Stripe vs Mollie vs Adyen: fees and features for online stores

Short answer: Stripe vs Mollie vs Adyen

For most UK, Dutch and German online stores turning over less than a few million euros a year, the choice is Stripe vs Mollie, and the cheaper one depends on your mix. Stripe is cheaper on standard EEA consumer cards in euros and has the richest developer tooling. Mollie is cheaper on UK consumer cards, has very simple pricing and strong local methods for the Benelux. Adyen makes sense once volume is large enough for interchange++ savings to outweigh its minimum invoice and longer onboarding.

All fees below come from each provider's public pricing page in October 2026. They change, so check Stripe (UK, Netherlands), Mollie (EU, UK) and Adyen before you sign.

Why payment fees vary so much between providers

A card payment has three cost layers: the interchange fee paid to the shopper's bank, the scheme fee charged by Visa or Mastercard, and the provider markup. In the EEA, the Interchange Fee Regulation caps consumer card interchange at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit, which is why domestic EU consumer cards are cheap. Commercial cards, premium cards and cards from outside your region are not capped the same way, so they cost more.

Providers package these layers differently:

• Blended pricing (Stripe, Mollie by default): one rate per card category, simple to forecast, but you pay the same on a cheap debit card as on a pricier one in that category.
• Interchange++ (Adyen, and Stripe or Mollie on negotiated plans): the real interchange and scheme fees are passed through, plus a fixed markup. Cheaper on average, harder to predict month by month.

The other big variable is payment method mix. A Dutch store where 60% of orders are iDEAL pays a fixed fee of around 30 cents on most orders, regardless of basket size. A UK store with mostly cards pays a percentage. Your provider choice should follow your mix.

Stripe vs Mollie vs Adyen: fee comparison

Published standard rates, October 2026, excluding VAT where applicable:

Payment type	Stripe	Mollie	Adyen
EEA consumer cards (EUR account)	1.5% + €0.25	1.80% + €0.25	$0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60%
Premium / commercial EEA cards	2.8% + €0.25 (premium)	2.90% + €0.25 (commercial)	$0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60%
Non-EEA / international cards	3.15% + €0.25 (+2% if conversion)	3.25% + €0.25	$0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60%
UK consumer cards (UK account)	1.5% + 20p	1.20% + £0.20	$0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60%
iDEAL	€0.29	€0.32 (iDEAL / Wero, NL)	$0.13 + €0.22
Bancontact	see Stripe pricing	1.40% + €0.25	per Adyen pricing
Klarna	per country	2.99%–4.99% + fixed fee, by country	per Adyen pricing
PayPal	via PayPal	PayPal's fees + €0.10	per Adyen pricing
Dispute / chargeback	€20 / £20 per dispute	not listed on pricing page	per contract
Monthly or setup fee	none	none for online payments	none, but a minimum invoice per contract

For US-based stores, Stripe's standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ for domestic cards; Mollie only serves businesses based in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, so the real US comparison is Stripe vs Adyen (or Braintree and Square).

What the fees cost on a real order mix

Here is a worked example for a Dutch store with 1,000 orders a month and a €60 average order (€60,000 a month). It assumes 60% iDEAL and 40% standard EEA consumer cards. The Adyen interchange and scheme fees are an estimate (about 0.2% interchange plus roughly 0.15% scheme fees on EU consumer cards), because the real figures vary per card.¹

Provider	600 iDEAL payments	400 card payments	Estimated monthly total
Stripe	600 × €0.29 = €174	400 × (€0.90 + €0.25) = €460	≈ €634
Mollie	600 × €0.32 = €192	400 × (€1.08 + €0.25) = €532	≈ €724
Adyen	600 × (~€0.12 + €0.22) ≈ €204	400 × (~€0.21 + €0.36 + ~€0.12) ≈ €276	≈ €480, before any minimum invoice top-up

Now a UK store with the same volume in pounds and 100% UK consumer cards (£60 average order):

Provider	Per order	1,000 orders
Stripe	1.5% × £60 + £0.20 = £1.10	£1,100
Mollie	1.2% × £60 + £0.20 = £0.92	£920

The lesson: the "cheapest" provider flips depending on country and method. A €100 difference a month is real money, but it is smaller than the revenue lost from a missing local payment method or a clumsy checkout.

