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Payzium.

Stripe versus Payzium, for home-services contractors

Stripe fees for home-services contractors, next to Payzium's published rate.

Three monthly card volumes, priced at $350 average ticket and 65 percent card-present, on Stripe's published rate and on Payzium's.

What the month costs, side by side.

Monthly card volumeAverage ticketCard-presentStripePayziumDifference per monthDifference per year
Low $20,000$35065%$562$366$196$2,349
Typical $50,000$35065%$1,405$908$497$5,961
High $120,000$35065%$3,371$2,136$1,235$14,823

Stripe column: its published in-person (terminal) at 2.7% + $0.05 [2]; online (payments, standard) at 2.9% + $0.30 [1]. Payzium column: interchange and network assessments at cost, the published margin at the tier for that volume, the per-transaction fee and the monthly account fee. A positive difference means Stripe costs more.

Average ticket sets the competitor's per-transaction count. Payzium's per-transaction line is counted at the $50 sitewide ticket assumption the calculator uses.

The Payzium column is the calculator's engine, so the calculator's disclosure applies here as written:

Calculator output is an estimate. Final pricing depends on your actual card mix, current network rates effective on the date of your transactions, and any optional add-ons. The model assumes an average transaction value of $50. Visa and Mastercard revise their US interchange schedules twice a year; this calculator reflects schedules effective April 2026.

Home services and card fees.

Home services trades, from plumbing and HVAC to landscaping and cleaning, accept most of their cards away from a counter. A technician takes payment at the customer's door on a phone or a portable reader, the office keys a card over the phone for a deposit, or the customer pays an emailed invoice online. Each of those is a different interchange category, and the share of each is what decides the effective rate.

The in-the-field share is the cheapest when the card is tapped or inserted on a reader, and the most expensive when the technician types the number in because a reader was not to hand. Plans that quote one number for "mobile" payments usually mean the tapped case; the keyed case is quoted separately and higher, and it is the one that happens on a job site more often than anyone plans for.

Invoices are the second factor. Home services tickets are large and often paid days after the work, from a link in an email or a text. That is card-not-present at invoice interchange, and it is where a flat rate's online number applies. A business that invoices most of its work should compare the online columns, not the in-person ones.

Third, seasonality and ticket spread. An HVAC contractor has a summer that looks nothing like its spring, and a single install can be worth a month of service calls. Tiered plans set on the average month price the peaks badly; interchange-plus does not care which month it is.

The table above uses a typical service ticket and a card-present share that assumes readers are used in the field for most jobs, with a keyed and invoiced share for deposits and larger installs. A contractor who invoices nearly everything should expect the keyed share, and the gap between plans, to be larger.

Stripe: what the fees page publishes.

  • Monthly account fee: $0 on standard plan [5]
  • Chargeback fee: $15 dispute received fee plus $15 dispute countered fee; the countered fee is returned on a won dispute, the received fee is not [6]

Stripe Terminal readers. Sold outright; Stripe Reader S700 and S710 are the countertop options and Stripe Reader M2 the mobile one, priced on Stripe's pricing page. [7]

Honest Rate Promise

Eligible Payzium-controlled processing cost only. Interchange and network fees excluded.

Payzium's written commitment to merchants in the United States that interchange and card-network fees pass through at cost and every Payzium fee is on the pricing schedule. The instrument covers Payzium-controlled fees; it does not modify the merchant processing agreement.

Read the full promise

Questions.

  • How does Stripe compare with Payzium for a home-services contractor at $50,000 a month?

    At $50,000 a month, $350 average ticket and 65 percent card-present, Stripe's published rate comes to about $1,405 a month and Payzium's published rate to about $908: a difference of $497 a month, or $5,961 a year, in Payzium's favor. Estimates from published rates, not a quote.

  • What does the Payzium estimate for home-services contractors include?

    Interchange and card-network assessments passed through at cost, Payzium's Tier 1 margin for $50,000 a month in card volume, the $0.05 per-transaction fee and the $5 monthly account fee, computed for a blended card mix at 65 percent card-present. The per-transaction line is counted at the $50 sitewide ticket assumption the calculator uses.

  • Is this table a quote?

    No. The Payzium column is the calculator's engine, so the calculator's disclosure applies here as written: Calculator output is an estimate. Final pricing depends on your actual card mix, current network rates effective on the date of your transactions, and any optional add-ons. The model assumes an average transaction value of $50. Visa and Mastercard revise their US interchange schedules twice a year; this calculator reflects schedules effective April 2026.

Sources.

  1. [1] Online payments 2.9% plus $0.30. Verified 2026-09-08. https://stripe.com/pricing
  2. [2] Terminal 2.7% plus $0.05. Verified 2026-09-08. https://stripe.com/pricing
  3. [3] Manually keyed: online rate plus 0.5%. Verified 2026-09-08. https://stripe.com/pricing
  4. [4] International card add-on +1.5%. Verified 2026-09-08. https://stripe.com/pricing
  5. [5] No setup fee, no monthly fee on standard plan. Verified 2026-09-08. https://stripe.com/pricing
  6. [6] $15 dispute received fee, $15 dispute countered fee returned if won. Verified 2026-09-08. https://stripe.com/pricing
  7. [7] Terminal card readers (S700, S710, M2, T600). Verified 2026-09-08. https://stripe.com/pricing

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