---
title: "Adyen vs Stripe: A choice between cost control and developer flexibility"
slug: ayden-vs-stripe
excerpt: "Stripe vs Adyen in 2026. Take a deep dive into their fees, payment models, and how they work so you can choose the right payment solution for your business."
customExcerpt: "Stripe vs Adyen in 2026. Take a deep dive into their fees, payment models, and how they work so you can choose the right payment solution for your business."
metaTitle: "Adyen vs Stripe: fees, features, and choosing between them"
featureImage: "https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/stripe-vs-ayden.jpg"
status: published
publishedAt: "2026-08-26T01:59:11.000Z"
updatedAt: "2026-08-26T01:59:11.000Z"
createdAt: "2026-08-25T06:00:13.007Z"
tags:
  - { name: Payments, slug: payments }
  - { name: "#Stripe", slug: hash-stripe }
  - { name: "#Adyen", slug: hash-adyen }
authors:
  - { name: Paul Maplesden, slug: paul-maplesden }
  - { name: Keisha Singleton, slug: keisha }
---

# Adyen vs Stripe: A choice between cost control and developer flexibility

***Stripe charges a flat rate and is a good choice for businesses that want to get started quickly. Adyen passes transaction costs through with a fixed markup, and it’s better for high-volume enterprises. But, there might be other payment providers who can better meet your needs.  ***

When you’re comparing payment platforms for a growing business, Adyen and Stripe are almost always two names on the table. Both are well-established, global platforms with a *massive* payment infrastructure behind them.

At first glance, both Adyen and Stripe do the same thing: take a card payment from your customer and deposit the money into your account a couple of days later. 

But they're built for very different businesses, and charge for payments in very different ways. This guide breaks down what each platform costs, how they work, and which one might be right for your business. 

And, if neither Stripe nor Adyen meets your needs, we'll cover what you can do instead.

## Stripe vs Adyen: a quick overview

[<u>Adyen</u>](https://whop.com/blog/adyen-payments/) is a payment company that manages the entire payment journey on one platform – from capturing the card at checkout, through card processing and authorization, to paying money into your account. 

![adyen homepage](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/adyen-homepage-1.png)

Founded in the Netherlands in 2006, Adyen is primarily built for large businesses and enterprise companies that have *significant* payment volumes across countries and channels. 

Because it holds its own acquiring licenses, your payments are typically processed locally rather than passed through a partner bank. 

The result is settlement in your choice of more than 30 currencies, and fewer declined transactions, since banks are less likely to reject a payment processed in-country.

> 💡 

[<u>Stripe</u>](https://whop.com/blog/what-is-stripe/) is a payments company that covers the same payment journey as Adyen, but built around developer-friendly tools and fast self-service setup. 

![Video thumbnail](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/media/2026/08/stripe_thumb.jpg)
[Watch video](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/media/2026/08/stripe.mp4)

Founded in 2010, Stripe turned payment integration into just a few lines of code. It became the global giant it is today through its developer-first approach and how easy it is to connect with other platforms and technology. 

Stripe’s standard plan allows you to accept payment from customers in 195 countries and more than 135 currencies, through more than 100 payment methods. Stripe is fast and easy to set up: you can open an account this morning, and take your first payment after lunch.

## Stripe and Adyen fees: flat rate vs interchange-plus pricing

Stripe and Adyen both do the same job, but they have a very different philosophy when it comes to charging fees. 

**Stripe **absorbs the complexity of variable card payment fees and how much the card networks and banks charge. It gives you one flat rate that covers all of the underlying costs, so you pay the same fee on every payment, no matter what's happening behind the scenes.

**Adyen** tells you exactly what the underlying fees are, then adds their own fee on top. It’s a little more complex, but you get greater transparency into what you’re actually paying.

> 💡 

### Price and payment processing fees for Stripe and Adyen

Stripe’s fees are simple: **2.9% + $0.30** for every successful online, domestic card transaction and **2.7% + $0.05** for in-person payments. 

Adyen’s fees are made up of the underlying costs, passed through to you, plus **$0.13** in processing, and a disclosed markup, which is currently **0.60%** on Visa and Mastercard payments. 

The charging model is interchange plus pricing, where you pay the real scheme and interchange fees, plus Adyen's markup. Your rate moves with the card your customer uses. 

