Connect Stripe

Arcalotl uses Stripe Connect (Direct Charges) to process payments. Money goes directly to your Stripe account. Arcalotl never holds your funds.

How it works

1. Open your community's Settings in the dashboard and press Connect Stripe (in-platform setup commands link to the same flow)
2. Pick one of two options: use a Stripe account you already have, or have Arcalotl set one up for you without leaving the dashboard
3. Sign in to Stripe, or fill in what Stripe asks for
4. Authorize Arcalotl to create charges on your behalf
5. Return to the dashboard; the payment status updates on Settings

Which option should I pick?

Both options end with the same kind of account: a full Stripe account in your name, with the Stripe Dashboard, that you keep if you ever stop using Arcalotl.

Use your own Stripe account if you already have one, run a business that is already on Stripe, or plan to sell anywhere else. You sign in on stripe.com, or create an account there in a few minutes, and Arcalotl only gets permission to run checkouts on it. This works in every country Stripe supports.

Set one up here if you have never used Stripe and want the shortest path. Arcalotl opens the account for you and Stripe's form runs inside the dashboard. You pick your country first, because Stripe locks the country the moment the account exists. The list only shows countries Arcalotl can open accounts in; if yours is not there, use your own Stripe account instead.

If you started a setup before September 2026 and never finished it, the dashboard asks you to restart it. Those setups were opened the old way and cannot be completed; nothing you entered is needed again.

What Arcalotl accesses

When you connect your Stripe account, Arcalotl receives:

• Your Stripe account ID, so Arcalotl can create Checkout Sessions, products, prices, subscriptions, coupons, refunds, and card-update sessions in the connected account
• Stripe webhook events, so Arcalotl can track subscription, invoice, refund, dispute, and account status changes

Arcalotl does not receive or store bank account details, tax information, personal financial records, or card numbers.

Checkout and the member portal

When a member chooses a plan, Arcalotl opens its own checkout page for your community. Card entry, payment authentication, and payment method storage happen inside secure Stripe payment fields embedded in that page, so card data never touches Arcalotl's servers. Arcalotl grants access after the payment is confirmed.

Members manage billing in the Arcalotl member portal, linked from /manage in every bot and from every receipt. Cards are updated through a Stripe card form inside that portal, so neither you nor your staff ever handle card data. Cancellation, pausing and plan changes run through Arcalotl's own flows, so save offers are never bypassed. One-time purchases and donations show in the portal's payment history but have no subscription to change or cancel.

You do not configure Stripe webhooks by hand. Arcalotl listens for Stripe events on its platform webhook endpoint and updates access, retention flows, and dashboard data from those events.

Using an existing Stripe account

If you already have a Stripe account with other products or subscriptions, you can still connect it. Arcalotl creates products and prices in that account for plans created through Arcalotl, and existing objects are left alone.

If you already have Stripe products with monthly or annual prices, you can import plans after connecting Stripe.

Refunds and disputes

When refund or dispute events affect access, Arcalotl resolves the related subscription or purchase and updates access automatically.

For creator-initiated refunds, the dashboard Subscribers view supports Cancel at period end and Refund and cancel. Use Stripe directly for partial refunds or older charges.

Fees

For the full fee breakdown, see Pricing.