Category · 5 options
Choosing payments
Checkout, subscriptions, invoices, and tax. Decide first whether you want a merchant of record (they handle sales tax and VAT for a higher fee) or to handle tax yourself on a payment processor.
Free plans and prices
In Cuely's default order for the general case. Your needs change the order; see below.
| Tool | Free plan | Paid from | At 1,000 users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe The broadest billing toolkit and the lowest base fee; you handle tax registration. | No monthly fee. US cards: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic transaction; +1.5% international cards; +1% when currency conversion is needed. | Billing: 0.7% of billing volume (pay as you go). Stripe Tax: 0.5% per transaction where you're registered. | $0/month |
| Paddle Sells worldwide as merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT filing are handled for you. | No monthly fee: 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction. | Not stated | $0/month |
| Lemon Squeezy Merchant of record with a simple setup for digital products. | No monthly fee: 5% + 50¢ per transaction, plus listed surcharges (international, PayPal, subscriptions). | Not stated | $0/month |
| RevenueCat One API over Apple and Google in-app purchases, free until $2,500 in monthly tracked revenue. | Free up to $2,500 in monthly tracked revenue. | 1% of monthly tracked revenue once you pass $2,500. | $0/month |
| Stripe Connect Onboard providers, split each payment, keep your fee and pay the rest out. | No monthly fee. Card fees as Stripe: 2.9% + 30¢ per domestic card charge. With Stripe handling pricing: no account, payout volume or per-payout fees. | If you handle pricing: $2 per monthly active account, 0.25% + 25¢ per payout sent, and 0.25% of payout volume. | $0/month |
Best pick by need
From the published scores Cuely ranks with. Only needs where one tool clearly leads.
- charges by usage: Stripe. Meters API for usage-based billing, up to 100M events a month included in Billing pricing.
- high volume: Stripe. Percentage fees are the lowest here and negotiable at volume.
- keep costs as low as possible: Stripe. Lowest base fee of the options here.
- native iOS or Android app: RevenueCat. Apple requires in-app purchase for digital subscriptions in iOS apps; RevenueCat wraps both stores' purchases.
- regulated or compliance-sensitive: Stripe. Card data stays on Stripe, which keeps your PCI scope small.
- sells internationally and wants tax handled: Paddle. As merchant of record, Paddle collects and files sales tax and VAT.
- sells to businesses (organizations, roles, SSO): Stripe. Invoices, seats, usage billing and a hosted customer portal.
- users pay each other and you take a cut: Stripe Connect. Splits each payment, holds your fee and pays providers out, with their onboarding and KYC.