Stripe Billing
Subscription and recurring billing inside Stripe, for software businesses that have a developer on hand.
Best for businesses that already take payments through Stripe
Facts checked November 4, 2026
The short answer
Stripe Billing suits a SaaS or membership business whose cards already run through Stripe, because your saved customers stay where they are and you pay 0.7% of billing volume with no monthly fee. Smart Retries, dunning emails, a hosted customer portal and MRR and churn reports come with that rate. Most setups need a developer, since your app has to react to webhooks when a trial ends or a payment fails. Tax, revenue recognition and heavier usage billing are separate Stripe products with their own prices, so the total bill climbs as you add them.
Choose it if
- Stripe already processes your card payments and you want subscriptions without moving saved cards to another vendor
- Your monthly billing volume is modest and you would rather pay 0.7% of it than a fixed monthly fee
- You have a developer who can handle the API and webhooks, so your app knows when to grant or remove access
- You sell plans with seats, tiers or usage and want to change prices from the Dashboard without rewriting your checkout
- Failed renewals cost you customers and you want automatic retries and reminder emails switched on from day one
Skip it if
- Nobody on your team writes code. Billing works best with an integration, and finance-led tools such as Chargebee need less of it
- You want someone else to collect and remit sales tax and VAT on software sales. Paddle acts as the seller of record, and Stripe sells that service separately as Managed Payments
- You take most payments through another processor. Stripe can bill through one, but you lose Smart Retries, recovery emails, Stripe Checkout and the hosted invoice page for those payments
- You want a flat, predictable monthly price at low volume. Zoho Billing and Pabbly Subscription Billing charge a fixed fee instead of a share of revenue
- You need tax calculation and accrual accounting reports in the base price. Stripe Tax and Revenue Recognition are billed on top
Main features
Subscriptions and pricing models
Stripe lists more than 15 pricing models, including flat rate, per seat and tiered. You can set plans up in the Dashboard, sell them through Payment Links or Stripe Checkout with no code, or build your own flow on the API.
Free and paid trials
Trial offers cover free trials, discounted starts such as $1 for the first week, and a trial on one add-on while the rest of the subscription bills normally. The newer trial offers need a recent API version and Stripe's flexible billing mode.
Smart Retries
When a renewal fails, Stripe uses an AI model to pick when to try the card again. New accounts start with up to 8 retries within 2 weeks, and you can stretch the window from 1 week to 2 months or write your own schedule.
Recovery and retention automations
You can create up to three automations, such as a different retry policy for a customer segment or a rule for what happens to a subscription after the last retry. Stripe also sends reminder emails for missed and overdue payments, updates expired cards and runs cancellation surveys.
Customer portal
Subscribers update cards, see invoices, cancel or pause on a page Stripe hosts, so you don't build account screens yourself. You can add a cancellation page with a retention offer, and running the portal on your own domain costs $10 a month.
Entitlements
You map the features in your app, such as API access or premium support, to Stripe products. Stripe then tells your app when to switch a feature on or off as each customer's subscription changes.
Usage billing with meters
The Meters API is part of Billing pricing and includes up to 100 million usage events a month. For negotiated contracts and more complex usage pricing, Stripe points you to Metronome, a Stripe product sold through its own sales team.
Billing analytics
The Dashboard reports MRR, churn, subscribers and retention, and benchmarks them against similar businesses on Stripe. You can choose whether discounts count against MRR, and Stripe says the data is less than an hour old.
Quotes and scheduled changes
You can send a customer a quote before the subscription starts, and schedule changes ahead of time, such as an upgrade that takes effect next quarter. Both are included in the Billing rate.
Third-party payment processors
Billing can manage subscriptions paid through another processor if you build that integration yourself. Those payments get scheduled retries and automations, but not Smart Retries, recovery emails, Stripe Checkout or refunds started from Stripe.
Pricing
Stripe's US prices, checked November 4, 2026. Card processing is charged on top: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful US card charge and 0.8% per ACH direct debit, capped at $5. A custom domain for the customer portal costs $10 a month. One-off invoices are billed under Stripe Invoicing at 0.4% (Starter) or 0.5% (Plus) per paid invoice. Stripe Tax Basic costs 0.5% per transaction where you are registered, on no-code integrations such as Billing, and Tax Complete starts at $90 a month. Revenue Recognition starts at $25 a month.
Pay as you go
0.7% / of Billing volume
Every Billing feature, no recurring fee; counts recurring billing on and off Stripe, excludes one-off invoices
Pay monthly, first tier
$620 / month, 1-year contract
Up to $100,000 of Billing volume a month, then 0.67%; Stripe lists it as 11% off pay as you go
Pay monthly, second tier
$1,500 / month, 1-year contract
Up to $250,000 of Billing volume a month, then 0.67%
Pay monthly, third tier
$2,950 / month, 1-year contract
Up to $500,000 of Billing volume a month, then 0.67%
Pay monthly, fourth tier
$5,750 / month, 1-year contract
Up to $1,000,000 of Billing volume a month, then 0.67%; Stripe lists it as 18% off pay as you go
Custom
Contact sales
For more than $1,000,000 of Billing volume a month or unusual business models
Reviews
Write a reviewNo reviews yet. If you use Stripe Billing, yours would be the first.