Beyond fees: features that matter for a WooCommerce or custom store

Criterion	Stripe	Mollie	Adyen
WooCommerce plugin	WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway (by WooCommerce); WooPayments is also built on Stripe	Mollie Payments for WooCommerce (by Mollie)	Mostly third-party plugins or a custom integration with Adyen Checkout
Onboarding	Self-serve, minutes to days	Self-serve, usually a few days with document checks	Sales-led, KYC review, typically weeks
Apple Pay / Google Pay	Yes	Yes	Yes
Local EU methods	iDEAL, Bancontact, SEPA, Klarna, EPS, BLIK and more	Very strong Benelux and DACH coverage, including iDEAL / Wero, Bancontact, SEPA, Klarna	Widest global coverage
Subscriptions	Stripe Billing (separate fees)	Mollie recurring via mandates	Tokenisation and recurring, built by you
Payouts	Rolling schedule; Instant Payouts 1% (min. 40p) on Stripe UK	Settlement schedule set in the dashboard	Configurable settlement, multi-currency
Best fit	Developer-friendly stores, SaaS, multi-country	Benelux and DACH SMEs that want simple pricing	Large retailers, omnichannel, high volume

Two things often get overlooked. First, Strong Customer Authentication (3-D Secure 2) is mandatory for most card payments in the UK and EEA, and all three handle it, but a poorly configured checkout that shows the 3DS challenge in a tiny iframe on mobile loses orders. Second, payment method visibility: Dutch shoppers look for the iDEAL logo, German shoppers for PayPal and Klarna invoice. Being able to pay the way you prefer is part of the conversion rate, not only the fees.

Which provider fits which store

Fees and features only matter in context. These profiles cover most of the stores we talk to:

Store profile	Usually the best fit	Why
UK store, mostly UK consumer cards, under £2m a year	Mollie or Stripe	Mollie's UK consumer rate is lower; Stripe wins if you need Billing, Connect or heavy customisation
Dutch or Belgian store, iDEAL and Bancontact heavy	Mollie or Stripe	Both strong on local methods; the iDEAL fixed fee drives most of the cost
German store selling B2C	Stripe or Mollie, plus PayPal	PayPal and Klarna matter; both providers offer them, PayPal can also be added directly
B2B store with invoices and purchase orders	Stripe (cards and SEPA) plus bank transfer	Many B2B buyers pay on invoice; card fees on commercial cards are high on every provider
Multi-country store with subscriptions	Stripe	Billing, tax tools and multi-currency in one stack
Omnichannel retailer above €10m a year	Adyen	One contract for online and in-store, interchange++ savings at scale

If your shop sells into several EU countries from one entity, check whether each provider lets you present prices and settle in the right currency. Stripe adds 2% when currency conversion is needed, which can wipe out any saving on the headline rate.

Hidden costs to check before you sign

The headline rate is the number everyone compares, but these line items often decide the real bill:

• Currency conversion. Charging a Swiss or US customer in euros on an EUR account is fine; charging in their currency and settling in yours adds a conversion fee on most providers.
• Refunds. Check whether the original transaction fee is returned on a refund. Stripe, for example, does not return its processing fee when you refund, so a store with a 20% return rate pays fees on orders it never keeps.
• Disputes. Stripe charges €20 or £20 per dispute received, and the same again if you counter it manually (refunded if you win). Stores in high-chargeback categories should budget for this.
• Payout timing. New accounts often start with a longer payout delay. Fast-growing stores can hit a rolling reserve if order volume jumps suddenly, for example on Black Friday.
• Premium and commercial cards. If many of your buyers are businesses, your effective rate will be much closer to 2.8%–2.9% than to 1.5%.

