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# Connect Stripe

Connecting Stripe lets your clients pay by card. Stripe is also the only payment method that can charge a subscription automatically at the start of each billing cycle. You connect it on the **Payment methods** tab of **Settings › Sales › Payments & documents**.

## Connect Stripe and offer it on your services

1. Open **Settings › Sales › Payments & documents** and go to the **Payment methods** tab.
2. In the **Stripe** card, select **Connect** and follow the steps in Stripe.
3. Back in Zendo, check that Stripe shows as **Connected**, together with your Stripe account and its email address.
4. In **Payment Method Name**, type the name your clients will see at checkout and on documents. It does not have to say "Stripe"; "Card" works just as well.
5. Open each service that should accept cards, and in its **Finance settings**, tick Stripe in the **Payment method** list.

![The Payment methods tab: Connect in the Stripe card (2), and your manual payment methods below it.](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-b1-payment-methods.webp =602x624)

## Stripe has to be turned on for each service

Connecting Stripe does not add it to your services automatically. Each service has its own **Payment method** list, with a checkbox for every method in your workspace, and Stripe is offered only where you tick it. Quotes and invoices have their own payment method too.

A service can offer Stripe and a manual method side by side, and the client then chooses how to pay. See [Add a manual payment method](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/add-a-manual-payment-method-wwqitl/).

## Payments update by themselves

When a client pays with Stripe, Zendo is told that the money has arrived and updates the payment status. Nobody on your team has to mark anything as paid.

A subscription paid with Stripe also renews by itself. With a manual method, the client pays each period by following your instructions, and someone on your team confirms every payment. See [Sell a subscription with packages](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/sell-a-subscription-with-packages-1dy3i96/).

Stripe charges a fee on each payment, which is why the **Payment methods** tab recommends a wire transfer for larger sums.

## Test a card payment before a client pays

You can go through a card checkout without charging anyone by connecting Stripe in the Sandbox, where it works in test mode and accepts Stripe's test cards. See [Try things out in the Sandbox](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/try-things-out-in-the-sandbox-18e137x/).

## Change or disconnect Stripe

Stripe's own settings cannot be changed from Zendo. To change them, or to disconnect Stripe, go to your Stripe account.

Before you disconnect, make sure no subscriptions are still active. Active subscriptions are charged through Stripe, so disconnecting stops their payments from being collected, and this cannot be undone in Zendo.

## Related

- [Add a manual payment method](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/add-a-manual-payment-method-wwqitl/)
- [Sell a subscription with packages](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/sell-a-subscription-with-packages-1dy3i96/)
- [Sell a fixed-price service](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/sell-a-fixed-price-service-1anzfy2/)
- [Mark a document as paid or refunded](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/mark-a-document-as-paid-or-refunded-xqxof3/)
- [A payment did not change the order's status](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/a-payment-did-not-change-the-orders-status-yk08y6/)
- [Try things out in the Sandbox](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/try-things-out-in-the-sandbox-18e137x/)