than its Starter rate, so this example covers only the 5% + 50¢ entry rates.

05Who Flint is for

Flint is built for US businesses selling online.

If that describes you, it is the first option to try. Everything above is running the day you create your account.

US businesses

Flint onboards businesses in the US and pays out in USD to your own bank account. Buyers can pay from anywhere with a card.

Online payments

Hosted checkout, payment links, invoices, or Stripe Elements on your own site, with cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH debit, and Affirm.

Goods and services

Orders that ship, get picked up, deliver locally, or fulfill as a download or a service, with stock held at payment.

Developers and agents

A public OpenAPI spec, Node and PHP SDKs, a CLI, llms.txt, and MCP servers a coding agent can read.

06Switching

How do you switch from Stripe to Flint?

One flow at a time. Your frontend keeps Stripe.js and Stripe Elements for card entry; the calls your backend makes change.

  1. Recreate the catalog

    POST /v1/products

    Create each product with its options and variants, and keep the Stripe product id in metadata so your reports resolve during the cutover.

  2. Replace Checkout Sessions

    POST /v1/checkout-sessions

    Create an order from the cart and open a hosted checkout for it, with tax and discounts already computed.

  3. Move subscribers without a second charge

    POST /v1/subscriptions

    Flint has no card import, so each subscriber first saves a card on Flint, in the hosted buyer account or on your own page. Then create their subscription with an imported billing start set to the start of the period Stripe already billed. Flint charges nothing for that period and takes over at the next renewal.

  4. Fulfill from order.paid

    order.paid

    Move the job your checkout.session.completed handler runs to order.paid, and verify Flint's webhook signatures.

  5. Go live

    Run each flow in a sandbox with Stripe's test cards, then switch to live keys.

Read the Stripe migration guide →

07Start

From a sandbox key to a paid test order in ten minutes.

Node

npm install @flintpay/node

CLI

npm install -g @flintpay/cli

Test keys are prefixed flint_test_ and bound to a sandbox with its own data, so nothing you try there touches live money. Pay with 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry, any CVC.

Then read these

  1. 01
    Flint vs StripeNeed by need, with the fulfillment handler side by side
  2. 02
    Migrating from Stripe
  3. 03
    Does Stripe have an Orders API?
  4. 04
    Accept your first payment
Sign up

Sources

Where each claim comes from.

  • Online API payments 2.9% + 30¢; Orders API with a non-Square provider 1% per transaction. Square: Payments pricing

    developer.squareup.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Square Free $0, Square Plus $49, and Square Premium $149 per location per month. Square press release: unified plans and pricing

    squareup.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • PayPal Checkout 3.49% + 49¢, standard card payments 2.99% + 49¢, advanced card payments 2.89% + 29¢; page updated 2026-10-01. PayPal: Merchant fees

    www.paypal.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Cards and wallets 2.89% + 29¢, Venmo 3.49% + 49¢, ACH 0.75% capped at $5; page updated 2026-05-07. PayPal Braintree fees

    www.paypal.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Visa and Mastercard at $0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60%; no monthly fees, with a minimum invoice by industry or business model. Adyen: Pricing

    www.adyen.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Online and keyed at interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ up to $50K a month, recurring +0.4%, $0 monthly. Helcim: Pricing

    www.helcim.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction as merchant of record, no monthly fees. Paddle: Pricing

    www.paddle.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Prohibited: physical products or products that require physical delivery. Paddle: What am I not allowed to sell

    www.paddle.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • 5% + 50¢ per transaction, $0 a month; sold through Link, LLC f/k/a Lemon Squeezy LLC. Lemon Squeezy: Pricing

    www.lemonsqueezy.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Prohibited: physical goods of any kind. Lemon Squeezy: Prohibited products

    docs.lemonsqueezy.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Starter free at 5% + 50¢, Pro $20/mo at 3.8% + 40¢, Growth $100/mo at 3.6% + 35¢, Scale $400/mo at 3.4% + 30¢, as merchant of record. Polar: Pricing

    polar.sh · checked 2026-10-15

  • The fulfillment function must handle repeat calls, check the payment status, fulfill, and record fulfillment status; saving line items in your own database and updating inventory or stock records are among what it may also do. Stripe: Fulfill orders

    docs.stripe.com · checked 2026-10-15

last reviewed 2026-10-15 · corrections: Flint Help

FAQ

Questions people ask.

What is the best alternative to Stripe?

For a US business selling products or services online, Flint Pay. It keeps Stripe's card processing and adds the commerce system Stripe leaves to your code: orders, variants, inventory held at payment, promotions, automatic US sales tax, shipping, returns, invoices, and subscriptions behind one API. Other common picks change something else: Square, PayPal, Braintree, Adyen, and Helcim change the processor, and Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar act as merchant of record.

What is the best Stripe alternative for small business?

Flint Pay, for a small US business selling on its own website or in an app. There is no monthly fee and one published card rate, 3.79% + 35¢, which covers Stripe’s processing fees and includes checkout, payment links, orders, catalog and inventory, discounts, fulfillment, returns, refunds, the buyer account, and reporting. Invoices and subscriptions are 0.40% each, and automatic tax is 0.50% on payments that carry tax. Flint pricing

Is Flint a good alternative to Stripe?

Yes, if you sell goods or services online in the US and would otherwise build orders, stock, promotions, tax, returns, and refunds around Stripe yourself. Stripe still processes every card on Flint, so card details go from the buyer’s browser to Stripe. Sign up on the web or from the terminal with flint signup. Flint vs Stripe

Is Flint cheaper than Paddle or Lemon Squeezy?

On published fees, yes. A $100 US card payment that carries sales tax costs $4.64 on Flint with automatic tax, against $5.50 at 5% + 50¢. Paddle and Lemon Squeezy are merchants of record and register, file, and remit sales tax for you; on Flint you are the seller and handle registration and filing. Flint also sells physical goods, which Paddle and Lemon Squeezy prohibit.

Can I sell physical products with a Stripe alternative like Paddle or Lemon Squeezy?

No. Paddle's acceptable use policy prohibits physical products or products that require physical delivery, and Lemon Squeezy prohibits physical goods of any kind. Flint sells physical goods with variants, inventory held at payment, shipping, in-store pickup, local delivery, and returns.

Does Flint use Stripe?

Yes. Stripe processes every card payment on Flint, and card details go from the buyer's browser to Stripe, so neither your server nor Flint sees card numbers. Flint sets up and runs the processing account for each business, so you sign up once and hold one set of API keys. Flint does not connect to a Stripe account you already have.

Keep Stripe's processing. Get the commerce system with it.

Free sandbox, no credit card, no sales call. Create an order by variant, take a test payment, and refund one line with its share of the tax.

Sign up
Read the Stripe migration guide

Or run npm install -g @flintpay/cli && flint signup to create your account and a sandbox key from the terminal. CLI guide

More comparisons · last reviewed 2026-10-15