Here’s a summary of the fees you can expect to pay:

<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col />
    <col />
    <col />
  </colgroup>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <th>Fees</th>
      <th>Adyen</th>
      <th>Stripe</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Online transaction&nbsp; (US domestic)</td>
      <td>$0.13 + interchange and scheme fees at cost + 0.60% markup (Visa/Mastercard)</td>
      <td>2.9% + $0.30</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>In-person transaction</td>
      <td>
          Supported through Adyen's POS terminals, but there's no published in-person rate card; pricing is agreed in
          your contract
      </td>
      <td>2.7% + $0.05 (card readers sold separately)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>American Express</td>
      <td>$0.13 + 3.3% + $0.10 (North America)</td>
      <td>Included in the standard card rate</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>International cards</td>
      <td>No surcharge; the card's actual cross-border interchange and scheme fees pass through at cost</td>
      <td>+1.5% on top of the standard rate (+1% if currency conversion is needed)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>ACH Direct Debit</td>
      <td>$0.13 + $0.27 flat</td>
      <td>0.8%, capped at $5.00</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Buy now, pay later (Klarna, US)</td>
      <td>$0.13 + 4.29% + $0.30</td>
      <td>5.99% + $0.30</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Disputes and chargebacks</td>
      <td>Fee is per chargeback and the amount is set in your contract, and not published</td>
      <td>$15 per dispute (not refunded), plus $15 to contest, which is refunded if you win</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Setup and monthly fees</td>
      <td>None, but a minimum monthly invoice applies (amount depends on your business; not published)</td>
      <td>None</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Standard payout timing (US)</td>
      <td>
        Typically 2 to 3 business days depending on your currency mix; up to 7 for Amex-heavy businesses&nbsp;
      </td>
      <td>2 business days; next-day available for a fee</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>


> 💡 

### What these fees look like in practice

Adyen’s fees can be complex, so here’s how the payment fees for an online payment work out in practice. 

You’ll see the cost for a domestic, US, online transaction on three types of cards: a regular debit card, a Visa rewards card, and an Amex card, charged through both Stripe and Adyen.

What a $100 online sale costs:

<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col />
    <col />
    <col />
    <col />
  </colgroup>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td><br /></td>
      <th>Visa debit card</th>
      <th>Visa premium rewards card</th>
      <th>American Express</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Adyen: pass-through costs</td>
      <td>$0.41</td>
      <td>$2.76</td>
      <td>—</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Adyen: processing fee + markup</td>
      <td>$0.73</td>
      <td>$0.73</td>
      <td>$3.53 (3.3% + $0.10 + $0.13)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th>Adyen: total</th>
      <td>≈ $1.14</td>
      <td>≈ $3.49</td>
      <td>$3.53</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th>Stripe: one flat fee</th>
      <td>$3.20</td>
      <td>$3.20</td>
      <td>$3.20</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>


And what a $1,000 online sale costs:

<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col />
    <col />
    <col />
    <col />
  </colgroup>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td><br /></td>
      <th>Visa debit card</th>
      <th>Visa premium rewards card</th>
      <th>American Express</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Adyen: pass-through costs</td>
      <td>$2.03</td>
      <td>$26.52</td>
      <td>—</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Adyen: processing fee + markup</td>
      <td>$6.13</td>
      <td>$6.13</td>
      <td>$33.23 (3.3% + $0.10 + $0.13)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th>Adyen: total</th>
      <td>≈ $8.16</td>
      <td>≈ $32.65</td>
      <td>$33.23</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th>Stripe: one flat fee</th>
      <td>$29.30</td>
      <td>$29.30</td>
      <td>$29.30</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>



> 💡 

### With Adyen, what you pay depends on the cards your customers use

On an everyday, standard debit card, Adyen costs roughly a *third* of what Stripe does on smaller amounts, and closer to a quarter of Stripe’s fee as the amounts get larger. 

![adyen pricing page](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/adyen-pricing.png)

But, as the cards become more exclusive, that gap narrows and Stripe comes in slightly cheaper. This is Stripe’s flat-rate approach in action. Because Stripe charges the same for every card, the ones that are cheaper for them to process subsidize the more expensive ones. 

The pricing model that wins for you will partly depend on how your customers choose to pay. 

If your customers are mainly paying with a debit card, Adyen makes sense. But if they’re steering more towards premium cards, then Stripe comes out slightly ahead.

## Beyond the card payment fees: the hidden fees of Adyen and Stripe

Card processing is just the base fee. Both platforms charge separately for the tools that sit on top of payments – billing, fraud protection, tax, and more.

