What are dispute fees by processor in 2026?

Dispute fees by processor vary widely in 2026, from no dispute management fee on Square to $15 or more per dispute in the US on Stripe, Shopify and PayPal. On Stripe, a US merchant who contests a $25 order and loses pays $55: the order, a $15 received fee and a $15 countered fee.

What does a lost dispute cost on Stripe?

A contested loss on Stripe costs two fees, $15 when the dispute is received and $15 more when you counter it. Stripe added the countered fee for disputes countered after 17 June 2025. The countered fee is returned if you win, and the received fee never is (outside Mexico).

The often-quoted $15 therefore covers only half of the $30 in fees a contested loss costs. Accepting does not avoid the received fee either, so accepting a $25 dispute costs $40. Use both figures when choosing which disputes to fight.

Outside the US, Stripe lists 20 GBP in the UK, 20 EUR in the Eurozone, 15 CAD in Canada, 25 AUD in Australia and 25 NZD in New Zealand, each for both fees. Where the fee is a larger share of the order, the break-even rises, so a merchant selling mainly low-priced goods there should expect to refund more often.

When is it worth fighting a $25 order?

Fighting a $25 order on Stripe pays only when your chance of winning is above 37.5%. Contesting costs $15 on a win, since you recover the order and the countered fee is returned, and $55 on a loss. Accepting costs $40 either way, so the $25 saved has to outweigh the extra $15 risked. On Stripe the break-even falls as the order grows, from 37.5% at $25 to about 27% at $40. See should I refund or fight this chargeback.

Stripe's Radar win-likelihood scale gives a guide. It puts a one-dot dispute at about 5%, two dots at 15%, three at 25%, four at 40% and five at about 60%, so on a $25 order only the top two bands clear the line.

Early fraud warnings point to a different move. Stripe says about 40% of Visa and Mastercard early fraud warnings become fraud disputes if the charge is not refunded, and it suggests refunding charges at or below roughly the dispute fee. A $12 charge with a warning is cheaper to refund than to defend.

What do Shopify, PayPal, Adyen and Square charge?

Shopify Payments charges $15 in the US, GBP 10 in the UK, 25 AUD in Australia and EUR 15 across most of the EU. One Shopify page says the fee is returned if you win, while another says it might be refunded depending on country or region. Read the page for your own country before relying on either.

PayPal publishes a $20.00 chargeback fee, and a dispute fee of $15.00 as standard or $30.00 for High Volume merchants. Its fees page, last updated on 1 October 2026, does not say whether any fee comes back on a win. Ask PayPal before you assume it does.

Adyen confirms a non-refundable fee for each chargeback, set in the Merchant Agreement, and publishes no amount. An Adyen merchant has to look at the contract.

Square's help page says there are no fees for dispute management services on chargebacks and gives seven days to respond. Square holds the disputed amount immediately, and if the customer wins, the original processing fees are not returned. Watch the seven-day window closely.

Are there any larger fees to watch?

The largest charge is also the rarest: on Stripe, contesting a Visa or Mastercard compliance dispute adds a $500 network fee, refunded on a win. No other processor page we read states a fee of that size. A merchant on any platform should ask whether one exists.

None of the processors we checked announced a dispute-fee rise in 2026.

Takeaway: what to do this week

1. Price each order against its own processor's rules. Count both fees and whether either comes back on a win.
2. Set a dollar floor. Below it, the default is a refund; on Stripe the win chance you need falls as the order grows, from 37.5% at $25 to about 27% at $40.
3. Refund small charges with an early fraud warning. Stripe suggests refunding at or below roughly the dispute fee.
4. Check your contract for hidden fees. Adyen sets its chargeback fee in the Merchant Agreement; ask any processor about compliance fees.

Sources: Stripe Support, "June 2025 pricing updates for disputes"; Stripe Docs, "How disputes work"; Stripe Docs, "Dispute best practices"; Stripe Docs, "Respond to disputes"; Shopify Help Center, "Chargeback process" and "Chargeback fees"; PayPal, US Merchant Fees (last updated 1 October 2026); Adyen, pricing page; Square Support, "Manage payment disputes". All checked 24 October 2026.