MasterEngine Launch Stack The curated launch-stack directory

Layer 02 · Money in

Payments — taking money at launch

One pick is published in this layer, and the empty shelf beneath it is deliberate. What this layer will not do is total what the stack costs — that arithmetic belongs to the budget worksheet at businesslaunchstack.com, linked in the footer.

Primary pick

Stripe

Card payments, hosted checkout and payment links, subscription billing and payouts — the default first processor for software.

Run by this estate stripe.com No affiliate relationship — direct link

This estate's merchant account lives at Stripe: the account is held by our holding company, the business details are filed, and the integration work — dashboard, products, API — was done by the team that publishes this directory. What we have not yet done is process live sales volume, and this verdict does not pretend otherwise. It covers setup, the pricing shape, and operating the account — the things a founder choosing a first processor needs to know first. When our basis changes, this record's wording changes with it.

Free tier
There is no free tier and no monthly fee: an installed Stripe account costs $0 in fixed fees until money moves.
The wall
No tier wall — the meter is per transaction, from the first sale: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card charge (US standard pricing). Per-transaction fees are not a subscription, and this site never adds them into one.
Price
$0/mo fixed; 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge. As checked November 9, 2026

Alternate

None published yet — on purpose

An alternate earns its place the same way the primary did: run by this estate, or evaluated with a named, dated, hands-on test. The usual second-processor candidates all require opening an account before they can be tested honestly, and a verdict stamped from a pricing page is worth nothing here. Until a second processor has been genuinely run or tested, this shelf stays empty. It will not be filled from marketing copy.