StackBest payments & billing for solo founders
Getting paid is the easy part. The hard part is sales tax in 40 countries, failed renewals, chargebacks, and subscription plumbing you did not plan to build. Your real choice is between a cheap payment processor (Stripe) where tax compliance is your problem, and a merchant of record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, Creem) that charges roughly 4 to 5 percent to make it their problem.
| Tool | Free tier | Paid from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
 Stripe2.9% + $0.30 per US card transaction | 2.9% + $0.30 per US card transaction | Founders selling mostly to one country who want the lowest fees and full control, and accept owning tax compliance | |
 Paddle5% + $0.50 per transaction | 5% + $0.50 per transaction | Founders selling globally who want tax and billing support fully off their plate and can absorb the 5% rate | |
 Lemon Squeezy5% + $0.50 per transaction | 5% + $0.50 per transaction | Founders who want MoR simplicity today and are comfortable landing on Stripe Managed Payments when the migration comes | |
 Polar5% + $0.50 per transaction on the free Starter plan | 5% + $0.50 per transaction on the free Starter plan | Technical founders on Next.js who want an MoR with the best API ergonomics and are doing at least ~$1.5k/mo to justify Pro | |
 RevenueCat1% of all monthly tracked revenue once you pass $2 | 1% of all monthly tracked revenue once you pass $2 | Founders shipping an iOS or Android app with subscriptions; skip it entirely for web-only products | |
 Gumroad10% + $0.50 per direct sale | 10% + $0.50 per direct sale | Founders selling digital downloads or validating a product idea, not running production SaaS billing | |
 Creem3.9% + $0.40 per transaction | 3.9% + $0.40 per transaction | Cost-sensitive indie founders who want MoR tax handling at the lowest rate and can tolerate a younger platform |
If you sell mostly to one country and can stomach owning tax filings, plain Stripe is the cheapest and most future-proof: about 3.6% + $0.30 effective for subscriptions with Billing, $0 monthly. The moment international VAT becomes real, switch to a merchant of record: Polar Pro at $20/mo (3.8% + $0.40) for the best developer experience, or Creem (3.9% + $0.40) if you want the lowest rate and accept payout fees and platform youth.
On a $9/mo product doing $2,000/mo, expect roughly $75 to $100/mo in total payment costs either way; add RevenueCat (free under $2,500 MTR) only if you ship a mobile app.
StripeDefault pickFree tierAsk about these tools
The fine print, tool by tool
Stripe2.9% + $0.30 per US card transaction+
Stripe is the default payment processor for the internet: you plug in its API or Checkout and take cards directly, with billing, invoicing, and fraud tools bolted on as you grow. A solo founder picks it when they sell mostly to one country, want the lowest per-transaction cost, and are fine handling their own tax filings.
2.9% + $0.30 per US card transaction, no monthly fee
No monthly fee at all; you only pay per transaction, so a $0-revenue project costs $0
US base is 2.9% + $0.30. Stack the add-ons before comparing to a merchant of record: Billing 0.7% of subscription volume, Tax 0.5% per transaction (no-code), international cards +1.5%, FX +1%. Disputes run $15 each even when you win. Tax Complete filing plans start at $90/mo on an annual contract. Standard payouts free, instant payouts 1%.
- + Cheapest per-transaction cost of the group: 2.9% + $0.30 vs 5% + $0.50 for most merchant-of-record options
- + Best API and docs in payments; Checkout plus Payment Links gets a solo founder selling in under an hour
- + Huge ecosystem: nearly every SaaS boilerplate, webhook library, and no-code tool speaks Stripe first
- − You are the merchant of record: global VAT and sales tax registration and remittance is your job, and Stripe Tax only calculates and collects, it does not file for you
- − The 2.9% headline quietly grows: +0.7% Billing for subscriptions, +0.5% Tax, +1.5% international cards, +1% currency conversion, so a global SaaS subscription can effectively cost 5 to 6%
Paddle5% + $0.50 per transaction+
Paddle is a merchant of record that resells your software, so global sales tax, chargebacks, and billing support emails become Paddle's job instead of yours. A solo founder picks it when international customers show up and they would rather pay 5% than register for VAT in a dozen countries.
