Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy for Indie Makers (2026)

Verdict: Paddle and Lemon Squeezy are both merchants of record and both charge 5% + 50¢ per transaction, so a $49 sale on a US card costs $2.95 on either. Lemon Squeezy publishes extra fees for non-US buyers, PayPal, subscription payments, cart recovery and affiliates, while Paddle says its rate has no hidden extras. Choose Lemon Squeezy if you want a self-serve storefront with licence keys and digital downloads; choose Paddle if you run subscription SaaS with many customers outside the US.

This comparison uses only the fees each company publishes, checked on 6 Nov 2026. Where a vendor page does not state something, we say so rather than guess.

TL;DR#

• Same headline rate: Paddle charges 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction (Paddle). Lemon Squeezy charges 5% + 50¢ per transaction (Lemon Squeezy).
• Lemon Squeezy surcharges: +1.5% for payments from outside the US, +1.5% for PayPal, +0.5% for subscription payments, +5% on recovered abandoned carts and +3% on affiliate referrals (Lemon Squeezy fees).
• Paddle's pitch: no monthly fees, migration fees or hidden extras, with checkout, subscriptions, tax, fraud protection, reporting and buyer billing support included (Paddle).
• $49 US card sale: $2.95 on both. The gap opens on international buyers and recurring payments.
• Rule of thumb: Lemon Squeezy for storefronts, licence keys and downloads; Paddle for global subscription SaaS.

Disclosure: ZeroRaised publishes this comparison and is a launch site for bootstrapped products. Facts come from the linked sources as checked on 6 Nov 2026. ZeroRaised has no commercial relationship with Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Stripe, and earns nothing if you sign up.

Why this is a different decision from Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy#

In our Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy comparison, price settles most cases: Gumroad's 10% + $0.50 on direct sales is roughly double Lemon Squeezy's percentage. Paddle is different. Its headline fee matches Lemon Squeezy's exactly, so "which is cheaper?" depends on where your buyers are, how they pay and whether you bill monthly. The other half of the decision is what you sell, which we cover in the storefront section below.

Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy at a glance#

Sources: Paddle pricing, Lemon Squeezy pricing, Lemon Squeezy fees. "Not listed" means the page we checked did not state the item, not that it is free or unavailable.

Merchant of record: what you get from both#

A merchant of record (MoR) is the legal seller to your customer. When someone buys your app through Paddle or Lemon Squeezy, the platform sells it to them, collects any sales tax or VAT due, files it with the relevant authorities and then pays you. Paddle's pricing FAQ states that it collects and files sales tax and VAT as merchant of record (Paddle). Lemon Squeezy describes the same role on its pricing page (Lemon Squeezy).

For an indie maker, that is the main reason to pay 5% + 50¢ instead of a lower processor fee. Selling to buyers in dozens of countries with a plain processor means you are the seller, and the tax registrations and filings are yours. If the distinction is new to you, our guide to merchant of record vs payment processor explains who owes what.

Because both platforms play the same role, MoR status is not a tiebreaker here. It is the reason both are on your shortlist.

Worked fee example: a $49 sale on a US card#

This example applies only the published fee formulas to a $49 product price. It ignores currency conversion, refunds, chargebacks and income tax, and treats $49 as the price before any sales tax the platform collects.

Paddle:

• 5% of $49 = $2.45
• Plus 50¢ fixed
• Fee: $2.95 (6.0% of the price). You keep $46.05.

Lemon Squeezy:

• 5% of $49 = $2.45
• Plus 50¢ fixed
• Fee: $2.95 (6.0% of the price). You keep $46.05.

On a one-off sale to a US buyer paying by card, there is no difference. That is the only scenario where we can say the two cost exactly the same on published terms.

Where Lemon Squeezy's adders come in#

Lemon Squeezy's fees documentation lists these surcharges on top of the 5% + 50¢ base (Lemon Squeezy fees). To show their size, here is each one applied to a $49 price:

They stack. A $49 monthly subscription payment from a US card is 5.5% + 50¢, about $3.20. The same payment from a buyer outside the US is 7% + 50¢, about $3.93.

Two caveats. First, Lemon Squeezy's own worked example in its documentation calculates the platform fee on a total that includes VAT, so the real base may be higher than the pre-tax price for buyers who pay tax. Check your first payout statement. Second, payout fees are separate: if you are paid out via Stripe to a bank outside the US, Lemon Squeezy lists a 1% payout fee.

Paddle's pricing page lists one rate and says there are no hidden extras (Paddle). We have not added any surcharge to the Paddle side because the page we checked does not list one.

What that means over a year#

Take one customer on a $49 monthly plan, using the per-payment figures above:

For a US-only subscription business the gap is about $2.94 per customer per year, which is unlikely to decide anything. For a product with a mostly international audience it is about $11.76 per customer per year, which adds up as your subscriber count grows. If you sell to Europe, the UK or anywhere outside the US, model your own mix in our payment fee calculator.

