Stripe Payment Link: How to Create, Price and Share One

A Stripe payment link is a URL that opens a checkout page hosted by Stripe, where anyone can pay you for a product, a subscription or a donation. You make it in the Stripe Dashboard without code, and the same link works for as many customers as you like. Stripe charges its normal card fees on each sale (2.9% + 30 cents for a US card) and nothing extra for the link itself.

What a payment link is good for

Think of a payment link as a one-product checkout you can paste anywhere. It suits small sellers and creators who sell a handful of things: a print, a workshop seat, a preset pack, a monthly membership, a tip jar.

A few things make it practical:

• Reusable or limited. One link can take payment from many customers, or you can cap it at a set number of purchases for limited stock.
• Products, subscriptions or pay what you want. Pick a fixed price, a recurring price, or let customers choose the amount.
• Customers pay how they like. Stripe shows the payment methods that fit the customer, including Apple Pay and Google Pay when they have them set up, and supports more than 40 methods in total.
• Local currency. Adaptive Pricing is always on for payment links, so customers in more than 150 countries can pay in their own currency.

What it is not: a storefront. Each link is its own checkout. If you sell a few items, you will have a few links, and you need a place to show them together.

Create a payment link in the Stripe Dashboard

For a product or subscription at a set price:

1. In the Stripe Dashboard, open the Payment Links page and click +New. You can also click the plus sign (+) at the top and select Payment link.
2. Select an existing product, or click +Add a new product.
3. For a new product, fill in the product details (name, price, and whether it is one-off or recurring) and click Add product.
4. Set any options you want (covered below).
5. Click Create link.

For tips, donations or pay what you want:

1. On the Payment Links page, click New.
2. Select Customers choose what to pay and add a title, description and image.
3. Optionally set a suggested preset amount, and a minimum and maximum. The default maximum is 10,000.00 USD.
4. Click Create link.

Pay-what-you-want links can't be recurring, so a monthly supporter tier needs a regular subscription price instead.

On your phone.

In the Stripe Dashboard app for iOS, go to Payments > Payment Links, or tap the create icon (+) and select Payment link. The iOS app can create product and subscription links, but not links where the customer chooses the amount.

Options worth turning on

Every one of these sits in the payment link editor, so you set them while creating the link.

Custom fields are handy for a size, a name to engrave or a pickup time. Stripe asks that you don't use them for personal, protected or sensitive information.

Promo codes.

Create the discount first: in the Dashboard, make a coupon, then turn it into a customer-facing promotion code. When you create the payment link, add promotion codes so buyers can type the code at checkout. You can also add ?prefilled_promo_code=YOURCODE to the end of the link so the code is filled in for them, which is useful for a story that says "20% off today."

One catch: one-time payment links check out customers as guests, so a code limited to first-time orders won't work as you expect.

Confirmation page or redirect.

Click After the payment in the editor. Under Confirmation page, replace Stripe's default thank-you message with your own (a good place for "your download link is in your email" or "we ship on Fridays"), or redirect buyers to your own website instead.

Stripe payment link fees

Stripe's standard US pricing on stripe.com/pricing:

Stripe says it charges no setup, monthly or closure fees. So at standard pricing, a $10 sale on a US card costs $0.59 in fees, a $25 sale about $1.03, and a $50 sale $1.75. Automatic sales tax through Stripe Tax is a separate paid product, so check its cost before you switch it on.

Share the link where buyers already are

On the Payment Links page, click the copy icon next to a link. Stripe's links start with buy.stripe.com and work anywhere a link does.

• Your bio. The link in your Instagram or TikTok bio is the one place a link stays put. Our guide to selling on Instagram covers how to set up the rest of the shop around it.
• Story link sticker. Add the payment link to a story with Instagram's link sticker so viewers can tap straight to checkout. Here is how to add a link to an Instagram story.
• DMs and texts. When someone asks "how do I buy?", paste the link. Stripe lists email, text messages and social media as places to share.
• QR codes. Open the link and click QR code to copy or download a PNG. Print it on a market table sign, packaging or a flyer. The QR code never expires, but if you deactivate the link it opens an expiration page instead.

To see whether it's working, open the link and check the Payments and analytics tab for views, sales and revenue. The numbers can lag by up to 18 hours, and links with recurring prices don't show analytics.

When a product sells out for good, use the overflow menu (⋯) > Deactivate. Payment links can't be deleted, only switched off.

Show your payment links as products with Olaa

A bare buy.stripe.com link in a bio doesn't show what you are selling. On Olaa Pro ($8 a month or $72 a year), you can add a product from Stripe with its photo and price, shown as a button or a buy card on your olaa.im/yourname page, next to your other links. Checkout still happens on Stripe, and Olaa takes no cut of the sale.

That gives you one bio link that holds every payment link you have, alongside your music, bookings or newsletter signup. Pro also takes products from Etsy, Shopify and Gumroad if you sell in more than one place. See every Olaa feature, or how shops use Olaa.

FAQ

Is a Stripe payment link free?

Creating the link costs nothing, and Stripe includes Payment Links at no extra charge on standard pricing. You pay Stripe's normal fee when someone buys, which for a US card is 2.9% + 30 cents. A custom domain for your links is optional and costs $10.00 a month.

Can I use a Stripe payment link for subscriptions?

Yes. Give the product a recurring price and the payment link creates a subscription when someone pays. Pay-what-you-want links are the exception: they don't support recurring payments.

Can one payment link sell more than one product?

You can offer up to 10 optional add-ons with + Add recommended products. For a small shop it is usually clearer to make one link per product, so each one can go on its own button.

Does a Stripe payment link expire?

No. A link stays live until you deactivate it or it reaches the payment limit you set. Its QR code doesn't expire either, but it shows an expiration page once the link is off.

How do I refund a payment link order?

Go to Payments in the Dashboard, click the overflow menu (⋯) beside the payment and select Refund payment. Refunds usually take 5 to 10 business days to reach the customer's statement.

Can I put a Stripe payment link on Instagram?

Yes. Paste it in your bio, add it to a story with the link sticker, or send it in DMs. If you sell several things, a link in bio page lets one bio link hold all of them.