ChargebackDesk · Compare your options
ChargebackDesk, Stripe Smart Disputes, or doing it yourself
Three ways to answer a Stripe dispute on digital goods, set out by mechanism: who assembles the evidence, from what, who submits it, who reads it first, what each path costs, and when things have to happen. No outcome claims — issuers decide disputes, and none of the three paths changes that.
How to read this page. The ChargebackDesk column describes our own service as it works today. The Smart Disputes column summarises Stripe's published pricing page and support documentation as we read them on 2026-10-13; Stripe sets and changes those rules, so check stripe.com/pricing and your own Dashboard before relying on any of it. The do-it-yourself column describes answering the dispute in your Stripe Dashboard with no outside help. ChargebackDesk is independent and not affiliated with Stripe, Inc.
| Mechanism | ChargebackDesk | Stripe Smart Disputes | Doing it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who assembles the evidence | We do: a short factual narrative, an evidence index where every exhibit names its source, the exhibits, and a "what is NOT included — and why" section. Assembly is AI-assisted under human review. | Stripe does. Stripe's documentation describes Smart Disputes as building an evidence packet for you from the data it holds. | You do, in Stripe's dispute response form. |
| Evidence source | Your own exports: the dispute record and receipt from Stripe, plus access logs, license or delivery records, and support threads from your platform. We never ask for logins or API keys. | Data Stripe already has about the payment and customer; for disputes on fully refunded charges, the refund data (Stripe cites the Acquirer Reference Number where available). | Anything you can export or screenshot yourself. |
| Who submits | You do, in your own Stripe Dashboard, after reviewing the packet. Nothing is submitted without your approval of that case. | Stripe does, automatically before the deadline, when auto-submissions are enabled; otherwise you can submit the Stripe-built packet from your Dashboard. | You do. |
| Human review before submission | Yes, two people: a named person at the desk reads every packet against the source files and signs it off, then you confirm every fact matches your records. | Yours, if you choose to review the Stripe-built packet before it is submitted. Stripe's documentation we have read does not describe a human review step on Stripe's side. | Yours. |
| Weak cases | Refused, at no charge, with the missing item named: below the category minimum, outside what we handle, inside 96 hours of the due-by date, or when your records show the customer is right. We never invent, reconstruct, or "improve" evidence. | Stripe decides which disputes are eligible for Smart Disputes; check the dispute in your Dashboard. | Your call. The free checker and the guides say when the honest answer is to accept. |
| Fee for the response | Our fee is 20% of what you recover, charged only if you win. If you lose or we decline, our fee is $0. Stripe's own dispute fees are separate. No minimum, no maximum. Worked example: $297 recovered, fee $59.40. | A Smart Disputes fee, charged only if you win; none on a lost dispute. The current figure is on stripe.com/pricing. Stripe states the fee is waived for the refund defense on eligible fully refunded charges. | None, beyond Stripe's own dispute fees. |
| Stripe's dispute fees | Stripe's dispute received fee applies as on any dispute. Because you submit manually, Stripe's dispute countered fee applies too; Stripe states it is returned on won disputes (US pricing). | Stripe's dispute received fee applies. Stripe lists evidence it submits through Smart Disputes as an exception to the countered fee. | Stripe's dispute received fee applies, and the countered fee for a manual response; Stripe states the countered fee is returned on won disputes (US pricing). |
| Timing | We need your case at least 4 days (96 hours) before Stripe's evidence due-by date. The packet reaches you at least 72 hours before it; if we accept a case and miss that, our fee on that case is $0. Inside 96 hours we decline. | With auto-submissions enabled, Stripe submits its packet shortly before the deadline. Evidence is effectively a single submission, so a Stripe-built packet and a manual response cannot both go in — see the FAQ on auto-submit. | Any time up to the due-by date on the dispute. Miss it and the dispute is lost automatically. |
| Scope | Digital goods sold on your own Stripe account, in the seven Stripe dispute categories our checklists cover. Not platform-of-record payments, not physical goods. | Disputes Stripe marks eligible, on any Stripe account; eligibility is per dispute. | Any dispute Stripe lets you respond to. |
| Where the terms live | The published service agreement (version and hash shown), the Terms and Privacy Policy. | Stripe's Services Agreement and pricing page. | Stripe's Services Agreement. |
Using more than one
Because Stripe treats the evidence on a dispute as effectively a single submission, the paths are alternatives for any one dispute, not layers. If Smart Disputes auto-submission is on and you want to submit a ChargebackDesk packet, submit it yourself before Stripe's automatic submission, or turn auto-submission off in your Stripe dispute settings for that period. A dispute Stripe has already answered has no response left to file. The FAQ covers this in one answer.
What this page does not say
It does not rank the three paths by outcome. We have no outcome statistics and will not publish any until we have real ones read from Stripe's dispute records, and Stripe's own figures are Stripe's to publish. Choose on mechanism: where the evidence lives, who you want reading it, and how much time you have.