Comparison
Victava vs ChargePay
ChargePay is the lowest absolute price floor in the market — flat $19.99–$99.99/mo, no success fee. We're different: $0 install, 20% only when we win, mandatory merchant approval before every submission. Here's when each option wins.
Honesty up front
ChargePay ships a flat monthly fee model with four tiers tied to Shopify plan size: Basic $19.99, Grow $39.99, Advanced $79.99, Plus $99.99. Unlimited disputes included, agentic AI auto-files representments, no success fee — you keep 100% of recovered revenue. 30-day free trial.
Victava is live on Stripe, charges nothing to install, and takes 20% only on disputes we actually win — $0 if we recover nothing this month. We pull evidence Stripe can't reach (Shopify orders, helpdesk threads, carrier delivery proof), run the expected value on each dispute so you skip the ones that lose money, and require your approval before every Stripe submission — an architectural rule, not a setting.
For low dispute volumes, ChargePay's flat fee is genuinely cheaper. For higher volumes or when you want control + transparency, Victava wins on math and on product. Below is the actual crossover point.
Where's the crossover?
Assume an average recovered amount of $80/dispute (typical DTC AOV). Here's the monthly cost at different dispute volumes:
| Disputes won/mo | ChargePay Grow ($39.99) | ChargePay Advanced ($79.99) | Victava (20% × $80) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $39.99 | $79.99 | $0.00 | Victava wins decisively (you don't pay for nothing) |
| 1 | $39.99 | $79.99 | $16.00 | Victava cheaper |
| 2 | $39.99 | $79.99 | $32.00 | Victava still cheaper |
| 3 | $39.99 | $79.99 | $48.00 | ChargePay Grow narrowly wins on price |
| 5 | $39.99 | $79.99 | $80.00 | ChargePay Grow wins on price; Victava still cheaper than Advanced |
| 10 | $39.99 | $79.99 | $160.00 | ChargePay flat-fee wins on price (high volume) |
Math assumes $80 average recovery (typical DTC AOV) and ChargePay's published pricing. Adjust for your real average dispute amount: the crossover at Grow tier is roughly $39.99 / 0.20 / avg_recovery disputes.
Why this matters
ChargePay's flat fee is best for merchants with predictably high dispute volume. Victava's success fee is best for merchants with volatile or zero-some-months volume. Most DTC stores at $100k–$5M GMV running Stripe on Shopify are in the second group: 0–5 disputes/mo with month-over-month volatility.
Side by side
| Dimension | Victava | ChargePay |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing modelSource: chargepay.ai/pricing (snapshot 2026-04-26) | $0 install · 20% on win · $0 on loss · $0 if no disputes | $19.99–$99.99/mo flat (4 tiers) · billed regardless of disputes · 30-day free trial |
| Submission controlSource: chargepay.ai/how-it-works + Shopify App Store reviews | Mandatory merchant approval before every Stripe submission — architectural, not a setting | Fully automated — “fights and wins chargebacks for you, automatically”. No documented per-dispute review step. |
| Tells you when not to fight (expected value)Source: Victava product behavior — see /how-it-works | Yes — an EV engine weighs the amount, real win odds and fees, and flags disputes where fighting loses money | Not disclosed; auto-files representments |
| Evidence sources beyond the processorSource: chargepay.ai/how-it-works | Stripe + Shopify orders/fulfillment/tracking + helpdesk (Zendesk/Gorgias/Gmail) + FedEx/UPS/USPS delivery proof | Relies on Shopify fulfillment data; helpdesk/carrier ingest not publicly disclosed |
| Per-evidence-item provenanceSource: chargepay.ai/faqs | Every evidence item carries its source — which system, the exact lookup, the field, and when it was retrieved | “PredictScore®” opaque score, no per-evidence-item source disclosed |
| Public developer / API surfaceSource: Searched chargepay.ai for /docs, /api, /developers — no matches | Stripe webhooks; documented evidence schema; audit trail per dispute | None publicly documented |
