Payments
Set up Stripe Connect or PayPal to get paid per milestone or invoice.
Note
Payment collection is available on Solo and Pro plans. The Free plan generates invoices but does not include online payment links.
Overview
Cliento supports two payment methods: Stripe Connect (automated, recommended) and PayPal (manual tracking). Both work through the client portal — your client pays without creating an account.
Stripe Connect (recommended)
Stripe Connect uses Direct Charges: your client is charged directly to your Stripe account. Cliento acts as the platform — it never holds your money.
Setup
Go to Profile → Payments
Click Connect with Stripe and follow the Stripe onboarding flow. You'll need to provide your business details and bank account.
Complete Stripe onboarding
Stripe may ask for identity verification depending on your country and volume. This is a one-time process.
Confirm the connection
Once connected, a green badge appears in your profile. You're ready to collect payments.
Tip
Use a Stripe test account during development. Switch to live keys before sharing real client links.
How it works
Once Stripe is connected:
- Every invoice with an amount gets a Stripe Checkout link automatically.
- Your client clicks Pay by card in the portal.
- Stripe processes the payment.
- The invoice is marked Paid automatically via webhook.
- You receive an email notification confirming the payment.
- Funds are deposited directly to your bank account (usually 2 business days).
Fees
Stripe charges its standard processing fee (typically 1.4% + €0.25 for European cards). Cliento charges no additional commission.
Milestone payments
To enable per-milestone payment in the client portal:
- Add an amount to the milestone in your project.
- Ensure Stripe is connected.
- The client portal will show a Pay by card button on milestones in "Waiting validation" state.
After successful payment, you will need to manually mark the milestone as Paid and Validated from your dashboard.
PayPal
PayPal integration is manual — Cliento embeds your PayPal.me link as a payment button but does not receive payment confirmation automatically.
Setup
Get your PayPal.me link
Log into PayPal and go to paypal.com/paypalme to create your personal link (e.g. paypal.me/yourname).
Add it to your profile
Go to Profile → Payments → PayPal link and paste your PayPal.me URL.
How it works
- Invoice and milestone pages show a Pay with PayPal button.
- The client is redirected to PayPal to complete payment.
- You receive a PayPal notification when paid.
- Mark the invoice as Paid manually in your Cliento dashboard.
Automatic reminders
Cliento sends automatic email reminders for PayPal invoices that are overdue by 3 days or more. The reminder email includes a direct link to mark the invoice as paid with one click.
Warning
PayPal payments are not tracked automatically. You must update invoice status yourself after each payment.
Stripe vs PayPal comparison
| Stripe Connect | PayPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic status update | Yes (invoices only) | No |
| Milestone auto-validation | No (manual) | No |
| Setup complexity | Medium (onboarding) | Low |
| Processing fee | ~1.4% + €0.25 | ~3.4% + fixed fee |
| Recommended | Yes | Backup option |
Troubleshooting
Invoice not marked Paid after Stripe payment
Check that your Stripe webhook is configured correctly.
Go to your Stripe dashboard → Developers → Webhooks and verify the endpoint points to your Cliento backend.
Ensure the webhook listens to checkout.session.completed events and that you attach an invoiceId in the session metadata.
For Stripe Connect accounts: Enable "Connect webhook forwarding" in your webhook settings to receive events from connected accounts. This ensures that when a client pays an invoice through a freelancer's Stripe Connect account, the payment status is automatically updated in Cliento.
Client sees no payment button
- Confirm your Stripe account is connected (green badge in Profile → Payments).
- Confirm the invoice has an amount greater than 0.
- Confirm the invoice status is Sent (Draft invoices do not show payment buttons).