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Paddle

Merchant of record for software: it sells your SaaS in its own name and handles sales tax and VAT in every country.

Global payments
Website Official pricing
Price
5% + 50¢ per transaction, taxes included
Free plan
No
Setup
Needs a developer
Up and running
Checkout in a day or two; domain review is often automatic, but a manual one takes about 5 to 7 business days.

What Paddle is for

Selling software across borders means charging the right sales tax or VAT in each country and filing it there. Paddle is a merchant of record: legally, Paddle sells your product to the customer, charges and pays the taxes, handles refunds and chargebacks, and sends you what's left once a month. You never register for VAT or US sales tax yourself.

How it plugs into your product

  1. 1Create the account and build in the sandbox, which needs no approval.
  2. 2Submit your website for domain review: it needs a product description, pricing, terms, refund and privacy policies, and HTTPS.
  3. 3Add Paddle's checkout to your pricing page and listen to its webhooks on your server to turn access on and off.
  4. 4Set your payout details in the dashboard; the money arrives once a month by wire or Payoneer.

Does it fit your idea?

It fits if

  • A small SaaS selling to customers in the US, UK and EU without registering for sales tax or VAT in each place.
  • Monthly or yearly subscriptions at $15 or more, where 5% + 50¢ is a fair price for not dealing with taxes.
  • You want buyers to pay with PayPal, Apple Pay or local methods like iDEAL and UPI without integrating each one.

Look elsewhere if

  • You sell consulting, done-for-you services or physical products: Paddle doesn't accept them.
  • Your product is a marketplace where other people sell through you.
  • You sell only in your home country and need weekly cash flow: a regular payment processor pays out faster and costs less than 5% + 50¢.

What people only find out after building

Read this before you build on it. Each item links to the official page that says so.

  • You can't go live until your website passes domain review. Most are approved automatically, but a manual review takes an estimated 5 to 7 business days and can stretch if they ask for more documents.

    Official source: paddle.com

  • The banned list includes pure consulting, marketplaces, exam and certification prep, medical advice, and donations or community access without real software. Check it before you build.

    Official source: paddle.com

  • You can't withdraw on demand. Paddle creates the payout on the 1st, sends it by the 15th, holds balances under $100, and some countries pay a $15 SWIFT fee.

    Official source: paddle.com

  • Local methods only show when the currency and country match: iDEAL, for example, appears only to customers in the Netherlands paying in euros. If you only list dollar prices, many buyers abroad see card and wallets only.

    Official source: developer.paddle.com

  • The 50¢ per sale is flat, so cheap products hurt: on a $5 sale, Paddle keeps 15%. Products under $10 can ask for custom pricing.

    Official source: paddle.com

Price

5% + 50¢ per transaction, taxes included

No monthly fee; you pay per transaction.

Fee per sale
5% + 50¢
Handles taxes (merchant of record)
Yes, files and remits taxes
Subscriptions
Yes, included in the fee

Checked on Oct 28, 2026 · official pricing

What it costs in practice

Estimate for a SaaS with 200 subscribers at $20/month (tax added on top for the customer): 200 × (5% of $20 + 50¢) = about $300/month in fees, with tax filing included. You keep roughly $3,700, paid once a month.

Estimate from the official price. Check it before you decide.

At a glance

  • Open source: no

“Not stated” means the official site doesn’t say.

Who uses it

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