Principle:Helicone Helicone Payment Processing
| Knowledge Sources | |
|---|---|
| Domains | Billing, Payments, Pricing |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-14 06:32 GMT |
Overview
Payment Processing encompasses the calculation of fees, determination of pricing tiers, and integration with payment providers to handle subscription billing and usage-based charges.
Description
A SaaS platform must translate its pricing model into concrete monetary calculations: determining which tier a customer belongs to, computing the charges for their usage, accounting for payment processor fees (percentage-based and fixed), and orchestrating the actual charge through a payment gateway. This involves multiple layers: a pricing tier definition that maps feature sets and limits to plan levels; a pricing calculator that computes costs based on usage metrics; and a fee calculator that accounts for the payment processor's cut when determining net revenue or when passing fees through to the customer.
In Helicone, Stripe serves as the payment processor. The system maintains definitions of pricing tiers (free, pro, enterprise), calculates platform fees, and computes Stripe's processing fees (percentage plus fixed per-transaction amount) to determine final charge amounts.
Usage
Use payment processing logic when:
- Implementing subscription plan selection and checkout flows.
- Calculating the net amount after payment processor fees.
- Determining which features a user has access to based on their plan.
- Generating invoices or receipts that itemize charges and fees.
Theoretical Basis
Fee calculation follows a linear fee model: fee = amount * rate + fixed_fee, where the rate is the percentage fee and fixed_fee is the per-transaction charge. Pricing tiers implement a step function that maps a continuous input (usage level or selected plan) to a discrete output (tier with associated limits and pricing). The overall billing system follows the Separation of Concerns principle: tier determination, usage metering, fee calculation, and payment gateway interaction are independent modules composed together.