Paddle
Payment Processing · Free · since 2012
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Paddle is a payment infrastructure that handles tax, compliance, and billing as your merchant of record. It handles merchant of record, tax handling, billing, and checkout, and it's best suited for saas companies wanting a merchant of record. It has been around since 2012, giving it a 14-year head start in building out integrations and refining the product.
The free plan offers no upfront costs. It's designed for small teams, striking a balance between simplicity and collaboration features.
pros
- Includes Merchant of Record as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
- Includes Tax Handling as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
- No upfront costs — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
- Established product with 14+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem
cons
- Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
- Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
- Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in payment processing
- Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up
top Paddle alternatives
Stripe Payment processing platform with powerful APIs for online payments, subscriptions, and marketplaces. Free 
Lemon Squeezy All-in-one platform for selling digital products with merchant of record and tax handling. Free 
Gumroad Simple e-commerce platform for creators to sell digital products, memberships, and courses. Free 
PayPal Global payment platform for online and in-person payments, invoicing, and transfers. Free 
Square Payment processing with point-of-sale hardware, online payments, and business tools. Free Paddle compared
Stripe vs Paddle · Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy · Paddle vs Gumroad · Paddle vs PayPal · Paddle vs Square · Paddle vs Braintree · Paddle vs Adyen · Paddle vs Mollie
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Stripe Payment processing platform with powerful APIs for online payments, subscriptions, and marketplaces. Free Lemon Squeezy All-in-one platform for selling digital products with merchant of record and tax handling. Free Gumroad Simple e-commerce platform for creators to sell digital products, memberships, and courses. Free PayPal Global payment platform for online and in-person payments, invoicing, and transfers. Free Square Payment processing with point-of-sale hardware, online payments, and business tools. Free B Braintree PayPal's payment gateway for online and mobile payments with support for multiple payment methods. 2.59% + $0.49