Bubble explicitly tells you not to process or store cardholder data on the platform — but unlike HIPAA, PCI DSS has a clean workaround. Stripe Elements, Adyen hosted fields, and equivalent tokenised payment flows keep the card number off your servers entirely and drop you to SAQ A. The cost of compliance falls 60–80% the moment cardholder data never touches Bubble. Rebuild only when you need SAQ D or Level 1. PCI DSS v4.0.1 has been the sole active version since March 31, 2025.
The honest verdict
No. Not the way you’d ship PCI DSS in production.
Bubble's own documentation tells you not to use the platform for this. Bubble is explicit: do not process or store cardholder data inside a Bubble app, and route payments through a hosted gateway instead. That's not the disqualifier it looks like — for almost every e-commerce app, hosted fields from Stripe or Adyen keep card numbers off Bubble servers entirely and drop the merchant to SAQ A. The architectural decline becomes a feature, not a blocker.
Bubble is not designed for PCI DSS compliance
Reviewed by
Greg· Founder, bubbletocode.com — has migrated 30+ Bubble apps to code
Bubble's stance
Explicit decline
"Bubble is not designed for PCI DSS compliance"
Worst-case penalty
$100k / month
Contractual card-brand fines until remediation
Industries impacted
E-commerce · Fintech · Marketplaces · SaaS billing
Compliant on Bubble
$5k–$30k · 4–8 weeks
Stripe Elements → SAQ A keeps CHD off Bubble
What PCI DSS actually requires
PCI DSS is a contractual security standard published by the PCI Security Standards Council and enforced by the card brands (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, JCB) and acquiring banks. There is no government regulator and no statutory penalty — fines flow contractually, typically $5,000–$100,000 per month until remediation. PCI DSS v4.0.1 has been the sole active version since March 31, 2025.
Install and maintain network security controls and do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords or other security parameters (PCI DSS v4.0.1 Req. 1–2).
Protect stored account data and encrypt cardholder data transmitted across open public networks using strong cryptography (PCI DSS v4.0.1 Req. 3–4).
Protect all systems against malware, develop and maintain secure systems and software, and manage payment-page scripts under 6.4.3 (PCI DSS v4.0.1 Req. 5–6).
Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know and authenticate all access — multi-factor authentication for every entry into the cardholder data environment (PCI DSS v4.0.1 Req. 7–8).
Restrict physical access and log and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data, with tamper detection on payment pages under 11.6.1 (PCI DSS v4.0.1 Req. 9–10).
Regularly test security systems with authenticated vulnerability scans and penetration tests, and maintain an information security policy (PCI DSS v4.0.1 Req. 11–12).
Official source: pcisecuritystandards.org
Why Bubble fails PCI DSS
Every reason below comes from Bubble’s published platform limits or their own documentation. Reading the list top-to-bottom tells you which one will bite you first.
Bubble's manual is direct: "you should never process or store cardholder data" inside the app, and the payment obligation belongs to the gateway. The platform is not certified as a PCI environment. If cardholder data — PAN, expiry, CVV — touches Bubble's database, logs, or transit infrastructure, you've moved into a cardholder data environment that Bubble's posture cannot support. Treat this as a hard architectural rule.
Sources[01]
PCI DSS Requirements 1 and 2 require network segmentation that isolates the cardholder data environment from other networks. Bubble's default environment is a shared US-AWS cluster — every customer's app runs alongside every other customer's app. There is no per-customer network segment to scope a CDE around. Even if you wanted to handle PAN on Bubble (you don't), the segmentation requirement is not satisfiable.
Sources[02]
PCI DSS Req. 10 requires at least one year of audit log retention with three months immediately available for analysis. Bubble's logs interface limits search to the previous two weeks. Without external log aggregation no Bubble-hosted app can evidence Req. 10 — that's true whether you're SAQ A, SAQ A-EP, or SAQ D. Ship logs off-platform before any QSA engagement.
Sources[03]
PCI DSS v4.0 added Req. 6.4.3 and 11.6.1 specifically to govern scripts that load on payment pages. Bubble plugins load third-party JavaScript into the user's browser, and any script touching the payment page can push a merchant from SAQ A to SAQ A-EP — which is materially more expensive. If you keep Bubble as the UI in front of Stripe Elements, keep plugins off the payment page.
PCI DSS Req. 3 expects strong cryptography with documented key management for stored cardholder data. Bubble encrypts at rest with AES-256 on AWS RDS, but the customer has no control over keys, no rotation policy visibility, no per-record envelope encryption. Not a blocker for SAQ A (no CHD on Bubble), but a clear blocker for any path where cardholder data is on the platform.
Sources[02]
Bubble vs a compliant stack
The same 7requirements an auditor will ask about, scored on both stacks. Read across each row — every red cell is a deal you can’t close on Bubble.
