Understand the controller properties that distinguish Stripe Connect Standard, Express, and Custom accounts and select the right type for a marketplace
Review the three account types: Standard accounts have full Stripe dashboard access and Stripe handles requirements collection; Express accounts use a Stripe-hosted onboarding flow with a limited dashboard; Custom accounts give the platform full UI responsibility
Compare controller.stripe_dashboard.type (full vs express vs none) and controller.requirement_collection (stripe vs application) to understand who owns the onboarding experience for each type
Evaluate controller.losses.payments (stripe vs application) to determine liability allocation for negative balances and disputes under each account type
Map your marketplace use case — consider whether connected accounts are sophisticated businesses (Standard fits), need a guided lightweight onboarding (Express fits), or if you want full control of the UX (Custom fits)
Check country and currency availability for each account type in Stripe's Connect availability matrix before committing to a type, as not all types are available in all geographies
Prototype in test mode with each type to validate that the onboarding and payout flows work end-to-end before hardcoding the account type in production code
Known gotchas
Standard accounts authenticate separately to Stripe and can see all their Stripe data including charges made outside your platform — this may not be appropriate if you want to restrict the connected account's visibility
Once a Connect account is created with a given type, you cannot change its type — choose carefully and test in sandbox before going live
Custom accounts require the platform to handle all regulatory disclosure obligations (e.g., displaying Stripe's legal terms); failing to do so can result in account suspension — consult the platform agreement and disclosure requirements documentation
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp