Understanding supported Stripe account types for Circle paywalls

Last updated: November 10, 2025

Circle integrates directly with Stripe to handle payments securely for paywalls. Each community connects its own Stripe account, giving admins full ownership of their payment data and customer information.

Circle paywalls use a Standard Stripe Connect account. This setup means that the community owner/admin is the Stripe account holder, not Circle.

With a Standard account:

• You manage payouts, refunds, and customer data directly in your Stripe dashboard.

• You retain ownership of your funds and financial information.

• You can use your Stripe account for other parts of your business outside of Circle.

• You have complete transparency over how payments are collected and distributed.

Currently, Stripe Express and Stripe Custom accounts can’t be connected to Circle.

These account types are typically used by platforms that manage payments on behalf of users, where the platform holds the main Stripe account and connected accounts operate underneath it.

Stripe is the only payment processor Circle directly integrates with today.

Because Stripe operates in specific countries, only those listed on Stripe’s supported countries page can connect a Stripe account to Circle paywalls.

If your country isn’t supported for Standard accounts, you won’t be able to connect Stripe directly to your community.

In these cases, there are a few solutions you could implement to start accepting payments from your community:

• Using a third-party payment provider integrated through Zapier: This setup allows you to automate access to your community or specific spaces after payment. Here’s how it works:

  1. Set up a third-party payment processor that supports your country and integrates with Zapier.

  2. Create a Zap that sends a Circle invite when a payment is completed.

  3. Add your checkout link from the payment processor to your lock screen page or a landing page in Circle. You can also share this link directly with your audience.

     1. 📚 For more information on how to collect payments with a third-party processor, see Integrating third-party payment solutions with Circle.

• Using Stripe Atlas to setup a U.S. company: Stripe Atlas helps you establish a U.S.-based company, open a U.S. bank account, and create a Stripe account under that business. This approach can be a good long-term solution for creators who want to use Stripe but are located in regions where Standard accounts aren’t currently supported. Here’s how it generally works:

  1. Set up a U.S. business with Stripe Atlas. You’ll go through Stripe’s guided process to incorporate and obtain the required business details.

  2. Create your Stripe account once your U.S. business is verified.

  3. Connect your Stripe account to Circle to begin processing payments through your community.

     1. 📚 To learn more about Stripe Atlas, please refer to the provided URL.