billable.devStripe Invoicing Fees: What a Freelance Invoice Really Costs
By Mark Fulton · 2026-09-28 · 11 min read
A Stripe invoice costs you two fees, not one. Stripe Invoicing charges 0.4% per paid invoice on Starter or 0.5% on Plus, and then the normal payment processing fee applies on top: 2.9% + $0.30 for a domestic card, or 0.8% capped at $5.00 for ACH Direct Debit (Stripe's published US rates, as of September 2026). On a $4,000 invoice that means $132.30 when the client pays by card on Starter, and $21.00 when they pay by ACH, of which $16.00 is the invoicing layer. If you do not need Stripe to generate and chase the invoice, you can drop that layer entirely: send your own invoice with a Stripe Payment Link in the notes, and the same $4,000 costs $116.30 by card or $5.00 by ACH.
Billable does not process payments and takes no cut of what you invoice, so nothing below steers you to a processor. Every rate comes from Stripe's own pricing pages, read in September 2026. Stripe changes pricing from time to time, so check the linked pages before you quote a number to a client.
What does Stripe charge for an invoice, layer by layer?
Think of a Stripe invoice as a stack. Each layer has its own fee, and they add together.
Layer 1: Stripe Invoicing. This is the product that builds the invoice, emails it, hosts the payment page and sends reminders. According to Stripe's Invoicing pricing page, there are two public tiers:
- Starter: 0.4% per paid invoice
- Plus: 0.5% per paid invoice
There is no monthly fee, no setup fee, and no cap listed for either tier. The page says it plainly: Stripe Invoicing has no fixed fees, "but Stripe Payments pricing will apply." Stripe's support article on how Invoicing pricing works adds three details that matter for freelancers. The fee applies to one-time invoices only. You are only charged when an invoice is paid through Stripe. And the 25 free Starter invoices per month that older guides mention ended on November 1, 2023.
One common mix-up: you may see "0.4%, $2.00 cap" quoted for Stripe invoices. That cap belongs to a different product, post-payment invoices, which are receipts Stripe can generate after a one-time purchase through Checkout or Payment Links. It does not apply to the invoices you create and send from the Invoicing product.
Layer 2: payment processing. From Stripe's US pricing page:
- Domestic card: 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction
- Add-ons on cards: +0.5% for manually entered cards, +1.5% for international cards, +1% if currency conversion is required
- ACH Direct Debit: 0.8% with a $5.00 cap, for standard settlement timing. Stripe also lists 1.2% for two-day settlement; I could not confirm from the page whether that rate carries the same cap, so the math below uses standard timing only.
- USD Bank Transfer (the client pushes money to the account details on the invoice): 0.5% with a $5.00 cap, plus $15.00 per payment that arrives by wire
Layer 3: the occasional extras. A failed ACH payment costs $4.00, a disputed ACH payment costs $15.00, and a card dispute costs $15.00 when it arrives. These are not on every invoice, but they are why a bad-fit client costs more than the headline rate.
How much does a $4,000 invoice cost paid by card vs ACH?
Here are both layers totaled on three invoice sizes that cover most freelance development work: a small fix, a two-week engagement, and a larger milestone. The "Payment Link only" rows are what the same payment costs when you skip Stripe Invoicing and just collect through a link, which the last section covers.
