Why CustomCart chose Stripe as its payment backbone — with verified 2025 data
| Feature | StripeSELECTED |
PayPal | Square | Authorize.net | Mollie | 2Checkout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing (2025 Verified) → Stripe Pricing | ||||||
| Online Transaction Fee | 2.9% + 30¢stripe.com/pricing | 3.49% + 49¢Card-funded | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢+ $25/mo gateway | 1.2% + €0.25EU cards only | 3.5% + 35¢2Sell plan |
| Monthly Fee | $0 | $0$30 for Virtual Terminal | $0 | $25/month | $0 | $0 |
| Setup Fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $25-$99 | $0 | $0 |
| International Cards | +1.5%Cross-border fee | 4.49% + fixed | Not supported | Limited | 2.5-3% FX | +2-5% FX |
| Chargeback Fee | $15+$15 counter fee (refundable if won) | $15-$20 | $0 | $25 | €25 | $36-$50 |
| CustomCart Critical Requirements → Stripe Docs | ||||||
| Built-in Coupon/Promo System | Native APIdocs.stripe.com/api/coupons | No | No | No | No | Basic only |
| Promotion Codes (Customer-Facing) | Yesdocs.stripe.com/api/promotion_codes% off, $ off, min order, limits | No | No | No | No | No |
| Payment Intents (SCA/3DS2) | Nativedocs.stripe.com/payments/payment-intents | Via Braintree | Yes | Add-on required | Yes | Yes |
| Server-side Price Validation | Prices in Stripedocs.stripe.com/api/pricesPrevents cart manipulation | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Webhook Signature Verification | Cryptographicdocs.stripe.com/webhooks/signatures | IPN only | Yes | No | Yes | HMAC |
| No SDK Required (cURL only) | Yesdocs.stripe.com/apiClean REST API | Possible | Possible | SDK recommended | Yes | SDK recommended |
| Automatic Tax/VAT/GST | Stripe Taxstripe.com/tax100+ countries, auto-calc | No | No | No | No | Basic |
| VAT ID Validation | Auto-validateEU/AU VAT/ABNReverse charge support | No | No | No | Manual | No |
| Checkout Branding/Design | Full controldocs.stripe.com/.../customizationLogo, colors, fonts, custom domain | Limited | Limited | Minimal | Some | Some |
| Product Images in Checkout | YesImages passed to StripeShows in payment page | Limited | No | No | Some | Some |
| Security & Fraud Protection → Stripe Radar | ||||||
| AI Fraud Detection (ML) | Radarstripe.com/radar1000+ signals, <100ms | Yes | Basic | Add-on ($) | Basic | Basic |
| Fraud Reduction Rate | 38% averagePer Stripe 2024 data | Varies | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| False Positive Rate | 0.1%Industry-leading | Higher | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Client-side Tokenization | Stripe.jsdocs.stripe.com/jsCard never hits server | Yes | Yes | Accept.js | Yes | Yes |
| PCI Compliance Level | SAQ-Astripe.com/guides/pci-complianceLowest merchant burden | SAQ-A | SAQ-A | SAQ-A-EP | SAQ-A | SAQ-A |
| Developer Experience → Stripe Documentation | ||||||
| API Documentation Quality | Industry Bestdocs.stripe.com/api | Complex | Good | Outdated | Good | Average |
| Test/Sandbox Mode | Seamlessdocs.stripe.com/testingSame dashboard, test keys | Separate account | Good | Separate account | Good | Limited |
| Dashboard Quality | Excellent | Cluttered | Good | Dated | Good | Average |
| Webhooks | Excellentdocs.stripe.com/webhooksSigned, reliable, retries | IPN/Webhooks | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Global Availability → Stripe Global | ||||||
| Countries Supported | 50+ countriesstripe.com/global | 200+ countries | 8 countriesUS, CA, AU, JP, UK, IE, FR, ES | US, CA, UK, EU | EU focus | Global |
| Payment Methods | 135+ methodsstripe.com/payments/payment-methods | PayPal, Venmo, Cards | Cards, Wallets | Cards, eCheck | EU local methods | Cards, Local |
| Multi-Currency | 135+ currenciesdocs.stripe.com/currencies | 25 currencies | Limited | Limited | Good | Good |
| Digital Wallets | Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, LinkAll major wallets | PayPal, Venmo | Apple Pay, Google Pay | Apple Pay only | Apple Pay, Google Pay | Limited |
| Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) | Klarna, Affirm, AfterpayNative BNPL | Pay Later | Afterpay | No | Klarna | Limited |
| Additional Features | ||||||
| Subscription/Recurring | Nativestripe.com/billing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customer Portal | Self-servicedocs.stripe.com/customer-management | No | No | No | No | Basic |
| Invoice Generation | Nativestripe.com/invoicing | Yes | Yes | Basic | Basic | Yes |
| Connect (Marketplace) | Full platformstripe.com/connect | PayPal for Marketplaces | No | No | Limited | No |
| Link (1-Click Checkout) | Yesstripe.com/payments/link | PayPal One Touch | No | No | No | No |