8 Best Paddle Alternatives for SaaS Payments

The quick answer

Quick answer: if you want to keep a merchant of record but pay less or move closer to Stripe, compare Stripe Managed Payments (3.5% per successful transaction on top of standard Stripe processing fees), Creem (3.9% + 40¢ per transaction), Dodo Payments (4% + 40¢ for US cards and wallets) and Polar (5% + 50¢ on the free Starter plan, down to 3.4% + 30¢ on its $400 Scale plan). FastSpring prices by quote on a revenue share. Gumroad suits creators more than SaaS at 10% + 50¢. If you would rather handle tax yourself and pay less per transaction, use a billing tool such as Stripe Billing (0.7% of billing volume) or Chargebee on your own payment account. Prices are as of October 2026, checked on each vendor's own site.

Paddle today, and why teams look elsewhere

Paddle is a merchant of record (MoR): it sells your software to the customer, so it collects and remits sales tax and VAT, handles fraud, chargebacks and payment support, and pays you out. Its pay-as-you-go price is 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction with no monthly fees, migration fees or hidden extras, and custom pricing is available for high-volume businesses. Paddle asks sellers with products under $10 to contact it for bespoke pricing. ProfitWell Metrics, its subscription analytics, is free.

Teams compare alternatives for a few reasons:

• Fee level. 5% + 50¢ on every sale is a large share of a low-priced plan, and the gap to processing-only fees grows with revenue.
• Onboarding. Paddle reviews the domains you sell from. Most are approved automatically, but a manual review typically takes 5 to 7 business days by Paddle's own estimate.
• Stack fit. Teams already on Stripe may prefer to keep payments, billing and an MoR under one account.
• Usage-based pricing. Newer MoR tools market usage meters and credit wallets as built-in features.

If you are weighing whether you need an MoR at all, our usage-based billing software comparison covers billing-only tools.

Paddle alternatives compared

1. Stripe Managed Payments

Who it is for: SaaS and software teams already on Stripe that want Stripe to become the merchant of record.

Pricing: Managed Payments adds 3.5% per successful transaction to your standard Stripe processing fees. That covers global indirect tax, fraud prevention, dispute responses and transaction-level support. Billing and local payment methods are separate, with no setup fees or monthly minimums. Source: Managed Payments docs.

Strengths: tax compliance in more than 80 countries, customers in more than 195 countries and territories, and native support for Checkout, Payment Links and Billing subscriptions.

Limits: it supports digital products only, does not work with Stripe Connect platforms, and subscriptions must be created through Checkout or Payment Links. Stripe runs an eligibility review based on factors such as business type and location.

2. Polar

Who it is for: indie developers and early-stage SaaS teams that want an open-source, developer-first MoR.

Pricing: Starter has no monthly fee and charges 5% + 50¢ per transaction. Pro is $20 a month (3.8% + 40¢), Growth $100 a month (3.6% + 35¢) and Scale $400 a month (3.4% + 30¢). International cards add 1.5%. Polar puts the Pro breakeven at about $1,379 a month in sales. Source: Polar fees page.

Strengths: usage-based billing, seats, credits, a customer portal, SDKs and an MCP server. The code is Apache 2.0 on GitHub.

Limits: Starter costs the same headline rate as Paddle, so the savings come from the paid plans at higher volume.

3. Creem

Who it is for: small software companies that want a lower flat MoR rate.

Pricing: 3.9% + 40¢ per successful transaction with $0 monthly and setup fees. A Partner plan with custom pricing is available for higher volume. Source: Creem pricing.

Strengths: VAT, GST and sales tax collection and remittance in 50+ countries, revenue splits between co-founders and affiliates, credit wallets, usage-based billing with custom meters, and payouts on the 1st and 15th of each month to a bank account or a USDC wallet.

Limits: payouts run twice a month, and Creem lists local payment methods for different regions as coming soon.

4. Dodo Payments

Who it is for: founders who want an MoR with usage and credit billing built in and a startup program.

Pricing: 4% + 40¢ per transaction for US cards and wallets. Cards and payment methods outside the US add 1.5%, subscriptions (including add-ons and usage-based billing) add 0.5%, and PayPal or buy now, pay later add 3%. Disputes cost $30 each. A startup program offers up to 12 months of free credits. Source: Dodo Payments pricing.

