Polar vs Paddle
Polar and Paddle both act as merchant of record, so they collect and remit sales tax and VAT on your behalf. Polar is built for usage-based, AI-era pricing with real-time metering and tiered plans that lower the per-transaction fee as you grow; Paddle charges one flat 5% plus 50 cents fee at any volume and adds subscription analytics from its ProfitWell acquisition. Choose Polar if you meter usage like tokens or API calls and expect enough volume to move up its tiers; choose Paddle if you want one predictable rate with no plan to manage.
Facts checked on against the official sources listed at the end. Usage numbers update daily.
Best for
AI and usage-based products metering tokens, API calls or compute
Free plan. Paid from $20 a month for the Pro plan.
Best for
SaaS and digital product sellers who want one flat, predictable fee at any volume
No free plan. Paid from 5% + 50 cents per transaction.
Polar vs Paddle at a glance
| Compared on | Polar | Paddle |
|---|---|---|
| Fee structure | Four tiers: Starter (free, 5% + $0.50), Pro ($20/mo, 3.8% + $0.40), Growth ($100/mo, 3.6% + $0.35), Scale ($400/mo, 3.4% + $0.30) | One flat rate at every volume: 5% + 50 cents per transaction, no monthly fee |
| Usage-based billing | Real-time metering built for tokens, API calls, compute and storage | Usage-based charges are supported, billed as custom items on the next invoice |
| Margin visibility | Cost insights show gross margin per customer against inference or infrastructure costs | No equivalent margin tooling; reporting comes from its acquired ProfitWell analytics |
| Startup discount | Scale plan free for 12 months to qualifying early-stage AI startups | No published startup discount program |
| Prepaid credits | Built-in prepaid credit balances that drain as customers use the product | Not a named feature; billing runs through subscriptions and invoice items |
| Mobile app billing | Not a focus; built for web and API products | Partnered with RevenueCat (2025) to add merchant-of-record web payments for mobile app developers |
| Open source | No, Open source components on GitHub; the hosted platform itself is a commercial service | No, Proprietary |
| Free plan | Yes: the Starter plan has no monthly fee, only per-transaction fees | No monthly fee on the standard plan; you only pay per transaction |
| Paid plans from | $20 a month for the Pro plan | 5% + 50 cents per transaction |
| Made by | Polar | Paddle |
What's the difference between Polar and Paddle?
Polar's per-transaction rate drops as you move up tiers, Paddle's rate never changes
Polar charges 5% + $0.50 for free on Starter, falling to 3.4% + $0.30 on the $400-a-month Scale plan. Paddle charges the same 5% + 50 cents flat fee whether you process $100 or $1 million a month, unless you negotiate custom enterprise pricing.
Polar meters usage in real time, Paddle bills metered usage on the next invoice
Polar is built around real-time tracking of events like tokens, API calls, compute and storage for usage-based pricing. Paddle also supports usage-based charges, but they're added as custom line items billed on the customer's next invoice rather than metered live.
Polar shows gross margin per customer, Paddle doesn't
Polar's cost insight tooling compares revenue per customer against underlying inference or infrastructure costs, aimed at AI companies whose costs scale with usage. Paddle's reporting, built on its 2022 ProfitWell acquisition, covers subscription analytics and retention rather than cost-to-serve.
Paddle has a mobile billing partnership, Polar doesn't
Since 2025, Paddle and RevenueCat let mobile app developers add merchant-of-record web payments through Paddle alongside their existing RevenueCat subscriptions. Polar has no equivalent mobile-focused partnership.
Polar offers a free startup tier, Paddle's pricing has no volume discount by default
Polar's startup program gives qualifying early-stage AI companies the Scale plan free for 12 months. Paddle's published pricing has one rate for all standard sellers; lower rates require contacting sales as a large or rapidly scaling business.
Polar vs Paddle pricing
Both charge a percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction with no setup cost, but Polar's rate depends on which of four plans you're on, while Paddle's flat rate never changes.
