Payments and billing

Payment tools handle checkout, subscriptions and billing.

Use for: Product purchases, subscriptions and invoices.

Adyen Paid
Adyen homepage

Dutch payment platform and acquirer for large merchants, pricing each transaction as a fixed processing fee plus interchange++ and a method-specific markup.

Autumn Open source
Autumn homepage

Open-source (Apache 2.0) pricing and entitlements layer on top of Stripe that handles usage limits, credits and plan changes through three API calls, free up to $8K monthly billing.

Chargebee Paid
Chargebee homepage

Gateway-independent subscription and usage billing for SaaS, priced at 0.80% of monthly billing value with no platform fee, and connecting to 40+ payment gateways.

Checkout.com Paid
Checkout.com homepage

London-based enterprise payment processor with quote-only flat-rate or interchange++ pricing, local acquiring in 45+ countries and a single unified payments API.

Creem Paid
Creem homepage

Merchant of record for software and AI products with one flat 3.9% + 40¢ rate, no international card surcharge, built-in affiliates and revenue splits.

Dodo Payments Paid
Dodo Payments homepage

Merchant of record for SaaS and AI products that onboards sellers from 177 countries, with credit and usage billing, license keys and a 4% + 40¢ base rate.

FastSpring Paid
FastSpring homepage

Long-running merchant of record for software, SaaS, games and digital products, with all-in revenue-share pricing agreed with sales rather than a public rate.

Gumroad Paid
Gumroad homepage

Storefront and checkout for creators selling digital products and memberships, a merchant of record since January 2025, charging 10% + 50¢ on direct sales.

Lago Open source
Lago homepage

Open-source (AGPLv3) metering and usage-based billing engine you can self-host for free or buy as Lago Cloud, used for token, API and hybrid pricing.

Lemon Squeezy Paid
Lemon Squeezy homepage

Merchant of record for digital products and SaaS, owned by Stripe since 2024, still selling at 5% + 50¢ while its team builds Stripe Managed Payments as the successor.

Mollie Paid
Mollie homepage

Amsterdam-based payment processor for businesses in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, with published per-method fees and 35+ European local payment methods.

Orb Paid
Orb homepage

Usage-based billing engine for high-volume SaaS and AI companies, with SQL-defined metrics, real-time ingestion and price-migration tools, sold only by quote.

Paddle Paid
Paddle homepage

London-based merchant of record for SaaS, apps and digital products, charging an all-in 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction that covers payments, subscriptions and global tax.

PayPal Braintree Paid
PayPal Braintree homepage

PayPal's developer-facing card processor, now branded PayPal Enterprise Payments, combining card, wallet, PayPal and Venmo acceptance with vaulting and published US rates.

PayPal Checkout Paid
PayPal Checkout homepage

PayPal's merchant checkout for wallet, card, Venmo and Pay Later payments, with published per-country fees and buyers who already have PayPal accounts.

Paystack Paid
Paystack homepage

Lagos-founded payment gateway for businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Côte d'Ivoire, with capped local fees and card, bank transfer, USSD and mobile money.

Polar Paid
Polar homepage

Open-source merchant of record for software and AI products, with usage metering, credits and subscriptions, and plans that trade a monthly fee for lower transaction rates.

Razorpay Paid
Razorpay homepage

India's large payment gateway with a flat 2% platform fee on domestic methods including UPI, now also offering card processing to US businesses at 2.70% + $0.30.

Recurly Paid
Recurly homepage

Subscription management platform aimed at high-volume consumer and DTC subscriptions, with churn-recovery tools, 20+ gateways and a Starter plan at $249/mo plus 0.9%.

Square Payments Paid
Square Payments homepage

Square's card processing for in-person and online sales, with free POS software, developer APIs, and cheaper rates for API payments than for its hosted online checkout.

Stripe Billing Paid
Stripe Billing homepage

Stripe's subscription and invoicing layer on top of Stripe Payments, priced as a percentage of billing volume or as an annual plan paid monthly.

Stripe Managed Payments Paid
Stripe Managed Payments homepage

Stripe's merchant-of-record option for digital products: Stripe becomes the seller and handles tax in 80+ countries, fraud, disputes and buyer support for 3.5% on top of processing.

Stripe Payments Paid
Stripe Payments homepage

API-first card and local payment processing with pay-as-you-go pricing, 100+ payment methods and an ecosystem of add-ons for billing, tax, fraud and marketplaces.

