The expanded partnership enables Stripe to process a significant portion of Amazon’s total payments volume across its many business units, including Prime, Audible, Buy with Prime, and Amazon Pay. This agreement covers the United States, Europe, and Canada. Stripe also expands its use of Amazon Web Services to grow its business and serve millions of internet companies. Amazon uses Stripe to handle high-volume periods like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. I see this as a massive boost for Stripe’s transaction volume. Amazon and Stripe have worked together since 2017 to support market expansion in Europe and Asia. While Amazon uses its own in-house infrastructure and other providers like Adyen for its Japan business, Stripe is a strategic payments partner for these major subscription services.
The Financial Scale of Stripe in 2026
Stripe’s 2025 revenue reached $6.8 billion, which is a 33% increase from the $5.1 billion recorded in 2024. The total payment volume for 2025 was $1.9 trillion, a 34% increase from $1.4 trillion in 2024. This volume is 1.6% of the global GDP. Free cash flow for 2025 was $3.2 billion, up 52% from $2.1 billion in 2024. This resulted in a free cash flow margin of 47%. The first quarter of 2026 saw revenue of $2 billion. The company’s estimated gross revenue in 2025 was $19.4 billion. Historical growth shows the company reached $3.2 billion in 2022, $3.8 billion in 2023, and $5.1 billion in 2024. The company also reached $2.5 billion in net revenue in 2021.
Stripe’s growth is driven by a massive user base and high-performing cohorts. The company added about 1,000 new businesses every day in 2025. The cohort of companies that joined Stripe in 2025 grew roughly 50% faster than the 2024 cohort. More than 100 customers process $1 billion or more every year. The company also powers 90% of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 80% of the Nasdaq 100. Stripe’s market share is between 20.8% and 29% of the global online payment processing market. In the United States, the company holds about 45% of the payment processing market. I note that Stripe slashed its internal valuation by 11% earlier this year as investor sentiment cooled.
Dominating the AI Monetization Layer
Stripe is a central player in the AI economy by providing billing infrastructure for AI labs. The company processes payments for OpenAI and Anthropic. The acquisition of OpenRouter for over $7 billion in August 2026 positions Stripe to capture AI commerce. OpenRouter routes and meters 25 trillion tokens every week. Stripe also acquired Metronome for a reported $1 billion to provide usage-based billing. Metronome handles billing for companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Confluent, and NVIDIA. This software suite is on track to hit a $1 billion annual run rate in 2026. This accounts for about 15% of total revenue.
The flexibility of the Stripe platform helps AI companies manage unpredictable costs. High-growth companies changed their pricing three times in the last year. Retell AI added a credit grant model and saw revenue grow 10X. Browserbase launched usage-based billing and saw a 17% increase in new customer signups within one month. Stripe also launched billing for LLM tokens to handle markup settings and automatic rate updates. Anthropic uses Stripe and Metronome to power its first-party API. This setup allows for real-time metering, rating, and alerting. Customers see real-time spending dashboards and prepaid credit drawdowns.
The Battle for Consumer Wallets
Stripe and Advent International submitted a $53 billion bid to acquire PayPal in July 2026. The bid proposed $60.50 per share. PayPal’s board rejected the offer as inadequate. Stripe and Advent International intend to hold equal stakes and keep PayPal intact. This bid includes about $50 billion in committed bank financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. Stripe seeks to access the consumer reach of Venmo and PayPal’s wallets. The company currently has its own Link wallet with 200 million users. You know the scale of these players dictates the market.
The move for PayPal targets the consumer relationship that Stripe lacks. Stripe has Financial Connections and Link, but it does not have a consumer brand that people trust enough to link a checking account to. PayPal’s market share is 43.4% globally. Stripe’s growth in volume was 34% in 2025, while PayPal’s was 7%. Stripe’s 2025 revenue was $6.8 billion, which is much higher than its competitors in the technology space. Will the PayPal bid eventually succeed at a higher price?
Analyzing the Scale versus Margin Model
Stripe and Adyen follow different paths to profit. Stripe grows through massive volume and reach. Adyen grows through high transaction margins.
| Metric (FY 2025) | Stripe | Adyen |
|---|---|---|
| Processed Volume | $1.9 trillion | €1.4 trillion |
| Net Revenue | $6.8 billion | €2.36 billion |
| EBITDA Margin | Not disclosed | 53% |
| Free Cash Flow | $3.2 billion | €1.08 billion |
Stripe’s volume is higher than Adyen’s, but Adyen’s revenue per dollar processed is higher. Stripe’s net take rate on $1.9 trillion of volume is 0.36%. Adyen’s take rate was 17.1 basis points in the second half of 2025. Adyen’s net revenue for 2025 was €2.36 billion, which is an increase of 21% on a constant currency basis. Adyen’s processed volume was €1.4 trillion. Adyen’s EBITDA margin was 53% in 2025. Stripe’s free cash flow was $3.2 billion, while Adyen’s was €1.08 billion. Both companies are buying usage-based billing tools. Stripe bought Metronome for $1 billion. Adyen bought Orb for $335 million and Talon.One for €750 million.
Building the Unified Revenue Stack
The Revenue suite at Stripe includes Billing, Tax, and Data. This suite is on track to reach a $1 billion annual run rate in 2026. Stripe Billing manages nearly 200 million active subscriptions for 300,000 companies. The company launched contract lifecycle management in Q3 2026 to support both self-serve and sales-led billing. This allows users to create contracts with negotiated pricing and manage renewals in one place. Stripe also launched payment plans to enable installment-based plans with automated collections.
Stripe provides tools to handle complex pricing for AI companies. The platform allows for billing customizations like subscription item routing and proration logic. For example, users can change proration from a second to a day. Stripe Tax helps companies like Leonardo AI identify jurisdictions for tax collection. Leonardo AI uses location monitoring to identify 89 jurisdictions where it needs to register and collect tax. Stripe also launched native US tax filing through TaxJar on Stripe. This helps automate the collection and remittance process for global users.
The Economics of Amazon Fulfillment
Amazon FBA handles inventory, picking, packing, and shipping for independent sellers. These sellers generate more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store. In 2026, Amazon increased its US FBA fulfillment fees by an average of $0.08 per unit. A 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge applies to fulfillment fees in the US and Canada as of April 17, 2026. These fees affect the margins of brands that use FBA for their logistics.
Fulfillment fees for standard-size items changed in 2026. For items priced between $10 and $50, small standard-size fees increased by $0.25 per unit. Large standard-size items in this price range saw an increase of $0.05 per unit. For items priced below $10, small standard-size fees increased by $0.12 per unit. Large standard-size items in this category saw no change. For items priced above $50, small standard-size fees increased by $0.51 per unit. Large standard-size items in this category saw an increase of $0.31 per unit. Low-inventory-level fees also apply at the FNSKU level instead of the parent ASIN.
Stripe’s Path Forward
Stripe is a profitable, cash-generating company that avoids the need for public market capital. It generated $3.2 billion in free cash flow in 2025 and $2.2 billion in 2024. The company uses tender offers to provide liquidity to employees. The February 2026 tender offer valued the company at $159 billion. This valuation is 74% higher than the $91.5 billion valuation from a year earlier. Stripe is building a massive moat by integrating AI billing and deepening its relationship with Amazon. I conclude that Stripe is the clear winner in the race to dominate AI-driven commerce.