5% + $0.50 per transaction, no monthly fee
No monthly fee; pay only per transaction
Flat 5% + $0.50 with no monthly fee, verified current July 2026. The trap for cheap plans: sub-$10 products are pushed to custom sales pricing, and the $0.50 fixed fee hits low price points hardest. Invoicing and high-volume rates are also custom-only.
- + Full merchant of record: Paddle registers, collects, and remits sales tax and VAT globally, so tax stops being your problem entirely
- + One flat 5% + $0.50 covers processing, subscription billing, fraud, chargeback defense, and dunning with no add-on stack
- + Mature and stable: 10+ years in, used by large software companies, low platform risk
- − 5% + $0.50 on a $9 subscription is $0.95, about 10.5% of revenue, roughly double an all-in Stripe setup for US-only sales
- − Products priced under $10 require talking to sales for custom pricing, and onboarding review is strict and can take days
Lemon Squeezy5% + $0.50 per transaction+
Lemon Squeezy is a merchant of record aimed at indie makers, bundling checkout, license keys, and email marketing into one store. A solo founder picks it for the easiest MoR setup on a first product, knowing the platform is being folded into Stripe Managed Payments.
5% + $0.50 per transaction, no monthly fee
No monthly fee; pay only per transaction
5% + $0.50 base. Watch the stacking surcharges: +1.5% international, +1.5% PayPal, +0.5% subscriptions, +5% on abandoned-cart recovered sales, +3% affiliate referrals. Stripe acquired Lemon Squeezy in 2024; successor Stripe Managed Payments went generally available in April 2026 at the same 5% + $0.50, but it drops LS extras like affiliates, download delivery, and the storefront builder.
- + Merchant of record with global tax handled, plus the friendliest setup of the MoR group for a first product
- + Built-in extras solo founders otherwise wire up themselves: license keys, checkout overlays, email marketing, affiliates
- + Owned by Stripe, so the long-term path is Stripe Managed Payments at the same 5% + $0.50 with Stripe-grade infrastructure
- − The 5% headline understates real cost: +1.5% international cards, +1.5% PayPal, +0.5% subscription payments, so a non-US PayPal subscriber costs 7.5% + $0.50
- − Product is in maintenance mode since the Stripe acquisition, and a migration to Stripe Managed Payments (generally available since April 2026) is coming, so deep API builds carry rework risk
Polar5% + $0.50 per transaction on the free Starter plan+
Polar is an open source merchant of record built for developers, with SDKs that get a Next.js checkout live in minutes plus license keys and usage billing built in. A solo technical founder picks it when they want MoR tax handling without giving up API-first ergonomics.
5% + $0.50 per transaction on the free Starter plan; Pro at $20/mo drops it to 3.8% + $0.40
Starter plan has no monthly fee at 5% + $0.50 per transaction
New accounts, verified July 2026: 5% + $0.50 free tier, or $20/mo for 3.8% + $0.40 (break-even near $1,379/mo in sales), $100/mo for 3.6% + $0.35, $400/mo for 3.4% + $0.30. Pre-May-2026 orgs keep 4% + $0.40 (+0.5% on subscriptions) but lose it permanently if they upgrade. Add international card, payout, and dispute fees when modeling.
