Stripe Direct

| Use case | Recommended? | |----------|--------------| | SaaS & subscriptions | ✅ Excellent | | E‑commerce (custom store) | ✅ Yes | | Marketplaces (Uber, Etsy style) | ✅ Stripe Connect is best-in-class | | Nonprofits & donations | ✅ Yes (but lower fees via Stripe for Nonprofits) | | In-person retail (one-off) | ⚠️ Possible but Square/SumUp are cheaper & easier | | Small service business (invoicing) | ✅ Works well, but check alternatives (Wave, PayPal Invoicing) | | High-risk / prohibited | ❌ No (try Authorize.net or specialized processors) |

Go to Stripe.com and sign up. You will need your business EIN (Tax ID), personal details for the account owner, and a bank account for payouts. stripe

Stripe is currently valued at roughly $50 billion (down from a peak of $95 billion in 2021, but still a giant). The company is focusing on three major areas: | Use case | Recommended