If you want to actually keep $1,000 from a client payment, you can’t just invoice $1,000 — Stripe and PayPal take their cut off the top. The correct reverse-fee formula is: Invoice amount = (Target + Fixed fee) ÷ (1 − Fee rate). For a US domestic Stripe card payment (2.9% + $0.30, verified October 2026), that means invoicing $1,030.18 to net exactly $1,000.
This article shows you how to invoice clients after Stripe and PayPal fees the right way: the formula, why the obvious shortcut fails, worked tables for $500/$1,000/$5,000 invoices, when bank payments beat cards, and three mistakes that quietly cost freelancers hundreds a year.
The reverse-fee formula (and why the obvious math is wrong)
Most freelancers do this: they want $1,000, they compute Stripe’s fee on $1,000 ($29.00 + $0.30 = $29.30), and they invoice $1,029.30. Then Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 on the invoice amount — which is bigger now — and the freelancer nets $999.15. Eighty-five cents short. On a $5,000 invoice, that same shortcut leaves you $4.21 short. Every time.
The reason it fails: the fee is a percentage of the invoice, not of your target. You have to solve backwards:
Net = Invoice × (1 − rate) − fixed fee
Rearranged to solve for the invoice:
Invoice = (Target + Fixed fee) ÷ (1 − Rate)
Order matters. You add the fixed fee to the target first, then divide by (1 − rate). That single line is the whole trick — and it’s where a lot of fee-calculator blog posts and even some dev.to writeups go sideways by adding fees in the wrong order.
The invoice tables: $500, $1,000, and $5,000 targets
Using the formula with verified October 2026 rates. Stripe’s US domestic card rate is 2.9% + $0.30, with an additional 1.5% for international cards. PayPal’s invoicing transaction rates (for USD) are 3.49% + $0.49 when clients pay through PayPal Checkout, Pay with Venmo, or Guest Checkout, and 2.99% + $0.49 for standard credit/debit cards or Apple Pay. International transactions add 1.50% on top. Sources: Stripe’s official pricing page and PayPal’s merchant fees schedule.
| Platform / method | Rate | Want $500 → invoice | Want $1,000 → invoice | Want $5,000 → invoice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe, domestic card | 2.9% + $0.30 | $515.25 | $1,030.18 | $5,149.64 |
| PayPal Checkout / Venmo | 3.49% + $0.49 | $518.59 | $1,036.67 | $5,181.32 |
| PayPal standard card | 2.99% + $0.49 | $515.92 | $1,031.33 | $5,154.62 |
| Stripe, international card | 4.4% + $0.30 | $523.33 | $1,046.34 | $5,230.44 |
One thing to notice: Stripe’s domestic card rate is cheaper than PayPal’s in every row. On a $1,000 invoice that’s a $6.49 difference in favor of Stripe — small per invoice, meaningful across a year of work.
If you’re choosing between the two platforms outright rather than doing invoice math, we compared them head-to-head in PayPal Business vs Stripe fees for freelancers — this article is the practical companion for actually writing the invoice once you’ve picked one. For the mechanics of sending the bill itself — line items, due dates, late fees — see our freelancer invoicing walkthrough.
Scenario 1: A $1,000 US invoice paid by card
Walk it through for Stripe, domestic card:
- Your target: $1,000.
- Add the fixed fee: 1,000 + 0.30 = 1,000.30.
- Divide by (1 − 0.029) = 0.971: 1,000.30 ÷ 0.971 = $1,030.18.
- Check: Stripe’s fee on $1,030.18 = (1,030.18 × 0.029) + 0.30 = $30.18. Net: 1,030.18 − 30.18 = $1,000.00. ✓
Same target through PayPal Checkout (3.49% + $0.49): (1,000 + 0.49) ÷ 0.9651 = $1,036.67. Check: (1,036.67 × 0.0349) + 0.49 = $36.67, net $1,000.00. ✓
Practical tip: round the invoice up to the cent, never down. Rounding down guarantees you miss your target by a few cents. Some freelancers round up to the nearest dollar for clean invoice lines — $1,031 for Stripe, $1,037 for PayPal Checkout — and the extra ~$0.80 is harmless padding, not deception, as long as the line item is stated.
Scenario 2: When bank payments (ACH) beat cards
Here’s where real money lives. Stripe’s ACH Direct Debit costs 0.8% capped at $5 per transaction. PayPal’s bank-payment option for invoices is 1% capped at $10. Both caps kick in on bigger invoices, which means the fee stops growing while card fees keep climbing.
