Best Payment Tools for Startups (1970)

Tools that pair the easiest setup with a 'starting' stage profile — free tiers, low integration cost.

19 tools matched

Why it matters

Early-stage time-to-revenue beats every other consideration. Pick the tool that ships your first paid customer this week and revisit when you outgrow it.

1. RevenueCat

free until threshold

In-app subscriptions made easy

Ease 5/5 — Free up to $2.5k MTR, then 1% of revenue.

Ease 5/5Fees 3/5Conv 2/5

Best if:ios, android, react native, flutter

View profile →Alternatives

2. Lemon Squeezy

percentage

Payments, subscriptions and MoR for indie SaaS

Ease 5/5 — 5% + $0.50 per transaction. Acquired by Stripe 2024..

Ease 5/5Fees 4/5Conv 2/5MoR

Best if:saas, indie dev, digital products, license keys

View profile →Alternatives

3. Polar

percentage

Open-source monetization for developers

Ease 5/5 — 4% + $0.40 per transaction (lowest MoR fees on the market).

Ease 5/5Fees 5/5Conv 2/5MoR

Best if:indie dev, open source, developers, digital products

View profile →Alternatives

4. Gumroad

percentage

Sell anything digital, instantly

Ease 5/5 — 10% flat. 30% if sold via Gumroad marketplace..

Ease 5/5Fees 2/5Conv 3/5MoR

Best if:ebooks, templates, courses, indie creators

View profile →Alternatives

5. Payhip

freemium

Sell digital products and memberships

Ease 5/5 — Free: 5% fee. Plus $29/mo: 2%. Pro $99/mo: 0%.

Ease 5/5Fees 4/5Conv 2/5

Best if:ebooks, templates, courses, memberships

View profile →Alternatives

6. Beehiiv

flat monthly

Newsletter platform with paid subscriptions and ad network

Ease 5/5 — Free up to 2,500 subscribers. Scale from $42/month. 0% platform fee on paid subs..

Ease 5/5Fees 4/5Conv 4/5

Best if:newsletters, creators, paid subscriptions, ad monetization

View profile →Alternatives

7. Substack

percentage

Publish and monetize newsletters

Ease 5/5 — 10% of paid subscription revenue. Stripe handles payments..

Ease 5/5Fees 2/5Conv 3/5

Best if:newsletters, writers, podcasts, new creators

View profile →Alternatives

8. Skool

flat monthly

Simple community and course platform

Ease 5/5 — $99/month flat. 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee..

Ease 5/5Fees 3/5Conv 3/5

Best if:communities, courses, memberships, coaching

View profile →Alternatives

9. Adapty

free until threshold

Mobile subscriptions with paywall optimization

Ease 4/5 — Free up to $10k MTR, then 1% of revenue.

Ease 4/5Fees 5/5Conv 5/5

Best if:ios, android, react native, flutter

View profile →Alternatives

10. Nami ML

free until threshold

No-code paywall builder and A/B testing for mobile

Ease 4/5 — Free plan available, paid from $149/month.

Ease 4/5Fees 3/5Conv 5/5

Best if:ios, android

View profile →Alternatives

11. Qonversion

free until threshold

Mobile subscription analytics and infrastructure

Ease 4/5 — Free up to $10k MTR, then 0.6% on Starter.

Ease 4/5Fees 5/5Conv 2/5

Best if:ios, android, react native, flutter

View profile →Alternatives

12. Apphud

free until threshold

iOS subscriptions with win-back automation

Ease 4/5 — Free plan available, Pro from $39/month.

Ease 4/5Fees 4/5Conv 3/5

Best if:ios

View profile →Alternatives

13. Whop

percentage

Sell communities, courses, and software access

Ease 4/5 — 3% platform + Stripe fees (~5.7–7.2% all-in).

