Payments & payouts with Stripe Connect
How direct payments work, why RentHive takes $0 commission, and how deposits, refunds, and payouts are handled.
Overview
Every direct booking payment runs through your own connected Stripe account. RentHive never holds your money and takes $0 commission on the transaction, you keep everything except Stripe's own standard processing fees.
Behind every booking is a payment ledger tracking exactly what's been charged toward the rental total versus the security deposit, and a payment status (unpaid, partial, paid, refunded) that's always derived live from that ledger, not set manually.
$1,240.00
Paid directly to your account, $0 platform commission
Security deposit
$250.00Payments settle directly to your own connected Stripe account.
How it works
- 1
Connect Stripe
Start onboarding from your Payments settings. This creates your own Stripe Express account if you don't already have one connected.
- 2
Complete Stripe's onboarding
Finish identity verification and add your bank details directly with Stripe. Both charges and payouts stay disabled until this is fully complete.
- 3
Accept guest payments
Once connected, guest payments for direct bookings settle straight to your account. Security deposits are held, then captured or released automatically based on the trip's outcome.
- 4
Check your payout history
Use your Stripe dashboard link from RentHive to see full payout history and timing, payouts follow your Stripe account's own schedule.
- 5
Issue a refund
Refund a booking fully or partially directly from its detail view, no need to log into Stripe separately for a standard refund.
Best practices
- Finish Stripe onboarding completely before turning on card payments, both charges_enabled and details_submitted need to be true on your account.
- Use your own Stripe dashboard as the source of truth for payout timing, since payouts follow Stripe's schedule, not a RentHive-specific one.
- If you accept a manual or cash payment, record it in RentHive right away so the booking's payment status keeps reflecting reality.
Things to keep in mind
- RentHive takes $0 commission on any direct booking payment, full stop, there's no percentage taken off the top before it reaches your account.
- A refund can only be issued against a payment that's already succeeded. A pending payment link can be cancelled, but not refunded, since it was never charged.
- Disconnecting Stripe from RentHive only clears the local reference, your actual Stripe account, its history, and its funds are completely untouched.
What's automated
- A booking's payment status recalculates automatically from its payment ledger every time it's viewed or a new payment event comes in.
- Extending a paid booking's dates, and therefore raising its total, automatically flips its payment status back to partial until the guest covers the difference.
Common questions
How fast will I get paid?
Payout timing follows your connected Stripe account's own payout schedule, since funds move directly from the guest's payment into your Stripe balance and out to your bank from there.
Can I accept cash for a booking instead of card?
Yes, a manual or cash payment option is available for any booking where you'd rather record payment outside of Stripe.