Checkout.com vs Stripe

Fees, tax handling, payouts and coverage side by side, plus how many verified RevMRR startups use each.

The short version

Neither is a merchant of record, so with either one you register for and remit sales tax and VAT yourself.
Pick Checkout.com for: mid-sized to enterprise ecommerce companies, marketplaces, fintech platforms, SaaS businesses, gaming companies, and international brands processing high volumes across multiple countries — especially those needing advanced APIs, global acquiring, multi-currency support, and authorization optimization..
Pick Stripe for: online-first businesses — SaaS, ecommerce, subscriptions, marketplaces — with access to developer talent, and any company selling internationally that needs multi-currency support and rich analytics..

RevMRR Score	C60	B74
Type	Platform & Vertical SaaS	Payment Processor
Standard fee	Quote-based	2.9% + $0.30
Monthly fee	None	None
Merchant of record	No	No
Sales tax / VAT	You handle it	Paid add-on
Subscriptions	Supported	Supported
Payouts	Not publicly disclosed	First payout 7-14 days; then a rolling schedule…
Who can sign up	Founded in 2009, based in 54 Portland Place, London, England, W1B 1DY	Founded in 2010, based in San Francisco, CA
Payment methods	Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Local Payment Methods	Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Local Payment Methods
Best for	Mid-sized to enterprise ecommerce companies, marketplaces, fintech platforms, SaaS businesses, gaming companies, and international brands processing high volumes across multiple countries — especially those needing advanced APIs, global acquiring, multi-currency support, and authorization optimization.	Online-first businesses — SaaS, ecommerce, subscriptions, marketplaces — with access to developer talent, and any company selling internationally that needs multi-currency support and rich analytics.
Used on RevMRR	Not connectable yet	0 verified startups

Checkout.com

Checkout.com is an outstanding enterprise payments infrastructure company that is simply not designed for — or accessible to — most merchants. If you process eight figures annually across borders and can negotiate from strength, it is a genuine Adyen and Stripe competitor; for everyone else, the total absence of published pricing, undisclosed contract terms, tiered support, and reports of abrupt terminations are exactly why it grades C+.

+ Superior international acceptance, with direct local acquiring in 50+ countries and processing in 150+ currencies
+ Best-in-class API quality, consistently praised by developers, with a full sandbox environment
+ AI-driven authorization optimization (Intelligent Acceptance) and a serious fraud tooling suite
+ Free payment processing for registered charities in supported countries
+ 80% employee and founder owned, with no setup or account maintenance fees advertised
– No published pricing at all — every rate is a sales negotiation, and the published contract terms are equally undisclosed
– Sales-led onboarding built for large accounts; no published volume minimum, though reviewers report $10M+ annual expectations in practice
– Support is widely criticized outside dedicated enterprise accounts, including slow dispute and refund resolution
– Reports of sudden merchant account terminations, with no native POS option and a steep learning curve on top

Checkout.com pricing ↗

Stripe

Stripe earns its A grade: transparent flat-rate pricing with no fixed fees, an unmatched developer platform, and product breadth that covers everything from subscriptions to marketplace payouts. The honest caveats are the 7-14 day first payout, the possibility of holds while underwriting catches up with instant onboarding, and pricing that stops being a bargain at serious volume until you negotiate custom rates.

+ Best-in-class developer experience: clean APIs, SDKs, and documentation that set the industry standard
+ Transparent flat-rate pricing with no monthly, setup, PCI, or statement fees
+ Global reach with broad payment-method and multi-currency support
+ Deep feature set — subscriptions, invoicing, marketplace tools, virtual terminal — on one platform
+ No contract or early-termination fee on standard pay-as-you-go service
– First payout takes 7-14 days, and new or unusual accounts can face holds and verification friction
– Flat-rate 2.9% + $0.30 gets expensive at volume compared with negotiated interchange-plus pricing
– Complex for non-technical users — much of the value assumes you will build on the API
– Prohibits many high-risk categories and is not available in every country

Stripe pricing ↗