How to Test Stripe Webhooks

Stripe uses webhooks to notify your application when events like payments, subscriptions, and disputes occur.

Looking for the broader picture? See the 7 best webhook testing tools (2026), or if you're already on Webhook.site, the 60-second migration to HookRay.

1. Stripe Webhook Events

Stripe can send the following webhook events to your endpoint:

2. Set Up a Test Endpoint with HookRay

Follow these steps to start receiving Stripe webhooks for testing:

1. Go to HookRay and click "Start Testing — Free" to get your unique webhook URL.
2. Copy the URL (e.g., https://h.hookray.com/abc123).
3. In your Stripe dashboard, navigate to the webhook settings and paste the HookRay URL as your endpoint.
4. Select the events you want to receive (see list above).
5. Trigger a test event — HookRay will show the incoming webhook in real-time.

3. Sample Stripe Webhook Payload

Here's an example of what a Stripe webhook payload looks like:

{
  "id": "evt_1234567890",
  "type": "checkout.session.completed",
  "data": {
    "object": {
      "id": "cs_test_abc123",
      "amount_total": 4999,
      "currency": "usd",
      "customer_email": "customer@example.com",
      "payment_status": "paid"
    }
  }
}

4. How to Verify Stripe Webhook Signatures

Node.js (Express)

// Express + Stripe SDK — let the SDK do the timing-safe comparison.
import Stripe from 'stripe';
const stripe = new Stripe(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY!);

app.post(
  '/webhooks/stripe',
  // CRITICAL: the verifier needs the RAW body, not parsed JSON.
  express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }),
  (req, res) => {
    const sig = req.headers['stripe-signature'] as string;
    try {
      const event = stripe.webhooks.constructEvent(
        req.body,
        sig,
        process.env.STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET!,
      );
      // event.type, event.data.object — safe to act on
      res.json({ received: true });
    } catch (err) {
      res.status(400).send(`Webhook Error: ${(err as Error).message}`);
    }
  },
);

Python (FastAPI)

# FastAPI + stripe-python.
import os, stripe
from fastapi import FastAPI, Request, HTTPException

stripe.api_key = os.environ['STRIPE_SECRET_KEY']
app = FastAPI()

@app.post("/webhooks/stripe")
async def stripe_webhook(request: Request):
    payload = await request.body()  # raw bytes
    sig_header = request.headers.get('stripe-signature')
    try:
        event = stripe.Webhook.construct_event(
            payload=payload,
            sig_header=sig_header,
            secret=os.environ['STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET'],
        )
    except (ValueError, stripe.error.SignatureVerificationError):
        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail='invalid signature')
    return {'received': True, 'type': event['type']}

Capture a real Stripe webhook with HookRay first, then replay the captured request against your verifier locally — that way you can iterate on the verification code without re-triggering events in Stripe. Read Stripe's official signing docs for the canonical reference, or see the cross-service signature verification guide for Ruby and timing-safe comparison patterns.

5. How Stripe Retries Failed Webhooks

If your handler is going to see the same Stripe event multiple times, you need idempotency by event ID and the right response codes — see the Webhook Retry Strategies guide for the full pattern (idempotency tables, dead-letter queues, replaying captured events for tests). Cross-reference with Stripe's official retry docs before relying on these numbers in production.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

7. Next Steps

• Use HookRay's webhook replay feature to re-send captured webhooks while building your handler
• Enable smart parsing (Pro plan) to see Stripe-specific fields highlighted automatically
• Check the Stripe webhook documentation for the complete event reference