Do I need a website to sign up for Stripe?

Not always, but it is the smoothest path. Stripe's help pages say businesses that sell or promote their services online should give the URL of a business website, social media profile, or mobile app when they activate their account. If you have none of those, Stripe says you can describe what you sell instead, or contact its support for other ways to verify your business. A real website that shows the required details is the option least likely to stall.

What does my website need to show for Stripe to approve it?

Stripe's business website FAQ lists your business name and a description of your goods or services that match what you told Stripe, plus customer service contact details, a refund and dispute policy, a cancellation policy if one applies, a return policy if you sell physical goods, and terms for any promotions. The page also has to load without a password. For a painter, cleaner, or contractor that means your name, your services, your phone and email, and a short written policy on deposits, refunds, and cancellations.

Can I use my Facebook page instead of a website for Stripe?

Stripe's help pages say a social media profile can be used, as long as you give the full URL rather than just your handle, and as long as any required information the profile can't hold, like a refund policy, is linked and easy to reach from the profile. In practice that means you still need somewhere to host the policy, which is usually a website.

How much does RunCabin cost?

Starting at $499 one time to build the site, then $39.99 a month for hosting (or $479.88 a year). The build includes setting up your own domain, hosting, a photo gallery, a map, and a quote form that emails you. Optional tools are priced by complexity, and you see the total before you pay. No long contract, cancel the hosting anytime, no lead fees, and your domain stays yours.

RunCabin Blog · Getting paid

Stripe is asking for my business website. What do I put?

October 24, 2026 · 8 min read

Short answer: put in a real web address that shows who you are, what you do, how to reach you, and your refund and cancellation terms. Stripe isn't asking because it wants to judge your design. It's asking because it has to confirm you're a real business selling what you said you sell, and the website field is the fastest way to check. If you don't have a site yet, there are fallbacks, but they're slower and they still expect the same information to live somewhere a customer can see it.

This usually comes up at a bad moment. You've got a customer ready to pay a deposit by card, you start setting up Stripe (or an invoicing app that runs its card payments through a processor like Stripe), and the form stops at a box that says Business website. You don't have one. Maybe you type in your Facebook page, maybe you type in a domain you bought but never built, and then the account sits in review. Here's what's actually going on and how to get through it.

Why a payment company cares about your website

When you take a card payment, the processor is on the hook if something goes wrong. If a customer disputes a charge, the processor has to sort it out with the card network. So before they let you take money, they want to know a few basic things:

You're a real business, with a name that matches the one on your account.
What you're charging for. A house painter taking deposits looks very different from someone selling supplements.
That customers can reach you and know your terms before they pay, which matters a lot when a charge gets disputed later.

A website answers all three in one link. That's why the field is there. It isn't a test of whether you're "big enough." A one-truck business with a simple, honest site is exactly what they're expecting to see.

What Stripe says your site needs to show

Stripe publishes its own list in its business website FAQ. In plain terms, your website, social profile, or app must include:

Your business name, matching what you entered on your Stripe account.
A description of your services that matches what you told Stripe you sell.
Customer service contact details - a phone number and email at minimum.
A refund and dispute policy.
A cancellation policy, if one applies to what you sell.
A return policy, only if you sell physical goods.
Legal or export restrictions, if any apply.
Terms for any promotions you run.

The same FAQ adds two details that trip people up: the page has to load without a password, and Stripe says your account may not be activated until the website actually contains this information. Stripe also says it checks sites on an ongoing basis, and may ask you to confirm you own the site you listed.

What that means for a service business

Most of that list is written with online stores in mind. For a painter, cleaner, landscaper, handyman, or contractor, it boils down to five things on your site:

Your business name, spelled the way it is on your Stripe account and your bank account. If you're an LLC with a DBA, make the connection obvious, like "Summit Painting, a service of Summit Home Services LLC." (More on that in should my website use my LLC name or my DBA?)
A plain list of your services. "Interior and exterior residential painting, cabinet refinishing, deck staining." If you told Stripe you do painting, don't let your homepage read like a general marketing agency.
Your phone and email, in text, on every page. Not just a contact form. A reviewer, and a customer, should be able to reach a human.
A short payment and refund policy. How deposits work, when they're refundable, and what happens if the job is cancelled. Three or four sentences is enough.
Your service area, so it's clear you're a local business doing local work.

Writing the refund and cancellation policy

This is the part most owners don't have, and it's the part that does the most work for you later. It doesn't need a lawyer's touch to be useful. It needs to be clear and match how you actually run jobs. Something like:

Deposits and payments. We collect a deposit of 25% to schedule your job. The balance is due when the work is complete and you've walked through it with us.

