Stripe dominates in developer experience and startup adoption with 135+ integrations and lower base fees starting at 2.2%, while Adyen leads in enterprise scale with direct acquiring licenses in 180+ countries and superior fraud prevention, serving 40% of Fortune 500 companies.
Adyen vs Stripe — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Enterprise payment platform with global acquiring in 180+ countries and advanced fraud prevention.
Developer-friendly payment platform with 135+ integrations, 99.99% uptime, and transparent pricing.
Geographic Reach & Acquiring. Base Transaction Fee. Enterprise Fraud Detection. Developer Integration Effort. Payment Methods Supported. Enterprise Client Base. Pricing Transparency
Choose Adyen if you're a large enterprise operating globally with complex fraud prevention needs, accepting luxury goods payments, or requiring direct acquiring relationships in 180+ countries—the investment in integration pays off with superior scale and local payment support. Choose Stripe if you're a startup or mid-market company prioritizing developer experience, faster implementation (2-3 weeks vs 4-6), transparent pricing, and ease of integration—its 99.99% uptime, lower base fees (2.2%), and massive ecosystem make it ideal for rapid growth.
Adyen: $33.8 billion | Stripe: $159 billion
Adyen: Online + offline integrated | Stripe: Online-focused only
Adyen: Enterprise optimized | Stripe: Mid-market optimized
Adyen: Comprehensive enterprise APIs | Stripe: Excellent API documentation
Adyen: Enterprise-grade compliance | Stripe: Industry standard compliance
Adyen: 500+ million (via partners) | Stripe: N/A
Adyen: Real-time available | Stripe: N/A
Adyen: 2-4 weeks enterprise | Stripe: N/A
Standard Transaction Fee (Card Payments)
Adyen: 2.6% + custom (negotiable) | Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30
Adyen: 250+ methods | Stripe: 135+ methods
Adyen: 190+ countries | Stripe: 195+ countries
Adyen: Same-day or next-day | Stripe: 1-2 days
API Documentation Quality (GitHub Stars)
Adyen: $1.45 trillion | Stripe: $1.2 trillion
Adyen: 50+ countries | Stripe: 30+ countries
Adyen: 1,200+ apps | Stripe: 7,000+ apps
Adyen: Included in percentage | Stripe: N/A
Adyen: 7M+ merchants (2024) | Stripe: N/A
Adyen: 100% (eligible transactions) | Stripe: N/A
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Standard rates apply
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Highly Customizable
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Terminal API (custom builds)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Complex (requires developers)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Excellent, comprehensive, interactive
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Advanced with usage-based billing
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 4-6 weeks (developer-required)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Manual per-region (limited native support)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Available via Billing product (separate setup)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Merchant handles compliance
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 1000+ via App Marketplace
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Email + community documentation
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: $0 (pay-per-transaction)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 4.8/5 (Developer-first design)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Manual/Third-party integration required
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 1-2 (email, webhook)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 65-70% (with custom logic)
Subscription Management Features (Native)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 20-30 (requires Billing API integration)
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 195 countries, 150+ methods
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Manual; requires third-party integration
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Requires Stripe Billing addon
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: Steep; requires advanced developer knowledge
Adyen: N/A | Stripe: 3D Secure 2.0, Radar machine learning
Adyen vs Stripe — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Adyen vs Stripe. Contains 91 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Adyen vs Stripe — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Adyen vs Stripe.
Stripe has lower base fees (2.2% + 30¢ vs Adyen's 2.5-3.0% + variable fee). For a $100 transaction, Stripe costs $2.30 while Adyen costs $2.85–$3.35. However, Adyen's higher fees are offset by lower chargeback rates (0.8% vs Stripe's 1.2%) for high-volume enterprise merchants due to superior fraud prevention.
Yes, Stripe operates in 135+ countries with direct acquiring. However, Adyen supports 250+ payment methods across 180+ countries with direct licenses, making it superior for truly global merchants accepting region-specific methods like AliPay in China or Boleto in Brazil. Stripe relies on partnerships in some emerging markets.
Stripe's developer-friendly API and 135+ pre-built integrations enable 2-3 week implementations. Adyen typically takes 4-6 weeks due to more complex enterprise configurations, custom fraud rules, and multiple region setups. For rapid launches, Stripe wins; for complex enterprise requirements, Adyen's longer timeline ensures proper compliance setup.
Both offer advanced ML-based fraud detection (Adyen's native system vs Stripe's Radar), but Adyen's 99.9% uptime and specialized enterprise fraud models give it an edge for high-risk verticals (luxury goods, financial services). Stripe's 99.99% uptime is technically superior for availability. For most SMBs, both are adequate; enterprises prefer Adyen's risk scoring.
Should I choose Adyen or Stripe for my business?
Choose Stripe if: you're a startup/SMB, need transparent pricing, rapid deployment (under 4 weeks), or operate primarily in North America/Western Europe. Choose Adyen if: you're processing 10M+ transactions/year, need payment methods across 180+ countries, require direct acquiring relationships, or serve luxury/high-risk verticals where fraud prevention justifies higher fees.
Geographic Reach & Acquiring: Adyen has Direct acquiring in 180+ countries, operates as acquirer, while Stripe has Direct acquiring in 135+ countries, primarily partnership-based.
Base Transaction Fee: Adyen has 2.5-3.0% + fixed fee (varies by region), while Stripe has 2.2% + 30¢ (standard US rate).
Enterprise Fraud Detection: Adyen has Advanced ML-based fraud prevention, 99.9% uptime SLA, while Stripe has Radar machine learning fraud tools, 99.99% uptime SLA.
Developer Integration Effort: Adyen has 120+ pre-built integrations, 4-6 week average implementation, while Stripe has 135+ pre-built integrations, 2-3 week average implementation.
Payment Methods Supported: Adyen has 250+ payment methods globally, while Stripe has 135+ payment methods globally.
Enterprise Client Base: Adyen has 40% of Fortune 500, serves luxury/enterprise vertical, while Stripe has 28% of Fortune 500, serves startups/mid-market primary.
Pricing Transparency: Adyen has Custom pricing requires enterprise sales call, while Stripe has Public pricing, discounts available via dashboard.