Stripe Billing vs Paddle
Stripe Billing is Stripe's subscription and invoicing product, layered on Stripe's payment processing and priced as a share of billing volume on top of card fees, with your business staying the seller of record by default. Paddle is an all-in-one payments and billing platform that acts as merchant of record, handling payments, subscription billing, global tax compliance and fraud for one flat fee per transaction. Stripe also offers a separate merchant-of-record option, Managed Payments, so choose standard Stripe Billing for control and flexible pricing models, and Paddle, or Stripe with Managed Payments, if you want tax and compliance handled for you.
Facts checked on against the official sources listed at the end. Usage numbers update daily.
Best for
Teams wanting flexible subscription and usage-based billing with full control
No free plan. Paid from 0.7% of billing volume on the pay-as-you-go option, or from $620 a month on fixed subscription plans.
Best for
SaaS and app sellers who want tax, compliance and payments handled for them
No free plan. Paid from 5% + 50 cents per transaction.
Stripe Billing vs Paddle at a glance
| Compared on | Stripe Billing | Paddle |
|---|---|---|
| Role in the sale | By default you remain the seller; Stripe Managed Payments is an optional mode where Stripe becomes merchant of record | Paddle acts as merchant of record and sells to the customer on your behalf |
| Global tax handling | Yours by default, with Stripe Tax available; Managed Payments covers sales tax, VAT and GST in 80+ countries | Included, since Paddle handles tax compliance as merchant of record |
| Fee layering | Billing fee stacks on top of Stripe's card processing fees; Managed Payments adds a further 3.5% per transaction | One flat fee covers checkout, billing, tax and fraud protection |
| Usage-based pricing | Strengthened by Stripe's Metronome acquisition | Subscription billing built in; custom terms for unusual models |
| Contract terms | Fixed plans require a 1-year contract; pay-as-you-go has none | No monthly, setup or migration fees on the standard plan |
| Customer support for payments | You handle it by default; Managed Payments includes transaction-level customer support | Paddle includes customer support for payments |
| Open source | No, Proprietary | No, Proprietary |
| Free plan | No dedicated free plan; the pay-as-you-go option has no monthly fee, only a percentage of billing volume | No monthly fee on the standard plan; you only pay per transaction |
| Paid plans from | 0.7% of billing volume on the pay-as-you-go option, or from $620 a month on fixed subscription plans | 5% + 50 cents per transaction |
| Made by | Stripe | Paddle |
What's the difference between Stripe Billing and Paddle?
Merchant of record is the key split, but Stripe now offers it too
Paddle is the legal seller on every sale, which is why it handles global tax compliance, fraud and payment support. With standard Stripe Billing you remain the seller, so tax registration and filing stay yours unless you add Stripe Tax. Stripe's separate Managed Payments option makes Stripe the merchant of record instead, for digital products such as SaaS.
One fee vs stacked fees
Paddle charges 5% plus 50 cents per transaction as a single fee. Stripe Billing charges 0.7% of billing volume, or fixed plans from $620 a month, on top of Stripe's standard card processing fee. Managed Payments adds a further 3.5% per transaction, so the all-in cost depends on volume and how much tax work you outsource.
Control vs convenience
Stripe Billing offers deep control over plans, invoicing, dunning and a customer billing portal, and a path to advanced usage-based pricing. Managed Payments narrows that: it works through Checkout and Payment Links, and does not support Connect or embedded Elements integrations. Paddle trades some flexibility for a simpler, more managed arrangement.
Small-ticket sales
Paddle asks businesses selling items under $10 or needing invoicing to contact it for custom pricing, because a 50 cent fixed fee weighs heavily on small tickets. Stripe's percentage model can suit low price points better.
Stripe Billing vs Paddle pricing
Paddle bundles everything into one transaction fee. Stripe Billing is priced separately from card processing, either as a percentage of billing volume or a fixed monthly plan.
Stripe Billing
Pay-as-you-go is 0.7% of billing volume with no monthly fee. Fixed plans run from $620 a month (up to $100,000 volume) to $5,750 a month (up to $1 million), each on a 1-year contract, then 0.67% beyond the cap. A custom billing portal domain is $10 a month extra. Stripe's optional Managed Payments merchant-of-record mode adds 3.5% per successful transaction on top of standard processing fees.