When a switch is not worth it

Switching providers costs time: new KYC, a new plugin, retesting refunds, reconciliation changes in your accounting and potentially re-collecting saved cards. As a rule of thumb, do not switch for a saving below about 0.2 percentage points unless something else is also wrong, such as missing local methods, frequent payout holds or poor support.

Stick with what you have if:

• Your effective rate (total fees ÷ turnover) is already within 0.2 points of the alternative
• Your checkout offers the methods your customers actually use
• Refunds and partial refunds work from the WooCommerce order screen
• Payouts reconcile cleanly with your accounting
• You have not had unexplained holds or reserves on your account

Step by step: setting up a payment provider in WooCommerce

1. Calculate your effective rate. Export last quarter's transactions, divide total fees by turnover and split by method. That is your baseline.
2. Open the account and finish KYC first. Upload company documents, UBO details and website policies. Missing terms and conditions or a refund policy are common reasons for delays.
3. Install the official plugin. For Stripe, WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → Stripe; for Mollie, the Mollie settings tab after installing "Mollie Payments for WooCommerce". Paste test keys first.
4. Configure webhooks. Without them, orders stay in "Pending payment" even though the customer paid. Stripe needs the webhook endpoint and signing secret in the plugin settings. Mollie sets its webhook per payment, but your site must be publicly reachable; a local or password-protected staging site will make payment creation fail or leave orders unpaid.
5. Test the unhappy paths. Declined cards (Stripe's test cards for generic_decline and insufficient_funds), abandoned 3DS challenges, iDEAL cancellations, partial refunds and a chargeback in test mode.
6. Check the order status flow. Paid orders should move to "Processing", then sync to your ERP or invoicing tool. Failed payments should stay "Failed" or "Pending" and trigger a retry email, not a fulfilment.
7. Reconcile the first payout. Match payout lines to orders in your accounting software before going fully live.

Common errors to watch for in the first weeks:

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Orders stuck in "Pending payment"	Webhook not reaching the site (firewall, Cloudflare rule, basic auth)	Allow the provider's webhook requests, check the webhook log in the dashboard
Duplicate payment methods at checkout	Two plugins both offering cards or Apple Pay	Disable the method in one plugin
"Your card was declined." spikes on mobile	3DS challenge failing or timing out	Test on real devices, update the plugin, check Radar or risk rules
Refund in WooCommerce does not reach the shopper	Refund done manually in the provider dashboard, or API keys lack permission	Refund from the order screen, check key permissions

What it costs to integrate Stripe, Mollie or Adyen

The provider fees are only part of the cost. Integration effort, estimated from typical projects:

Scope	Estimated cost (EUR, excl. VAT)
Stripe or Mollie on WooCommerce with the official plugin, configured and tested	€300–€900
Adding a second provider or local methods, with checkout clean-up	€500–€1,500
Adyen integration on WooCommerce or a custom store (Checkout API, webhooks, refunds)	€3,000–€10,000
Payment links, in-store or assisted selling, multi-currency settlement	quoted per project

In Raao's packages, card payments come built in: Starter (from €1,900) includes one card payment provider such as Stripe, and Launch (from €3,900) adds two couriers and invoicing. For larger stores, the Enterprise tier covers custom payment flows, multi-currency and B2B. Stripe is one of the card providers in our packages, and we integrate any other provider with an API, so Mollie, Adyen, Klarna or PayPal can be connected the same way. See the ecommerce service and pricing for details, or book the free 30-minute call through contact if you want a second opinion on your fee statements.

How we handle payments on the stores we build

We have no case study dedicated to payment providers, but these are the rules we work to on the stores we build:

• Local methods first. The checkout offers what shoppers in that market use, with card payments, wallets and cash on delivery or bank transfer where relevant.
• Webhooks and refunds tested before launch, so orders never sit in "Pending payment" and refunds work from the order screen.
• Payment links for assisted selling. On the Miele partner store, in-store staff use barcode scanning and payment links, so a sale started in the showroom can be paid on the customer's phone.
• Orders and invoices flow to the ERP automatically on ERP-integrated stores, as on the Miele partner store with its two-way Business Central sync, so finance does not retype them.