Get paid as a freelancer: Stripe vs Wise

Floor first, payout rail second

Set the number you need to keep using the hourly calculator or the profitable-rate tool. That floor already has a tax buffer you choose — this page does not invent US, UK, or EU tax tables. After you have the floor, subtract what the payout rail takes:

Keep = invoice − payout fees − FX. Inverse, when fees are a percent of the invoice plus a fixed amount: invoice = (take-home + fixed fees) ÷ (1 − percent fees). If Instant Payouts also apply, the percent compounds on the amount after card fees. Marketplace cuts (Upwork, Fiverr) sit in front of this rail — gross those first on the platform take-home guide.

Defaults in the card are official list rates fetched 2026-08-27 and labeled as planning defaults. Paste the live percent from your dashboard or Wise quote. Do not treat a corridor you have not priced as 0.23%.

Worked example: $2,000 USD invoice

Same invoice, four rails, numbers from the official pages cited below. Tax set-aside stays on the hub slider, not in this subtraction.

• Stripe, US domestic card, standard payout: 2.9% × $2,000 = $58.00, plus $0.30 → fee $58.30, keep $1,941.70. To keep $2,000 instead, invoice = (2000 + 0.30) ÷ 0.971 ≈ $2,059.01.
• Stripe, same card, US Instant Payout: card keep $1,941.70, then 1.5% of that payout volume = $29.13 (above the 50¢ minimum) → keep $1,912.57.
• Stripe ACH Direct Debit: 0.8% would be $16, but the published cap is $5.00 → keep $1,995.00.
• Wise, USD domestic (ACH / non-wire) into account details: receive listed as free → keep $2,000 if you do not convert.
• Wise, USD wire or Swift receive: fixed $6.11 → keep $1,993.89 if you do not convert.
• Wise convert at the published floor of 0.23%: $4.60 on $2,000 → keep $1,995.40 before any receive-fixed. That 0.23% is Wise’s stated “from” on the US pricing page, not a quote for your pair. Paste the calculator result for the corridor.

When Stripe wins vs when Wise wins

These are different products. Stripe is how a client pays a card (or ACH debit) on a checkout or invoice you host. Wise account details are how a client sends a bank transfer into a local account number you share. Comparing “which processor is cheaper” without naming the rail is how listicles lie.

Stripe tends to win the job, not the fee, when the client will only pay by card — consumer-like buyers, “pay now” links, deposits on a phone. The 2.9% + 30¢ is the published US price of that checkout. Wise account details do not replace that card form. If the alternative is not getting paid, the rail cost is a cost of sale, and you gross it into the invoice.

Stripe ACH can beat a Wise USD wire on the same $2,000. Published ACH is 0.8% capped at $5.00 ($5 on this invoice). Published Wise USD wire/Swift receive is $6.11. That gap is small; eligibility, returns, and settlement time are the real difference — ACH Direct Debit is a pull the client authorizes, not a push they initiate.

Wise tends to win the fee when the client can pay by local bank transfer into matching-currency details — USD ACH into USD details, EUR onto EUR details, GBP onto GBP details. Domestic non-wire receive is listed as free on the US pricing page for those currencies. You keep the invoice unless you convert or the sender uses Swift/wire.

Wise also tends to win when the invoice currency is not the currency you live on and the client can send locally in their currency. Stripe’s US page adds +1.5% for international cards and +1% if currency conversion is required; converting settlement funds is listed as starting at 0.5%. Wise conversion is listed from 0.23% at the mid-market rate. That is a range vs a range, not a promise that Wise is 0.23% on your pair. Run both quotes before you pick a rail for a foreign client.

Do not stack both as a default. Paying by Stripe card into a business that then withdraws through Wise means you paid the card cut and then whatever Wise charges to move it. Pick one path per invoice.

Stripe list rates (official, US pages)

Fetched 2026-08-27 from Stripe’s pricing pages. Standard pay-as-you-go, no setup or monthly fee on that plan:

• Online domestic cards: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction.
• Manually entered cards: +0.5%.
• International cards: +1.5%.
• Currency conversion (when required on the payment): +1%.
• ACH Direct Debit: 0.8%, $5.00 cap.
• Standard-schedule payout to bank: listed as free (“pay out your funds on our standard schedule for free”).
• Instant Payouts: 1.5% of Instant Payouts volume, minimum fee 50¢, with a note that Connect pricing differs. Stripe’s Instant Payouts docs (same date) split Dashboard users: 1.5% for US, AU, NZ, and AE; 1% for CA, EU, UK, SG, NO, HK, and MY. US instant payout amount band in that doc: 0.50–9,999 USD.
• Stripe Invoicing (the Invoicing product, not Payment Links): 0.4% per paid invoice on the starter tier. Payment Links and Checkout card acceptance are listed as included with Payments — do not add 0.4% unless you are on Invoicing.

Sources: stripe.com/us/pricing, stripe.com/pricing, Instant Payouts docs. Country pages differ. If your Dashboard is not US standard, ignore 2.9% + 30¢ and paste what you are billed.

Wise receive and convert (official, US pricing + help)

Fetched 2026-08-27. Wise account details are local bank coordinates you share so a client can push a transfer. They are not a card processor.

• Account details to receive in 22 currencies: free to get.
• Domestic receive (non-Swift / non-wire): free for AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HUF, NZD, PHP, SGD, and USD. Wise Help: the only domestic receiving fee among those is USD domestic wire; USD ACH / direct deposit is free.
• USD wire and Swift receive: 6.11 USD per payment.
• GBP Swift receive: 2.16 GBP. EUR Swift receive: 2.39 EUR. Additional Swift currencies are on Wise’s Swift-fee table (CAD 6.16, AUD 6.24, SGD 5.34, and others listed there — use the table, do not guess).
• Convert / send: US pricing lists both sending and converting as “from 0.23%,” fee varies by currency, mid-market rate. No corridor percent is published as a single number; the live calculator is the source for a pair.

Sender banks and correspondent banks can take their own cut before the payment arrives. Wise Help states that; this page does not invent those amounts. Sources: wise.com/us/pricing, receiving fees and limits, receiving to account details, Swift receive fees.

What this page will not invent

• A 50-state or UK/EU VAT engine. Tax lives on the hub as a buffer you set.
• A Wise FX percent for USD→EUR, GBP→USD, or any other pair. Only the published “from 0.23%” floor is used as a labeled default.
• Stripe card rates for non-US Stripe accounts. Only the US standard pages above were fetched.
• Correspondent-bank deductions, chargeback outcomes, or Instant Payout eligibility. Confirm in-product.
• Affiliate links. There are none.

Set the hourly floor How to set your rate Upwork / Fiverr take-home PayPal invoice fees

Official sources

• Stripe US pricing — fetched 2026-08-27
• Stripe pricing — fetched 2026-08-27
• Stripe Instant Payouts (Dashboard users) — fetched 2026-08-27
• Wise US pricing — fetched 2026-08-27
• Wise: fees and limits for receiving money — fetched 2026-08-27
• Wise: receive to account details — fetched 2026-08-27
• Wise: Swift receive fees — fetched 2026-08-27

FAQ