Why developers leave Stripe: at high volume the percentage fees are real money, certain markets/payment methods (Asia, EU local methods) require paired vendors, and account holds and reviews can disrupt cash flow. Teams scaling past $10M ARR routinely evaluate negotiated alternatives or merchant-of-record services.
Twilio is included as the messaging-API alternative when Stripe's use was primarily 2FA / verification SMS that Stripe Identity bundles. Twilio Verify is more focused; Stripe's Identity less mature for SMS-only verification.
Both are merchant-of-record (they collect tax, you don't need separate VAT registration). Higher take rate (~5%) than Stripe but the tax-handling can save indies more than the percentage difference. For US-focused indies Stripe still wins; for global SaaS with EU/UK customers MoR providers are worth evaluating.
At >$50M annual processing volume the negotiated rates with Adyen/Worldpay can beat Stripe by 30-50 basis points. The integration tax (more complex API, more enterprise sales cycles) is real. Most teams under $50M ARR find Stripe still wins on TCO.
Yes — some high-volume teams route by region (Stripe for US, Adyen for EU). Operational cost of dual vendors is real (two integrations, two reconciliations, two SLAs). The cost optimization usually justifies it only above $20M annual processing volume.
