Two merchant-of-record platforms with identical fee structures but very different target audiences. We reveal what the 5%+$0.50 rate actually buys you — and which platform keeps more of your revenue in practice.
All prices June 2026. Both are merchant-of-record — they handle tax collection and remittance globally.
| Metric | Paddle | Lemon Squeezy |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee | 5% + $0.50 | 5% + $0.50 |
| Monthly base fee | $0 (fee-only) | $0 (fee-only) |
| Global tax handling | ✅ 60+ countries VAT + US sales tax | ✅ 60+ countries VAT + US sales tax |
| Subscription billing | ✅ Full lifecycle | ✅ Full lifecycle |
| Seat-based billing | ✅ | ❌ |
| License key delivery | ✅ (via Paddle Billing) | ✅ Native built-in |
| Discount codes | ✅ | ✅ |
| Affiliate program | ✅ | ✅ Built-in |
| CRM integrations | ✅ Salesforce, HubSpot | Limited |
| Net on $10K MRR (200 txns) | ~$9,400 | ~$9,400SAME |
| Owned by | Paddle (independent) | Stripe (acquired 2024) |
Assuming 5% + $0.50/transaction. 200 transactions at $50 avg; 500 at $100 avg; 1000 at $200 avg. MoR fees same for both.
Paddle's standard 5% + $0.50 applies to most customers, but enterprise negotiations are available at significant MRR levels. Lemon Squeezy does not publicly offer custom rates. If you process over $100K MRR, contacting Paddle for a custom deal may reduce your effective rate below 5%.
Both Paddle and Lemon Squeezy charge 5% + $0.50 per transaction. On a spreadsheet, your net revenue is identical. In practice, the value you get for that 5% differs significantly based on your business model. Paddle's 5% buys you a mature enterprise billing infrastructure: configurable quote-to-cash workflows, seat-based licensing with per-seat upgrade/downgrade logic, detailed financial audit logs suitable for enterprise compliance requirements, and CRM integrations that sync subscription events to Salesforce or HubSpot in real time. For a B2B SaaS company with sales-assisted deals and annual contracts, these features alone justify the fee structure.
Lemon Squeezy's 5% buys you something different: a frictionless self-serve experience built around product delivery. Its storefront handles digital file delivery, software license key generation, and update distribution natively. An indie developer selling a macOS utility can set up a fully featured store — with license key generation, upgrade pricing, and an affiliate program — in under two hours. Paddle's equivalent setup for a simpler product takes longer and involves more configuration surface area than many solo developers want to navigate.
In March 2024, Stripe acquired Lemon Squeezy. This has meaningful implications for both platforms. In the short term, Lemon Squeezy continues to operate independently with the same product and pricing. Longer term, there are several plausible scenarios: Stripe integrates Lemon Squeezy's merchant-of-record capabilities into its own product suite (potentially changing pricing), Lemon Squeezy is sunset in favor of a Stripe Tax + Billing combination, or Lemon Squeezy continues as a standalone Stripe subsidiary indefinitely. None of these outcomes is certain, but the acquisition creates strategic uncertainty that Paddle — which remains independent — does not have.
For teams choosing a payment platform for a multi-year product, platform stability matters. Paddle has been operating as a merchant of record since 2012, has raised venture funding, and has no obvious acquisition risk. Lemon Squeezy's future roadmap is now dependent on Stripe's strategic priorities, which may not align with indie developer needs long-term.
Both platforms offer embeddable checkout flows and hosted checkout pages. Lemon Squeezy's checkout is widely regarded as cleaner and faster-loading, with a simpler UI that works well for impulse purchases and B2C digital products. Paddle's checkout is more feature-complete — it handles complex scenarios like upgrade/downgrade mid-cycle, seat additions, and billing interval changes without custom code — but is also heavier and less optimized for simple one-time purchase flows. For a $29 one-time tool purchase, Lemon Squeezy's checkout converts better. For a $199/month B2B subscription with seat management, Paddle's checkout handles edge cases that Lemon Squeezy cannot.
The primary reason developers choose merchant-of-record platforms over Stripe is tax compliance. Selling software globally requires collecting and remitting VAT in the EU (7–25% depending on country), GST in Australia and Canada, and sales tax in US states where you have economic nexus (typically $100K revenue or 200 transactions per year). Doing this yourself means registering in each jurisdiction, filing quarterly or monthly returns, and maintaining jurisdiction-specific rate tables. Both Paddle and Lemon Squeezy take full responsibility for this compliance burden as the legal seller of record. Your revenue arrives net of all taxes already handled. This alone is worth significant engineering and accounting time saved annually.
Compare Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Stripe at your exact transaction volume and average order value.
Open Payment Calculator →Both are merchant-of-record (MoR) payment platforms that charge 5% + $0.50 per transaction and handle sales tax/VAT globally. The key differences: Paddle is a mature platform built for B2B SaaS with enterprise features (CPQ, seat-based billing, detailed audit logs, Salesforce/HubSpot integrations). Lemon Squeezy is newer, simpler, and developer-friendly — better suited for indie developers and B2C digital products. Lemon Squeezy was acquired by Stripe in 2024, which may affect its long-term direction.
Both charge the same base rate: 5% + $0.50 per transaction. At identical transaction volumes, gross fees are identical. The difference is in what you get for that fee: Paddle includes more enterprise billing features (quotes, contracts, seat management) while Lemon Squeezy includes more indie-friendly features (digital product delivery, license keys, discount codes). Neither is cheaper — the choice depends on fit, not price.
Yes. Paddle registers as the seller of record in every jurisdiction where you have taxable sales, collecting and remitting VAT (EU, UK, Australia, and 60+ countries) and US sales tax (all 50 states where required). You receive revenue net of taxes already collected. You do not need to register for VAT in any country or file US sales tax returns — Paddle handles the full compliance burden. Lemon Squeezy provides the same service.
Yes, but it requires customer re-authorization for subscriptions. Since Lemon Squeezy is the merchant of record for your existing subscribers, their saved payment methods are tokenized under Lemon Squeezy's Stripe account — not yours. You'll need to send a re-subscription email asking customers to re-enter payment details under Paddle. Expect 10–25% subscriber churn during migration. Plan carefully and run both platforms in parallel during transition if your subscriber base is large.