Payments & Billing · decision tool
Lemon Squeezy vs Polar — the indie MoR duel
Same headline 5% + $0.50 — different realities: LS stacks surcharges, Polar's paid tiers cut the rate as you grow. Priced at your volume.
Prices verified 2026-07-15 against official pricing pages · fit weights are our estimates (see methodology) · share the URL to share your configuration
As of Jul 2026, with $5,000 monthly revenue, 29 $ average transaction, a $300 budget for this slot, Polar ranks first for these inputs at 66% fit and a StackSays-estimated $278.80/month (Lemon Squeezy: 54% fit, $336.00/month). Fit weights are our estimates; prices trace to official pages. Change any input below and the verdict recomputes.
Your situation
The verdict updates as you move these.
Clear pick for your inputs
The 2026 MoR challenger — tiered fees that drop as you grow
vs Lemon Squeezy: fit 66% against 54%, est $278.80 against $336.00 per month
Comparing 2 tools head-to-head. Open the full field (4 options) →
The decision, in plain words
For a solo builder at $5,000 monthly revenue and a $300.00/mo budget for the payment provider slot, Polar leads at 66% fit and $278.80/mo. The two rules doing the work: budget fit (~$278.8/mo is 93% of your $300/mo budget); batteries included (Bundles tax handled, license keys, usage-based billing — fewer services to glue at team size 1).
The gap to Lemon Squeezy (54% fit) is wide at these inputs — you'd need to change your requirements, not your taste, to flip it.
Honest weak spot of the pick: no free tier — paying from day one.
Generated from the calculation above — every number traces to the sourced data; nothing here is written by an AI making things up.
Why Polar scores 66%
How the $278.80/mo estimate is calculated
What could change this verdict
Cost risk
Official prices verified 2026-07-15; calculation is deterministic code over those prices.
At a glance
| Tool | Free tier | Paid entry | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Squeezy | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — 5% + $0.50 base; surcharges stack: international +1.5%, PayPal +1.5%, subscriptions +0.5% — effective rate lands 5.5–8%+ depending on your mix | 2026-07-15 |
| Polar | No free tier | Pro (MoR) $20/mo | 2026-07-15 |
Data sources
| Tool | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Lemon Squeezy | Lemon Squeezy fees docs | 2026-07-15 |
| Polar | Polar pricing (homepage table) | 2026-07-15 |
A monitor re-checks these pages for changes; when a vendor moves a price, the date updates and every verdict recomputes.
People also ask
Should I use Stripe or Square?
For online SaaS/digital products: Stripe — better APIs, subscriptions and developer tooling. Square wins for in-person/POS-heavy businesses. If your revenue is mostly international digital sales and you want tax handled, the real comparison is Stripe vs a merchant of record — which is what this page prices.