Adyen vs Stripe
Adyen is a global payments company aimed mainly at larger merchants, offering over 100 payment methods through a single integration with per-transaction fees and no monthly or setup costs. Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform that also charges per transaction with no monthly fee, and is built around developer-friendly APIs, subscriptions and marketplace payouts. Choose Adyen if you are a high-volume or multi-country merchant that wants unified online and in-person payments, and Stripe if you want the broadest developer tooling and quick start for smaller teams.
Facts checked on against the official sources listed at the end. Usage numbers update daily.
Best for
Large merchants needing multi-country, multi-currency online and in-store payments
No free plan. Paid from $0.13 per transaction plus a payment-method-specific fee (for example Visa: $0.13 + interchange + 0.60%).
Best for
Startups and software teams that want developer tooling and fast integration
No free plan. Paid from 2.9% + 30 cents per successful US card transaction.
Adyen vs Stripe at a glance
| Compared on | Adyen | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Typical customer | Larger enterprise merchants with global volume | Everyone from solo founders to large platforms |
| Fee structure | Fixed processing fee plus a payment-method-specific fee | A percentage plus a fixed amount on standard card payments |
| In-person payments | POS terminals are part of the same platform | Terminal hardware available, with online payments as the core product |
| Payment method breadth | Over 100 payment methods through one integration | Wide method coverage, with extras such as billing and fraud tooling |
| Billing products | Announced acquiring Orb, a usage-based billing platform | Stripe Billing for subscriptions, plus Metronome for usage-based pricing |
| Self-serve onboarding | Aimed at merchants working with sales and account teams | Sign up and take payments without talking to sales |
| Open source | No, Proprietary | No, Proprietary |
| Free plan | No free plan; there are no setup or monthly fees, only per-transaction charges | No: pay per successful transaction, no monthly fee on the standard plan |
| Paid plans from | $0.13 per transaction plus a payment-method-specific fee (for example Visa: $0.13 + interchange + 0.60%) | 2.9% + 30 cents per successful US card transaction |
| Made by | Adyen N.V. | Stripe, Inc. |
| Launched | Not listed | 2010 |
What's the difference between Adyen and Stripe?
Who each is built for
Adyen is aimed primarily at larger merchants that need multi-currency, multi-country processing from one integration. Stripe serves a much wider range, from small teams to big platforms, with strong self-serve onboarding.
How fees are built
Adyen charges a fixed processing fee of around $0.13 per transaction plus a fee that depends on the payment method, such as interchange plus about 0.60% for Visa. Stripe's standard US card rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful transaction, with extra fees for international cards and currency conversion.
Online and in-person together
Adyen presents online checkout and point-of-sale terminals as one platform for unified commerce. Stripe is strongest in online payments and developer tooling, and treats in-person as an extension.
Billing direction
Both are adding usage-based billing through acquisitions: Adyen announced it is acquiring Orb, while Stripe acquired Metronome to strengthen Stripe Billing. Stripe already has a mature subscription product, so for recurring revenue Stripe is further along today.
Adyen vs Stripe pricing
Neither charges setup or monthly fees on standard terms. Adyen uses a fixed fee plus a method-specific fee; Stripe uses a percentage plus a fixed fee, with custom pricing for high volume at both.
Adyen
Around $0.13 per transaction plus a payment-method-specific fee, for example interchange plus about 0.60% for Visa or around 3% for some digital wallets like Alipay. No setup or monthly fees.
Stripe
Standard plan is 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful US card transaction with no monthly fee, plus added fees for international cards and currency conversion. Custom pricing is available for high-volume businesses.
- Standard
- 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction
- Custom
- Contact sales
Prices in USD from the official pricing pages on 5 October 2026. They change often, so confirm on adyen.com and stripe.com before you commit.
Usage and activity
Weekly npm downloads: 315k for @adyen/api-library and 27M for stripe.
| Measure | Adyen | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | No public repository | 4,523 |
| npm downloads a week | 315k (@adyen/api-library) | 27M (stripe) |
| Latest release | None on GitHub | v23.0.0, 6 days ago |
| Releases in 90 days | 0 | 3 |
From the public GitHub and npm APIs, updated daily. Stars and downloads show developer interest, not product quality.
Should you choose Adyen or Stripe?
Choose Adyen if
- You process high volume across many countries and currencies
- You want online checkout and in-store terminals on a single platform
- You expect a dedicated account team and negotiated interchange-plus pricing
- You need a long list of local payment methods behind one integration
Choose Stripe if
- You want to be live quickly with self-serve onboarding and strong documentation
- You need subscriptions, invoicing or marketplace payouts from the same vendor
- Your volume is small or unpredictable and you prefer simple published rates
- Your team is developer-led and wants a rich API and SDK ecosystem
Switching between Adyen and Stripe
Moving from Stripe to Adyen typically happens when volume and geography justify negotiated pricing. It means re-integrating checkout, migrating stored card tokens between the two providers (which needs both sides to cooperate), and rebuilding subscription logic, since Adyen's billing side is newer. Moving from Adyen to Stripe is usually easier for smaller teams but requires the same token migration and a rework of reporting and reconciliation.
Adyen vs Stripe: common questions
Does Adyen have a monthly fee?
No. Adyen has no setup or monthly fees; each transaction is charged a fixed processing fee plus a payment-method-specific fee.
Is Adyen only for big companies?
It is aimed primarily at larger merchants that need multi-currency, multi-country processing. Smaller businesses can use it, but Stripe is usually the quicker self-serve start.
Can I sell subscriptions on Adyen?
Adyen supports recurring payments and announced it is acquiring Orb, a usage-based billing platform, to add billing infrastructure. Stripe Billing is the more established subscription product today.
Which supports in-person payments?
Both offer terminals, but Adyen markets online and point-of-sale as a single unified platform, which suits retailers with physical locations.
What did Stripe's Metronome acquisition change?
It strengthens usage-based and consumption pricing inside Stripe Billing. It does not change Stripe's core payment pricing.
Other options to consider
All payments tools
Stripe Billing
Stripe's subscription and recurring billing product, with usage-based billing via Metronome.
Polar
Merchant-of-record billing platform for developers, built for usage-based and AI-era pricing.
RevenueCat
Subscription infrastructure for mobile apps: a unified backend for App Store, Play Store and web billing.
Lago
Open source billing and usage-based pricing platform, deployable self-hosted or as a managed cloud service.
Sources
More sources for each tool are on the Adyen and Stripe pages.
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