An honest comparison to help you pick the right payments tool for your startup.
Stripe is our recommendation for most founders. Paddle is a solid alternative.
Merchant of record for SaaS. Takes the global tax headache away. Enterprise-grade billing.
The payments API. Every serious business uses it. Documentation so good it's literally a meme.
| Feature | Paddle | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Best for | You need payments and want full control | |
| Use when | You need payments and want full control | |
| Avoid when | You want someone else to handle tax/VAT, try LemonSqueezy | |
| Category | Payments | Payments |
Stripe is our recommended pick in this category.
Paddle is a paid tool with no free tier.
Other popular alternatives in this category include LemonSqueezy, Gumroad, Ko-fi, Polar. Each has different strengths depending on your stage and needs.
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