PromptBase Founder Launches Zoneless to Slash Stripe Connect Payout Fees
The open-source tool replaces traditional payment rails with USDC on Solana, reducing transaction costs to fractions of a cent.
Ben Stokes, the founder of AI marketplace PromptBase, has released Zoneless, an open-source drop-in replacement for the payout functionality of Stripe Connect. The tool enables marketplace operators to bypass traditional banking rails by paying sellers globally using USDC stablecoins on the Solana blockchain.
Stokes developed the software after discovering his own platform was spending approximately $9,400 per month on Stripe Connect fees. By migrating to Zoneless, payout costs are reduced from thousands of dollars to approximately $0.002 per transaction. To facilitate easy adoption, Zoneless utilizes an API and SDK designed to be identical to Stripe's, allowing developers to switch systems by changing imports with minimal code modifications. The project is released under the Apache 2.0 license.
The Friction of Traditional Payouts
Marketplace operators frequently encounter opaque and expensive fee structures when using traditional processors. These costs typically include monthly active account fees, domestic and international payout charges, cross-border fees, and foreign exchange costs. Beyond the financial burden, traditional systems often suffer from slow settlement times—ranging from two to seven days—and limited geographic availability, which creates significant friction for the global creator economy.
Expanding Global Reach
By leveraging the Solana blockchain, Zoneless expands the reach of marketplace payouts to over 220 countries and regions. This infrastructure allows for near-instant settlement regardless of a seller's local banking capabilities.
Stokes tested the tool through a "dogfooding" phase at PromptBase, which serves over 450,000 users. During this period, more than 2,200 sellers were onboarded and over 1,400 payouts were completed. The results indicated a strong preference for the new system, with 73% of sellers choosing Zoneless over Stripe.
Implications for B2B Payments
The launch of Zoneless represents a shift toward using stablecoins as "boring tech" to solve specific B2B inefficiencies rather than speculative assets. By providing a self-hostable alternative with a familiar developer experience, the tool lowers the barrier for platforms to exit proprietary, high-fee payment rails. This move empowers marketplaces to maintain higher margins while ensuring creators receive funds faster and more reliably.
What to Watch
As more marketplaces explore self-hosted payout infrastructure, the industry will likely monitor the long-term adoption rates of stablecoins among non-crypto-native sellers. While the PromptBase pilot showed high acceptance, the broader transition will depend on how developers balance the cost savings of Solana with the regulatory and accounting requirements of handling digital assets across different jurisdictions.