| Invoice | Paid by | Setup | Processing fee | Invoicing fee | Total fee | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | Card | Invoicing Starter | $29.30 | $4.00 | $33.30 | 3.33% |
| $1,000 | Card | Invoicing Plus | $29.30 | $5.00 | $34.30 | 3.43% |
| $1,000 | Card | Payment Link only | $29.30 | $0.00 | $29.30 | 2.93% |
| $1,000 | ACH | Invoicing Starter | $5.00 | $4.00 | $9.00 | 0.90% |
| $1,000 | ACH | Invoicing Plus | $5.00 | $5.00 | $10.00 | 1.00% |
| $1,000 | ACH | Payment Link only | $5.00 | $0.00 | $5.00 | 0.50% |
| $4,000 | Card | Invoicing Starter | $116.30 | $16.00 | $132.30 | 3.31% |
| $4,000 | Card | Invoicing Plus | $116.30 | $20.00 | $136.30 | 3.41% |
| $4,000 | Card | Payment Link only | $116.30 | $0.00 | $116.30 | 2.91% |
| $4,000 | ACH | Invoicing Starter | $5.00 | $16.00 | $21.00 | 0.53% |
| $4,000 | ACH | Invoicing Plus | $5.00 | $20.00 | $25.00 | 0.63% |
| $4,000 | ACH | Payment Link only | $5.00 | $0.00 | $5.00 | 0.13% |
| $12,000 | Card | Invoicing Starter | $348.30 | $48.00 | $396.30 | 3.30% |
| $12,000 | Card | Invoicing Plus | $348.30 | $60.00 | $408.30 | 3.40% |
| $12,000 | Card | Payment Link only | $348.30 | $0.00 | $348.30 | 2.90% |
| $12,000 | ACH | Invoicing Starter | $5.00 | $48.00 | $53.00 | 0.44% |
| $12,000 | ACH | Invoicing Plus | $5.00 | $60.00 | $65.00 | 0.54% |
| $12,000 | ACH | Payment Link only | $5.00 | $0.00 | $5.00 | 0.04% |
The math, so you can run your own numbers: card processing is invoice × 0.029 + 0.30. ACH processing is invoice × 0.008, but never more than $5.00, and it hits the cap at $625. The invoicing fee is invoice × 0.004 on Starter or invoice × 0.005 on Plus, with no cap. Add the two. For an international card, use invoice × 0.044 + 0.30, and add another 1% if the payment needs a currency conversion.
Two things stand out once the layers sit side by side.
On card payments, the invoicing layer is a rounding error next to processing. On $4,000, $16.00 of a $132.30 fee is the invoice. Whether you use Stripe Invoicing or not, the card is what costs you money.
On ACH, the invoicing layer is most of the bill. Because the ACH fee stops at $5.00, the uncapped 0.4% overtakes it on any invoice above $1,250. On a $12,000 milestone paid by ACH, Stripe Invoicing costs $48.00 and moving the money costs $5.00. If you steer clients to bank payments, which is the right default for US business clients, the product that generates the invoice becomes your largest Stripe cost.
Annualize it and the gap is real. Say you bill $8,000 a month as two $4,000 invoices. All card on Starter, that is $3,175.20 a year in Stripe fees. All ACH on Starter, it is $504.00, of which $384.00 is the invoicing layer. All ACH through a Payment Link on your own invoice, it is $120.00.
When does the higher Invoicing tier pay for itself?
Plus costs 0.1 percentage points more than Starter. That is $1.00 on a $1,000 invoice, $4.00 on $4,000 and $12.00 on $12,000.
What you get for it has shifted over time. The current feature comparison on Stripe's pricing page lists the hosted invoice page, analytics, the customer portal, automatic collection with smart retries and reminders, and auto-reconciliation of ACH credit and wire payments under both tiers, and marks quotes as the Plus addition. Stripe's support article still describes Plus as the tier with extra collection and reconciliation tools, so read the comparison table on the day you decide rather than trusting any summary, including this one.
For a solo developer the practical test is simple. If you send formal quotes from Stripe and want them to convert straight into invoices, Plus earns its 0.1%. If you write estimates in a proposal or a statement of work and invoice after, Starter covers you, and the difference on $96,000 a year of billing is $96.00 you keep.
Can you skip Stripe Invoicing and still take Stripe payments?
Yes, and for many freelancers it is the cheaper setup. Stripe itself points this out: its support article notes that if you do not need full invoicing functionality, you can share a Payment Link "at no additional cost." You pay only the processing layer.
The workflow looks like this:
- Create the invoice yourself, with your own number, line items, terms and due date.
- In Stripe, create a Payment Link for the invoice total. Stripe's ACH Direct Debit documentation lists Payment Links among the products that support ACH, so you can offer bank debit and card on the same link.
