Paddle
A merchant of record for software and apps that sells for you and files the sales tax and VAT.
Best for small software companies selling worldwide that want tax handled for them
Facts checked November 4, 2026
The short answer
Paddle suits a SaaS or app business that sells to customers in many countries and would rather not register for VAT and sales tax in each one. Paddle becomes the seller on every order, so it registers, charges and files tax in over 100 jurisdictions and deals with fraud and chargebacks. Checkout, subscriptions and failed-payment recovery come in the same fee. That fee is 5% plus 50 cents a transaction, which is steep on cheap plans and large invoices compared with running billing on your own Stripe account. You also wait for money: Paddle pays out monthly, by the 15th of the following month.
Choose it if
- You sell software or digital content to buyers in Europe, the UK and the US and don't want to register and file tax in each place yourself
- You are a small team and would rather pay one per-sale fee than run a payment gateway, a billing tool and a tax service side by side
- Your plans sell for $30 or more a month, so the 50-cent fixed part of the fee stays a small share of each payment
- You sell a mobile app and want a web checkout instead of paying Apple 15% to 30% of each sale
- You want trials, proration, seat changes, pausing and a customer portal without building them
Skip it if
- Your plans cost under $10. On a $10 sale the fee is $1, a 10% cut, and Paddle handles products under $10 through custom pricing you have to request
- You want to be the legal seller on your own invoices, for example because enterprise buyers sign contracts with you directly
- You sell physical goods or services. Paddle's seller terms cover software and digital content
- You need daily or weekly payouts. Paddle pays monthly once your balance passes $100, €100 or £100
- You relied on Paddle Classic to issue license keys and downloads. Paddle Billing leaves that to your own code, triggered by its webhooks
Main features
Merchant of record
Paddle resells your product, so the customer buys from Paddle and you receive a payout. It registers for, charges and remits sales tax and VAT in over 100 jurisdictions, which means you don't file returns country by country.
Localized checkout
Use the hosted checkout or build your own with Paddle.js. Buyers see their own language and currency, with more than 30 payment currencies listed in Paddle's developer docs.
Payment methods
Besides cards, Paddle Billing accepts PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer and regional methods such as iDEAL, Bancontact, BLIK, Pix, UPI, Alipay, WeChat Pay and KakaoPay.
Subscription billing
Sell seats, add-ons and bundles of several products in one plan. Paddle works out proration when a customer upgrades or downgrades mid-cycle and lets customers pause and come back later.
Free and paid trials
Offer a trial with or without card details, free or paid, and extend it or end it early from the dashboard or the API.
Customer portal
Paddle hosts a portal where your customers cancel, update their card, add or remove products and change quantities, so you don't build those screens.
Paddle Retain
Retain retries failed payments, sends recovery messages in the buyer's language and shows cancellation offers to people about to leave. Paddle includes it at no extra cost.
Fraud and chargebacks
Paddle screens card attacks and fights chargebacks itself, and it answers buyers who ask why Paddle charged them.
Web checkout for mobile apps
App makers can sell subscriptions through a Paddle web checkout at 5% plus 50 cents instead of the 15% to 30% Apple charges. Paddle also links to a RevenueCat integration.
Developer tools
Official SDKs cover Node.js, Python, Go and PHP, and a sandbox lets you test the whole flow before you take real money. ProfitWell Metrics, Paddle's free subscription analytics, also connects to Stripe, Chargebee and other billing tools.
Pricing
Prices checked on paddle.com on November 4, 2026. Paddle's seller terms add a 2% to 3% foreign exchange margin when a sale needs converting into your payout currency, and $15 for each international bank transfer; payouts through Paddle's local ACH network carry no transfer charge.
Pay as you go
5% + 50¢ / transaction
Checkout, subscriptions, payments, sales tax and VAT filing, fraud and chargeback handling, buyer support and Retain, with no monthly fee
Custom
Custom / quote
Quoted pricing for high-volume sellers, products under $10 and complex setups, plus dedicated customer success and migration help
Reviews
Write a reviewNo reviews yet. If you use Paddle, yours would be the first.
