# Why this directory exists Title: Why this directory exists Description: Why the directory publishes sourced fees, refuses one ranking, and still says when Stripe is the right processor. Figures were read on November 9, 2026. This directory exists so a founder can read a processor's own price, dated, before switching from Stripe. Every fee in the edition was taken from the provider's page on November 9, 2026. Stripe's US domestic card rate on that day is 2.9% + $0.30, and a dispute received is $15. ## What is this directory? A processor list is useful when the price came from the processor. StripeAlternatives.com is a directory of providers businesses use instead of Stripe, or alongside it. Every fee in this edition was read from that provider's own page on November 9, 2026. There is no universal ranking, and a listing is not an approval. ## How does a fee get published? A number is published only when it was on the provider's page. The pricing dataset links that page and the day it was read. - A floor is labeled. "From" and "starting at" are not the rate a business is charged. - A missing rate stays missing. The profile says the price is quoted. - International cards, currency conversion, and disputes are named on their own line. - A secondary write-up is not a source, including an older sentence on this site. ## How do rankings work? One job per page. - **No overall winner.** A single score would mix a dispute fee, a European payment method, and a telehealth license. - **Stripe can still win.** Where low risk, fast setup, and the rest of Stripe's products are the job, the page says to stay. - **Placement is not sold.** A provider is not added because it paid. ## How are comparisons built? Stripe stays in the comparison. Each page puts Stripe's published US rate next to the other provider's published rate. - **With a published rate.** The cards show the list price. Add-ons that are not inside that price are named under it. - **With a quote.** The card says quoted. ## What does the fee calculator include? Cost = monthly fee + volume × percent + (volume ÷ ticket) × fixed fee. Domestic US cards. Successful charges only. - Frame publishes From 2.0% + $0.39. That is a floor, so the calculator leaves it out. - Helcim is interchange-plus. The calculator shows a labeled illustration, not a Helcim quote. - Whop's domestic card rate is 2.7% + $0.30. Tax collection is a separate fee when that mode is on. - Dodo Payments publishes a standard rate of 4% + $0.40, before add-ons. That rate is in the calculator. Commas does not publish a rate, so it is left out. ## Who should use the directory? The reason you are looking, not a leaderboard. - [The account was closed](/guides/stripe-closed-my-account.md). A different processor does not make a prohibited category lawful. - [The bill is the question](/best/lowest-fees.md). A merchant-of-record percent is a different product from a card rate. - [Tax should be someone else's job](/best/merchant-of-record.md). - [Stripe may still fit](/compare/stripe-vs-braintree.md). ## Questions ### What rate is the baseline? Stripe is the baseline the other providers are compared with. Stripe's US domestic card rate on this edition is 2.9% + $0.30, and the dispute fee is $15 received, both read on November 9, 2026. ### Why is Stripe listed with the alternatives? The comparisons need a published rate to sit next to. Stripe's US domestic card rate on this edition is 2.9% + $0.30, and the dispute fee is $15 received. ### Can a provider pay to rank higher? No. Each best-of page orders providers by fit for one job, and the methodology is the order. A request to move up that does not point at a factual error is not a correction. ### Why is a rate missing, or left out of the calculator? Frame publishes From 2.0% + $0.39, which is a floor, so it is not a rate the calculator can charge against volume. Commas and several platforms do not publish a standard rate at all. Inventing one from a third-party article would be worse than a blank cell. ### How current are the figures, and how do I fix one? This edition was read on November 9, 2026. Comparison pages say these figures were last updated November 9, 2026. A wrong figure is reported on the corrections page, with a link to the provider's own page. A confirmed change is edited, redated, and written on the changelog. ### What if Stripe is still the right processor? Then the page should say so. Low risk, fast setup, and the rest of Stripe's products are real reasons to stay. The directory is for reading the other published price before that decision, not for talking you out of Stripe. ## Sources Last verified November 9, 2026. - Stripe pricing: https://stripe.com/pricing?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com - Frame pricing: https://framepayments.com/pricing?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stripealternatives.com ## Related - [Stripe alternatives directory](/index.md) - [Methodology for fees and rankings](/methodology.md) - [Pricing dataset checked November 9, 2026](/data/pricing.md) - [Pricing tools](/tools.md) - [Fee calculator](/tools/fee-calculator.md) - [How Stripe's US fees add up](/guides/stripe-fees-explained.md) - [Editorial policy for fees and ranks](/editorial-policy.md)