Online-first processor with in-person hardware · United States
Shopify vs Stripe in United States: the share of card sales each one takes
At $5,000 of card sales a month, Stripe costs 2.93% of everything taken and Shopify costs 3.78% — a difference of $1,525 over three years.
The advertised rates are 2.60% + $0.10 and 2.70% + $0.05, which is the opposite ranking: the monthly fee, the hardware or the per-transaction fee reverses it.
Side by side
Both columns use the cheapest plan each provider publishes for this market, with the fixed costs it publishes alongside the rate.
| Shopify | Stripe | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest published plan | Basic | Terminal (in person) |
| In person | 2.60% + $0.10 | 2.70% + $0.05 |
| Online or keyed | 2.90% | 2.90% |
| Monthly fee | $39.00 | none |
| Hardware | not stated | $59 once |
| Minimum monthly charge | none stated | none stated |
| Contract | not stated | not stated |
| Effective rate at $1,000 a month | 6.90% | 3.06% |
| Effective rate at $2,000 a month | 4.95% | 2.98% |
| Effective rate at $5,000 a month | 3.78% | 2.93% |
| Effective rate at $10,000 a month | 3.39% | 2.92% |
| Effective rate at $25,000 a month | 3.16% | 2.91% |
| Effective rate at $50,000 a month | 3.08% | 2.90% |
| Three-year cost at $5,000 a month | $6,804 | $5,279 |
| Owner | not confirmed | not confirmed |
How that is worked out
The average sale is an assumption of this site, not a published figure: $25.00 in the United States and £20.00 in the United Kingdom. It decides how heavily a per-transaction fee lands, so the calculator lets you change it. Interchange, chargebacks, refunds, currency conversion, sales tax and VAT are not in any figure on this site, because the pricing page does not price them for a given shop. Every figure here is a floor. The full method is at Method.
Where does the answer change?
The ranking above holds only under the conditions listed here.
- Size does not change the ranking here. Stripe is cheaper as a share of card sales at every volume we compute, so the question is not how busy you are.
- If takings are seasonal, Shopify carries the larger fixed monthly charge — $39.00 against $0.00 — and that is charged in the quiet months too.
- Do not decide yet if $1,525 over three years is less than what switching would cost you — neither provider publishes what leaving involves, and chargebacks, refunds and foreign-card surcharges are in neither figure and could change the order.
Who this is not for
This compares published prices and nothing else. It is not a judgment about hardware, apps or support, and neither product has been used by us. If the two figures are close, this page will not decide it for you and should not.
Sources
- Shopify pricing page. checked 2026-08-25
- Stripe pricing page. checked 2026-08-25
Related
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.