Stripe Managed Payments vs Polar Fees in Full
Stripe Managed Payments takes a flat 6.4% + 30¢, but Polar's paid tiers drop to 3.4% + 30¢. Compare both MoRs on domestic, international, and payout costs.
Stripe Managed Payments, in public preview since February 2026, prices merchant-of-record service as one flat number, roughly 6.4% + 30¢ on domestic cards, everything included, no monthly fee. Polar, an open-source merchant of record aimed at developers, prices it as a ladder. A free Starter plan sits at 5% + 50¢, then paid plans buy the rate down to 3.8% + 40¢ (Pro, $20 a month), 3.6% + 35¢ (Growth, $100), and 3.4% + 30¢ (Scale, $400).
The comparison therefore changes with volume. At a few hundred dollars a month the two sit about a point apart and plan fees dominate the math. At $10,000 a month, Polar’s Pro plan does the same job for roughly $200 less than Managed Payments, every month. International sales widen the gap, since Polar adds 1.5% on every plan while Managed Payments adds 2.5% (1.5% international card plus 1% currency conversion). Polar claws a little back through payout fees ($2 a month plus 0.25% plus 25¢ per payout, against free US bank payouts on Stripe), but at realistic volumes that is tens of dollars set against hundreds. The calculator below prices both platforms against your own numbers.
Stripe Managed Payments breakdown
- Base fee (6.4% + 30¢) $6.70
Polar.sh breakdown
- Base fee (5% + 50¢) $5.50
| Platform | Fee | Effective rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
 Polar.shMoR Starter (free) | $5.50 | 5.50% | $94.50 |
| $6.70 | 6.70% | $93.30 |
The ranking counts per-transaction cost only. Monthly plan fees, payout fees, and dispute fees are listed separately on each platform page. Rates are verified against official pricing pages, and the sources list the dates.
Every Stripe Managed Payments vs Polar.sh fee side by side
| Stripe Managed Payments | Polar.sh | |
|---|---|---|
| Base transaction fee | 6.4% + 30¢ | Starter (free) 5% + 50¢ Pro ($20/mo) 3.8% + 40¢ Growth ($100/mo) 3.6% + 35¢ Scale ($400/mo) 3.4% + 30¢ |
| International cards | +1.5% | +1.5% |
| Currency conversion | +1% | No surcharge |
| Subscription billing | Included | Included |
| PayPal | Not offered | Not offered |
| Monthly fee | None | Varies by plan ($0–$400/mo) |
| Payout fees | Free standard payouts to US bank accounts | $2/month with payouts + 0.25% + 25¢ per payout (0.25–1% FX on non-USD payouts) |
| Dispute / chargeback fee | $15.00 | $15.00 |
| Sales tax / VAT handling | MoR Stripe is the seller of record and handles global tax | MoR Polar handles global sales tax and VAT as the legal seller |
| Source | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Public preview pricing (launched Feb 2026), may change at GA) | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Plans introduced May 2026. Grandfathered Early Member orgs pay 4% + 40¢ + 0.5% on subscriptions) |
| Platform | $10 sale | $50 sale | $500 sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Managed Payments | $0.94 | $3.50 | $32.30 |
| Polar.sh | $1.00 | $3.00 | $25.50 |
One flat rate against a four-rung ladder
Managed Payments charges roughly 6.4% + 30¢ on every domestic card sale at every volume (approximately Stripe’s 2.9% + 30¢ processing plus a ~3.5% merchant-of-record layer), with no plan fee and free US bank payouts. Polar sells the same all-inclusive coverage but lets you buy the rate down. Starter is free at 5% + 50¢, Pro costs $20 a month for 3.8% + 40¢, Growth costs $100 for 3.6% + 35¢, and Scale costs $400 for 3.4% + 30¢, three full points below Managed Payments with the identical 30¢ fixed fee. Both platforms charge $15 per dispute.
$10,000 a month, priced four ways
Figures assume 200 domestic sales at $50, with Polar payout fees estimated for one monthly payout.
| Setup | Processing fees | Plan fee | Payout fees | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Managed Payments | $700 | $0 | $0 | $700 |
| Polar Starter (free) | $600 | $0 | ~$26 | ~$626 |
| Polar Pro | $460 | $20 | ~$26 | ~$506 |
| Polar Growth | $430 | $100 | ~$26 | ~$556 |
Pro is Polar’s sweet spot at this volume, at $506 all-in against $700, a $194 monthly difference, or about $2,300 a year. Growth’s processing fees alone are $430, or $530 with the plan fee, matching its positioning as the mid-tier, but it doesn’t overtake Pro until roughly $26,700 a month at this ticket size, because its extra $80 of plan fee needs 533 sales' worth of per-transaction savings. Scale’s $400 plan needs around $100,000 a month to beat Growth. Even free Starter undercuts Managed Payments by about $74 a month here, and on any single sale above $14.29, 5% + 50¢ is the cheaper formula.
International sales stretch the gap
Polar’s international surcharge is 1.5 points on every plan. Managed Payments' is 2.5 (1.5% card plus 1% currency conversion), on top of a base rate already 0.6 to 3 points higher. A $49 subscription billed to an international customer costs $4.66 on Managed Payments (8.9% + 30¢), $3.69 on Polar Starter, $3.00 on Pro, and $2.85 on Growth, a 39% saving, larger than the domestic gap because Polar’s smaller surcharge compounds a lower base.
Payout fees are Polar’s only extra line
Polar’s $2 monthly fee plus 0.25% plus 25¢ per payout comes to about $26 on $10,000 paid out once, while Managed Payments pays out to US banks for free. The line is worth knowing and rarely decisive. It claws back roughly $26 of a $220 processing advantage at Pro-plan volume.
Both court the same developer
Polar publishes its code, ships SDK-first tooling for digital products, and is the younger, smaller company of the two. Managed Payments answers with the Stripe stack itself (the APIs, dashboard, and fraud tooling most developers already know) packaged with merchant-of-record liability, in public preview since February 2026 with pricing that Stripe says may change at general availability. The fee math above favors Polar at nearly every volume. The counterweights are Stripe’s scale and the operational simplicity of one flat rate that never needs a plan decision.
Verdict
Above roughly $1,500 a month, Polar on the right plan costs meaningfully less than Stripe Managed Payments, about $506 versus $700 on $10,000 of $50 domestic sales, with the gap widening internationally ($2.85 versus $4.66 on a $49 subscription at Growth). Choose Polar if you are a developer comfortable with a newer, smaller company, want open-source infrastructure, and will actually switch plans as volume grows, because the ladder only pays if you climb it. Choose Managed Payments if you want Stripe’s brand, dashboard, and fraud tooling behind your merchant of record, prefer one flat rate with no plan management and free payouts, or already build on Stripe and want the shortest integration path. Both prices carry an asterisk. Managed Payments' rate is preview pricing that Stripe says may change at general availability, and Polar’s advantage depends on paying for the right tier at the right time.What’s the best alternative?
Stripe Managed Payments and Polar.sh aren’t the only two options for this kind of selling. Kelviq, a newer merchant of record, charges 3.5% + 40¢ per sale with no monthly fee (2.9% + 40¢ on your first $5,000). On a $100 domestic sale that works out to $3.90, next to $6.70 on Stripe Managed Payments and $5.50 on Polar.sh, and the fee includes usage metering and entitlements that SaaS and AI products otherwise build separately. Run your own numbers in the Kelviq fee calculator, or see the direct matchups in Kelviq vs Stripe Managed Payments and Kelviq vs Polar.sh.