Payments & Billing · decision tool
What payments really cost at your volume
Effective fees at YOUR revenue and average ticket — fixed fees punish small tickets, MoR premiums scale with volume. All four providers, one view.
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 $20,000 monthly revenue, 29 $ average transaction, a $300 budget for this slot, Stripe ranks first for these inputs at 33% fit and a StackSays-estimated $787.00/month (Paddle: 33% fit, $1345.00/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.
Toss-up — your priorities decide, not the tools
The default payment rails — lowest fees, biggest ecosystem, tax stays YOUR problem
vs Paddle: fit 33% against 33%, est $787.00 against $1,345.00 per month — genuinely close; read both risk lists below
The decision, in plain words
For a solo builder at $20,000 monthly revenue and a $300.00/mo budget for the payment provider slot, Stripe leads at 33% fit and $787.00/mo. The two rules doing the work: ecosystem maturity (established — our estimate from ecosystem age, docs and hiring pool); batteries included (Bundles usage-based billing — fewer services to glue at team size 1).
Paddle is a genuine coin-flip here (33% fit, $1345.00/mo) — read both risk lists and pick the failure mode you prefer.
Honest weak spot of the pick: ~$787/mo is 262% of your $300/mo budget — over it.
Generated from the calculation above — every number traces to the sourced data; nothing here is written by an AI making things up.
Why Stripe scores 33%
How the $787.00/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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card charge (domestic). International cards +0.8–1.5%, currency conversion +2%. Stripe Tax (+0.5%/tx) and Billing (+0.7% of volume) are separate add-ons | 2026-07-15 |
| Paddle | No free tier | Pay-as-you-go — 5% + $0.50 per checkout, all-inclusive (tax remittance, compliance, chargebacks). Products under $10 need custom pricing | 2026-07-15 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Stripe pricing page | 2026-07-15 |
| Paddle | Paddle pricing page | 2026-07-15 |
| 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
What is the difference between a merchant of record and a payment processor?
A PSP (Stripe) moves money; you remain the seller — global sales tax registration, remittance and chargeback liability are yours. A merchant of record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar) legally resells your product, so tax and compliance become THEIR problem. You pay for that: ~5% + $0.50 vs Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 (verified 2026-07-15).
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.