Stripe

Stripe is a payments platform that handles card and alternative payment methods, subscriptions, invoicing, and the money movement around them. A developer integrates through an API and hosted or embedded components, and the platform absorbs the network of acquiring banks, card networks, and local payment methods behind that interface. The breadth is the reason it is the default choice for online businesses. Beyond accepting a payment, the platform covers subscription billing with proration and trials, usage-based metering, invoicing, tax calculation, fraud screening, and payouts to connected accounts. Each of those is a product in its own right that a team would otherwise build or buy separately. The tradeoff is cost and control. Pricing is per transaction and adds up at scale, which is why larger businesses negotiate rates or move some volume to a direct acquirer. The platform is also opinionated about the merchant of record and the payout model, so businesses with unusual money-flow requirements sometimes find the constraints binding.