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by rublev 3490 days ago
What problems does Braintree solve that Stripe doesn't?
2 comments

They seem to be very similar to me.

Both Stripe and Braintree are priced at 2.9% + $0.30/transaction. If you're doing any notable amount of volume, you can do much better...closer to 2%.

PaypalPro used to automatically give you lower rates, down to 2.2% + $0.30, at volumes well below what Stripe requires to "contact sales" and get a discount. Last year, they eliminated that, and went to the 2.9% + $0.30.

It seems you have to get your own merchant account, and use something like authorize.net now to get decent pricing.

Braintree allows you to bring your own merchant account and then its just a per transaction fee. https://www.braintreepayments.com/faq#pricing
You seem to have a strong user experience when it comes to payment. I am currently working in this space and it would be great to share some insights. Happy to discuss if you want, email is my in profile.
I don't seem to understand what autorize.net does compared to Stripe. I mean, both seem to charge the 2.9% fee.
Authorize.net (unlike Stripe or Braintree) will also allow to obtain your own merchant account, at whatever rate it charges you, and use their payment gateway. In that case, they do not charge the 2.9%.
What are the dis-advantages of doing so? (as in, why does everyone not do that in the first place?)
Interesting, what volume do you need to get to 2.2%?
It was $10k/month to get 2.2%, but as mentioned, Paypal Pro discontinued the automatic discounts. It's all 2.9% now.

Here's a screenshot of what it used to be: http://i.imgur.com/QQ7LVot.png

Still useful, though, as it gives a good indicator of how low you might get if you get your own merchant account.

Thanks, helpful. What volume did you need to get 2% on Stripe?
They did not promise any specific rate. The wording is gone now, but it used to say:

"Processing more than $80,000 per month? Send us an email at sales@stripe.com"[1]

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20140228105853/https://stripe.co...

Seamless Paypal integration. Paypal is very popular across Europe (and the world), and many prefer to use it over credit and/or debit cards (these payment methods aren't universally popular).
Some people don't WANT PayPal. I had a bad experience with an eBay /PayPal charge back scam 5 years ago. I.e. freezing of my entire account and no human to find to unfreeze it.

I will never accept PayPal for the rest of my life.

It's not mutually exclusive. It's just an extra option (much like Stripe allows you to select Card or Bitcoin, for example).
Ah. But at that point, not seeing the Braintree draw over stripe. They seem more or less similar, with Stripe maybe being a bit easier to set up.
yeah, braintree only has a potential benefit over stripe once you're forced to start caring about conversions & breakages (countries that expect to use PayPal, old people who trust the brand, etc)