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Comment by physcab | Hacker News Reader

Stripe is a game changer. I've been using it for a few months and honestly its the best API I've ever used. The documentation is clear and concise. Its customized to your account so you can literally copy and paste and see the result. Just like it says, it gets out of your way. I was up and running and accepting recurring payments in less than an hour or so. I actually began to think of larger "swing for the fence" type of ideas that I would have never considered if I were stuck to using Paypal because it was so painless. Looking forward to them eating every other payment processor's lunch.

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It's so funny, how APIs are supposed to be written by developers for developers - but you don't realize how crappy most are until you come across a good one.

The first time that happened to me, was when I wanted to run my first test transaction at the command-line, and Stripe had generated the customized console commands for my specific app (with my specific API keys, etc.) and literally allowed me to copy and paste from their secure site to my command-line without having to do any thinking.

That was my first 'aha! OMG...this API is awesome' moment. There were many others, and the truth is I forgot until you mentioned it.

Now that you mentioned it, it reminded me how blindingly simple that is to implement - but SOOO many developers (I am guilty as charged too) overlook those little details that make SUCH a difference.

Not only that but their docs include sample responses. I'm amazed at how many folks document their APIs but leave out this simple step. It can be a huge help when shopping around between providers, both just to see the quality of their docs, but also to see if their API does what I need. Since I usually have some pseudo code in my head already, being able to see sample responses and see how they fit with my code or schema, etc can make the difference between your API product and a competitor.

Anyone know whether they used a documentation tool to generate the 'example on right' style pages? E.g. https://stripe.com/api/docs?lang=python#delete_customer. It's very clean. The general layout and feel of the API doco is great.

It's mostly just a custom thing I wrote. The CSS is mostly taken (with permission) from Jeremy Ashkenas' sites (see Backbone, CoffeeScript, etc.)

Thanks! Nice work; looks tidy. I'll take a hunt around.

Navigation menu doesn't work in IPad.

I think it's fixed in iOS 5, but yeah not an ideal answer.

Looks like Docco by Jeremy Ashkenas (CoffeeScript/BackBone.js fame) with some extra styling and a navigation bar up top.

https://github.com/jashkenas/docco

I really don't get or see how Stripe is different?

Why would I use it instead of PayPal, 2CheckOut, e-junkie, etc?

As a seller of software myself (http://www.devside.net/server/webdeveloper), I can tell you that "API is cleaner" and "lower fees than 2CO" don't do anything for me at all.

Huh. If you don't care about bad APIs or high fees, what do you care about? You don't give any clues.

I sell software and subscriptions online; I'm working on the switch over the Stripe because I really appreciated their cleaner API and low fees.

I've been using PayPal because it's cheap and easy, but they screw up many foreign payments (that have worked fine when run through Stripe), the whole "eCheck" thing confuses the hell out of people, and that whole "no, you don't have to create a PayPal account" thing. It's just unprofessional.

I can set up Stripe to handle processing for me completely transparently, and still without passing credit card data through my servers.

My point is that to switch from PayPal and 2CO (which is what I use now + as is working just fine for me) I need more benefits then..

1) Getting to set up and manage another new account.

2) The pleasure of getting to rewrite (and test + debug) my backend payment process.

3) Getting a slightly cleaner API (that I'm never going to see after I implement it).

4) Saving an extra dollar on every transaction (of a $125 sale).

5) Working with a relatively new, and in that effect, inexperienced payment processor.

1 and 2 are not benefits to me at all. 3 and 4 I don't care about because they are marginal at best. 5 is a killer.

So why would I use Stripe?

> I can set up Stripe to handle processing for me completely transparently, and still without passing credit card data through my servers.

Same as it is now.

> I've been using PayPal because it's cheap and easy, but they screw up many foreign payments (that have worked fine when run through Stripe), the whole "eCheck" thing confuses the hell out of people, and that whole "no, you don't have to create a PayPal account" thing. It's just unprofessional.

Without experience, Stripe will screw up even more. If not on this part, then definitely on other parts. It's just the way it works.

Nothing differentiates Stripe for me from the rest of the bunch and I'm not going to fall over backwards putting in more work to switch to Stripe just because someone says the API is cleaner.

Give me an actual benefit and I'll consider.

Though it's hard to tell if this is just part of the sarcasm, or a legitimate concern, let me clear it up: you can sell things anywhere in the world with Stripe, you simply need to sell them from a US business entity.

Misunderstanding on my part. Fixed.

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