### Stripe’s additional features and fees

![Video thumbnail](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/media/2026/08/stripe-radar_thumb.jpg)
[Watch video](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/media/2026/08/stripe-radar.mp4)

These features are all in addition to Stripe’s flat-rate processing cost.

- **Subscription payments: **Stripe Billing is Stripe’s subscription payment mode. It allows you to charge customers on a schedule rather than all at once. 
Stripe Billing manages plans, free trials, upgrades, and renewals. It also automatically retries failed payments. 

***Stripe Billing costs 0.7% of the total amount of the transaction.***
- **Invoicing: **Stripe allows you to create and send invoices with a payment link attached. It tracks who's paid and chases unpaid invoices. 

***Invoicing costs 0.4% of the total amount of each invoice that gets paid.***
- **Sales tax automation: **Stripe Tax calculates the correct sales tax for every sale based on where your customer is. It then collects the tax at checkout and provides you with a report. 

***Sales tax automation costs from 0.5% per transaction.***
- **Fraud screening: **Radar is Stripe’s fraud detection system. The basic tier, Radar Lite, is included free of charge as part of Stripe’s flat rate. Paid tiers are also available that allow you to add custom rules, risk management, and abuse protection. 

***These range from a minimum of $10 to $20 a month, or you can pay per transaction.***
- **Instant payouts: **You can credit your payments balance to your bank account almost immediately, rather than in the standard two days. 

***Instant payouts cost 1.5% of the total amount with a $0.50 minimum. ***

*You can create as many individual products and subscription services as you need on Stripe. *

> 💡 

### Adyen’s additional features and fees

Adyen also charges additional fees for products beyond standard [payment processing](https://whop.com/blog/payment-processors/), but unlike Stripe, it doesn’t publish any of those fees. 

Instead, those fees will be negotiated as part of your contract, and will depend on your payment volume and other factors.

Protect, Adyen’s fraud detection technology (similar to Stripe’s Radar), is priced this way: charged as agreed in your Merchant Agreement, with no published rate. 

![adyen protect](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/adyen-protect.png)

Adyen also charges on transactions that don’t succeed. Stripe’s flat rate only applies to successful payments, whereas Adyen charges its processing fee on every payment or refund attempt – even ones those are refused or retried –  and passes on the card network’s authorization fees for those attempts too. 

Although these amounts are small, they can add up if your business gets a lot of card declines or retried payments.

There’s one more factor that matters when it comes to Adyen’s costs: the minimum monthly invoice. If your fees don't hit that threshold, you'll pay the difference.

## Getting started: Stripe's self-service vs Adyen's sales process

Signing up with Stripe is quick and easy. You visit Stripe’s website, enter your personal and business details and create an account. You’ll get a few lines of code or a key that you can then drop into your website or shopping cart software. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-28b58926-dd1d-462c-88ea-5e274605bbfa.png)

Once that’s done, you can take payments the same day. The system is designed to be self-service, and whether you’re a developer or know nothing at all about code, you can get configured and set up quickly.

![adyen signup](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/adyen-signup-form.png)

The process with Adyen is different. You visit their website and apply, Adyen will review your business and you’ll need to go through their checks before you can take any payments. 

Adyen doesn’t have a starter plan or a self-serve signup, because they’re aiming at larger businesses with high transaction volumes. 

Stripe hands you prebuilt tools and code that you can drop in yourself, while Adyen largely assumes that you have experts who can configure and control exactly what you need.

You can sign up for Stripe in minutes. With Adyen, your first point of contact is talking to their sales team. 

## Adyen vs Stripe for marketplaces and platforms

Running a platform or marketplace is about much more than [<u>accepting payments</u>](https://whop.com/blog/embedded-payments). You’re onboarding creators and sellers, helping them to sell their products, managing their account balances, and then paying them out. 

Both Stripe and Adyen have products to help you manage your marketplace, from start to finish. 

Stripe has [<u>Stripe Connect</u>](https://whop.com/blog/stripe-connect/), which is a build-it-yourself payments kit. Connect allows you or your developers to select building blocks that cover accounts, transfers, payouts, and more. You can create exactly the payment flow that works for your marketplace. 

![stripe connect dash](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/02/stripe-connect-dash.png)

Stripe Connect is included in Stripe's usual fees. There is an extra charge, starting at **0.25%**, that Stripe applies if your marketplace adds its own markup and keeps the difference. Stripe Connect works as a self-service option that’s designed around simple development.

