Chargebee vs Stripe: Comparison for UK Businesses

Already a Stripe customer? You don’t need to leave your app to benefit from Wise. Stripe has partnered with Wise Platform to integrate our global payments infrastructure directly into Stripe. That means that Stripe customers can now access fast, convenient international payments directly in their Stripe app.

And, because Stripe has partnered with Wise Platform for their multi-currency payments, when you sign up with Stripe, you’ll also be able to access Wise’s fast and convenient international payments experience directly from Stripe.

👉 Visit Stripe

Looking for a new payment solution for your business? Whether you’re an ecommerce business or have a subscription model, you’ll need to compare all available platforms and services to find the right fit for your needs - and at a cost-effective price.

In this helpful guide, we’ll take a close look at popular payments solutions Stripe and Chargebee. We’ll compare them head-to-head on the most important factors, including pricing, features and much more.

Chargebee vs. Stripe - Comparison overview

Let’s begin with a head-to-head comparison of Chargebee and Stripe based on their pricing and key features.

We’ll look at each provider in more detail in just a moment.

What is the difference between Stripe and Chargebee?

The main difference between Stripe and Chargebee lies in the types of payments each platform focuses on.

Stripe is designed for online payments of all kinds, including one-off, recurring and ecommerce payments. This may include subscriptions too.

But Chargebee is specially designed for subscriptions for goods and services, making it ideal for companies with recurring payments - especially Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses.

Crucially, Stripe handles payment processing, while Chargebee must partner with payment gateways like Stripe to facilitate the processing of transactions.

Chargebee review

Chargebee is a US company which provides a payment platform for subscription businesses. Its target customers are Software as a Service (SaaS) and utilities companies, along with any other businesses which charge customers on a regular and recurring basis.

Its main features include:

• Billing - managing subscriptions and invoicing at scale
• RevRec - automated, compliant revenue recognition
• Receivables - including tools to create a proactive collection strategy
• Customer retention tools
• Analytics - including insight-driven and interactive dashboards
• Integration with accounting and other business tools

Chargebee has a ‘Poor’ rating of 2.7 on TrustPilot, although this is only based on 44 reviews.⁴

Chargebee payment gateway support

Chargebee isn’t a payment gateway, but it does provide support for payment gateways such as Stripe and GoCardless.

A payment gateway is an online platform which allows businesses to accept payments from their customers, usually via credit or debit card, as well as other forms of electronic payment (such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, for example).

Chargebee pricing

Now we turn to Chargebee’s pricing model, and what kind of fees you can expect to pay to use the platform.

It has a subscription model, with different plans available for each of its main services - including Billing and Retention.

For Chargebee Billing, you can choose from the following plans:²

• Starter (pay as you go, no annual commitment) - Free up to £200,000 of cumulative billing, 0.75% above that
• Performance (annual commitment) - £499 a month up to £80,000 of cumulative billing, 0.75% above that
• Enterprise - custom pricing on request

As for the Chargebee fees for individual payments, it all depends on your payment processor.

Stripe payment reviews

Stripe is a comprehensive payments processing platform aimed at businesses of all sizes. The Irish-American company’s customers are primarily ecommerce businesses, but anyone who sells online will find its services useful.

Features of the Stripe platform include:

• Local and global card payments
• Physical card terminals
• Online and digital payment methods
• Invoicing and recurring billing solutions
• Payment links
• Low and no code solutions as well as more complex, tailored options
• Support with tax, user identification, business management and more

As for what its existing customers think about Stripe, it’s not overwhelmingly positive. The company gets a ‘Poor’ rating of 2.4 on TrustPilot (from more than 14,000 reviews).³

Stripe payment fees

So, how much will it cost you to use Stripe?

Stripe uses per-transaction pricing. This means that it doesn’t charge subscription fees, instead imposing charges for each payment and individual service you use.

Here are the main fees you need to know about:¹

Stripe vs Chargebee fees - Head to head comparison

To help you choose the most cost-effective payment processing solution for your needs, here’s a head-to-head comparison of fees for both Chargebee and Stripe:

And that’s it - our review of Stripe Billing vs. Chargebee Billing, comparing everything from fees and to features.

You should have all the info you need to compare the two and choose the right solution for your business.

Sources used:

Sources last checked on date: 20-Jun-2024

*Disclaimer: The UK Wise Business pricing structure is changing with effect from 26/11/2025 date. Receiving money, direct debits and getting paid features are not available with the Essential Plan which you can open for free. Pay a one-time set up fee of £50 to unlock Advanced features including account details to receive payments in 22+ currencies or 8+ currencies for non-swift payments. You’ll also get access to our invoice generating tool, payment links, QR codes and the ability to set up direct debits all within one account. Please check our website for the latest pricing information.