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Stripe Connect alternatives

Stripe Connect alternatives for SaaS platforms that embed payments.

The common Stripe Connect alternatives are payfac-as-a-service providers such as Finix, Rainforest, Adyen for Platforms, and JustiFi, which price processing to your platform, usually as interchange plus a markup. Flint Pay is the alternative for US vertical SaaS that wants embedded payments without becoming a payfac or running a platform funds flow: create each merchant by API, verify them inside your product, and their sales settle to their own bank. Each merchant also gets orders, a catalog, US sales tax, invoices, and subscriptions behind the same key.

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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 Connect alternatives, ranked for US vertical SaaS.

Flint first: no platform fees, no funds flow on your books, and orders, catalog, and tax for every merchant. Each other figure is from the vendor's own pricing page, linked under Sources.

  1. 01

    Flint Pay

    US vertical SaaS that wants each customer taking payments inside its product, with orders, tax, invoices, and subscriptions included, and no funds flow or registration of its own.

    Platform fees
    None
    Merchant card rate
    3.79% + 35¢
    Monthly
    None
    Payouts
    To each merchant's bank
  2. 02

    Finix

    Payfac-as-a-service priced to the platform at interchange plus, with per-merchant fees.

    Cards
    Pass-through + 0.30% + 15¢
    Per active merchant
    $2.50/mo
    Onboarding
    $5 per merchant
    Disputes
    $30
  3. 03

    Rainforest

    Embedded payments priced to the platform at interchange plus, by volume tier.

    Cards, entry tier
    Pass-through + 0.30% + 30¢
    Disputes
    $15
    Risk management fee
    Risk dependent
  4. 04

    Adyen for Platforms

    Adyen's product for platforms. Adyen publishes payment method prices; its other products are priced separately.

    Card payment method price
    $0.13 + IC++ + 0.60%, indicative
    Platforms pricing
    Not published
    Minimum invoice
    By industry
  5. 05

    JustiFi

    Embedded payments and fintech products for vertical SaaS, priced through sales.

    Pricing
    Not published

02Side by side

Stripe Connect vs Flint, need by need.

The Stripe column is what Stripe's own Connect pricing and docs say today for a platform that sets its own pricing, each linked under Sources. The Flint column is what a Flint integration does, with the API name behind it.

Platform feesStripe Connect, when your platform handles pricing: $2 per monthly active account and 0.25% + 25¢ per payout sent. An account is active in any month a payout reaches it.Flint: None in Flint's published pricing: no per-account, per-payout, or platform fee. Standard payouts to each merchant's bank are included.GET /v1/payouts
Processing feesStripe Connect, when your platform handles pricing: Your platform is responsible for Stripe's processing fees and sets your connected accounts' rates.Flint: Each merchant pays Flint's published rate on its own payments, 3.79% + 35¢ per card with no monthly fee, itemized on every balance transaction.GET /v1/balance-transactions
Negative balancesStripe Connect, when your platform handles pricing: Your integration decides whether Stripe or your platform is responsible. When it's the platform, Stripe might hold reserves on the platform account, and the platform manages connected account risk.Flint: Your platform holds no Flint balance and no reserve. Flint underwrites each merchant, and each merchant's money and fees stay on that merchant's account.
Funds flowStripe Connect, when your platform handles pricing: Set by charge type. Destination charges and separate charges and transfers run on the platform, so their refunds and chargebacks hit the platform's balance.Flint: Sales settle to each merchant's own bank on its own payout schedule. No money routes through a platform account.GET /v1/payouts
OnboardingStripe Connect, when your platform handles pricing: Stripe-hosted, embedded, or API onboarding. Building your own on the API means reviewing requirements at least every six months.Flint: Create the merchant by API, then mount the verification component in your own settings pages. Payments and payouts readiness arrive as two separate statuses.POST /v1/merchant-account-sessions
Commerce for each merchantStripe Connect, when your platform handles pricing: Order records and stock are your code: Stripe's Checkout fulfillment guide leaves saving line items and updating stock to your code.Flint: Orders, catalog, inventory, promotions, refunds, and the buyer account in the core rate. Invoices and subscriptions are 0.40%; automatic tax is 0.50% on payments that carry tax.POST /v1/orders
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How switching works

03On Connect

What does Stripe Connect leave to your platform?

