Stripe
Online payments. Checkout, subscriptions, webhooks. Used on Arkanes for monetization.
Strengths
- Absolute payments reference, exhaustive docs, SDKs in every language
- Checkout + Payment Links: accept payments without backend code in 30 min
- Subscriptions, trials, prorations, usage-based billing, all natively managed
- Full test mode with test cards, no real card needed during development
Limitations
- 2.9% + €0.30 per transaction, costly at high volume or small amounts
- Webhooks to handle manually, retry logic, idempotency, signature verification
- Radar (fraud detection) can block legitimate payments without explanation
Best for
- SaaS with subscriptions, free trials, and complex billing management
- Any project needing serious payments, there is no real alternative