Stripe Radar

Stripe Radar is an AI-powered fraud detection and prevention system fully integrated into the Stripe payments platform, using machine learning trained on data from millions of businesses across the Stripe network to identify and block fraudulent transactions in real time. Following a mid-2026 restructuring into four tiers (Lite, Standard, Plus, Pro), Radar Lite remains free for businesses on standard Stripe payments pricing (AI-based fraud prevention for card payments and card testing, plus fraud alerts) — but features most mid-market merchants actually need (custom rules, granular risk scores, manual transaction reviews) now sit behind paid tiers with per-transaction usage meters.

A genuinely important real-cost detail worth understanding: headline subscription prices of $10-$20/month dramatically understate actual cost at any meaningful transaction volume — a U.S. merchant processing 100,000 screened transaction attempts per month on Radar Standard pays $5,000 in fraud prevention costs alone, and at 500,000 attempts, that figure reaches $25,000, meaning real cost scales directly and substantially with transaction volume rather than staying near the advertised subscription price.

It's aimed at Stripe merchants needing fraud prevention integrated directly into their existing payment processing, with Radar Lite's free tier providing genuine basic protection for smaller merchants — anyone processing significant transaction volume should budget using the real usage-based cost examples ($5,000 for 100K attempts, $25,000 for 500K attempts) rather than the low headline subscription price, since custom rules and manual review capabilities most mid-market merchants need require paid tiers with substantial usage-based costs. See our Business & Productivity tools directory for related tools like Signifyd and Riskified.

Real-time fraud detection

Identifies and blocks fraudulent transactions in real time using machine learning.

Card testing prevention

Detects and prevents card testing attacks, included free on Radar Lite.

Custom fraud rule creation

Creates custom fraud detection rules, available on paid tiers.

Is Stripe Radar free?

Radar Lite is free for businesses on standard Stripe payments pricing, with basic fraud prevention.

How much does Stripe Radar really cost?

Real usage-based costs run $5,000/month at 100,000 screened transactions, $25,000/month at 500,000 — far above the $10-$20 headline price.

What does the paid tier add?

Custom rules, granular risk scores, and manual transaction reviews.

When did Radar restructure into tiers?

Mid-2026, splitting into Lite, Standard, Plus, and Pro.