- + Developer-first merchant of record: open source, clean SDKs for Next.js, and checkout live in minutes
- + Paid plans buy the rate down: $20/mo Pro gets 3.8% + $0.40, cheaper than Paddle or Lemon Squeezy once past about $1,400/mo in sales
- + Ships modern SaaS primitives natively: usage-based billing, license keys, customer portals, benefits and entitlements
- − The famous 4% + $0.40 rate is gone for new signups: organizations created after May 27, 2026 pay 5% + $0.50 unless they add a monthly plan
- − Hidden fees add up: $2/mo active payout fee plus 0.25% + $0.25 per payout, 0.25% to 1% cross-border conversion, $15 per dispute, and +1.5% on non-US cards
RevenueCat1% of all monthly tracked revenue once you pass $2+
RevenueCat is subscription infrastructure for mobile apps: one SDK that wraps App Store, Play Store, and web billing with server-side receipt validation and paywall tooling. A solo founder picks it the moment they ship an iOS or Android app with subscriptions, and skips it entirely for web-only products.
1% of all monthly tracked revenue once you pass $2,500 MTR
Free up to $2,500 in monthly tracked revenue, with all features included
Free to $2,500 MTR, then 1% of everything you track (not just the amount above the threshold as revenue grows). MTR counts revenue flowing through the SDK, so Apple's cut is inside the base you pay 1% on. Volume discounts are Enterprise-only custom deals.
- + Solves in-app purchase pain nobody else here touches: one SDK abstracts App Store, Play Store, and web billing with server-side receipt validation
- + Free until $2,500 MTR, and the free tier includes paywalls, A/B testing, and analytics rather than a crippled trial
- + Paywall builder and experiments let a solo founder iterate pricing without app-store release cycles
- − It is subscription infrastructure, not a payment processor: the 1% is on top of Apple or Google taking 15 to 30%, or on top of Stripe fees on web
- − 1% of tracked revenue scales linearly with no cap on standard pricing: at $50k MTR you pay about $500/mo for infrastructure alone, and migrating subscription state off later is painful
Gumroad10% + $0.50 per direct sale+
Gumroad is a no-code storefront: you upload a product, get a checkout page and file delivery, and start selling the same day. A solo founder picks it to validate a paid idea in a weekend, then usually outgrows the 10% cut once real SaaS billing is needed.
10% + $0.50 per direct sale, no monthly fee
No monthly fee; pay only when you sell
Flat 10% + $0.50 on sales through your own links; 30% flat on sales attributed to Gumroad Discover, verified July 2026. No monthly fee. The trap is simply the rate: at $1,000/mo in direct sales you pay roughly $50 more per month than you would on Paddle.
- + Fastest zero-to-first-sale of any tool here: product page, checkout, and file delivery with no code at all
- + Merchant of record since January 2025, so global sales tax is collected and remitted for you
- + Discover marketplace can bring buyers you did not acquire yourself
- − 10% + $0.50 per direct sale is double Paddle and Lemon Squeezy; on a $9 sale you keep about $7.60, and Discover marketplace sales cost 30%
- − Weak fit for real SaaS: no proper subscription API depth, entitlements, or usage billing compared to Polar or Stripe
Creem3.9% + $0.40 per transaction+
Creem is a young merchant of record built for indie SaaS and AI products, undercutting Paddle and Lemon Squeezy on the headline rate. A solo founder picks it when they want MoR tax handling at the lowest per-transaction cost and can live with twice-monthly payouts and a smaller company behind the checkout.
3.9% + $0.40 per transaction, no monthly fee
No monthly fee; pay only per transaction
3.9% + $0.40 base, verified July 2026. Model the payout fee: minimum $7 per payout means a founder paying out $300 twice a month loses an extra ~2.3% there alone. Chargebacks $25 each. Affiliate and split features add 2% each when used, abandoned-cart recoveries 5%.
- + Cheapest merchant-of-record headline rate here: 3.9% + $0.40 with no monthly fee, undercutting Paddle and Lemon Squeezy by over a point
- + Built for indie SaaS and AI products, with easy approval where Paddle onboarding rejects niche products
- + Global tax compliance and fraud protection included at the base rate
- − Payout fee is the real toll: $7 or 1% of payout volume, whichever is higher, plus $25 per chargeback, the highest dispute fee in this list
- − Youngest and smallest company here; payouts land only on the 1st and 15th and platform risk is higher than Stripe or Paddle
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