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Synapto vs Stripe, for the stage you're actually at
Stripe is a superb way to start taking payments. This page is for what happens after that.
How Stripe and Synapto compare
| Synapto | Stripe | |
|---|---|---|
| Advertised rate | 1% + 10p on consumer cards, no monthly fee. Above £2m a year, agreed to your volume | 1.5% + 20p standard UK card |
| Effective rate at scale | Reviewed against your statement, line by line | Rises with instant payouts, billing and bolt-ons |
| First payout | No first-payout hold. Timing agreed with you up front | Standard schedule, with a hold on the first payout |
| UK Direct Debit | Native | Via Bacs add-on |
| Support | An account manager you can phone | Ticket and chat queue |
| Settlement | GBP, UK rails | Multi-currency |
Stripe pricing checked against their public pricing page on 9 November 2026. Tell us if it's changed.
Where Stripe wins, and where we do
If you need multi-currency settlement, Stripe is the better fit: Synapto settles in GBP on UK rails. The same is true if you want a fully self-serve setup with no human contact, or you are pre-revenue and optimising for speed of first transaction over cost at scale.
We are built for UK businesses past that first stage: real volume, an effective rate worth arguing about, and a named person to ring when something needs sorting today. If that is not you yet, Stripe is a good place to start and we will tell you so on the call.
Worked example: card fees at three monthly volumes
This is an example, not a quote. It prices the same month two ways using published rates only: Stripe's 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards, from the table above and checked on 9 November 2026, and our standard rate of 1% + 10p on consumer cards, with no monthly fee.
The assumptions, in plain words: every payment is on a UK consumer card, the average payment is £40, and nothing is added on either side, so no instant payouts, billing or other extras. Business and premium cards are 2.5% + 10p with us, so a month with more of them would cost more than shown here.
On a narrow screen, scroll within the table to read every column.
| Monthly card volume | Payments a month | Stripe at 1.5% + 20p | Synapto at 1% + 10p | Difference a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £10,000 | 250 | £200 | £125 | £75 |
| £50,000 | 1,250 | £1,000 | £625 | £375 |
| £150,000 | 3,750 | £3,000 | £1,875 | £1,125 |
On these assumptions the effective rate is 2% with Stripe and 1.25% with us at every volume, because the fixed fee is the same share of each £40 payment however many you take. A smaller average payment makes the fixed fee weigh more: at £20 a payment the effective rates become 2.5% and 1.5%. £150,000 a month is £1.8m a year, still on our standard rate; above £2m a year our price is agreed to your volume. Your own month, with your real card mix and average payment, is the comparison that counts.
What switching from Stripe involves
Price a Stripe month
Bring a recent month's fee report from your Stripe dashboard. We price the same payments with Synapto, including the extras Stripe bills as separate lines.
Request Stripe's card data export
Stripe can export saved card data to another PCI DSS compliant provider when you ask. We set up the receiving side, so returning customers should not need to enter their card again.
Replace the Stripe calls
Your developer swaps the Stripe library and API calls for our SDK, on their own schedule, with our payments engineer answering the payments questions. Stripe stays live until you switch over.
List what stays behind
Stripe products you use beyond card payments, such as Billing or Radar rules, do not move on their own. Your account manager lists each one and what replaces it before you commit.
Asked before switching from Stripe
On Stripe's standard pay-as-you-go pricing there is usually no fixed term to wait out. If you signed a custom pricing agreement, check it for a term or a volume commitment before you set a date, and we will read it with you if that helps.
They should not, if the card data export goes through. Stripe exports saved cards to another PCI DSS compliant provider on request, and we confirm which cards arrived before your checkout moves. Anything that cannot move is listed for you first.
Next working day as standard, or faster for an extra 1% of the amount paid out, with no hold on your first payout. Check your Stripe account for your current payout schedule so you can compare the two on the same basis.
Possibly something. If you settle in many currencies, run subscriptions on Stripe Billing or use a Stripe product we do not offer, put it on the list first. We say on the first call what we replace and what we do not, and the section above on where Stripe wins is meant seriously.