Stripe vs Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy for Indie Makers (2026)

It is one of the first real decisions when you start charging: Stripe, or a merchant of record like Paddle or Lemon Squeezy? The fees are different, but the bigger difference is who is legally selling to your customer, and so who deals with sales tax and VAT.

This is a plain comparison from each company's own pricing page, checked in October 2026. We do not sell payments. makerhandle shows verified revenue from all three, so we have no reason to push one. None of this is tax advice.

The one idea that decides most of it

With Stripe in its standard setup, you are the seller, the merchant of record. Stripe moves the money; registering for and paying sales tax or VAT where you have to is your job, even if Stripe Tax calculates it for you.

With Paddle or Lemon Squeezy, the provider is the merchant of record. Your customer buys from them, they collect and pay the tax, handle chargebacks, and pay you what is left.

So the question is less "which is cheaper?" and more "do I want to handle tax myself in exchange for lower fees?"

Fees, from their own pages

Stripe also offers Managed Payments, its own merchant of record option for digital products such as SaaS, listed at 3.5% per transaction on top of the normal payment fees. Lemon Squeezy announced in July 2024 that Stripe had acquired it; it is still sold as its own product, with its own pricing page.

Worked examples

Our own arithmetic from the table, US cards, before any tax or conversion fees:

• A $20 monthly subscription. Stripe: 2.9% + 30¢ is about 88¢, plus 14¢ for Billing, so about $1.02. Paddle or Lemon Squeezy: 5% + 50¢ is $1.50.
• A $100 sale. Stripe: $3.20 (plus 70¢ if it is a subscription on Billing). Paddle or Lemon Squeezy: $5.50.

The gap looks big in percentages and small in dollars. On $2,000 a month in $20 subscriptions, the difference is roughly $48 a month. Whether that is worth it depends on what the tax work would cost you in time or accountant fees.

When Stripe makes sense

• you sell mostly to businesses in one country, or a few
• you want full control of checkout, customer data and the rest of Stripe's tools
• you already handle tax, or your sales are small enough where you sell that you have few obligations (check with an accountant)

When a merchant of record makes sense

• you sell to consumers in many countries and do not want to register for VAT in each
• you are a solo founder and would rather pay a higher fee than learn tax rules
• you sell software, subscriptions or digital downloads, which is what both are built for

Between Paddle and Lemon Squeezy, the headline price is the same. Look at the checkout your customers will see, payout options in your country, and how each handles the products you sell. Gumroad is a third option for digital products, at 10% + 50¢ per sale with no monthly fee.

Switching later

You can move, but it is work: subscriptions have to be migrated or left to run out, and customers may need to enter card details again. Pick with the next two years in mind, not the next two weeks.

Showing the revenue, whichever you pick

Revenue posted as a screenshot is easy to fake, which is why people trust a number read from the source. makerhandle connects to Stripe with a read-only restricted key, to Paddle and Lemon Squeezy with an API key, and to Gumroad, and shows MRR or the last 30 days of sales with a check mark. makerhandle only reads: it never charges, refunds or changes anything. If you want to see what your plans add up to first, try the MRR calculator.