[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"tools-page-merchant-of-record-comparison":3},{"page":4,"related":131,"variants":156},{"path":5,"name":6,"title":7,"description":8,"checkedAt":9,"sources":10,"faq":47,"related":66,"nuxter":71,"body":74,"tool":129,"preset":130},"\u002Ftools\u002Fmerchant-of-record-comparison","Merchant of record comparison","Merchant of Record Comparison for SaaS Payment Fees","Merchant of record comparison for SaaS. Stripe, Stripe Managed Payments, Paddle, Polar, Lemon Squeezy and Creem fees for your price, volume and tax.","2026-10-06",[11,14,17,20,23,26,29,32,35,38,41,44],{"label":12,"url":13},"Stripe, Pricing","https:\u002F\u002Fstripe.com\u002Fpricing",{"label":15,"url":16},"Stripe, Pricing in the United Kingdom","https:\u002F\u002Fstripe.com\u002Fgb\u002Fpricing",{"label":18,"url":19},"Stripe, Managed Payments pricing","https:\u002F\u002Fstripe.com\u002Fmanaged-payments",{"label":21,"url":22},"Stripe docs, Update your Checkout integration for Managed Payments","https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.stripe.com\u002Fpayments\u002Fmanaged-payments\u002Fupdate-checkout",{"label":24,"url":25},"Stripe docs, How Managed Payments works","https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.stripe.com\u002Fpayments\u002Fmanaged-payments\u002Fhow-it-works",{"label":27,"url":28},"Stripe docs, Adaptive Pricing","https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.stripe.com\u002Fpayments\u002Fcurrencies\u002Flocalize-prices\u002Fadaptive-pricing",{"label":30,"url":31},"Paddle, Pricing","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.paddle.com\u002Fpricing",{"label":33,"url":34},"Polar docs, Fees","https:\u002F\u002Fpolar.sh\u002Fdocs\u002Fmerchant-of-record\u002Ffees",{"label":36,"url":37},"Polar docs, Merchant of Record","https:\u002F\u002Fpolar.sh\u002Fdocs\u002Fmerchant-of-record\u002Fintroduction",{"label":39,"url":40},"Lemon Squeezy docs, Fees","https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.lemonsqueezy.com\u002Fhelp\u002Fgetting-started\u002Ffees",{"label":42,"url":43},"Lemon Squeezy, 2026 Update, Lemon Squeezy + Stripe Managed Payments","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.lemonsqueezy.com\u002Fblog\u002F2026-update",{"label":45,"url":46},"Creem, Pricing","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.creem.io\u002Fpricing",[48,51,54,57,60,63],{"question":49,"answer":50},"Which payment provider has the lowest fees for a SaaS?","It depends on your price, how many buyers pay with non-US cards and whether you sell subscriptions. A fixed fee per order weighs more on a small price, and the surcharges for international cards and subscriptions differ from one provider to the next, so the ranking moves as those change. Enter your own numbers above to see the order for your sales.",{"question":52,"answer":53},"What is a merchant of record?","The merchant of record is the business that legally sells to your buyer. It charges the card, collects and pays over sales tax and VAT, and handles refunds and chargebacks, then pays you what is left after its fee. With plain Stripe, you are the merchant of record yourself.",{"question":55,"answer":56},"How much does Stripe Managed Payments cost?","Stripe charges a percentage on each successful Managed Payments transaction, on top of its usual payment fees, so the surcharge for international cards still applies. Currency conversion goes through Adaptive Pricing, which Managed Payments turns on and the buyer pays for. Stripe prices Billing separately, so subscriptions pay its fee as well.",{"question":58,"answer":59},"What is happening to Lemon Squeezy?","Lemon Squeezy is part of Stripe, and in January 2026 its co-founder wrote that the goal is to give Lemon Squeezy users an easy way to migrate to Stripe Managed Payments. The post does not give a date for the move or new fees. Lemon Squeezy's fee page still lists its own rates, which this comparison uses.",{"question":61,"answer":62},"When does Polar's Pro plan become cheaper than Starter?","When the monthly plan fee is smaller than what the lower rate saves you. Polar gives its thresholds in monthly sales, and they depend on your average order, because part of each fee is fixed per order. The comparison works out the threshold for your price beside each Polar plan.",{"question":64,"answer":65},"Do merchant of record fees apply to the sales tax or VAT part of a payment?","For Polar and Lemon Squeezy, yes. Both charge their fee on the total including tax, and their own examples show it. Paddle and Creem do not say, so this comparison applies their fee to the total and marks the assumption.",[67,68,69,70],"stripe-fee-calculator","webhook-signature-verifier","test-card-numbers","stripe-managed-payments-fees",{"body":72,"to":73},"Nuxter ships adapters for Stripe, with or without Managed Payments, Polar, Lemon Squeezy and Creem, each on the provider's hosted checkout. Choose on fees; the adapter is already in the kit.","\u002Ffeatures",{"type":75,"value":76,"toc":120},"minimark",[77,82,86,89,93,96,99,103,106,110,113,117],[78,79,81],"h2",{"id":80},"processor-or-merchant-of-record","Processor