Tool Pricing FeesMerchant of recordSubscriptionsSellers from
Adyen adyen.com · EU
Paid $0.13 + interchange++ + 0.60% (Visa/Mastercard) No Tokenization for recurring; no billing engine Enterprise onboarding; acquires in US, EU, UK, APAC, LatAm
Autumn useautumn.com · OSS
Open source Free to $8K/mo billing; Pro from $375/mo; + Stripe fees No Built in (subscriptions, credits, usage) Wherever Stripe is available
Chargebee chargebee.com
Paid Billing 0.80% of volume + your gateway's card fees No Built in; this is the core product Any; uses 40+ third-party gateways
Checkout.com checkout.com · EU
Paid By quote (flat rate or interchange++) No Stored credentials for recurring; no billing engine Domestic coverage in 45+ countries
Creem creem.io
Paid 3.9% + 40¢ flat, no international surcharge Yes Included, same rate Payouts to 86 countries
Dodo Payments dodopayments.com
Paid 4% + 40¢ US; +1.5% international Yes Built in, +0.5% per transaction Sellers from 177 listed countries
FastSpring fastspring.com
Paid Revenue share by quote Yes Included Sellers anywhere in the world (per FastSpring)
Gumroad gumroad.com
Paid 10% + 50¢ direct; 30% via Discover marketplace Yes (since Jan 1, 2025) Memberships and recurring payments included Varies by country (bank or PayPal payouts)
Lago getlago.com · OSS
Open source Self-host free; Premium/Cloud by quote; + gateway fees No Built in (subscriptions, usage, credits) Any; integrates Stripe, Adyen, GoCardless, Cashfree
Lemon Squeezy lemonsqueezy.com
Paid 5% + 50¢; +1.5% non-US, +1.5% PayPal Yes Built in, +0.5% per subscription payment Not stated on pages read
Mollie mollie.com · EU
Paid EEA consumer cards 1.80% + €0.25; non-EEA 3.25% + €0.25 No Recurring payments included EEA, Switzerland and UK
Orb withorb.com
Paid By quote; payments via your processor No Hybrid seat, fixed and usage plans Any; integrates Stripe and tax tools
Paddle paddle.com
Paid 5% + 50¢ all-in Yes Included, no extra fee Worldwide except ~28 sanctioned/unsupported regions
PayPal Braintree braintreepayments.com
Paid US 2.89% + 29¢; +1% foreign card, +1% non-USD No Built in (recurring billing via vault) Subject to PayPal application; US rates published
PayPal Checkout paypal.com · EU
Paid US cards 2.99% + 49¢, PayPal wallet 3.49% + 49¢ No Built in (PayPal subscriptions) Business accounts in 200+ markets
Paystack paystack.com
Paid Nigeria 1.5% + ₦100 (cap ₦2,000); intl 3.9% + ₦100 No Built in (plans and subscriptions API) Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire
Polar polar.sh · OSS
Paid 5% + 50¢ (Starter) to 3.4% + 30¢ (Scale); +1.5% non-US Yes Included, no subscription surcharge on current plans Payouts to 100+ Stripe Connect Express countries
Razorpay razorpay.com
Paid India 2% (+GST); US cards 2.70% + $0.30 No Built in; cards 0.9% + platform fee (India) India, US, Singapore, Malaysia (Curlec)
Recurly recurly.com
Paid $249/mo + 0.9% (first $40K/mo free) + gateway fees No Built in; this is the core product Any; uses 20+ third-party gateways
Square Payments squareup.com · EU
Paid US API 2.9% + 30¢; IE online 1.4% + 25c (EEA cards) No Yes (Subscriptions API and invoices) US, CA, UK, IE, FR, ES, AU, JP
Stripe Billing stripe.com · EU
Paid 0.7% of billing volume + 2.9% + 30¢ processing (US) No (yes when combined with Managed Payments) Built in; this is the subscription product Same as Stripe (46 countries/regions)
Stripe Managed Payments stripe.com · EU
Paid 3.5% + processing (about 6.4% + 30¢ on a US card) Yes Via Stripe Billing (0.7%) US, CA, 30 European countries, AU, HK, JP, SG
Stripe Payments stripe.com · EU
Paid US 2.9% + 30¢; EEA standard cards 1.5% + €0.25 No (Managed Payments add-on makes Stripe MoR) Via Stripe Billing, 0.7% of billing volume 46 countries/regions listed on stripe.com/global

Freemium means a free plan plus paid plans. Open a tool for its plans, prices and sources.

§1

How to choose a payment provider

Terms: Merchant of record

  • Selling software to people in many countries? A merchant of record handles VAT and sales tax for you; that is worth a higher fee until you have an accountant.
  • Compare the full fee on a typical sale, including international cards, currency conversion and subscription billing fees.
  • Check which countries the provider accepts sellers from before you build on it.
  • Look at payouts: how often, in which currencies, and how long new accounts wait.

Questions

What is a merchant of record?

The company legally selling to your customer. With a merchant of record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar) the provider collects and pays sales tax and VAT; with a payment processor such as Stripe, that is your job.

§2

Pricing changes

  • Polar introduces paid plans; new sellers start at 5% + 50¢

    Polar · source ↗

  • Managed Payments added to the Stripe API

    Stripe Managed Payments · source ↗

  • Square raises US online card rates on the Free plan

    Square Payments · source ↗

  • Stripe announces Managed Payments, built by the Lemon Squeezy team

    Stripe Managed Payments · source ↗

  • Gumroad becomes merchant of record

    Gumroad · source ↗

All pricing changes →