Connect Overview

Learn how to use Connect, our solution for any business that needs to process payments and pay out to sellers and service providers.

Stripe Connect provides a powerful API and other tools you need to accept payments, as well as onboard, verify, and pay sellers and service providers. You can tailor your integration in various ways, including:

Specifying how money moves from the customer to you, and ultimately to your platform’s sellers or service providers
Collecting fees for your service
Assigning payout schedules and payout methods
Supporting different types of Stripe accounts

With Connect, you can process payments from customers, transfer money to and from connected accounts, and pay out funds to bank accounts and debit cards.

Connect use cases

Connect is a flexible combination of features designed to support a wide range of use cases:

Crowdfunding services, like Kickstarter and Ulule
E-commerce platforms, like Shopify and Squarespace
Marketplaces, like OfferUp and Catawiki
On-demand services, like Lyft and Glovo
Invoicing solutions, like Xero
Booking platforms, like OpenTable
Travel and event providers, like Tito Travel and Musement
Extensions on Stripe, like Segment and Avalara

You can also use Connect just for the payouts portion of your business via Connect Payouts. With Connect Payouts, you have access to the same funds routing, recipient UIs, verification, and compliance capabilities included in Stripe Connect.

Getting started

Follow the steps below to get started. If you’re based in the U.S., Stripe will provide some guidance on Capabilities and account types after you complete the first step.

In the Stripe Dashboard, click the Get started button to start the process for activating your account and registering your platform.
Determine the Capabilities your connected accounts need (U.S.-platforms only).
Determine the account types to support.
Decide how you want to create charges.

After making these decisions you can start building your integration. The recipes below and the Connect Quickstart have some examples.

Recipes

If you know what type of platform you’d like to build, we’ve written up some sample recipes for specific types of platforms:

On-demand apps: building an app like Lyft or Handy.
Store builders: allowing other people to sell on your platform, like Squarespace or BigCommerce.

Even if you’re not striving for one of those exactly, these examples should help you figure out how you’d implement yours.

If you’re building a service on top of Stripe account data—for instance, an analytics service like Baremetrics—read our guide to building an extension.

Availability

Connect is available for platforms in any country Stripe supports.

Standard accounts can be created in any country Stripe supports, except countries that are currently invite only.
Express accounts can only be created within the U.S., but platforms in any supported country can create them. Contact us if you are interested in support for users outside the U.S.
Custom accounts are supported only for platforms located in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, or the United States.

Next steps

Read on to get started with Connect!