I’ve been building web applications for years, and one question always surfaces: how do you handle money safely and reliably? Recently, I decided to build a small online service, and that question became very real. I needed a way to accept payments. After looking at the options, I chose to combine Express.js, a framework I know well, with Stripe, a powerful payment service. The result was a system that felt both secure and surprisingly straightforward to put together. Let me show you how this works.
Think of your Express.js application as the manager of your business. It handles user logins, displays products, and manages the shopping cart. But when it’s time to take payment, it calls in a specialist: Stripe. This separation is crucial. Your server never has to touch sensitive credit card numbers directly. Instead, it coordinates with Stripe’s secure systems to complete the transaction. This approach is not just smart; it’s a fundamental practice for security.
So, how do these two systems talk to each other? It starts with a simple setup on your Express server. You install the Stripe library and provide your secret key. This key is like a secure password that lets your server make requests to Stripe on your behalf. You keep this key safe in your environment variables, never hard-coding it into your application files.
const express = require('express');
const stripe = require('stripe')(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY);
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());Now, let’s say a user wants to buy a digital book for $20. In the front end of your app, you might use Stripe’s pre-built UI components to collect the card details securely. Once the user clicks “Pay,” your front end sends a request to your Express server. Your server’s job is to tell Stripe about this intended payment. You do this by creating a “Payment Intent.”
app.post('/create-payment-intent', async (req, res) => {
try {
const paymentIntent = await stripe.paymentIntents.create({
amount: 2000, // $20.00, expressed in cents
currency: 'usd',
automatic_payment_methods: { enabled: true },
});
res.send({ clientSecret: paymentIntent.client_secret });
} catch (error) {
res.status(500).send({ error: error.message });
}
});Did you notice the amount is 2000? Stripe requires amounts in the smallest currency unit, like cents for US dollars. This avoids decimal errors that can happen in financial software. The server sends back a clientSecret. Your front end uses this secret to confirm the payment with Stripe, finalizing the charge. The actual card data goes straight from the user’s browser to Stripe, never passing through your server.
But what happens after the payment? How does your application know if it succeeded or failed? This is where webhooks become essential. Stripe can send event notifications to a special URL in your Express app. You can listen for these events to update your database, send a confirmation email, or grant access to a purchased service.
// This is a simplified webhook endpoint
app.post('/stripe-webhook', express.raw({type: 'application/json'}), (req, res) => {
const sig = req.headers['stripe-signature'];
let event;
try {
event = stripe.webhooks.constructEvent(req.body, sig, process.env.WEBHOOK_SECRET);
} catch (err) {
return res.status(400).send(`Webhook Error: ${err.message}`);
}
// Handle the specific event
if (event.type === 'payment_intent.succeeded') {
const paymentIntent = event.data.object;
console.log(`Payment for ${paymentIntent.amount} was successful!`);
// Here, you would update your database order status
}
res.json({received: true});
});This setup handles one-time payments well, but what about subscriptions? The pattern is similar but involves creating a “Customer” in Stripe and then setting up a subscription for them. Stripe then automatically bills that customer on a schedule, and your webhook endpoint listens for subscription events like invoice.paid or customer.subscription.deleted. This automation is a huge time-saver.
You might wonder, is this only for big companies? Not at all. This combination scales from a weekend project to a global platform. For a simple app, you can start with just a few routes. As you grow, you can add more complex logic, like handling coupons, calculating taxes, or splitting payments between multiple parties.
The beauty lies in the focus. Express handles your application’s rules, user experience, and data. Stripe handles the complex, regulated world of moving money. You don’t have to become an expert in fraud detection or international tax law. You can rely on Stripe’s systems for that, while you focus on what makes your application unique.
I found that starting with a simple one-time payment flow was the best way to learn. Once that worked, adding subscriptions felt like a natural next step. The documentation for both tools is excellent, and there are plenty of clear examples to follow. The most important step is just to begin.
Building this integration gave me confidence. It showed me that adding professional payment processing to an application is an achievable task. It turns a complex problem into a series of clear, manageable steps. If you’re thinking about adding payments to your own project, I encourage you to try this approach. Set up a test environment, use Stripe’s test card numbers, and build a simple checkout. You might be surprised by how quickly it comes together.
What was your experience when you first tried to handle payments in an app? I’d love to hear about it. If you found this walk-through helpful, please share it with another developer who might be facing the same challenge. Feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts or questions.
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