What Stripe really costs an Armenian business
Every fee, every case, with sources.
Stripe, on one sale
A ֏ 10 000 subscription, Armenian Visa card, US Stripe account, payout brought home.
Armenian bank + Ronda
The same sale. No fixed fee, no subscription surcharge, nothing to convert.
A year, before any card
The floor for the US company Stripe needs you to have.
What our founder's SaaS pays
Half-Armenian, half-US customers, on Stripe, today.
On this page
Stripe's price is 2.9% + 30¢. That is the number on the pricing page, and it is not the number an Armenian business pays.
We added it all up: the fees Stripe charges on top, the company Stripe needs you to have abroad, and what it costs to bring the money home. Then we did the same for an Armenian bank plus Ronda. For most Armenian businesses Stripe costs twice as much. For a few it really is cheaper, and we will show you which ones.
Step zero: Stripe doesn't serve Armenia
To use Stripe you need a company in a country Stripe supports. The cheapest common route is a Delaware LLC through Stripe Atlas:
| Stripe Atlas (formation, first year of registered agent included) | $500 once |
| Registered agent, every year after | $100 / year |
| Delaware LLC tax, due every 1 June | $400 / year |
| Form 5472 + pro forma 1120, required every year for a foreign-owned LLC | from $299 / year |
| Floor, every year | about $799 (≈ ֏ 290 037) |
Two things are easy to miss:
- Form 5472 is not optional. A US LLC owned by a foreigner has to file it every year, even with zero US tax to pay. The penalty for missing it is $25,000.
- $799 is the floor. It assumes the cheapest filing service and no US accountant. It also leaves out the Armenian side: an Armenian accountant who now has a foreign company to deal with.
Every fee on one sale
Here is a ֏ 10 000 monthly subscription paid by an Armenian customer with an Armenian Visa card, through a US Stripe account:
| Card processing | 2.9% |
| The card is not American, so it's “international” | +1.5% |
| Stripe Billing, for subscriptions | +0.7% |
| Fixed fee, 30¢ (≈ ֏ 109) | +1.1% |
| Converting your dollar payout back into dram (the bank's buy rate) | +0.7% |
| Total | ≈ 6.9% |
If you price in dram rather than dollars, Stripe adds another 1% for conversion. On a European Stripe account that's 2%.
The same sale through an Armenian bank plus Ronda costs the bank's fee for an Armenian Visa card (1.9%) plus Ronda (1.5%): 3.4%. There's no fixed fee, no subscription surcharge, and nothing to convert. It arrives in dram, in your Armenian account.
Every case
The card, the Stripe account and the size of the sale all change the answer. So here is every combination. Each cell shows the bank plus Ronda first, then Stripe, as a share of the sale. Stripe's side includes converting the payout into dram. Neither side includes the company above.
Subscriptions
Stripe adds 0.7% for Stripe Billing on every subscription payment. Ronda has no separate subscription fee.
| Who pays, with what | Stripe account | ֏ 2 000 | ֏ 8 000 | ֏ 20 000 | ֏ 40 000 | ֏ 150 000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armenian customerArCa card · bank 1.5%vs no Stripe option | none — no processor abroad takes ArCa | 3.0%— | 3.0%— | 3.0%— | 3.0%— | 3.0%— |
| Armenian customerArmenian Visa / Mastercard · bank 1.9%vs Stripe US | Stripe US2.9% + $0.30, +1.5% non-US card | 3.4%11.2% | 3.4%7.2% | 3.4%6.3% | 3.4%6.1% | 3.4%5.9% |
| Armenian customerArmenian Visa / Mastercard · bank 1.9%vs Stripe EU | Stripe EU3.15% + €0.25, card from outside Europe | 3.4%10.7% | 3.4%6.8% | 3.4%6.1% | 3.4%5.8% | 3.4%5.6% |
| US customerUS card · bank 3%vs Stripe US | Stripe US2.9% + $0.30, a domestic card to it | 4.5%9.7% | 4.5%5.7% | 4.5%4.8% | 4.5%4.6% | 4.5%4.4% |
| US customerUS card · bank 3%vs Stripe EU | Stripe EU3.15% + €0.25, card from outside Europe | 4.5%10.7% | 4.5%6.8% | 4.5%6.1% | 4.5%5.8% | 4.5%5.6% |
| European customerEU card · bank 3%vs Stripe US | Stripe US2.9% + $0.30, +1.5% non-US card | 4.5%11.2% | 4.5%7.2% | 4.5%6.3% | 4.5%6.1% | 4.5%5.9% |
| European customerEU card · bank 3%vs Stripe EU | Stripe EU1.5% + €0.25, a domestic card to it | 4.5%9.1% | 4.5%5.2% | 4.5%4.4% | 4.5%4.2% | 4.5%4.0% |
One-off payments
No Stripe Billing fee — card processing only, on both sides.
