❦ Review · Last updated Apr 28, 2026
Paddle
If you sell globally and don't want to think about VAT MOSS, GST in 50 countries, and sales tax in 50 US states, Paddle's MoR model removes that entirely. Tradeoff: higher effective fees (~5%) and less customization than Stripe. Best when tax compliance overhead is more painful than the fee delta.
❦ Score breakdown
8.0 / 10
Approval can take days; Stripe is faster to first charge.
8.2 / 10
Dashboard is good; SDK ecosystem smaller than Stripe's.
8.5 / 10
Flat 5% + 50¢ is clear; no hidden tax add-ons.
7.5 / 10
Smaller ecosystem; some analytics/CRM tools lag.
8.8 / 10
Designed for indie SaaS that doesn't want to deal with tax.
Strengths and tradeoffs
Strengths
- ●Merchant of Record — Paddle handles tax, VAT, fraud, chargebacks globally
- ●Flat 5% covers all the compliance overhead — no hidden Stripe Tax fee
- ●Built-in customer portal, dunning, subscription management
- ●Best fit for international SaaS without a global tax setup
Tradeoffs
- ●Higher effective fees than Stripe (5% vs ~2.9% + 0.5%)
- ●Smaller integration ecosystem — some tools have lagging Paddle support
- ●Less flexibility on subscription logic than Stripe
What it does
- ●Merchant of Record — Paddle is the seller of record, handles tax + VAT globally
- ●Built-in subscription, dunning, customer portal, fraud handling
- ●~5% per transaction (vs Stripe's 2.9%) covers the compliance burden
Features at a glance
| Feature | Paddle |
|---|---|
| Card payments (global) | ● Included |
| Subscriptions | ● Included |
| Usage-based billing | ◐ Partial |
| Tax handling (auto) | yes (included) |
| Merchant of Record | ● Included |
| Refund / dispute handling | Paddle handles |
| Webhooks | ● Included |
| API quality | good |
| Customer portal | ● Included |
| Dunning | ● Included |
| EU VAT support | yes (handled) |
| Apple / Google Pay | ● Included |
| Invoicing | ● Included |
| Connect (marketplaces) | — Not available |
Pricing
| Tier | Price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 5% + 50¢ | Per transaction; includes tax + compliance |
| Enterprise | Custom | Negotiated at scale, dedicated support |
Who it's for
| Founder type | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Solo Founder | Strong fit | If you sell internationally, the no-tax-headache is worth the markup. |
| Small Team | Strong fit | Same value prop scaled — tax compliance burden grows with revenue. |
| Agency | Not the right fit | No Connect-equivalent — agencies need Stripe for client billing. |
Known limitations
- — Less subscription flexibility than Stripe (custom proration, hybrid billing patterns)
- — Smaller ecosystem of third-party integrations
What founders say
“Switched from Stripe + Stripe Tax. Paddle's 5% is more than 2.9% + 0.5% — but I sleep at night.”
“MoR means I don't think about VAT compliance. Period. That's worth the markup.”
“Fewer integrations than Stripe. Some tools (analytics, CRMs) don't have first-class Paddle support yet.”