| Win-rate transparencySource: chargepay.ai/{pricing,faqs,about}; apps.shopify.com/chargepay | Live published win rate with honest confidence bounds, methodology cited | “85% win rate” on FAQ; “90%+” on App Store; “80%” elsewhere — figures inconsistent across pages, no methodology disclosed |
| Reason-code coverageSource: chargepay.ai (no public matrix) | 13 Stripe-anchored Visa+Mastercard reasons; refund-aware overlap on credit_not_processed | Not specifically disclosed |
| Carrier-event ingestionSource: chargepay.ai/how-it-works | FedEx + UPS HMAC-signed webhooks; USPS poll; DHL on request | Not publicly disclosed; relies on Shopify fulfillment data |
| Visa CE 3.0 (10.4 fraud) supportSource: chargepay.ai (no CE 3.0 mention found) | Yes — gather-ce3 specialist auto-matches 120–365d undisputed prior transactions | Not publicly disclosed |
| Documented merchant painSource: apps.shopify.com/chargepay/reviews?page=2 (Japan Scissors 2024-10-30) | Pre-launch, no published pain — we'll publish them as they happen | App Store 2-star: “zero control over which disputes they handle”; dashboard claimed disputes were handled when they weren't actually submitted; billing without delivery |
Every claim cites its source — a public URL for competitor claims, and our own product pages for Victava claims. Email support@victava.com if anything looks wrong.
Pick Victava when…
- ✓Your dispute volume is volatile or under ~3 disputes/mo. You don't want to pay a flat fee in zero-dispute months.
- ✓You want to review and approve the rebuttal before it goes to Stripe — never submit on a customer who's actually right.
- ✓You want to be told when a dispute isn't worth fighting — not have everything auto-filed.
- ✓You want every evidence field traceable to its source API call and timestamp.
- ✓You want a published win rate you can verify, not three different numbers on three different pages.
- ✓You stack Stripe + Shopify + carriers (FedEx/UPS/USPS) and ship physical goods.
Pick ChargePay when…
- You have predictable, high dispute volume (5+/mo) and the math works in your favor.
- You prefer fully-automated submissions and don't want a merchant-approval step.
- You want a flat, predictable monthly bill regardless of how the fight goes.
- You don't need per-evidence provenance or a public audit trail.
- You want a more mature company with a longer track record (3,000+ stores per their site).
Switching questions
Does ChargePay actually charge a flat fee, or a success fee?
Their current public pricing page lists four flat-fee tiers ($19.99/$39.99/$79.99/$99.99). Older third-party directories (Slashdot, Disputifier) describe them as a 20% success-fee product, suggesting a pivot. If you sign up, double-check the actual contract — pricing pivots happen.
Why does Victava require approval before every submission?
Because Stripe disputes can only be submitted once. If we auto-submit on a customer who's actually right, or before evidence is complete, you lose the case and the chargeback fee is non-refundable. The merchant-approval gate is what makes mandatory human approval safer than fully-automated alternatives.
What's the actual crossover point for my volume?
The Grow tier ($39.99/mo) crosses Victava at roughly 2.5 disputes/mo at $80 average recovery. Adjust the math: divide ChargePay's monthly fee by your average recovery × 0.20. Below the crossover, Victava is cheaper; above, ChargePay is.
Can I run both?
Practically no. They both fight Stripe disputes; whichever installs first will pick up new disputes. Switching is the cleaner answer: if you're trying Victava from ChargePay, cancel ChargePay first or pause our submissions until you're ready.
Is the comparison fair?
We try. Every claim on the comparison table cites its source. If anything is wrong, email support@victava.com — we'll fix it within 48 hours.
Have a question we didn't answer? Email us.
Run the audit before you commit to a monthly bill.
The Free Dispute Leak Audit takes 90 seconds to connect, scans 12 months, and gives you a concrete number for what 20%-on-win would have cost you. Compare it to a year of ChargePay's flat fee. No card, no commitment.