Alternatives to Stripe Billing
| Product | Choose it instead if | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| Paddle | You sell software and want a merchant of record to handle sales tax and VAT for you | 5% + 50¢ per checkout tr... |
| Recurly | Recovering failed payments is your main concern and you can commit to a monthly platform fee | $249 a month (Starter) |
| Zoho Billing | You want a fixed monthly price instead of a share of your billing volume | $39 a month billed yearl... |
| Pabbly Subscription Billing | You are on a small budget and want a free plan to start with a few customers | Free |
Questions people ask
How much does Stripe Billing cost?
On pay as you go, Stripe Billing costs 0.7% of your Billing volume with no monthly fee, so $10,000 of monthly subscriptions costs $70 in Billing fees. Businesses with steadier volume can sign a 1-year contract, paid monthly, starting at $620 a month for up to $100,000 of volume. Card processing is extra: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful US card charge. These are Stripe's US prices, checked November 4, 2026.
Is Stripe Billing free?
No. Stripe has no free Billing plan, but pay as you go has no monthly fee, so you pay nothing until you bill a customer. Creating a Stripe account costs nothing.
Does the 0.7% include Stripe's card processing fees?
No. The Billing fee sits on top of Stripe Payments pricing, which in the US is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge and 0.8% per ACH direct debit, capped at $5. A $50 monthly subscription paid by US card therefore costs about $1.75 in card fees plus 35¢ in Billing fees.
Can I use Stripe Billing with a payment processor other than Stripe?
Yes, with limits. You build and maintain the integration with the other processor yourself, then report each payment back to Stripe. Those payments can't use Smart Retries, recovery emails, Stripe Checkout or the hosted invoice page, and you handle refunds and disputes with the other processor.
Do I need a developer to use Stripe Billing?
For simple plans, no: you can create subscriptions in the Dashboard and sell them through Payment Links or Checkout. Most software businesses still need a developer, because the app has to grant access, react when a payment fails and remove access when a subscription ends. Stripe's Entitlements feature reduces that work but doesn't remove it.
Does Stripe Billing handle sales tax and VAT?
Not in the base price. Stripe Tax Basic adds calculation and collection for 0.5% per transaction where you are registered, on no-code integrations such as Billing. Tax Complete adds registrations and filings from $90 a month on a 1-year contract. Either way, you remain the seller responsible for the tax.
Is Stripe Billing a merchant of record?
No. With Billing your business is the seller, so tax registration and filing stay with you. Stripe sells a separate merchant of record service, Stripe Managed Payments, for digital goods businesses, and Paddle works the same way.
Sources we checked 16
- stripe.com/billing/pricing for US pricing (fetched with a US country setting): 0.7% pay as you go, $620/$1,500/$2,950/$5,750 contract tiers and 0.67% overage, included features, $10 a month portal domain, Meters API 100M events, Metronome, US card and ACH fees checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/billing for 15+ pricing models, recovery tools, 135+ currencies, analytics freshness, features marked as extra cost, 350,000+ companies checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/billing/subscriptions for 15+ pricing models, Billing versus Metronome split checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/invoicing/pricing for One-off invoice pricing, 0.4% Starter and 0.5% Plus per paid invoice checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/tax/pricing for Tax Basic 0.5% per transaction on no-code integrations, Tax Complete from $90 a month checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/revenue-recognition/pricing for Revenue Recognition from $25 a month checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/managed-payments for Managed Payments as Stripe's merchant of record service for digital goods checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/newsroom/information for Dual headquarters in San Francisco and Dublin checked November 4, 2026
- stripe.com/support-plans for 24x7 phone, email and chat support for all customers checked November 4, 2026
- docs.stripe.com/billing/revenue-recovery/smart-retries for Smart Retries defaults (8 retries in 2 weeks) and window options checked November 4, 2026
- docs.stripe.com/billing/subscriptions/trials for Free, paid, upgrade and item-level trial offers; API version and flexible billing mode requirement checked November 4, 2026
- docs.stripe.com/customer-management for Customer portal: payment details, invoices, cancellation page, pause checked November 4, 2026
- docs.stripe.com/billing/entitlements for Entitlements feature mapping and access notifications checked November 4, 2026
- docs.stripe.com/billing/subscriptions/analytics for MRR, churn, subscribers, retention, benchmarks, discount setting checked November 4, 2026
- docs.stripe.com/billing/subscriptions/third-party-payment-processing for Billing with other processors and its limitations checked November 4, 2026
- docs.stripe.com/dashboard/mobile for Dashboard apps for iOS and Android that can create subscriptions (page served in German) checked November 4, 2026