Three decisions come with a Connect integration before the first payment, and each one is code, money, or liability on your side.

Who carries losses. Stripe’s risk docs have you decide whether Stripe or your platform is responsible for connected accounts’ negative balances. When it’s your platform, Stripe might hold reserves on your platform account, and your team manages payments risk for every connected account.

Where the money moves. The charge type decides it. Destination charges and separate charges and transfers run on your platform, so negative transactions on them affect your platform’s balance.

Who pays for each account. When your platform sets the processing price, Connect adds $2 per monthly active account and 0.25% + 25¢ per payout sent, and your platform is responsible for Stripe’s processing fees. On Flint each merchant pays its own published rate, and your platform pays no per-merchant or per-payout fee.

Stripe Connect pricing →Connect risk management →Payfac-as-a-service compared →

04Onboarding

How do merchants onboard and go live on Flint?

Inside your product, from one API. A new merchant can build against a sandbox before verification finishes, and checkout turns on when payments report ready.

Create the merchant for a business on your platform with one call, before any verification.

POST /v1/onboarding/start

Read what is outstanding as a state machine: the next step and the requirements behind it.

GET /v1/onboarding/state

Mount the verification component in your own settings pages; identity, business details, bank account, and agreements are collected there.

POST /v1/merchant-account-sessions

Payments and payouts report as two separate statuses, each with a reason and next actions when it isn't ready.

merchant.readiness_updated

One webhook endpoint for your app receives every installed merchant's events, with the merchant's id on the envelope.

POST /v1/webhook-endpoints

Read each merchant's balances, payouts, and every balance transaction with its fee and net tied to an order.

GET /v1/balance-transactions

Embedded payments for SaaS →Embedded payments guide →Go live on readiness →

05Per merchant

What does each merchant get besides card payments?

The whole commerce API behind the merchant's key, so a feature on your roadmap is a call, not a new vendor.

Orders with line items and server-computed totals from every checkout, payment link, invoice, and renewal.

POST /v1/orders

A catalog with options and variants, and stock held at payment.

POST /v1/products

Automatic US sales tax computed after discounts and recorded on each line item and in the order total.

tax_money

Invoices with payment terms, installments, reminders, and late fees.

late_fee_policy

Subscriptions on any interval, with trials, setup fees, and retries.

POST /v1/subscriptions

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

line_item_allocations

The commerce API →Payfac-as-a-service compared →

06Who Flint is for

Flint is built for US software platforms embedding payments.

If that describes you, onboarding, verification, readiness, and events above work the day you create your account.

US merchants

Your customers onboard as US businesses and get paid in USD to their own bank accounts. Their buyers can pay from anywhere with a card.

Online and in-app

Checkout on your own web pages with Stripe Elements, or a hosted page under each merchant's name, with cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH debit, and Affirm.

Published merchant pricing

Each merchant pays 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment. Flint has no application fees or revenue share, so your platform charges for its software the way it does today.

Developers and agents

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

07Switching

How do you move from Stripe Connect to Flint?

Merchant by merchant. Each business onboards on Flint as a new merchant; Flint doesn't connect existing Stripe accounts.

  1. Create a merchant for each business

    POST /v1/onboarding/start

    Start onboarding with the owner's email and business name. Flint creates the merchant and a private sandbox, and a test key is available before verification finishes.

  2. Mount verification in your product

    POST /v1/merchant-account-sessions

    Your backend mints a merchant account session and your settings page mounts the embedded component, which collects identity, business details, the payout bank account, and the agreements.

  3. Turn checkout on from readiness

    merchant.readiness_updated

    Subscribe to readiness updates, read the merchant when one arrives, and enable checkout in your UI when payments report ready. Payouts report separately.

  4. Install your app on each merchant

    POST /v1/oauth/token

    Register your product as a partner app. Each merchant approves it once, you exchange the code for a token scoped to that merchant, and their events arrive at your one endpoint.

  5. Take payments as orders

    POST /v1/orders

    Create the order with that merchant's credentials and collect payment with Stripe Elements on your own web pages or on a hosted checkout. The sale settles to the merchant's bank.

