Best Paddle alternatives in 1970.

Looking for alternatives to Paddle? Here are the best options depending on your use case.

Why look for alternatives?

Paddle ranks lower on paywall and conversion tooling, which is the most common reason teams evaluate alternatives.

Top alternatives

Payments, subscriptions and MoR for indie SaaS

percentage

Default choice for indie SaaS founders. Tax compliance out of the box, license key management, excellent DX. Acquired by Stripe in 2024.

Pricing: 5% + $0.50 per transaction. Acquired by Stripe 2024.
Pick if: you want the fastest, simplest setup
Facts: Merchant of recordNo-code

View Lemon Squeezy →Compare vs Paddle →

Stripe Billing

Subscription billing with full developer control

percentage

Maximum flexibility and lowest fees at scale. You own tax compliance. Best for technical teams building complex billing.

Pricing: 0.5–0.8% on top of standard Stripe fees. You handle taxes.
Pick if: you need advanced billing (usage, dunning, entitlements)

View Stripe Billing →Compare vs Paddle →

Polar

Open-source monetization for developers

percentage

Lowest MoR fees on the market (4% + $0.40). Open source, built for developers and OSS projects.

Pricing: 4% + $0.40 per transaction (lowest MoR fees on the market)
Pick if: you want the fastest, simplest setup
Facts: Merchant of recordNo-codeOpen source

View Polar →Compare vs Paddle →

FastSpring

Global payments and MoR for software companies

percentage

Established MoR for software and SaaS companies. Strong in desktop software, games, and B2B. Higher fees than Paddle but deep feature set.

Pricing: 5.9% + $0.95 per transaction (or custom rate)
Pick if: you want global tax and VAT handled for you
Facts: Merchant of record

View FastSpring →Compare vs Paddle →

Lago

Open-source metering and usage-based billing

open source

Open source Stripe Billing alternative with powerful metering and usage-based pricing. Self-hostable (free) or cloud. Built for AI apps and SaaS with complex pricing models.

Pricing: Self-hosted: free. Cloud: from $100/month
Pick if: lowest fees matter most
Facts: Open source

View Lago →Compare vs Paddle →

Orb

Usage-based billing for AI and SaaS

custom

Purpose-built for usage-based billing. Handles credits, seats, metered usage, and hybrid pricing. Designed specifically for AI products and modern SaaS.

Pricing: Custom pricing (contact sales)
Pick if: you need advanced billing (usage, dunning, entitlements)

View Orb →Compare vs Paddle →

Metronome

Usage-based billing for enterprise

custom

Enterprise usage-based billing with real-time metering. Used by Databricks, Notion, and similar scale companies. Not for early-stage.

Pricing: Custom pricing (enterprise)
Pick if: you need advanced billing (usage, dunning, entitlements)

View Metronome →Compare vs Paddle →

Amberflo

Real-time metering and usage-based billing

custom

Real-time metering and usage-based billing platform. Strong in consumption pricing and real-time analytics for SaaS and AI products.

Pricing: From $500/month
Pick if: you need advanced billing (usage, dunning, entitlements)

View Amberflo →Compare vs Paddle →

Comparison table

Tool	Pricing	MoR	A/B	Ease
Paddle	5% + $0.50 per transaction	Yes	No	3/5
Lemon Squeezy	5% + $0.50 per transaction. Acquired by Stripe 2024.	Yes	No	5/5
Stripe Billing	0.5–0.8% on top of standard Stripe fees. You handle taxes.	No	No	2/5
Polar	4% + $0.40 per transaction (lowest MoR fees on the market)	Yes	No	5/5
FastSpring	5.9% + $0.95 per transaction (or custom rate)	Yes	No	3/5
Lago	Self-hosted: free. Cloud: from $100/month	No	No	2/5
Orb	Custom pricing (contact sales)	No	No	2/5
Metronome	Custom pricing (enterprise)	No	No	2/5
Amberflo	From $500/month	No	No	2/5

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