The usage-based billing alternative to Stripe.
Stripe is great at payments — keep it. QuotaStack replaces the part Stripe Billing is weak at: real-time metering, credits, reservations, and entitlements — free until you're billing real money.
Straight talk
Most people searching for a "Stripe alternative" want to replace Stripe payments. If that's you, the honest answer is: stay on Stripe, or use a merchant of record like Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, or Dodo Payments for global tax. QuotaStack doesn't move money. What QuotaStack replaces is the usage-based billing layer — the metering, credits, reservations, and entitlements that Stripe Billing handles poorly for credit- and usage-based products. QuotaStack sits on top of your payment provider and runs that logic.
Where Stripe Billing falls short for usage-based products
Stripe Billing is 0.7% of billing volume pay-as-you-go, or flat plans from $620/mo on an annual contract (as of June 2026). There is no free tier — it charges from the first dollar your customers are billed.
Credit grants are still in public preview (mid-2026) and cover prepaid/promotional drawdown only — no native wallets, reservations, or priority-burn that credit-based products need.
Stripe's Billing Meters API handles basic aggregation; true real-time event ingestion and dimensional pricing live in Metronome — a separate, sales-gated product Stripe acquired.
The 0.7% rate is public, but the monthly plan details require a sales conversation and an annual commitment.
Figures as of June 2026, from Stripe's published billing pricing. For a full feature-by-feature breakdown, see QuotaStack vs Stripe Billing.
What QuotaStack does instead
Pay per metered event, not a percentage of your revenue. $2 usage credit/mo (~100k events), then $2 / 100k. No credit card, no plan to pick — start before you're making money.
Wallets, prepaid credits with priority and expiry, top-ups, and reservations out of the box — the model usage-based products actually bill on.
Record usage events and burn down credits as they happen — no separate sales-led product, no annual contract.
Check "can this customer do this?" on the hot path before an expensive action — cached, safe to call on every request.
$2 usage credit/mo (~100k events), then $2 / 100k. No plan to pick. Sign up and ship today — no demo call to see a number.
Every page has a .md twin + llms.txt, so Cursor and Claude Code wire the integration into your app for you.
Keep Stripe for payments
To be clear: QuotaStack is not a payment processor and not a merchant of record. Keep Stripe (or Paddle / Lemon Squeezy) for the actual charge and for tax. QuotaStack is the usage-based billing logic on top — credits, metering, reservations, entitlements — the part Stripe Billing makes expensive and rigid. Use them together.
Building the ledger yourself? How to build a credit system for an AI SaaS.
Stripe alternative FAQ
Is QuotaStack a full Stripe replacement?
No — and we won't pretend otherwise. Stripe is excellent at payments; keep it. QuotaStack replaces the usage-based billing layer (metering, credits, reservations, entitlements) that Stripe Billing handles weakly, and sits on top of your payment provider for the actual charge.
Can I use QuotaStack together with Stripe?
Yes — that's the recommended setup. QuotaStack runs the billing logic (what to charge, credit balances, entitlements); Stripe (or Paddle / Lemon Squeezy) moves the money.
How is the pricing different from Stripe Billing?
Stripe Billing takes a percentage of your billing volume (0.7% pay-as-you-go) with no free tier. QuotaStack charges $2 / 100k after a $2 monthly usage credit (~100k events) — your cost tracks usage, not a cut of your revenue. No plan to pick.
Do you handle tax or act as a merchant of record?
No. QuotaStack is the metering, credits, and entitlement layer — not a payment processor and not a merchant of record. For global tax, pair it with a merchant of record like Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, or Dodo Payments.
Is there a free tier?
Yes — every account gets $2 of usage credit each month (~100k events), all core primitives, sandbox, no credit card. After that it's $2 / 100k. There is no plan to pick and no upgrade step.
Start free — meter your first usage today.
$2 usage credit/mo (~100k events), then $2 / 100k. Credits, reservations — no credit card.
See pricing · QuotaStack vs Stripe Billing · Build a credit system · For AI products