or merchant of record",[83,84,85],"p",{},"With a payment processor such as Stripe, your business is the seller. You may owe sales tax, VAT or GST where your buyers live, and registering, filing and paying it over are yours to do. Stripe Tax can calculate and collect it for you.",[83,87,88],{},"A merchant of record resells your product instead. It is the seller on the receipt, it collects and pays over the tax, and it takes the chargebacks. Paddle, Polar, Lemon Squeezy, Creem and Stripe Managed Payments all work this way, and each starts from a higher rate than Stripe's for doing so. Stripe's surcharges for non-US cards and for Billing can close that gap, which is why the order changes with your numbers.",[78,90,92],{"id":91},"what-the-comparison-counts","What the comparison counts",[83,94,95],{},"Each provider's percentage applies to the total the buyer pays, tax included, which is how Polar and Lemon Squeezy document their fees. Orders on US and non-US cards are worked out separately, weighted by the share you enter, and each order's fee is rounded to the cent. Stripe's conversion fee applies to plain Stripe only, since Managed Payments converts through Adaptive Pricing at the buyer's expense.",[83,97,98],{},"Polar's plan fees and its payout fees are included, and so is Lemon Squeezy's payout fee for sellers outside the US. Disputes, refunds and PayPal payments are left out.",[78,100,102],{"id":101},"when-the-premium-pays-for-itself","When the premium pays for itself",[83,104,105],{},"The gap between Stripe and a merchant of record buys the tax work: a registration in each place where you owe tax, a return on each one's schedule, and paying over what you collected. Stripe Tax Basic only calculates and collects, so with it the registrations and filings are still yours, unless you add Tax Complete. If you sell to consumers in many countries, weigh the premium against what that work would cost you.",[78,107,109],{"id":108},"polars-plans","Polar's plans",[83,111,112],{},"Polar has a free Starter plan and three paid plans that trade a monthly fee for a lower rate. Organizations created before Polar's plan change keep the Early Member rate for as long as they stay on it; upgrading to a paid plan retires it. The table's threshold for each paid plan counts sales before tax and leaves payout fees out.",[78,114,116],{"id":115},"lemon-squeezy-and-stripe-managed-payments","Lemon Squeezy and Stripe Managed Payments",[83,118,119],{},"On January 28, 2026, Lemon Squeezy's co-founder JR Farr wrote: \"Our goal is to provide Lemon Squeezy users an easy way to migrate to Stripe Managed Payments.\" The post does not give a date for the move or new fees. Until Lemon Squeezy says more, the comparison uses the rates on its fee page and shows Managed Payments beside it.",{"title":121,"searchDepth":122,"depth":122,"links":123},"",2,[124,125,126,127,128],{"id":80,"depth":122,"text":81},{"id":91,"depth":122,"text":92},{"id":101,"depth":122,"text":102},{"id":108,"depth":122,"text":109},{"id":115,"depth":122,"text":116},"merchant-of-record-comparison",null,[132,138,144,150],{"path":133,"tool":67,"name":134,"title":135,"description":136,"summary":137,"checkedAt":9},"\u002Ftools\u002Fstripe-fee-calculator","Stripe fee calculator","Stripe Fee Calculator with Billing, Tax and Reverse Mode","Stripe fee calculator for US accounts. Find what you keep from a charge, or what to charge to keep an exact amount, with Billing, Tax or Managed Payments.","What you keep from a US charge, or what to charge to keep an exact amount, with Billing, Stripe Tax or Managed Payments.",{"path":139,"tool":68,"name":140,"title":141,"description":142,"summary":143,"checkedAt":9},"\u002Ftools\u002Fwebhook-signature-verifier","Webhook signature verifier","Webhook Signature Verification for Stripe and Polar","Webhook signature verification in your browser for Stripe, Polar, Standard Webhooks, Lemon Squeezy, Creem, Paddle and GitHub, with the reason a check fails.","Check a Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy, Creem, Paddle or GitHub signature in the browser, and see why it fails.",{"path":145,"tool":69,"name":146,"title":147,"description":148,"summary":149,"checkedAt":9},"\u002Ftools\u002Ftest-card-numbers","Test card numbers","Test Card Numbers for Stripe, Paddle, Polar and Creem","Test card numbers for Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy, Paddle and Creem, for success, declines, 3D Secure and failed renewals, and where the same card differs.","Cards for success, declines, 3D Secure and failed renewals at Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy, Paddle and Creem.",{"path":151,"tool":70,"name":152,"title":153,"description":154,"summary":155,"checkedAt":9},"\u002Ftools\u002Fstripe-managed-payments-fees","Stripe Managed Payments fees","Stripe Managed Payments Fees Calculator and Comparison","Stripe Managed Payments fees for your price and volume. See the merchant of record fee on top of Stripe's, what you keep, and who can use it.","What Stripe's merchant of record fee adds to its card fees, what you keep, and whether your business can use it.",[]]