Adyen for Platforms gives you an integrated system that’s mainly driven by Adyen. Each of your users will get an account that’s set up by Adyen, and Adyen will handle onboarding, payouts and various other processes. 

![Adyen for platforms](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/03/adyen-for-platforms.png)

It extends their enterprise-driven approach to your marketplace and assumes that you have the volume and engineering expertise.

## Choosing between Stripe and Adyen

Stripe is better for online-first businesses where your volume is growing or hard to predict. Adyen is a good choice for processing high transaction volumes across multiple channels and countries. 

The platform you pick depends mostly on the size of your business and the cards that your customers use to pay. 

With Stripe, the self-service system is designed for you to move fast. You can start today with prebuilt checkouts, no-code options, and other building blocks. Every fee is clearly stated, so you always know how much everything will cost. Stripe is simple and convenient, so for many small and medium businesses, it’s a strong default.

![stripe elements](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/stripe-elements.png)

With Adyen, you do give up the convenience of self-service, but you trade that for at-cost card pricing and local acquiring that typically improves your successful payments rate. 

Adyen gives you a single system for payments whether that’s online, in-person, or from your [marketplace sellers](https://whop.com/blog/marketplace-payment-platform/) and customers. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-50d3ad53-9c4e-4bf4-b7f1-68ce266792c4.png)

### Comparing costs at different business sizes

As the examples show, for everyday debit cards, Adyen is the clear winner. On rewards cards and Amex, Stripe is slightly cheaper. 

Large businesses with high transaction volumes and a standard mix of cards save real money on Adyen. On the other hand, businesses with low volumes never clear the minimum invoice.

At the top end of transaction volume, the pricing differences between Adyen and Stripe disappear. That’s because Stripe has a custom tier for high-volume businesses that uses the same interchange-plus pricing model as Adyen. 

When your business is large enough that both platforms want your transactions, they're both charging similarly, and you're not choosing a pricing philosophy anymore. Instead, you're choosing between parts that your team assembles and one machine that runs everything the same way, everywhere. 

## Whop: the number one alternative to Stripe and Adyen

![Video thumbnail](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/media/2026/08/runs-on-whop-1_thumb.jpg)
[Watch video](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/7b/127b828b-bdc2-4972-9cf2-de857df9c324/content/media/2026/08/runs-on-whop-1.mp4)

Both Adyen and Stripe are excellent at what they’re built for – Stripe for fast developer integration, Adyen for enterprise-scale card economics. But each asks you to commit to one platform and one way of doing things.

Whop doesn't.

With Whop, you're not locked into one processor, pricing model, or set of rules. Whop's checkout routes each payment to whichever provider is most likely to approve it – so you get better authorization rates without extra engineering work.

Whop is the end-to-end platform for building a business: payments, checkout, and payouts in one place. Standard pricing is **2.7% + $0.30 **for domestic card transactions, with buy-now-pay-later and built-in crypto payments available out of the box.

Ready to get started?

**[Whop: where the internet does business](https://whop.com/network/)**

---

## FAQs

### What is interchange-plus pricing?

Interchange-plus pricing means you pay the actual interchange and scheme fees set by the card networks and issuing banks, plus a fixed markup on top.

### Is Stripe good for marketplaces?

Yes, Stripe Connect is built specifically for marketplaces and platforms that need to onboard sellers, manage balances, and handle payouts. The best alternative to Stripe Connect is Whop.

### Is Adyen cheaper than Stripe?

It depends on your card mix and transaction size. On standard debit cards, Adyen typically costs a fraction of Stripe's flat rate (roughly a third on smaller transactions, closer to a quarter on larger ones). But when customers pay with more premium cards (like rewards cards and Amex) the gap grows smaller, and Stripe can come out slightly cheaper due to its flat rate that spreads the cost of more expensive cards across all transactions. Adyen also has a minimum monthly invoice, so businesses with low volume may not see the savings per-transcation if they have to make up this minimum charge. 

### Which is better, Adyen or Stripe?

Neither is universally better as they're built for different businesses. Stripe suits companies that want fast, self-service setup, predictable flat-rate pricing, and developer friendly tools. Adyen suits larger businesses with high, predictable transaction volumes across countries and channels, where at-cost card pricing and local acquiring can reduce costs and improve transaction rates. If you'd rather not commit to one processor, Whop runs on multi-PSP orchestration, routing payments to whichever provider is most likely to approve it, combining payments, checkout, and payouts in one platform.