Strengths: usage-based billing, credit-based billing, invoicing and tax management listed as included, plus license keys, adaptive currency, and cart recovery and dunning that charge 5% only on recovered revenue.

Limits: many line items to model; a subscription paid by an international card carries 2% on top of the base rate.

5. FastSpring

Who it is for: established software and SaaS companies that want an MoR with B2B quotes and a negotiated rate.

Pricing: a revenue-sharing model with flat-rate pricing set by quote, based on transaction type and volume. FastSpring says there is no subscription fee and no minimum transaction volume. Source: FastSpring pricing.

Strengths: subscriptions, localized checkout, tax collection and remittance, fraud prevention, B2B invoicing and interactive quotes, plus affiliate marketing.

Limits: no public rate, so you need a sales conversation to compare it with Paddle.

6. Gumroad

Who it is for: creators and solo founders selling memberships, courses or small software products.

Pricing: 10% + 50¢ per transaction on sales through your profile or direct links, and 30% when new customers find you through the Discover marketplace. No monthly fee. Source: Gumroad pricing.

Strengths: Gumroad has been a merchant of record since January 1, 2025, handling sales tax collection and remittance, and it supports memberships, including SaaS subscriptions.

Limits: the highest rate in this list, and its pricing page is aimed at creators rather than SaaS teams.

7. Stripe Billing

Who it is for: teams that are ready to register for and file their own sales tax and VAT in exchange for lower fees.

Pricing: 0.7% of billing volume, plus Stripe payment processing. A custom domain for the customer portal is US$10 a month.

Strengths: subscriptions, trials, Smart Retries, quotes and a customer portal, with basic metering for up to 100M events a month and Metronome, now part of Stripe, for heavier usage pricing.

Limits: Stripe is not your merchant of record unless you add Managed Payments, so tax registration and filing stay with you. Source: Stripe usage-based billing docs.

8. Chargebee

Who it is for: SaaS teams that want a billing layer across several payment gateways.

Pricing: Flow costs $0 a month plus 0.80% of monthly invoicing volume, or $99 a month plus 0.65%, with 100M usage events a month included. Source: Chargebee pricing.

Strengths: 40+ payment gateways, usage and hybrid billing, pricing tables, hosted checkout and a self-serve portal. See our Chargebee alternatives for a closer look.

Limits: it is a billing platform rather than an MoR, and NetSuite, Salesforce and Avalara AvaTax integrations are not included in Flow.

Tools we left out or would use with care

Lemon Squeezy still lists 5% + 50¢ per transaction as an MoR, but Stripe acquired it in 2024, and its CEO's January 2026 update says the team is building Stripe Managed Payments and wants to give Lemon Squeezy users an easy way to migrate. For a new product, start with Managed Payments or check Lemon Squeezy's direction first.

How to choose a Paddle alternative

First decide whether you need a merchant of record. Below the revenue where tax registrations become a burden, an MoR saves real work; above it, a billing tool on your own payment account is usually cheaper. If you stay with an MoR, compare fees at your average order value and customer mix: international cards, PayPal and subscriptions can add surcharges on top of headline rates. Then check eligibility rules, payout timing and how subscriptions migrate.

Payments are one part of a product-led funnel. The upgrade happens in your product, so see our reverse trial ideas for packaging tactics. PLG OS adds onboarding flows and in-app surveys around that moment, with a free tier for 100 MTUs.

FAQs

What is the cheapest alternative to Paddle?

On headline rates, Creem charges 3.9% + 40¢ and Dodo Payments 4% + 40¢ for US cards and wallets, against Paddle's 5% + 50¢. Polar's paid plans go down to 3.4% + 30¢ for $400 a month. Surcharges for international cards and subscriptions can change the result.

Does Stripe have a merchant of record product?

Yes. Stripe Managed Payments makes Stripe the merchant of record for eligible digital products and adds 3.5% per successful transaction to standard Stripe processing fees.

Is Lemon Squeezy still a good Paddle alternative?

Lemon Squeezy still lists 5% + 50¢ per transaction, but Stripe acquired it in 2024 and its January 2026 update focuses on Stripe Managed Payments and helping users migrate, so check its direction before starting.

Do I need a merchant of record for a SaaS product?

No. An MoR handles sales tax and VAT for you at a higher fee. Billing tools like Stripe Billing and Chargebee cost less per transaction but leave tax registration and filing with you.