Lifted Payments vs Stripe.
Stripe is a developer-first platform priced at one flat rate. Lifted Payments is an interchange-plus ISO and software agency. They overlap less than the search box suggests — here's the honest cost math and the line where each one wins.
Type “Stripe alternative” and you get a hundred lookalikes. Lifted Payments isn't one of them — it's a different kind of thing. Stripe is a self-serve, developer-first platform that prices almost everything at one flat rate. Lifted is a payments ISO (it boards your merchant account) and a software agency, priced on interchange-plus. Understanding that difference is most of the decision.
The core difference: flat-rate vs interchange-plus
Stripe's headline online rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge (Stripe's published standard pricing). That number never moves — whether the card underneath cost Stripe 1.5% or 2.5% in interchange, you pay 2.9% + 30¢ and Stripe keeps the spread. It's predictable, and for low volume that simplicity is worth something.
Lifted quotes interchange-plus: the wholesale interchange the card networks set is passed through at cost, and Lifted adds a clear, disclosed markup on top — not one bundled percentage. When a cheap card runs, you pay less. The markup is quoted after reading one recent statement, with no application fee. See how to find your true effective rate.
Pricing, head to head
| Stripe (published standard) | Lifted Payments | |
|---|---|---|
| Online card | 2.9% + 30¢ flat | Interchange at cost + disclosed markup |
| In-person card | 2.7% + 5¢ (Stripe Terminal) | Interchange-plus on a PAX A920 terminal |
| ACH / bank debit | 0.8%, capped at $5 | ACH/eCheck on the NMI gateway |
| Commercial-card (B2B) optimization | Not automatic | Automatic Level 2/3 on qualifying cards |
| Application fee | None | None |
| Pricing model | Fixed flat rate | Cost-plus, disclosed markup |
Stripe's rates above are its published standard pricing; both companies negotiate custom pricing at scale. The point isn't the sticker — it's the model.
The crossover math
Flat-rate wins when your volume is small and your cards are expensive; interchange-plus wins as volume grows and as more of your cards are cheap (debit, plain credit, commercial). A worked example on a $100 sale with a typical rewards credit card whose interchange is about 1.8% + 10¢:
- Stripe flat: 2.9% + 30¢ = $3.20, regardless of the card.
- Interchange-plus: ~$1.90 interchange + a disclosed markup (say 0.4% + 10¢ = 50¢) = about $2.40. On a debit card, where interchange is a fraction of that, the gap is wider still.
That per-transaction difference looks small until you annualize it across real volume — which is the whole reason to read your statement instead of guessing. Use the effective-rate calculator to see your own number: total fees ÷ total volume. If your effective rate on Stripe is comfortably under what interchange-plus would cost you, stay; if it's north of 2.7–2.9% on a card mix that isn't all premium rewards, you're likely overpaying.
Where Stripe is the better call
- You're a developer or a platform. Stripe's API, hosted checkout, Connect for marketplaces, and global reach are excellent and hard to match if code is your interface.
- You're small or spiky. At low volume, one predictable rate and instant self-serve onboarding beat optimizing basis points.
- You sell globally, in many currencies, mostly online. That's Stripe's home turf.
Where Lifted Payments wins
- Real volume, US-based. Once you're processing enough that basis points matter, cost-plus almost always beats a fixed 2.9% — you keep the savings when a cheap card runs.
- You take cards in person. A PAX A920 with a dedicated merchant account and tokenized cards on file — not a rented reader on a flat rate.
- You invoice other businesses. Automatic Level 2/3 data on commercial cards lowers their interchange — an optimization flat-rate simply doesn't do (see B2B card processing).
- You want something built. Lifted is also a software agency — terminal apps, gateway integrations, PCI-aware flows, merchant portals. If your problem is “we need custom payments software,” that's a build, not a signup.
- You want a human. One team owns the rate, the rails, and the code — versus a dashboard and a ticket queue.
The honest version: if you're an online-only developer shipping fast at modest volume, Stripe is a great answer. If you run real US volume, take cards in person, sell B2B, or need software built around how you actually work, interchange-plus with a team behind it is usually the cheaper, better fit — and you can bring your existing setup while you compare. Send one recent statement and we'll show you the number, no application fee.
Sources
- Stripe — published pricing — 2.9% + 30¢ online; 2.7% + 5¢ in-person (Terminal); 0.8% ACH capped at $5
Lifted Payments vs Stripe, answered.
Is Lifted Payments cheaper than Stripe?
Does Stripe do in-person payments?
What is interchange-plus vs Stripe's flat rate?
Can Lifted build custom payments software like Stripe's API?
Do I have to leave Stripe to compare?
See your real number vs Stripe's 2.9%.
Send one recent processing statement and we'll return an honest interchange-plus rate review — wholesale interchange at cost plus a clear markup, no application fee.