Paddle vs Stripe
Paddle and Stripe are both payments infrastructure but serve fundamentally different roles. Paddle is a merchant-of-record that owns the customer relationship for tax and compliance purposes, handling global VAT and sales tax automatically. Stripe is payment infrastructure where you remain the merchant of record and manage your own tax compliance. Paddle trades margin for compliance simplicity.
Build a custom alternative freeSide-by-side
Complete payments, tax, and subscriptions for software companies vs Financial infrastructure for the internet.
| Feature | Paddle | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing from | 5% + $0.50 per transaction | 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction |
| Pricing | 5% + $0.50 per transaction | 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction |
| Best for | SaaS companies wanting hands-off global tax compliance | Businesses wanting full payment control and lower fees |
| Tax compliance | Handled by Paddle as MoR | Manual or via Stripe Tax add-on |
| Global reach | MoR in 200+ countries | Direct payments in 135+ countries |
| Subscription billing | Built-in subscription management | Stripe Billing (add-on service) |
| Fraud prevention | Included | Stripe Radar included |
The third option most teams miss
Picking between Paddle and Stripe isn't the only choice.
Appaca handles the billing logic layer between Paddle or Stripe and your application-managing trials, upgrades, downgrades, dunning, and usage metering without custom code. Launch your subscription product with enterprise billing features in a day.
- No code, no deployment, no devops
- Built-in database, dashboards, team access
- Refine with chat as your needs change
- Free to start, no per-seat pricing surprises
Common questions
Paddle's higher fee pays for automatic global tax collection, remittance, and compliance in 200+ countries. For software companies selling globally, this can save tens of thousands in accountant fees and tax exposure.
Stripe Tax is an add-on that calculates and collects sales tax but you remain responsible for filing and remittance. Paddle eliminates this responsibility entirely by being the merchant of record.
Yes, Paddle's B2B features include invoice-based billing, purchase orders, and enterprise billing. The MoR model works well for global SaaS with small teams that cannot manage tax compliance in dozens of jurisdictions.