SitesPlaced now supports Stripe — and never asks for your secret key

TL;DR

• • Free plan. 0% SitesPlaced commission, as with every payment method.
• • We ask for a restricted key, which cannot move your money or read your customer list.
• • No webhook signing secret to copy — we register the endpoint for you.
• • Apple Pay and Google Pay appear automatically, with nothing to configure.
• • Stripe Tax supported if you use it, with one tick box.

The part that matters: we ask for the weaker key

Stripe issues two kinds of secret. The secret key (`sk_live_…`) can do everything in your account — move money, read your customers, change your settings. A restricted key (`rk_live_…`) can do only what you allow.

We ask for a restricted key with exactly four permissions, and we tell you which boxes to tick. It cannot pay itself out of your balance, cannot read your customer list, and cannot change your account.

This is worth being blunt about: if any website builder asks you for your full `sk_live_` key, that is a reason to stop. There is no feature that requires it. We built this integration specifically so you never have to hand one over.

And no signing secret to copy

The step that derails most Stripe setups is creating a webhook endpoint in Stripe and copying a `whsec_` value back into your store. It is fiddly, it is easy to paste wrong, and when it is wrong nothing tells you until an order fails to confirm.

Because the restricted key includes permission to manage webhook endpoints, we register ours on your account at connect time. There is no fifth step. Disconnecting deletes it again.

What your customers get

• • Cards — credit and debit, with the bank-verification step UK and EU cards legally require handled on Stripe's page.
• • Apple Pay and Google Pay — automatically, on devices that support them, with nothing to configure.
• • Klarna, Afterpay, Link — switch them on in your own Stripe dashboard and they appear at your checkout with no change here.

Card details never touch your website, so none of the security burden of handling them lands on you.

Tax, honestly

Connecting your own Stripe account makes you the seller of record, so sales tax and VAT are yours to handle. That is the trade for keeping 100% of the money and owning the customer relationship.

If you use Stripe Tax, turn it on in your Stripe dashboard and tick one box in your store settings, and Stripe calculates tax at checkout. In the US, states can require collection once you pass a threshold — commonly around $100,000 or 200 orders a year, though it varies. If you are near it, talk to an accountant rather than a website builder.

Which gateway for which customer

Stripe is the right rail for customers paying in dollars, pounds and euros. For Indian customers paying in rupees, Razorpay, PhonePe or Cashfree are better because they support UPI, which is how most Indian shoppers actually want to pay.

All five are on the free plan and can be connected at once. A store selling to both markets shows the right options to each customer and pays 0% commission either way.

If you do not have the website yet

Everything above assumes you already have a store to put Stripe on. If you are still taking orders in DMs, that is the part worth fixing first.

A SitesPlaced store is free to build and publish, with 0% commission on every sale, on every plan — and 21 integrations included rather than sold as add-ons. You can import your catalogue straight from Instagram instead of typing products in one at a time.

Step-by-step setup: how to accept Stripe payments on your own website.

Frequently asked questions