Stripe hands you world-class parts — and you assemble them: Connect, onboarding flows, splits, payouts, webhooks. And before any of it, you need an entity Stripe will approve (non-US founders: that's the $500 Atlas + IRS-EIN detour). paas.build is the assembled version: one prompt, a real merchant account the same day, checkout mounted.
| Stripe | paas.build | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first payment | Assemble + activate (entity, review) | Same session — capped, live |
| Company required | Supported-country entity (Atlas: $500 + EIN wait for non-US) | None — go live as yourself |
| Platform payments | Stripe Connect — powerful, DIY | Built-in: onboard users, split, pay out |
| Integration | SDKs + webhooks + dashboards to wire | Drop-in checkout or 3 lines of React |
| Agent-native | MCP manages an existing account | MCP creates the account (go_live) |
| Pricing | 2.9% + 30¢ + Connect/Billing add-ons | 3.9% flat, everything included |
Different shapes: Stripe starts at 2.9% + 30¢ plus add-ons (Billing, Connect, Radar); paas.build is 3.9% flat with subscriptions and platform payouts included. On small tickets the missing fixed fee often makes paas.build cheaper in practice.
No. UK, EU and US businesses — including individuals and sole traders — go live the same day. No incorporation, no EIN wait.
Yes — the paas-build MCP creates the account itself (identify_business → go_live → create_checkout). Stripe’s MCP operates an account you already have.
Platform payments are built-in: onboard your users, split every payment in real time, pay everyone out — without assembling Connect.
One prompt. A real merchant account. No company required.