For a $5,000 invoice:
– Stripe card: invoice $5,149.64, fee $149.64
– Stripe ACH: invoice $5,005.00, fee $5.00
– PayPal bank: invoice $5,010.00, fee $10.00
One $5,000 invoice paid by ACH instead of card saves you $144.64 on Stripe. If a third of your annual revenue goes through card payments that could have been ACH, you’re looking at over a thousand dollars in avoidable fees per year.
The catch: ACH takes longer to settle (a few business days) and not every client will agree to it. It works best for retainer clients, agencies you work with regularly, and invoices over about $1,000, where the fixed caps make the savings obvious. For one-off small invoices, the difference is pocket change and cards’ speed and convenience win.
Scenario 3: International clients — the double hit
International clients cost you twice: an international card surcharge plus a currency conversion spread.
- Stripe: domestic 2.9% + $0.30, plus 1.5% for international cards, plus another 1% if currency conversion is required. A foreign card paid in a foreign currency: 5.4% + $0.30. To net $1,000: (1,000.30) ÷ 0.946 = $1,057.41.
- PayPal: domestic rate plus 1.50% for international commercial transactions, and PayPal’s currency exchange includes a conversion markup of roughly 3–4% on top. A $1,000 invoice through PayPal Checkout to an international client: (1,000.49) ÷ (1 − 0.0499) = $1,053.04 — and that’s before the conversion spread eats into it if you’re receiving in another currency.
If you regularly bill clients abroad, two moves help: invoice in USD so the conversion happens on the client’s side, and consider whether ACH or a transfer service makes sense for the big invoices instead of eating 5%+ on every card payment.
3 mistakes that cost freelancers hundreds a year
Mistake 1: Grossing up with the wrong formula.
The naive “target + fee on target” approach leaves you short on every invoice ($0.85 short on a $1,000 Stripe invoice, $4.21 on $5,000). At twelve $5,000 invoices a year, that’s $50 gone for nothing. Use the formula from this article, in the right order.
Mistake 2: Paying card fees on invoices that could go ACH.
Twelve $5,000 invoices on Stripe cards cost you $1,795.68 in fees. The same twelve on ACH cost $60. That’s $1,735.68 a year left on the table — the single biggest leak most freelancers have. Ask your retainer clients if they’ll pay by bank transfer. Most agencies say yes.
Mistake 3: Invoicing international clients at the domestic rate.
Forgetting the 1.5% international surcharge on a $5,000 Stripe invoice means you’re $75 short after fees — per invoice. Confirm where your client’s card is issued before you finalize the invoice, not after the money lands.
One more habit worth building: show your math. A line item on the invoice like “Processing fee (gross-up for Stripe)” keeps things transparent with the client and protects you if anyone ever questions the total. Nothing here is tax or financial advice — check your accountant on how you report grossed-up amounts, and re-verify platform rates before you invoice, since fees do change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it okay to pass Stripe or PayPal fees to my clients?
Yes — the cleanest way is to gross up your price so the fee is baked into the invoice total, which is what this article’s formula does. Show it as a stated line item if you want full transparency. Card-network surcharging rules vary by US state, so grossing up your rate is simpler and safer than adding a separate “credit card surcharge” at checkout.
What is the exact reverse-fee formula?
Invoice = (Your target + Fixed fee) ÷ (1 − Percentage rate). For Stripe domestic cards that’s (target + $0.30) ÷ 0.971. For PayPal Checkout it’s (target + $0.49) ÷ 0.9651. Add the fixed fee to your target first, then divide — reversing that order is the most common error.
Which is cheaper for a $1,000 invoice — Stripe or PayPal?
Stripe, on domestic cards: $1,030.18 vs $1,036.67 for PayPal Checkout — $6.49 cheaper per invoice. If your client pays with a standard card through PayPal (2.99% + $0.49), the gap shrinks to under a dollar.
At what invoice size does ACH become worth it?
Stripe’s ACH fee is capped at $5, so any invoice above roughly $625 costs less via ACH than by card, and the savings grow fast: a $5,000 invoice costs $149.64 by card but $5.00 by ACH. PayPal’s bank-payment option caps at $10.
Why is my international client payment so much smaller than expected?
Both platforms add an international surcharge — 1.5% each for Stripe and PayPal — plus currency conversion costs (1% at Stripe, a 3–4% markup at PayPal). A $1,000 invoice to a foreign client on Stripe needs to be $1,057.41 to net $1,000, versus $1,030.18 domestically. Invoice in USD when you can.
Does the fixed fee ($0.30 / $0.49) actually matter?
On big invoices, barely. On small ones, it’s brutal: the $0.49 fixed fee alone is nearly 10% of a $5 invoice. That’s why freelancers who charge lots of small amounts should bundle payments or bill monthly instead of weekly — the fixed fee hits every single transaction.