Clearo vs. Stripe: the pricing gap most businesses miss
Stripe is built for developers. Clearo is built for business owners. Here's what that means for your costs and your sanity.
The short version
Stripe charges 2.9% + 30¢ on online transactions and 2.7% + 5¢ in person. There's no monthly fee and no contract. The developer tools are excellent. But the pricing model is flat-rate — which means you overpay on the majority of transactions.
Clearo uses interchange-plus. You pay the actual card cost plus a fixed margin. For any business processing meaningful volume, the math favors interchange-plus.
| Feature | Stripe | Clearo Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat rate (2.9% + 30¢ online) | Interchange-plus |
| Monthly fees | $0 | Custom |
| Developer API | Extensive — one of the best | Integration support available |
| Dedicated support | Email/chat, paid plans | Dedicated account rep — included |
| Best for | Developer-led businesses, SaaS | Businesses wanting lower costs + human support |
| Pricing transparency | One simple rate, no interchange detail | Full breakdown on every statement |
| Contract | None | None |
Where Stripe wins
Stripe has the best developer tools in the payment processing industry. If you're building a custom integration, a marketplace, or a complex SaaS billing system, Stripe's API and documentation are hard to beat.
For developer-heavy teams building payment infrastructure from scratch, Stripe is purpose-built.
Where Clearo wins
For everyone else — the business owner who doesn't want to manage their own integration and just wants payments to work at a lower cost — Clearo is the practical choice.
The math: Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ online rate on a $100 transaction costs $3.20. At Clearo's interchange-plus, that same transaction might cost $2.20-$2.60 depending on the card type. Multiply by hundreds of transactions a month and the gap is significant.
You also get a human. Stripe's support is notoriously difficult to reach for non-enterprise clients. With Clearo, you have a named account rep you can call directly.
Want to see the exact numbers for your online business? Book a free call and we'll compare your Stripe costs against what you'd pay with Clearo.
Let's talk about your payments
Tell us a bit about your business and how you currently take payments. A Clearo rep will reach out within one business day with a personalized recommendation — no generic pitch, no pressure.
If we can save you money and improve your setup, we'll show you exactly how. If we can't, we'll tell you that too.