I built a no-OAuth Stripe fee auditor from Balance CSVs

Hey IH,

I got tired of the Stripe 2.9% myth.

Like a lot of small SaaS founders, I assumed Stripe was eating roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Then I exported my Stripe Balance CSV and did the math.

Between international cards, small transactions, refunds, and other fee lines, my real blended rate was meaningfully higher than the headline number.

Stripe’s dashboard is excellent, but it is not really designed to answer one simple question:

“Why is my actual fee rate higher than I expected?”

So I built Stripe Fee Auditor.

It analyzes an itemized Stripe Balance CSV and shows:

- your processing fee rate vs all-in Stripe cost rate

- which transactions are driving fees up

- refund fee leakage

- unusual high-fee charges

- month-over-month changes

- directional savings opportunities like ACH, local payment methods, or bundling small charges

The privacy angle is important to me, so the product does not use Stripe OAuth and does not ask for API keys. You export the CSV yourself from Stripe and upload it.

Important update from the original prototype: this is no longer a completely offline/browser-only tool. CSVs are sent over HTTPS to the server for analysis so reports can be reopened, emailed, and unlocked after payment. Raw CSV files are not stored; the app stores a temporary derived analysis report, and free-text descriptions are stripped where possible.

So the current promise is:

No Stripe OAuth.

No API keys.

Raw CSV files are not stored.

Temporary derived reports only.

I’m especially curious whether other SaaS founders are surprised by their real effective fee rate. My guess is many are sitting in the 4-6% range and don’t realize it.

Would love feedback, especially from anyone who has international customers, lots of small payments, or frequent refunds.

-Ksantor