Stripe Has a Free API — Accept Payments, Manage Subscriptions, and Build Checkout in Minutes

Stripe's API is free to integrate — you only pay when you process real transactions (2.9% + 30 cents per charge). The test mode gives you unlimited API calls with fake credit cards, so you can build and test your entire payment system without spending a cent. Here's how to start building with it. Get Your Free API Keys Create a free account at dashboard.stripe.com Go to Developers → API keys Copy your test mode keys (start with sk_test_ and pk_test_ ) Test mode = unlimited free API calls with test card numbers. 1. Create a Payment Intent curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/payment_intents \ -u sk_test_YOUR_KEY: \ -d amount = 2000 \ -d currency = usd \ -d "payment_method_types[]" = card This creates a $20.00 payment intent. The client_secret in the response is used by your frontend to complete the payment. 2. Create a Customer curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/customers \ -u sk_test_YOUR_KEY: \ -d email = "customer@example.com" \ -d name = "Jane Doe" 3. Create a Subscription # First create a pr