- Paste the link into the payment instructions on the invoice, next to your bank details for clients who prefer to push a transfer.
- When the payment lands, mark the invoice paid in your own records.
What you give up is real, so weigh it honestly. Stripe Invoicing sends automatic reminders, retries failed card payments, and reconciles bank transfers against the right invoice. With a Payment Link, you send your own reminders and match payments by hand. If you have a handful of clients and invoice a few times a month, that is a few minutes of work against $16.00 per $4,000 invoice. If you invoice dozens of clients, the automation may be worth the 0.4%.
There is also a middle path. Keep Stripe Invoicing for card-paying clients, where the invoicing layer is a small share of the total, and use your own invoice with bank details or an ACH Payment Link for clients who pay by bank, where the invoicing layer is most of the fee. For the wider picture on which methods to offer, see ACH, cards, or wire: how devs should accept payment, and if some clients are overseas, compare the routes in Wise vs PayPal for freelancers.
Should you pass Stripe fees on to the client?
You have three honest options, and only one of them is a surcharge.
Price it in. Your rate is your rate. If card payments cost you about 3.3% all in, that is a cost of doing business, the same as your laptop. Many freelancers set their rate with this already absorbed and never mention it.
Make the cheap option the default. Put bank payment first in your payment instructions and the card second. Most US companies pay contractors by ACH as a matter of routine, and the fee difference on a $4,000 invoice is $132.30 against $21.00 even with Stripe Invoicing in the loop. You have not charged anyone extra; you have made the cheaper route the obvious one.
Add a card surcharge. This is the only option with real rules attached. Card networks regulate surcharging, and Visa's merchant guidance on credit surcharging rules and disclosure states that merchants must notify their acquirer 30 days before they begin. Rules also differ between credit and debit cards and between jurisdictions, and some places restrict surcharges. If you want to go this way, read the current network rules and check the law where you and your client operate before adding a line to an invoice. This is general information, not legal advice.
If you want to net a set amount after card fees without a surcharge line, gross up the total instead: divide what you want to receive, plus $0.30, by one minus the percentage fees. To net $4,000 after card processing plus Invoicing Starter, that is 4,000.30 ÷ 0.967, or $4,136.81. Treat this as a pricing decision, quoted up front, not a fee added after the work is done.
FAQ
Does Stripe charge for unpaid invoices?
No Invoicing fee applies until an invoice is paid through Stripe. Stripe's support article says users are only charged when an invoice is paid through Stripe, so a draft, an open invoice, or one you void costs nothing on the invoicing layer. Processing fees only apply to successful payments too. The exception is a failed ACH debit, which Stripe lists at $4.00.
Is ACH cheaper than card on Stripe invoices?
Much cheaper at any freelance invoice size. ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% capped at $5.00, against 2.9% + $0.30 for a domestic card. On a $4,000 invoice with Invoicing Starter, the total is $21.00 by ACH against $132.30 by card. The trade is time: Stripe's documentation puts standard ACH settlement at up to four business days.
Is there a cap on Stripe's ACH fee?
Yes. At standard settlement timing, ACH Direct Debit is 0.8% with a $5.00 cap, so every invoice above $625 costs the same $5.00 to collect. The Invoicing fee layered on top has no cap, which is why large ACH invoices through Stripe Invoicing cost more in invoicing than in processing.
Can I add a card surcharge to a Stripe invoice?
You can add a line item for it, but whether you may depends on card network rules and the law where you and your client are. Visa requires merchants to notify their acquirer 30 days before surcharging and publishes disclosure guidance, and rules differ for debit cards and by jurisdiction. The simpler and safer route for most freelancers is to price card costs into the rate, or to make ACH the default and let clients choose.
Put a Stripe Payment Link in the notes of your invoice and skip the invoicing layer. Billable is a free invoice generator that runs entirely in your browser, with no account and no server: add your line items, paste the link and your bank details into the notes, and download a clean PDF. Start from the free invoice template for developers and the next one takes about a minute.