Stripe checkout from Claude: $7,500 once, you own it

Claude can open a Stripe Checkout Session on the account you already own. A stranger in that chat still cannot pay a $150 hold for Thursday unless the amount, the customer, and the refund rule are written down.

Short answer: Stripe checkout from Claude means a customer pays a named deposit without leaving the AI app, and Stripe stays the record. AI Front Door Desk is $7,500 once. You own the doorway. I do not add a subscription. Look Up is $3,500 if you only need balances and unpaid sessions. The same setup works in ChatGPT, Grok, and other AI apps that support MCP connectors.

MCP is the open standard those apps use to connect to a business’s tools. One connection. Stripe’s connector is for you. The doorway is for the customer.

What is Stripe checkout from Claude?#

Stripe checkout from Claude is one Checkout Session for a named deposit, while the customer is still in the thread. Stripe’s server lets the owner create it. It does not apply a shop rule to a stranger. The doorway does. Stripe stays the record.

Stripe’s MCP docs list read, write, and create a Checkout Session. A person must confirm some writes. They name refunds and outbound payments. The approval link expires in 24 hours. Starting 31 October 2026, that server stops accepting a full-access secret key. Use OAuth or an agent key.

That connector is how I would answer my own questions. It is not how Mrs. Lopez pays.

Domestic cards on Stripe’s pricing page are 2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge. Stripe says there is no monthly fee on standard pricing. On a $150 deposit the card fee is $4.65. You pay that either way.

The fork against a leftover chat bot is MCP vs chat bots. A shop that needs the slot, not the card, uses the same shape to book Housecall Pro from ChatGPT.

Questions this should answer once it is live:

• “Take a $150 deposit for Mrs. Lopez, Thursday at 2, AC tune-up.”
• “Did the Lopez deposit clear?”
• “What is my Stripe balance today?”
• “Which Checkout Sessions from this week are still unpaid?”
• “Who paid a deposit and still has no job on the board?”

How much does Stripe checkout from Claude cost?#

Desk is $7,500 once when the customer should pay a named deposit. Look Up is $3,500 once for balances. Floor is $14,000 once when staff share the doorway. Thirty-six months later my bill is still that one number. Stripe’s 2.9% + 30¢ stays on your Stripe account.

	Stripe’s connector	A payment link you text	AI Front Door (Desk)
Who finishes	You, inside Claude or ChatGPT	The customer leaves the thread and opens the link	The customer stays in Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok
Creates Checkout	Yes, on your account, with write tools	Yes, you build the link	Yes, only for a named deposit under the rule sheet
Refunds	Stripe asks you to confirm	You refund in the Dashboard	Same rule: you confirm. The model does not refund alone
Price to me	$0	$0	$7,500 once
36 months to me	$0	$0	$7,500, plus a server you host at about $15–$40 a month

Look Up is one system, read-only: balance, unpaid sessions, “did it clear?” Desk is two systems, Stripe plus the calendar or the job board, so the hold and the job match. Floor is for staff who should not share your Stripe login. Do not buy Floor because a menu had three rows.

What does the deposit workflow look like?#

The trigger is a customer in Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok asking to pay a named deposit. The doorway checks the price and the cap, creates one Checkout Session, and writes the hold to the second system only after Stripe shows the session paid. Refunds wait for your yes.

1. Trigger. “Hold Thursday at 2 for Mrs. Lopez, $150 tune-up.” The same sentence works from ChatGPT or Grok.
2. Action. Match the price book. Refuse an amount the customer invented. On Desk, create one Checkout Session for that line only. Week one, do not charge. Show the draft.
3. System of record. Stripe for the money. The job board or the calendar for the slot. Not the chat transcript.
4. Human escalation. Over the cap. A first-time customer. A dispute. A refund. Stripe already requires a human confirmation on refunds. I keep that click.

Chasing invoices that are already late is Workflow Automation, $3,500 once for that one job, live in 7 to 10 days. It does not take a new deposit from an AI app. If the hole is the phone, that is the AI Receptionist, $8,000 once.

What would I turn on first?#

Start read-only. Watch which deposits are unpaid for a week before any customer can pay. Do not turn on create-session until the amount always matches the price book and never a sentence the customer typed.

Checklist before I take the build:

• The Stripe account is yours. I start in the sandbox. An admin connects OAuth or an agent key. I do not want a full secret pasted into a chat.
• The price book lists deposits a stranger may pay: $150 tune-up hold, $75 color deposit. Not “whatever they offer.”
• The rule fits one line: returning customers, under a dollar cap, one service, one session.
• Someone still opens Stripe. An empty price book gets empty charges.
• Refunds, coupons, and voids stay off the customer thread.

First lane: “Which Checkout Sessions from this week are unpaid, and which paid deposits have no job yet?” You click. After ten clean drafts, Desk may create the session for returning customers under the cap.

When this isn’t the right move yet#

Skip it if Stripe’s connector already answers your own balance questions, if you have no price book, or if the leak is the phone or invoices that are already late. A doorway that invents amounts is worse than a payment link you text.

Wait if:

• You only want “what is my balance?” Stripe’s connector already does that for the owner. Do not pay $7,500 for a dashboard you have.
• There is no written price. A shrug is not a Checkout line.
• The public site is where cards already convert, and the site is the thing that fails. Fix the site first.
• After-hours rings are the leak. Receptionist first.
• Unpaid invoices from last month are the leak. That is the invoice chase, not a new deposit.
• You want the model to refund, issue a coupon, or void an invoice without your click.

What is not included in the $7,500?#

The $7,500 does not include Stripe’s card fee, refunds without your confirmation, coupons, invoice chase, the phone line, or a security review. Look Up is one system. Desk covers Stripe plus the calendar or the job board.

Floor is $14,000 once when the crew and the public share the doorway. I do not replace you on a dispute. A web app security review is $2,400, and $1,200 starts it.

Name the deposit a stranger may pay, and the writes that stay off. Send the short audit. It is a short form. I reply with the replacement map within 24 hours. Desk is $7,500 once if they should leave with a paid hold. Look Up is $3,500 if you only want balances and unpaid sessions. If you would rather talk through the workflow and whether it fits, book a 20-minute call.