Read the partner app install guide →

08Start

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
    Embedded payments for SaaSOne merchant onto your platform, step by step
  2. 02
    Payfac-as-a-service compared
  3. 03
    Embedded payments guide
  4. 04
    Partner app installs
  5. 05
    Go live on readiness
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Sources

Where each claim comes from.

  • You handle pricing: $2 per monthly active account, 0.25% + 25¢ per payout sent, and responsibility for Stripe's processing fees. An account is active in any month payouts are sent to it. Stripe Connect pricing

    stripe.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Negative balance responsibility belongs to the platform or Stripe by integration; indirect charges affect the platform's balance; when the platform is responsible, Stripe might hold reserves on the platform account. Risk and liability management with Connect

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

  • Stripe-hosted, embedded, or API onboarding; with API onboarding you plan on reviewing requirements at least every 6 months. Choose your onboarding configuration

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

  • The fulfill function must handle repeat calls, retrieve the session with line items, check payment status, fulfill, and record fulfillment status; saving line items in your own database and updating inventory or stock records are things you might want it to do, left to your code. Fulfill orders

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

  • 0.30% + 15¢ over pass-through costs, $2.50 per active sub-merchant a month, $5 per sub-merchant onboarding, $30 per dispute. Finix pricing for platforms

    finix.com · checked 2026-10-15

  • Interchange and network fees at pass-through plus 0.30% ($0 to $5M a month) and 30¢ (up to 50,000 transactions); disputes $15; risk management fee risk dependent. Rainforest pricing

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

  • Payment method prices: Visa and Mastercard at $0.13 + Interchange++ + 0.60%, indicative; other Adyen products, besides payment methods, are priced separately, and no Adyen for Platforms price is published; a minimum invoice depending on industry or business model. Adyen: Pricing for supported payment methods

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

  • The pricing URL redirects to a Why JustiFi page that publishes no prices and offers Contact sales. JustiFi pricing

    justifi.ai · checked 2026-10-15

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

FAQ

Questions people ask.

What are the best Stripe Connect alternatives for SaaS platforms?

For US vertical SaaS that wants embedded payments without becoming a payfac, Flint: merchants onboard by API with embedded verification, sales settle to their own banks, there are no platform fees, and each merchant gets orders, tax, invoices, and subscriptions. Payfac-as-a-service providers such as Finix (pass-through plus 0.30% + 15¢, $2.50 per active merchant a month), Rainforest (pass-through plus 0.30% + 30¢ at its entry tier), Adyen for Platforms, and JustiFi price processing to your platform instead.

Is Flint a good alternative to Stripe Connect?

Yes, for a US software platform that wants its customers taking payments inside its product without running a funds flow, carrying negative balances, or paying the per-account and per-payout fees Connect charges when your platform handles pricing for its users. Each merchant pays 3.79% + 35¢ per card payment, and orders, catalog, refunds, and the buyer account come with it. Sign up on the web or from the terminal with flint signup. Payfac-as-a-service compared

Do I have to become a payment facilitator to embed payments with Flint?

No. Every business on your platform is its own Flint merchant, underwritten individually and agreeing to Flint's terms directly. Your platform registers as nothing, holds no funds, and has no platform balance for money to sit in.

Does Flint pay platforms application fees or a revenue share?

No. Flint has no application fees, revenue share, or fee splits, and no part of a payment routes to the platform. Each merchant pays Flint's published rates, and your platform charges its customers for its software the way it does today.

Do I ever hold my merchants' funds?

No. Stripe processes every card, and each merchant's sales settle to that merchant's own bank account on its own payout schedule. You read balances, payouts, and every balance transaction with its fee and net tied to an order.

Can I move my Stripe connected accounts to Flint?

Each business onboards on Flint as a new merchant, through your product with the embedded verification component; Flint doesn't connect existing Stripe accounts. Merchants can move over one at a time while the rest stay on Connect.

Embed payments without becoming a payments company.

Free sandbox, no credit card, no sales call. Onboard a test merchant, mount verification, and take a test payment that settles to its account.

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Read the partner app install 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