| Who pays, with what | Stripe account | ֏ 2 000 | ֏ 8 000 | ֏ 20 000 | ֏ 40 000 | ֏ 150 000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armenian customerArCa card · bank 1.5%vs no Stripe option | none — no processor abroad takes ArCa | 3.0%— | 3.0%— | 3.0%— | 3.0%— | 3.0%— |
| Armenian customerArmenian Visa / Mastercard · bank 1.9%vs Stripe US | Stripe US2.9% + $0.30, +1.5% non-US card | 3.4%10.5% | 3.4%6.5% | 3.4%5.6% | 3.4%5.4% | 3.4%5.2% |
| Armenian customerArmenian Visa / Mastercard · bank 1.9%vs Stripe EU | Stripe EU3.15% + €0.25, card from outside Europe | 3.4%10.0% | 3.4%6.1% | 3.4%5.4% | 3.4%5.1% | 3.4%4.9% |
| US customerUS card · bank 3%vs Stripe US | Stripe US2.9% + $0.30, a domestic card to it | 4.5%9.0% | 4.5%5.0% | 4.5%4.1% | 4.5%3.9% | 4.5%3.7% |
| US customerUS card · bank 3%vs Stripe EU | Stripe EU3.15% + €0.25, card from outside Europe | 4.5%10.0% | 4.5%6.1% | 4.5%5.4% | 4.5%5.1% | 4.5%4.9% |
| European customerEU card · bank 3%vs Stripe US | Stripe US2.9% + $0.30, +1.5% non-US card | 4.5%10.5% | 4.5%6.5% | 4.5%5.6% | 4.5%5.4% | 4.5%5.2% |
| European customerEU card · bank 3%vs Stripe EU | Stripe EU1.5% + €0.25, a domestic card to it | 4.5%8.4% | 4.5%4.5% | 4.5%3.7% | 4.5%3.5% | 4.5%3.3% |
Armenian customers are cheaper through a bank plus Ronda at every size, on every Stripe account.
It's usually half the cost. ArCa cards can't be charged through Stripe at all.
Foreign customers are closer. Stripe wins when the card is domestic to the Stripe account: a US card on a US account, or a European card on a European one. It wins mostly on one-off sales above about ֏ 20 000. That's because of the Armenian bank's foreign-card rate (about 3%), not Ronda's fee.
Real businesses, a month at a time
A table of single sales leaves out the company. A month of business includes it. These examples use Stripe's US account, one $15 wire home a month, and the $799 company floor.
| Business | Monthly volume | Bank + Ronda | Stripe, all-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armenian SaaS, ֏10,000/month subscriptions, local cards | ֏ 1 000 000 | 3.4% (֏ 34 000) | 9.8% (֏ 98 415) |
| The same business, grown | ֏ 5 000 000 | 3.4% (֏ 170 000) | 7.5% (֏ 373 615) |
| $20/month SaaS, half Armenian and half US customers | ֏ 3 000 000 | 4.0% (֏ 118 500) | 7.5% (֏ 225 856) |
| $50/month SaaS, 90% US customers | ֏ 10 000 000 | 4.4% (֏ 439 000) | 5.3% (֏ 533 670) |
| $100/month SaaS, all US customers | ֏ 20 000 000 | 4.5% (֏ 900 000) | 4.7% (֏ 947 670) |
| $200 one-off course, all US customers | ֏ 20 000 000 | 4.5% (֏ 900 000) | 3.9% (֏ 777 642) |
| Gym, ֏15,000 memberships, mostly ArCa cards | ֏ 3 000 000 | 3.2% (֏ 94 800) | not possible |
When Stripe is the right answer
We'd rather you pick the right tool than the one we sell:
- Your customers are almost all abroad, they pay one-off, and the tickets are large. A $200 course sold to Americans is cheaper on Stripe, even after the company costs.
- You already have a company in the EU and sell to Europeans. A European card on a European Stripe account is the cheapest card payment there is.
- You need something an Armenian bank doesn't offer yet, like US sales tax calculated for you.
For everything else, meaning customers in Armenia, dram prices, subscriptions and small tickets, the foreign company costs you money every month.
What about Paddle, Lemon Squeezy and Polar?
Merchants of record sell on your behalf, so you don't need a foreign company. But they cost more:
| Paddle | 5% + 50¢ per sale. |
| Lemon Squeezy | 5% + 50¢, plus 1.5% on non-US customers, 0.5% on subscriptions, and 1% to pay out to a non-US bank. |
| Polar | 5% + 50¢ on its starter plan (3.4% + 30¢ on its largest), plus 1.5% on non-US cards. |
The platform is legally the seller. It owns the customer relationship, holds your money and pays you on its own schedule.
One honest unknown
Foreign cards on Armenian acquiring are allowed, and the bank's rate for them (about 3%) is published. How often a foreign bank approves those payments is published by nobody. We're measuring it with real cards and will publish the numbers rather than promise them.
Sources
Read 25 September 2026 unless noted.
- Stripe US pricing: 2.9% + 30¢; +1.5% international card; +1% currency conversion; Billing 0.7%.
- Stripe Ireland pricing: EEA 1.5% + €0.25; international 3.15% + €0.25; +2% conversion.
- Stripe Atlas: $500 once; registered agent $100/year after the first.
- Delaware Division of Corporations: LLC annual tax $400, due 1 June; $200 penalty plus 1.5% a month.
- IRS, Instructions for Form 5472: foreign-owned disregarded entities file Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120; $25,000 penalty.
- form5472.tax: $299 flat per year.
- Mercury pricing: international USD wire free (SHA) or $15 (OUR).
- Ameriabank exchange rates: USD non-cash buy 360.50 / sell 365.50; EUR 407 / 421. Corporate Tariffs, ed. 35: no fee listed for receiving a foreign-currency transfer.
- Evocabank V-POS tariff (read 22 September): ArCa 1.5%, Armenian Visa/MC 1.9%, foreign card 3.0%.
- Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar.
- Ronda: 1.5% of live volume, nothing else.
Assumptions: ֏ 363 per dollar and ֏ 414 per euro (Ameriabank's mid rates); standard, non-premium cards; the Stripe merchant prices in its own currency. Every bank, card tier and regulator rule is on the fee guide.
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