# Stripe vs Paddle

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/stripe-vs-paddle/

Every value below is read from Stripe's and Paddle's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Stripe | Paddle |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go per successful charge, with no setup fee, no monthly fee and rates set per country. Volume discounts, multi-product discounts and interchange-plus pricing are offered on a custom package. | One rate per checkout transaction, worldwide, with custom pricing offered to high-volume sellers. Sales-tax compliance is included rather than billed separately. |
| Per-transaction fee | 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards and 2.5% + 20p for EU cards, on the UK pricing page. Rates are per-country: the same URL family prints 2% for cards issued in India on stripe.com/in/pricing. | 5% + 50 cents per checkout transaction, the same worldwide, with no migration fees, monthly fees or hidden extras. |
| Countries served | 195 countries for cardholders, listed as available out of the box. That is where a buyer can pay, not where a business can incorporate — Stripe accounts are available in far fewer. | Not given as a number on the pricing page. Paddle describes end-to-end global tax and compliance without stating a country count, so none is recorded. |
| Support on entry paid plan | Technical support through the official Stripe Developer Discord server, listed among the features available out of the box on the pricing page. | A support team on hand 24/7 for you and for your customers — the second half matters, because as merchant of record Paddle is the party your buyer transacted with. Paddle reports a 93% CSAT score. |
| Merchant of record | Not supported | Supported |

## Where they differ

### Pricing model

- Stripe: Pay-as-you-go per successful charge, with no setup fee, no monthly fee and rates set per country. Volume discounts, multi-product discounts and interchange-plus pricing are offered on a custom package. ([source](https://stripe.com/gb/pricing))
- Paddle: One rate per checkout transaction, worldwide, with custom pricing offered to high-volume sellers. Sales-tax compliance is included rather than billed separately. ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing))

### Per-transaction fee

- Stripe: 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards and 2.5% + 20p for EU cards, on the UK pricing page. Rates are per-country: the same URL family prints 2% for cards issued in India on stripe.com/in/pricing. ([source](https://stripe.com/gb/pricing))
- Paddle: 5% + 50 cents per checkout transaction, the same worldwide, with no migration fees, monthly fees or hidden extras. ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing))

### Support on entry paid plan

- Stripe: Technical support through the official Stripe Developer Discord server, listed among the features available out of the box on the pricing page. ([source](https://stripe.com/gb/pricing))
- Paddle: A support team on hand 24/7 for you and for your customers — the second half matters, because as merchant of record Paddle is the party your buyer transacted with. Paddle reports a 93% CSAT score. ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing))

### Merchant of record

- Stripe: Not supported ([source](https://stripe.com/gb/pricing))
- Paddle: Supported ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing))

### Countries served

- Stripe: 195 countries for cardholders, listed as available out of the box. That is where a buyer can pay, not where a business can incorporate — Stripe accounts are available in far fewer. ([source](https://stripe.com/gb/pricing))
- Paddle: Not given as a number on the pricing page. Paddle describes end-to-end global tax and compliance without stating a country count, so none is recorded. ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Stripe if Selling where you already handle your own tax registrations. At 1.5% + 20p on a standard UK card, Stripe is roughly three and a half points cheaper than every merchant of record here, and that gap is the whole reason to take on the VAT work yourself.

Pick Paddle if SaaS sold worldwide by a team that does not want tax registrations. One rate — 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, the same everywhere — with Paddle as the seller of record and the sales-tax liability its problem rather than yours.

Consider something else: Stripe — You sell internationally and do not want to register for sales tax in each jurisdiction. Stripe moves the money and leaves the liability with you — and its rate is set per country, so the number you budget from is not the number a buyer elsewhere generates.

Consider something else: Paddle — Your volume makes the percentage the dominant cost. At scale the gap to a plain processor is measured in points of revenue, and Dodo Payments asks 4% + 40¢ for the same merchant-of-record arrangement.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Should I choose Stripe or Paddle?**

Pick Stripe if Selling where you already handle your own tax registrations. At 1.5% + 20p on a standard UK card, Stripe is roughly three and a half points cheaper than every merchant of record here, and that gap is the whole reason to take on the VAT work yourself.
Pick Paddle if SaaS sold worldwide by a team that does not want tax registrations. One rate — 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, the same everywhere — with Paddle as the seller of record and the sales-tax liability its problem rather than yours.