Polar
Starter is free at 5% + $0.50 a transaction, the same formula as Paddle's flat rate. Moving to a paid tier lowers the rate: Pro is $20 a month at 3.8% + $0.40, Growth is $100 a month at 3.6% + $0.35, and Scale is $400 a month at 3.4% + $0.30.
- Starter
- $0 a month
- Pro
- $20 a month
- Growth
- $100 a month
- Scale
- $400 a month
Paddle
A single flat fee of 5% + 50 cents per transaction at any volume, with no monthly, setup or migration fee. Businesses under $10 a sale or needing invoicing, and large or rapidly scaling businesses, can contact Paddle for custom pricing.
- Standard
- 5% + 50 cents per transaction
- Enterprise
- Custom pricing
| Polar | $3,000 a month on the free Starter plan (same rate as Paddle), or $2,250 a month on the Growth plan ($100 a month plus 3.6% + 35 cents) |
|---|---|
| Paddle | $3,000 a month at the flat 5% + 50 cents rate, regardless of volume |
Prices in USD from the official pricing pages on 28 September 2026. They change often, so confirm on polar.sh and paddle.com before you commit.
Usage and activity
Weekly npm downloads: 383k for @polar-sh/sdk and 256k for @paddle/paddle-js.
| Measure | Polar | Paddle |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 10,335 | No public repository |
| npm downloads a week | 383k (@polar-sh/sdk) | 256k (@paddle/paddle-js) |
| Latest release | @polar-sh/better…, 1 day ago | None on GitHub |
| Releases in 90 days | 10 | 0 |
From the public GitHub and npm APIs, updated daily. Stars and downloads show developer interest, not product quality.
Should you choose Polar or Paddle?
Choose Polar if
- You meter usage like tokens, API calls or compute alongside subscriptions
- You want visibility into gross margin per customer against your infrastructure costs
- You expect enough volume to move up a tier and lower your per-transaction rate
- You're an early-stage AI startup that might qualify for the free Scale plan
Choose Paddle if
- You want one flat fee with no tiers to track or upgrade between
- You sell subscriptions and want retention analytics built on ProfitWell's tooling
- You already use RevenueCat for mobile subscriptions and want matching web payments
- Your volume doesn't clearly justify managing multiple billing tiers
Switching between Polar and Paddle
Moving between them means re-registering your products and prices with the new merchant of record, rebuilding checkout and webhook integrations, and accepting that tax compliance history doesn't carry over. Because both are merchant of record, you also hand over the seller relationship itself, not just the payment processing.
Polar vs Paddle: common questions
Is Polar cheaper than Paddle?
At the free Starter tier they charge the same rate, 5% + 50 cents. Above that, Polar's paid tiers can undercut Paddle's flat fee at higher volume, for example 3.6% + 35 cents on Polar Growth versus Paddle's flat 5% + 50 cents.
Is Polar open source?
Polar has open source components on GitHub, but the hosted platform itself is a commercial service. Paddle is proprietary.
Does Polar support usage-based billing?
Yes, with real-time metering for tokens, API calls, compute and storage. Paddle also supports usage-based charges, billed as custom items on the customer's next invoice.
Are Polar and Paddle both merchant of record?
Yes. Both are legally the seller on each transaction and handle sales tax and VAT collection and remittance on the merchant's behalf.
Does Paddle work with RevenueCat?
Yes, since 2025 Paddle and RevenueCat have partnered so mobile app developers can add merchant-of-record web payments through Paddle alongside RevenueCat.
Which is better for AI companies?
Polar is built specifically around usage-based, AI-era pricing, with real-time metering and per-customer margin insights against inference costs, plus a free 12-month startup plan for qualifying AI companies.
Other options to consider
All payments tools
Stripe
Payment processing and financial infrastructure APIs, priced pay as you go per transaction.
Stripe Billing
Stripe's subscription and recurring billing product, with usage-based billing via Metronome.
RevenueCat
Subscription infrastructure for mobile apps: a unified backend for App Store, Play Store and web billing.
Lago
Open source billing and usage-based pricing platform, deployable self-hosted or as a managed cloud service.
Sources
More sources for each tool are on the Polar and Paddle pages.
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