5 ms·

Ask HN: Alternatives to Stripe?

I posted a few months ago how our Stripe account is a victim of card testing attacks (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35682534) At that point, I was frustrated that they wouldn't address the situation. I had contacted customer support numerous times only to be put on the back burner. It was only after that post that Stripe reached out to me and the problem seemed to damp down for a little bit. Now, less than 3 months later we are experiencing the same issue yet again. Lots of new "customers" that never visit our website but end up signing up for a subscription. Every new customer that signs up we have to manually check to see if they are "real". If not, we refund and block them immediately in Stripe. We missed one the other day and ended up getting a charge back. We reached out to Stripe and they advised us to accept the dispute, which we did. However, Stripe refuses to reimburse us for the charge back fee of $15. In light of Stripe's refusal to correct the problem and reimburse us for their mistakes, we are exploring alternatives for our subscription service. We already moved away from PayPal because of their hostility towards other businesses (though we never experienced any such issues directly). What alternatives to Stripe exist? Stripe's own data suggest that card testing attacks on their network will only increase (see https://images.ctfassets.net/fzn2n1nzq965/Sfz8gaQMU7lsp0Ubd3w1X/84a4254625d05e1fbfe0117de34c1d62/Card_testing_sent_to_Stripe_vs_baseline_v4b_OL.svg?w=900&q=80 Thanks!

revitatone 3y ago
Can you tell us why to avoid using Stripe? Are Stripe's standards very different from those of other payment processors?
spraveenitpro 3y ago
[dead]
satvikpendem 3y ago
Paddle, LemonSqueezy are pretty decent.
- tempaccount3333 3y ago
  I'll check them out.
hbcondo714 3y ago
One side effect my SaaS[1] experienced with card testing is that Stripe's reporting still includes this fraudulent activity as successful which throws off my numbers. For those who can relate, I documented it on GitHub[2] and even developed a mobile app (PWA) that corrects the issue with Stripe's mobile app reporting. [1] https://last10k.com https://last10k.com [2] https://github.com/hbcondo/revenut-web https://github.com/hbcondo/revenut-web
- revitatone 3y ago
  Have you tried enabling 3DS verification and machine verification review?
blueridge 3y ago
https://www.braintreepayments.com/ https://www.braintreepayments.com/
- spcebar 3y ago
  Braintree is owned by PayPal.
  - blueridge 3y ago
    Indeed, but I don't think PayPal is entirely sour. I've used the product at multiple companies and have only had good experiences. Timely post: https://world.hey.com/jason/who-do-you-do-business-with-47c6c9d5 https://world.hey.com/jason/who-do-you-do-business-with-47c6...
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
netman21 3y ago
Square is great. We use both Square and Stripe. Square pays the same day, a huge benefit over Stripe.
- tempaccount3333 3y ago
  Does Square do subscription pricing? I don't see that on their website.
here4U 3y ago
You may be frustrated with how Stripe is responding, but why would using another payment provider solve the root issue? Does your site use a captcha in the subscription flow to prevent card testing?
- tempaccount3333 3y ago
  It has nothing to do with our website. The card testing happens outside our website.
  - tempaccount3333 3y ago
    Stripe indicated to me they put in a captcha on their end
    - edwinwee 3y ago
      (Edwin from Stripe here.) I think we _may_ have chatted? (Hard to tell with tempaccount name.) Could you email me at edwin@stripe.com and link to this thread?
      - tempaccount3333 3y ago
        I'm just wondering why I have to post here to get your attention on this?
        decremental 3y ago
        [dead]
        INGSOCIALITE 3y ago
        Because here it’s public and they want to save face. When it’s private they dgaf because it doesn’t affect other potential or current clients who might be swayed away from them
      - lol_stripe 3y ago
enescakir 3y ago
https://www.adyen.com https://www.adyen.com
- revitatone 3y ago
  Adyen requires us to have a monthly transaction volume greater than $1 million. If we don't reach $1 million, they will charge transaction fees as if we had reached $1 million.
decremental 3y ago
[dead]
mvid 3y ago
Checkout.com

revitatone 3y ago

Can you tell us why to avoid using Stripe? Are Stripe's standards very different from those of other payment processors?

spraveenitpro 3y ago

[dead]

satvikpendem 3y ago

Paddle, LemonSqueezy are pretty decent.

tempaccount3333 3y ago
I'll check them out.

hbcondo714 3y ago

One side effect my SaaS[1] experienced with card testing is that Stripe's reporting still includes this fraudulent activity as successful which throws off my numbers. For those who can relate, I documented it on GitHub[2] and even developed a mobile app (PWA) that corrects the issue with Stripe's mobile app reporting. [1] https://last10k.com https://last10k.com [2] https://github.com/hbcondo/revenut-web https://github.com/hbcondo/revenut-web

revitatone 3y ago
Have you tried enabling 3DS verification and machine verification review?

blueridge 3y ago

https://www.braintreepayments.com/ https://www.braintreepayments.com/

spcebar 3y ago
Braintree is owned by PayPal.
- blueridge 3y ago
  Indeed, but I don't think PayPal is entirely sour. I've used the product at multiple companies and have only had good experiences. Timely post: https://world.hey.com/jason/who-do-you-do-business-with-47c6c9d5 https://world.hey.com/jason/who-do-you-do-business-with-47c6...
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

netman21 3y ago

Square is great. We use both Square and Stripe. Square pays the same day, a huge benefit over Stripe.

tempaccount3333 3y ago
Does Square do subscription pricing? I don't see that on their website.

here4U 3y ago

You may be frustrated with how Stripe is responding, but why would using another payment provider solve the root issue? Does your site use a captcha in the subscription flow to prevent card testing?

tempaccount3333 3y ago
It has nothing to do with our website. The card testing happens outside our website.
- tempaccount3333 3y ago
  Stripe indicated to me they put in a captcha on their end
  - edwinwee 3y ago
    (Edwin from Stripe here.) I think we _may_ have chatted? (Hard to tell with tempaccount name.) Could you email me at edwin@stripe.com and link to this thread?
    - tempaccount3333 3y ago
      I'm just wondering why I have to post here to get your attention on this?
      - decremental 3y ago
        [dead]
      - INGSOCIALITE 3y ago
        Because here it’s public and they want to save face. When it’s private they dgaf because it doesn’t affect other potential or current clients who might be swayed away from them
    - lol_stripe 3y ago

enescakir 3y ago

https://www.adyen.com https://www.adyen.com

revitatone 3y ago
Adyen requires us to have a monthly transaction volume greater than $1 million. If we don't reach $1 million, they will charge transaction fees as if we had reached $1 million.

decremental 3y ago

[dead]

mvid 3y ago

Checkout.com