Cancellations. Cancel or reschedule at least 72 hours before your start date and we refund your deposit in full. Cancellations inside 72 hours may keep the deposit to cover materials already purchased.

Problems with the work. If something isn't right, call or email us and we'll come back and make it right. Questions about a charge? Contact us first at (555) 555-0123 or office@yourbusiness.com.

Swap in your real numbers. Don't promise anything you won't honor. Then link that policy from your footer so it's one click from every page. If you take deposits online, put the same terms next to the payment link too. Our post on whether your website should take deposits walks through how that fits together.

The policy is also your best friend if a customer ever disputes a charge. Being able to show that your terms were posted publicly, before they paid, is a lot stronger than "I told them on the phone." This post is general information, not legal advice; if your trade or state has specific rules about deposits or cancellations (some do for home improvement contracts), follow those first.

"I don't have a website. Can I use my Facebook page?"

Sometimes. Stripe's help pages say a social media profile can stand in for a website, with two conditions:

You give the full URL, like facebook.com/yourbusiness, not just your handle.
Any required information the profile can't hold - a refund policy is the usual one - has to be linked from the profile and easy to reach.

Read that second condition again. A Facebook page can show your name, services, and phone number, but it doesn't have a natural home for a written refund and cancellation policy. You end up needing a page somewhere else to link to, which is most of the way to having a website anyway. And if you're relying on a social profile for this, keep in mind it's a page you don't control. We cover the bigger trade-off in do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?

If you have no website and no social presence at all, Stripe's help pages say you'll be asked to describe what you sell instead, and that you can contact Stripe support about other ways to verify your business. That route works for some people. It's also the route most likely to involve back-and-forth while a customer waits to pay you.

Mistakes that stall activation

Entering a domain with nothing on it. A "coming soon" page, a parked domain, or a registrar's ad page shows none of the required information.
A site behind a password or still in "preview" mode in a website builder. If a stranger can't load it, neither can the reviewer.
A name mismatch. Your Stripe account says "J. Rivera Contracting LLC," your site says "Rivera Home Pros," and nothing connects the two.
A description mismatch. You told Stripe "house painting" and your site is mostly about something else, or it's a template that still has the sample text from a bakery.
No contact details, or only a form with no phone or email.
No refund or cancellation terms anywhere. This is the most common gap for service businesses.
Letting the site lapse later. Stripe's FAQ says the site must keep working, and it checks over time. A domain that expires a year from now can turn into a problem with an account you thought was settled.

What about Square, PayPal, and invoicing apps?

Every processor has its own sign-up flow, and they don't all ask the same things. Square's sign-up help, for example, doesn't list a website among the basics it asks for to activate an account. That doesn't mean your website stops mattering. Whichever processor you use, the same logic applies the day a customer disputes a charge: the processor wants to see what you sell, how customers reach you, and what your terms were. Field-service and invoicing apps that let you take cards also run on a payment processor behind the scenes, so you may see a similar website question during their payments setup.

The safe move is the same everywhere: have one public page with your name, services, contact details, and payment terms, and use that link whenever anyone asks.

If you're setting this up today

If a customer is waiting and you need to take a card payment this week, here's the order that causes the least friction:

Get a simple website live on your own domain with your name, services, service area, phone, and email.
Add a short payment, refund, and cancellation policy page and link it from the footer.
Make sure the site loads in a private browser window with no login.
Enter that exact URL in the processor's business website field, and use the same business name and description you put on the site.
Put the same website on your Google Business Profile so everything points to one place.

If you're brand new and still deciding what to set up first, what do I need to start a website for my business? covers the basics.

Where RunCabin fits

This is the kind of website we build: a real site on your own domain with your business name, your services, your towns, your phone and email on every page, and a quote form that sends inquiries to your inbox. If you need a payment and cancellation policy page so your processor has what it's looking for, tell us your terms and we'll add it. You answer our questionnaire, we build the site with AI, and a web developer finishes every page.

It starts at $499 to build, then $39.99 a month for hosting (or $479.88 a year), with no long contract and no lead fees. The site stays up as long as you keep it, so the link you gave Stripe keeps working, and if you ever cancel, your domain is yours.

Get a website you can put on any form

Answer our questionnaire and we build your site - your name, your services, your terms. It's built with AI and finished by a web developer. Starting at $499 to build, then $39.99 a month.

Start our planner →