# Paddle

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/payments/paddle/

Merchant of record for software and SaaS: becomes the seller, handles global sales tax registration and remittance, and charges one worldwide rate.

## Who it suits

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 if 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.

## iScore

68 / 100 (80% interval 61–75), rank 4 of 5 in payments.

inetGeek's own reading, computed from sourced facts against category peers by disclosed rules. Not a provider claim. Intervals are 80%; a provider with few documented facts is pulled toward the category middle rather than scored on what little is known.
Method: https://inetgeek.com/iscore/. Full output with every criterion's basis: https://inetgeek.com/scores.json. Every payments peer ranked: https://inetgeek.com/payments/paddle/alternatives/

- Price: 39 (32–45), weight 44%, 2 of 2 criteria scored
- Capacity and limits: 50 (17–83), weight 6%, 0 of 1 criteria scored; scored for peers, not here — undocumented or stated without a number or a yes/limited/no: supported_countries
- Trust and compliance: 94 (67–100), weight 38%, 1 of 1 criteria scored
- Evidence: 100 (100–100), weight 13%, 4 of 4 criteria scored

## What the documentation says

### Pricing

- Free tier: No ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing), read 2026-09-15)
- Pricing model: 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), read 2026-09-15)
- Per-transaction fee: 5% + 50 cents per checkout transaction, the same worldwide, with no migration fees, monthly fees or hidden extras. ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing), read 2026-09-15)

### Infrastructure

- Countries served: 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), read 2026-09-15)

### Support

- Support on entry paid plan: 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), read 2026-09-15)

### Compliance

- Merchant of record: Supported ([source](https://www.paddle.com/pricing), read 2026-09-15)

## Compared with

- [Paddle vs Stripe](https://inetgeek.com/compare/stripe-vs-paddle/)
- [Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy](https://inetgeek.com/compare/paddle-vs-lemon-squeezy/)
- [Paddle vs Polar](https://inetgeek.com/compare/paddle-vs-polar/)
- [Paddle vs Dodo Payments](https://inetgeek.com/compare/dodo-payments-vs-paddle/)