Ease 4/5Fees 4/5Conv 3/5

Best if:communities, courses, memberships, discord access

View profile →Alternatives

14. Kit

flat monthly

Creator email marketing with paid subscriptions

Ease 4/5 — Free up to 10,000 subscribers. Creator from $25/month..

Ease 4/5Fees 3/5Conv 3/5

Best if:creators, newsletters, courses, digital products

View profile →Alternatives

15. Circle

flat monthly

Community platform with courses and memberships

Ease 4/5 — Professional from $89/month. 0% transaction fee..

Ease 4/5Fees 3/5Conv 3/5

Best if:communities, courses, memberships, creators

View profile →Alternatives

16. Kajabi

flat monthly

All-in-one platform for online courses and memberships

Ease 4/5 — Kickstarter $55/month. Basic $119/month. 0% transaction fee..

Ease 4/5Fees 2/5Conv 4/5

Best if:courses, memberships, coaching, creators

View profile →Alternatives

17. MemberPress

flat annual

WordPress membership and subscription plugin

Ease 4/5 — Basic $179/year. Plus $299/year. Pro $399/year..

Ease 4/5Fees 4/5Conv 3/5

Best if:wordpress, memberships, courses, content paywalls

View profile →Alternatives

18. Easy Digital Downloads

flat annual

Sell digital products on WordPress

Ease 4/5 — Personal $99/year. Extended $199/year. Professional $299/year..

Ease 4/5Fees 4/5Conv 2/5

Best if:wordpress, digital products, ebooks, software

View profile →Alternatives

19. Leaky Paywall

flat monthly

WordPress paywall for independent publishers

Ease 4/5 — From $99/month.

Ease 4/5Fees 3/5Conv 2/5

Best if:wordpress, local news, independent publishers

View profile →Alternatives

Quick comparison

Tool	Pricing	MoR	A/B	Ease	Fees
RevenueCat	Free up to $2.5k MTR, then 1% of revenue	—	—	5/5	3/5
Lemon Squeezy	5% + $0.50 per transaction. Acquired by Stripe 2024.	Yes	—	5/5	4/5
Polar	4% + $0.40 per transaction (lowest MoR fees on the market)	Yes	—	5/5	5/5
Gumroad	10% flat. 30% if sold via Gumroad marketplace.	Yes	—	5/5	2/5
Payhip	Free: 5% fee. Plus $29/mo: 2%. Pro $99/mo: 0%	—	—	5/5	4/5
Beehiiv	Free up to 2,500 subscribers. Scale from $42/month. 0% platform fee on paid subs.	—	Yes	5/5	4/5
Substack	10% of paid subscription revenue. Stripe handles payments.	—	—	5/5	2/5
Skool	$99/month flat. 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee.	—	—	5/5	3/5
Adapty	Free up to $10k MTR, then 1% of revenue	—	Yes	4/5	5/5
Nami ML	Free plan available, paid from $149/month	—	Yes	4/5	3/5
Qonversion	Free up to $10k MTR, then 0.6% on Starter	—	—	4/5	5/5
Apphud	Free plan available, Pro from $39/month	—	—	4/5	4/5
Whop	3% platform + Stripe fees (~5.7–7.2% all-in)	—	—	4/5	4/5
Kit	Free up to 10,000 subscribers. Creator from $25/month.	—	—	4/5	3/5
Circle	Professional from $89/month. 0% transaction fee.	—	—	4/5	3/5
Kajabi	Kickstarter $55/month. Basic $119/month. 0% transaction fee.	—	—	4/5	2/5
MemberPress	Basic $179/year. Plus $299/year. Pro $399/year.	—	—	4/5	4/5
Easy Digital Downloads	Personal $99/year. Extended $199/year. Professional $299/year.	—	—	4/5	4/5
Leaky Paywall	From $99/month	—	—	4/5	3/5

Our pick

RevenueCat — the fastest setup and best documentation. In-app subscriptions made easy.

Stack recommendation

For most of this audience we recommend Lemon Squeezy — Fastest path to charging for a SaaS.

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