See exactly how much Stripe takes — and what to charge to cover your fees.
Stripe charges 1.5% + 25p for UK domestic cards, 2.5% + 25p for European cards, and up to 3.25% + 25p for international cards. This free calculator works in both directions — see what you'll receive after Stripe's cut, or calculate what to charge a customer to break even on fees.
UK bookkeepers and freelancers use this daily to reconcile Stripe payouts in Xero and QuickBooks, price invoices correctly, and decide whether to pass processing fees on to clients — which is legal in the UK for B2B transactions.
Two modes — one tool:
Enter the invoice amount you're sending to the customer. We'll show what you actually receive after Stripe's cut.
Stripe has become the dominant payment processor for UK businesses — from freelancers and SaaS companies to e-commerce stores and professional services firms. But one of the most persistent sources of confusion for business owners and bookkeepers is understanding exactly how much Stripe takes from each transaction, how that appears in your bank account, and how to properly reconcile it in Xero or QuickBooks.
Stripe's standard UK pricing for domestic card transactions is 1.5% + 25p per successful transaction. This means on a £100 invoice, Stripe will take £1.75, leaving you with £98.25. On a £500 invoice, the fee is £7.75, leaving £492.25. The percentage component scales with the transaction, while the flat 25p fixed component means smaller transactions are proportionally more expensive to process.
For European Economic Area (EEA) cards, the rate increases to 2.5% + 25p. For non-European international cards, rates can reach 3.25% + 25p or higher. If you're accepting payment from international clients — particularly in the US, Canada, or Australia — it's important to factor this additional cost into your pricing or simply use this calculator to determine what to charge to break even.
Many UK bookkeepers and accountants recommend GoCardless for recurring payments because its flat-fee model (currently 1% + 20p per transaction, capped at £4 for standard accounts) can be significantly cheaper for large invoices. A £2,000 invoice via Stripe would incur £30.20 in fees, while GoCardless would cap at £4. However, Stripe offers a far superior user experience for one-off card payments, and many clients simply prefer to pay by card.
When Stripe pays out to your bank account, it pays out the net amount — your total receipts minus all fees for that payout period. This can make Xero (or QuickBooks) bank reconciliation tricky, because the payout amount rarely matches any single invoice. The best approach is to use Xero's bank rules to route Stripe payouts to a dedicated clearing account, then reconcile against the Stripe fee reports downloaded from the Stripe Dashboard.
Alternatively, you can install the official Stripe app from the Xero App Marketplace, which automatically imports Stripe transactions into Xero, including a separate line for each fee. This eliminates the manual reconciliation entirely and is strongly recommended for any business processing more than 10 Stripe transactions per month.
In the UK, it is generally legal to pass payment processing fees on to customers, though the approach must be transparent and compliant with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Payment Services Regulations 2017. For B2B businesses (i.e., business-to-business), this is more straightforward. For B2C (business-to-consumer), you must not charge more than the actual cost of processing.
The most common approach is to simply build the expected Stripe fee into your price list. Use the "pass fees on" mode of this calculator to determine what to charge to ensure you keep the full intended amount after Stripe's cut.
Stripe's standard rate for UK businesses accepting domestic (UK) card payments is 1.5% + 25p per successful transaction. EEA cards are 2.5% + 25p, and non-European cards are typically 3.25% + 25p. Rates may vary depending on your Stripe account type and any negotiated pricing.
Stripe's payment processing fees are technically exempt from VAT in the UK. However, for B2B transactions, Stripe often operates under the "Reverse Charge" mechanism (outside the scope with a reverse charge requirement). You should consult your accountant or check your Stripe invoice to confirm how to record these in your VAT return (Box 6 and 7 in Xero/QuickBooks).
Log in to your Stripe Dashboard, then go to Settings → Billing → Plan. Your current fee rate will be listed. If you're on a negotiated rate (usually for businesses processing over £50,000/month), your account manager will have confirmed this in writing. You can also see the exact fee charged on any individual payment by clicking on it in the Payments section of the Dashboard.
1. How we calculate the fee:
(Invoice Total × Percentage) + Fixed Fee
2. How to "Break Even" (Pass fees on):
Simply adding the fee to your invoice doesn't work, because Stripe then charges a fee on the fee! You must use this formula:
(Desired Take-home + 0.25) ÷ (1 − 0.015)
For a £100.00 take-home on a UK card (1.5% + 25p), you should charge £101.78.
Stripe takes £1.53 (1.5%) + £0.25 = £1.78 in total fees.
You keep: £100.00.
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