Paddle vs Stripe

Paddle vs Stripe: the short answer

Pick Paddle if you're a small team selling software worldwide and want to stop thinking about VAT and sales tax. Pick Stripe if you sell mostly in one region, already have a tax setup, or need custom billing and Connect. Paddle costs more per sale because it takes on the tax liability. Stripe costs less and leaves that work with you.

What is Paddle?

Paddle is a merchant-of-record payments platform. Paddle legally becomes the seller and handles tax compliance, so you don't register for VAT or sales tax in each country. It targets SaaS and digital products sold globally.

What is Stripe?

Stripe is a payments platform covering checkout links, subscription billing, invoicing and marketplace payouts behind a widely used API. You remain the seller, so tax registration and filing stay with you, though Stripe Tax can help calculate and collect it.

Paddle vs Stripe pricing

Pricing checked November 2026.

Paddle:

• Pay-as-you-go: 5% + 50¢ per Checkout transaction.
• No monthly fees, migration fees or hidden extras.
• Custom pricing for larger volumes.
• Products under $10: contact Paddle for bespoke pricing.

Stripe:

• Domestic cards: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction.
• International cards: 1.5% extra. Currency conversion: 1% extra.
• Disputes: $15 each.
• Billing: from $620 per month on a 1-year contract, or 0.7% of Billing volume pay-as-you-go.
• Tax: from $90 per month on a 1-year contract, or 0.5% per transaction (no-code) or $0.50 per transaction (API).

Stripe is cheaper on paper for a solo builder. The gap narrows once you add international card fees, currency conversion, Billing and Tax, and it also narrows when you count the hours spent on tax registration. If you sell in one jurisdiction, Stripe stays clearly cheaper.

Key differences

• Liability: With Paddle, Paddle is the seller. With Stripe, you are.
• Fee shape: Paddle is one flat rate. Stripe is a base rate plus separate charges for international cards, conversion, Billing, Tax and Radar, so the real cost depends on what you switch on.
• Tax work: Paddle collects and remits VAT and sales tax. Stripe Tax calculates and collects, but registration and filing remain yours.
• Flexibility: Stripe offers Connect for marketplace payouts, Elements for custom payment UIs and mature SDKs in nearly every language. Paddle is narrower and built around software sales.
• Cheap products: Paddle asks you to contact them for products under $10. Stripe has no such note.

When to pick Paddle

• You sell software to customers in many countries.
• You have no appetite for tax registrations.
• You're a small team without a finance person.
• You want subscription billing and checkout from one vendor.

When to pick Stripe

• You sell mostly in one region or already have tax handled.
• You need Connect, custom checkout flows or deep API control.
• You sell low-priced products where a 50¢ fixed fee hurts.
• You want the widest set of integrations.

Other options

If you want a merchant of record aimed at solo builders, look at Lemon Squeezy or the open-source Polar.

Verdict

Start with Stripe unless merchant-of-record tax handling is a hard requirement from day one. If you sell software globally and want tax off your plate, pay Paddle's premium.