Cardholder data stays off your servers (Req. 3)
Partial
Stripe Elements path = yes; native path = no
Bubble's posture demands hosted fields, not native CHD
Pass
Hosted fields or direct SAQ-D with KMS keys
Network segmentation around the CDE (Req. 1–2)
Fail
Shared multi-tenant cluster — no CDE
Pass
Dedicated VPC with subnet segmentation
Payment-page script management (Req. 6.4.3 / 11.6.1)
Partial
Possible if no plugin JS on payment page
Discipline-dependent — easy to break
Pass
CSP + SRI + script inventory automated
MFA for all CDE access (Req. 8)
Fail
MFA / SSO gated to higher tiers
Pass
MFA enforced for all admin and API access
Log retention ≥1 year (Req. 10)
Fail
Two-week search window
Pass
Postgres event log + S3 archive ≥1 year
ASV vulnerability scanning + annual pentest (Req. 11)
Partial
Bubble annual pentest at platform level
Customer app scope still your responsibility
Pass
Self-managed ASV scans + annual pentest
Tokenised checkout → SAQ A scope
Pass
Stripe Elements / Adyen hosted fields supported
Recommended pattern on Bubble
Pass
Same pattern, plus direct SAQ-D option
What it costs your business
PCI fines flow contractually, not statutorily — your acquiring bank levies them, usually $5,000–$100,000 per month until remediation. The bigger commercial risk is loss of card-processing privileges with a card brand. Get the scope right by keeping cardholder data off Bubble and you avoid the entire fight.
Your acquirer's compliance team discovers card data sitting in Bubble logs after a routine review — contractual fines start at $5,000 per month until remediation and your processing relationship goes on a watch list.
A breach forensic report concludes cardholder data was exposed via a Bubble plugin script on the payment page — the card brand assesses the merchant and your acquirer passes through the assessment.
We are past the v4.0.1 mandatory deadline (March 31, 2025) — your QSA will fail an assessment if Req. 6.4.3 and 11.6.1 script-management controls aren't operating on every hosted payment page, and Bubble plugins loaded on that page are now an audit finding by default.
Loss of processing privileges with a major card brand is rare but commercially terminal — it forces a re-onboarding with a different acquirer and a full re-assessment, typically 6+ months of regulatory limbo.
Three honest paths forward
We don’t recommend a rebuild for every founder. Below: what each path costs you, what it preserves, and where it breaks for PCI DSS.
Cheapest now · riskiest later
ViableKeep Bubble as the UI in front of a tokenised payment flow (Stripe Elements, Adyen hosted fields, Braintree). Cardholder data never touches Bubble's database, logs, or transit. Merchant qualifies for SAQ A — the smallest, cheapest self-assessment. This is the recommended path for almost every e-commerce app on Bubble.
Pros
Cons
Phased · auditor-defensible
ViableUse Stripe Elements / Adyen for the main checkout flow on Bubble. Carve any non-checkout surface that needs cardholder data (recurring billing back-office, refund tooling that handles PAN, reconciliation) onto a separate stack with proper segmentation.
Pros
Cons
Highest upfront · clean audit
ViableRebuild on Next.js with Vercel Enterprise (PCI DSS SAQ-D AOC v4.0) or AWS as the host. Required only when your business model needs to handle PAN directly — surcharge flows, niche payment methods, or merchant-of-record processing at Level 1 volumes (>6M transactions/year).
Pros
Cons
Composite case study
E-commerce on Bubble · 16 months live
Merchant had a Bubble app collecting card details through a marketplace plugin that stored PAN in the Bubble database for one-click reorder. The acquiring bank flagged the setup at the next compliance check and demanded a full SAQ D path or remediation. We removed the plugin, switched checkout to Stripe Elements with the card-entry iframe on the existing Bubble page, scrubbed PAN from the database, set up Stripe Customer for tokenised one-click reorder, removed remaining JS from the payment page, and stood up ASV scanning. The merchant qualified for SAQ A from week six.
Outcome: SAQ A self-assessment signed at week six; acquiring bank accepted the AOC and removed the compliance watch flag the same week; annual PCI cost dropped from $20k+ projected SAQ D to under $5k SAQ A; checkout conversion improved 4% from the Stripe Elements form.
Composite case study assembled from patterns we've seen across e-commerce migrations to SAQ A scope on Bubble. Anonymised for client privacy — happy to walk you through the actual engagements in a scoping call.
Frequently asked
Pulled from real conversations with founders running healthcare, fintech, and B2B SaaS apps off Bubble. Every answer is grounded in the source we cited above — no marketing fluff.
Sources
The numbered references in the body link here. We cite first-party documents — regulator guidance, vendor manuals, industry standards — never marketing copy.
Bubble Group Inc.manual.bubble.io
Bubble Group Inc.manual.bubble.io
Bubble Group Inc.manual.bubble.io
Bubble Group Inc.manual.bubble.io
PCI Security Standards Councilpcisecuritystandards.org
PCI Security Standards Councilblog.pcisecuritystandards.org
Stripe, Inc.stripe.com
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