Payments
Stripe vs Square Fees: Which Is Cheaper in 2026?
Online, Stripe is cheaper: its standard rate of 2.9% + $0.30 keeps $3.20 from a $100 payment, against $3.60 for Square at 3.3% + $0.30. In person they are effectively tied — Square’s 2.6% + $0.15 and Stripe Terminal’s 2.7% + $0.05 both cost exactly $2.75 on a $100 sale. Neither charges a monthly fee as standard. This guide compares the two at the amounts sellers actually process, works out what the difference costs over a year, and explains when the software around the rate matters more than the rate itself.
The short answer
Online, Stripe is cheaper at every amount: its standard rate of 2.9% + $0.30 takes $3.20 from a $100 payment, against $3.60 for Square at 3.3% + $0.30. In person, the two are effectively tied on a typical sale — Square’s 2.6% + $0.15 and Stripe Terminal’s 2.7% + $0.05 both come to exactly $2.75 on $100 — because Square’s lower percentage is balanced by its higher fixed fee. Neither charges a monthly fee on its standard plan. The rest of this guide shows the gap at the amounts that matter, including the year-long difference for a real business; the Stripe fee calculator and Square fee calculator run any amount not covered here.
Side by side at real amounts
| Sale | Stripe fee | Square fee | Cheaper by |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 online | $0.59 | $0.63 | Stripe, $0.04 |
| $100 online | $3.20 | $3.60 | Stripe, $0.40 |
| $1,000 online | $29.30 | $33.30 | Stripe, $4.00 |
| $100 in person | $2.75 (Terminal) | $2.75 | Tie |
| $1,000 in person | $27.05 (Terminal) | $26.15 | Square, $0.90 |
Source: Stripe standard US pricing (2.9% + $0.30 online; Terminal 2.7% + $0.05) and Square standard US pricing (3.3% + $0.30 online since January 2026; 2.6% + $0.15 in person). Last verified: November 2026
Online, the gap is a constant 0.4% of every sale — the difference between the two percentage rates — because the fixed fees are identical. In person it flips with size: Stripe’s smaller fixed fee wins on small sales, Square’s smaller percentage wins on large ones, and they cross at exactly $100. A café taking hundreds of $8 card payments in person pays less with Stripe Terminal; a furniture shop taking $900 payments pays less with Square.
What the gap costs over a year
A shop selling $10,000 a month online, in $100 orders
| Monthly sales | $10,000.00 |
| Stripe fees for the month | $320.00 |
| Square fees for the month | $360.00 |
| Difference per month | $40.00 |
| Difference per year | $480.00 |
Same orders, same prices — the only variable is which standard rate processes them.
That $480 is the honest size of the decision for a small online business: real money, but not business-changing money. It is why the choice usually turns on the software around the rate rather than the rate itself.
Why Square’s online rate is higher than it was
Square raised its standard online rate from 2.9% + $0.30 to 3.3% + $0.30 in January 2026; its in-person rate stayed at 2.6% + $0.15. Before that change the two processors matched online, which is why older comparison articles still describe them as equal — one more reason fee information with a verification date matters. Square’s defence of the higher online rate is the bundle: the account includes a full point-of-sale system, an online store builder and invoicing at no monthly cost, where Stripe is a payments engine that expects you to bring or build the rest.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Stripe if most of your sales are online, you sell internationally (its international and conversion pricing is transparent and built in), or you need subscriptions, marketplaces or custom checkout flows. Choose Square if you run a physical shop, café or market stall and want the till, the online store and the payments in one free system — especially if your in-person tickets are large, where its rate quietly wins. Businesses that do both often end up with both: Square at the counter, Stripe online. The fee maths for each, at your own amounts, is in the calculators below — and if PayPal is also in the mix, our PayPal fees guide shows why its 3.49% + $0.49 makes it the most expensive of the three for card payments.
Do the maths in seconds
Run the same amount through both calculators — online and in person — and compare the fee, the payout and the effective rate side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Is Stripe or Square cheaper for online sales?
Stripe, at every amount. Its standard online rate of 2.9% + $0.30 takes $3.20 from a $100 payment; Square’s 3.3% + $0.30 takes $3.60. The gap is 0.4% of turnover — about $40 a month, or $480 a year, on $10,000 of monthly online sales in $100 orders.
Is Stripe or Square cheaper in person?
It depends on the ticket size. On a $100 in-person sale they cost exactly the same — $2.75 each — because Stripe Terminal’s lower fixed fee (2.7% + $0.05) and Square’s lower percentage (2.6% + $0.15) cancel out. Below $100 Stripe’s smaller fixed fee wins; above $100 Square’s smaller percentage wins, by $0.90 on a $1,000 sale.
Did Square raise its fees in 2026?
Yes. Square raised its standard online processing rate from 2.9% + $0.30 to 3.3% + $0.30 on 13 January 2026. The in-person rate did not change, staying at 2.6% + $0.15. Comparisons written before 2026 usually show the two processors as equal online, which is no longer true.
Do Stripe or Square charge monthly fees?
Neither charges a monthly fee on its standard plan — both are pay-per-transaction. Square sells optional paid software plans (for retail, restaurants and appointments) and Stripe charges separately for add-on products such as Billing and Radar, but basic processing on both platforms has no monthly cost.