Next.js 14 + Stripe: The Complete Integration Guide (App Router)

Next.js 14 + Stripe: The Complete Integration Guide (App Router) Stripe integration with Next.js App Router trips up more developers than it should. The docs cover the pieces — but not how they fit together in a production app. This is the pattern I've settled on after wiring up Stripe in multiple AI SaaS products. Architecture Overview Three moving parts: Stripe Checkout — redirect users to Stripe's hosted payment page Webhooks — Stripe calls your API to confirm payment completed Access control — check payment status before showing protected content The common mistake: trying to grant access on the Checkout success redirect. Don't. The redirect can be spoofed. Webhooks cannot. 1. Install and Configure npm install stripe @stripe/stripe-js .env.local: STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_... STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_... NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_... lib/stripe.ts: import Stripe from "stripe"; export const stripe = new Stripe(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY!, { apiVersion: "2024-0