- Pay-as-you-go
- 0.7% of billing volume
- Fixed plan (up to $100K volume)
- $620 a month, 1-year contract
- Fixed plan (up to $1M volume)
- $5,750 a month, 1-year contract
- Custom
- Custom pricing
Paddle
Standard is a single flat fee of 5% plus 50 cents per transaction with no monthly, setup or migration fees. Under-$10 items, invoicing needs and large businesses get custom pricing.
- Standard
- 5% + 50 cents per transaction
- Enterprise
- Custom pricing
| Stripe Billing | Billing fee at 0.7% is about $140 a month, plus Stripe's card processing fees and your own tax compliance costs. |
|---|---|
| Paddle | At 5% plus 50 cents, about $1,000 plus 50 cents per transaction, with tax compliance and payment support included. |
Prices in USD from the official pricing pages on 5 October 2026. They change often, so confirm on stripe.com and paddle.com before you commit.
Usage and activity
Weekly npm downloads: 27M for stripe and 256k for @paddle/paddle-js.
| Measure | Stripe Billing | Paddle |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 4,523 | No public repository |
| npm downloads a week | 27M (stripe) | 256k (@paddle/paddle-js) |
| Latest release | v23.0.0, 6 days ago | None on GitHub |
| Releases in 90 days | 3 | 0 |
From the public GitHub and npm APIs, updated daily. Stars and downloads show developer interest, not product quality.
Should you choose Stripe Billing or Paddle?
Choose Stripe Billing if
- You want fine control over plans, invoicing, dunning and the billing portal
- You expect to move toward advanced usage-based or consumption pricing
- You already handle tax yourself or are happy to use Stripe Tax or Managed Payments
- Your volume is high enough that a percentage-based billing fee beats a bundled rate
Choose Paddle if
- You want one vendor to be the merchant of record and take on tax compliance
- You sell globally and do not want to register for tax in each region
- You prefer a single predictable fee over stacked charges
- You want fraud prevention and payment support handled for you
Switching between Stripe Billing and Paddle
Moving from Stripe Billing to Paddle means recreating products and prices in Paddle, migrating active subscribers (which requires coordinating payment method transfer), and changing from being the seller to Paddle being the seller, which affects invoices and tax treatment. Moving the other way means taking on tax registration and filing yourself and rebuilding checkout against Stripe's APIs.
Stripe Billing vs Paddle: common questions
What does merchant of record mean for Paddle?
Paddle becomes the legal seller of your product to the customer. That is why it can handle global tax compliance, fraud prevention and payment support as part of its fee.
Is Stripe a merchant of record?
Not by default. Stripe's Managed Payments option makes Stripe the merchant of record for digital products, handling indirect tax in more than 80 countries, fraud and disputes. It works with Billing subscriptions through Checkout and Payment Links, and does not support Connect.
Does Stripe Billing include its own payment processing?
Billing manages subscriptions and invoices on top of Stripe's payment processing, which carries its own card fees. The billing fee is added on top.
Is Paddle cheaper than Stripe Billing?
It depends. Paddle's 5% plus 50 cents covers tax and compliance work. Stripe's billing percentage excludes card fees and tax handling, and Managed Payments adds 3.5% if you want Stripe as merchant of record. Compare the total cost including your compliance workload.
Can I do usage-based billing on either?
Stripe acquired Metronome to strengthen usage-based pricing within Stripe Billing. Paddle is centred on subscription billing, and unusual models are handled through custom terms.
Do both offer mobile in-app billing?
Paddle has partnered with RevenueCat to extend merchant-of-record web payments to mobile app developers. Stripe Billing is a web and API billing product.
Other options to consider
All payments tools
Stripe
Payment processing and financial infrastructure APIs, priced pay as you go per transaction.
Polar
Merchant-of-record billing platform for developers, built for usage-based and AI-era pricing.
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 Stripe Billing and Paddle pages.
Related comparisons
PolarvsPaddle
Polar and Paddle both act as merchant of record, so they collect and remit sales tax and VAT on your behalf.
Stripe BillingvsStripe
Stripe is the core payments infrastructure: APIs for accepting one-time online payments, handling payouts and preventing fraud, priced per successful transaction with no monthly fee.
StripevsPaddle
Stripe processes payments while you remain the seller of record, responsible for your own sales tax and VAT unless you add Stripe Tax or its merchant-of-record option, Stripe Managed Payments.