Alternatives to Paddle
| Product | Choose it instead if | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe Billing | You already take payments through Stripe, have a developer, and are happy to handle tax yourself or add Stripe Tax | 0.7% of Billing volume,... |
| Chargebee | You want to stay the seller, keep your own payment gateway and give finance staff more control over invoices and revenue reports | 0.8% of monthly invoicin... |
| Zoho Billing | You sell mainly in one country and prefer a fixed monthly fee to a percentage of every sale | $39 a month billed yearl... |
Questions people ask
How much does Paddle cost?
Paddle charges 5% plus 50 cents per checkout transaction, with no monthly, setup or migration fee. That one fee covers card processing, tax filing, fraud protection and Retain. A $50 renewal costs you $3; a $200 renewal costs $10.50. High-volume sellers and anyone selling products under $10 can ask for custom pricing.
What does merchant of record mean?
The merchant of record is the business the customer legally buys from. With Paddle, that business is Paddle, so the receipt names Paddle and Paddle owes the sales tax or VAT on the sale. You sign one agreement with Paddle and receive your share as a payout, instead of registering for tax in every country your customers live in.
When does Paddle pay you?
Under Paddle's seller terms, it pays the previous month's earnings on or before the 15th of the following month, once they pass $100, €100 or £100. Payouts through Paddle's local ACH network are free; an international bank transfer costs $15, €15 or £15.
Is Paddle better than Stripe Billing?
It depends on where your customers are. Stripe Billing charges 0.7% of billing volume on top of card fees and leaves tax to you, so it costs less for a business that sells mostly in one country. Paddle costs more per sale but takes over the tax registrations and filings, which can work out cheaper for a small team selling into dozens of countries.
What is the difference between Paddle Billing and Paddle Classic?
Paddle Billing is the current platform, with its own API. Anyone who signed up after August 8, 2023 has Paddle Billing, and Classic takes no new signups. Classic delivered license keys and downloads for you; with Billing you build that from transaction webhooks.
Can I sell physical products with Paddle?
Paddle's seller terms cover software products and digital content, and its site describes it as built for SaaS and apps. A business that ships physical goods should look at a store platform or a payment processor instead.
Can I leave Paddle later?
Paddle says it has no lock-in periods and that your data can be migrated to another provider. Plan for some work anyway: Paddle is the seller of record, so moving means setting up your own tax registrations and a new payment setup for existing subscribers.
Sources we checked 17
- paddle.com/pricing for pricing, custom pricing, products under $10, no lock-in, Premium Advisory checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com for merchant of record positioning, products, built for SaaS and apps checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/billing for 100+ tax jurisdictions, currencies, dunning included, customer portal, localized checkout checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/billing/tax-and-compliance for registers, charges and remits sales tax in over 100 jurisdictions checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/billing/subscriptions for seats, add-ons, bundles, proration, pausing, customer portal, B2B invoicing checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/retain for Retain features and no extra cost checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/profitwell-metrics for ProfitWell Metrics is free and connects to Stripe, Chargebee and others checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/in-app-purchase for web checkout for mobile apps, 5% + $0.50 versus 15-30% app store fee checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/support for support resources checked November 4, 2026
- paddle.com/legal/terms for registered office in London, payout timing and threshold, transfer and FX charges, software and digital content scope checked November 4, 2026
- developer.paddle.com/concepts/payment-methods/overview for payment methods checked November 4, 2026
- developer.paddle.com/concepts/sell/supported-currencies for 33 payment currencies checked November 4, 2026
- developer.paddle.com/concepts/subscriptions/trials.md for card-required or cardless, free or paid trials checked November 4, 2026
- developer.paddle.com/sdks for SDK languages and sandbox checked November 4, 2026
- developer.paddle.com/llms.txt for Paddle Billing versus Classic, signup date, license keys and downloads checked November 4, 2026
- fastspring.com for FastSpring is a merchant of record with a downloadable software use case checked November 4, 2026
- zoho.com/us/billing/pricing for Zoho Billing charges a fixed monthly fee per plan checked November 4, 2026