Cheap products#

The fixed 50¢ hurts on low prices. On a $5 item, Lemon Squeezy's base fee is 75¢, or 15% of the price. Paddle's FAQ says it offers bespoke pricing for products under $10, so if you sell cheap add-ons or tip-jar style products, ask Paddle for a quote rather than assuming the standard rate applies.

Storefront and licence keys vs checkout depth#

This is where the platforms feel most different to use.

Lemon Squeezy: storefront, licence keys and downloads#

Lemon Squeezy's pricing page lists a storefront, licence keys, digital downloads, subscriptions and no-code checkout among its features (Lemon Squeezy). For an indie maker that means you can set up a product page, attach a file or generate a licence key, and share a checkout link without building much yourself. It also sells email marketing, free up to 500 subscribers and then priced by list size.

That combination fits:

• desktop and mobile apps sold with a licence key
• plugins, themes, templates and starter kits
• small SaaS products where a hosted checkout and simple subscription are enough
• makers who want to be selling this weekend

Paddle: billing and subscription depth in one rate#

Paddle's pricing page bundles checkout, subscriptions, payments, tax and compliance, fraud protection, reporting, buyer billing support and a migration service into the 5% + 50¢ (Paddle). It also states no lock-in periods and custom pricing for high-volume or more complex needs.

Buyer billing support is worth noting for a solo founder: billing questions from your customers about charges and invoices can go to the merchant of record rather than to your inbox. The migration service matters if you already bill customers elsewhere and want to move them.

Paddle's pricing page does not list a storefront, licence keys or digital downloads among its included items. That does not mean they are impossible, only that we did not verify them for this post. If your product depends on licence keys, read Paddle's developer documentation before you commit.

The Lemon Squeezy and Stripe question#

Stripe acquired Lemon Squeezy in 2024. A January 2026 update from the Lemon Squeezy team says it is building Stripe Managed Payments and aims to give Lemon Squeezy users an easy way to migrate, with no shutdown date published (Lemon Squeezy). We cover this in more detail in the Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy post.

The practical takeaway for this comparison: if you start on Lemon Squeezy, assume a migration at some point. Keep customer emails, licence records and subscription status in your own database so a move is a data export rather than a rebuild. Paddle has no comparable migration notice on the page we checked.

Who should pick which#

This is our editorial advice, based on the published fees and features above.

Pick Lemon Squeezy if you sell downloads, licence keys or a simple subscription#

• You want a storefront and checkout live in an afternoon, with no billing code.
• Your product is a desktop app, plugin, template pack or other download, possibly with licence keys.
• Most of your buyers are in the US and pay by card, so the surcharges rarely apply.
• You want light email marketing in the same tool and your list is under 500 subscribers.

Go in with an exit plan because of the Stripe migration path.

Pick Paddle if you run subscription SaaS with global customers#

• Most of your revenue is recurring, so a 0.5% subscription surcharge would apply to nearly every payment.
• A large share of customers are outside the US or pay with PayPal.
• You want fraud protection, reporting and buyer billing support bundled into one published rate.
• You are moving existing subscribers and want the included migration service.
• You sell products under $10 and want to negotiate bespoke pricing.

A quick decision table#

Whichever you choose, the checkout is only one step of selling. Our guide on how to sell software online covers pricing pages, receipts and delivery, and how to bootstrap a SaaS shows where payments fit in the first 90 days.

Frequently asked questions#

Is Paddle or Lemon Squeezy cheaper?#

On a $49 sale to a US buyer paying by card, they cost the same: 5% + 50¢, or $2.95. Lemon Squeezy then adds published surcharges, such as 1.5% for buyers outside the US and 0.5% for subscription payments, while Paddle's pricing page says its 5% + 50¢ has no hidden extras. So the more international and subscription-heavy your sales, the more Paddle's flat rate favours you.

Are Paddle and Lemon Squeezy both merchants of record?#

Yes. Paddle's pricing FAQ says it collects and files sales tax and VAT as merchant of record, and Lemon Squeezy describes itself the same way. In both cases the platform is the legal seller to your customer and handles the tax on each sale.

Does Lemon Squeezy charge extra for subscriptions?#

Yes. Lemon Squeezy's fees documentation lists an extra 0.5% on subscription payments, on top of the 5% + 50¢ base. On a $49 monthly payment from a US card that takes the fee from $2.95 to about $3.20.

Which is better for selling licence keys and digital downloads?#

Lemon Squeezy lists a storefront, licence keys, digital downloads, subscriptions and no-code checkout among its features, which makes it the faster self-serve option for apps, plugins and downloadable products. Paddle's pricing page focuses on checkout, subscriptions, payments, tax, fraud protection and buyer support, so check its documentation before relying on it for licence keys.

How does this differ from Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy?#

Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 on direct sales, so it loses to Lemon Squeezy on price for most software. Paddle charges the same headline 5% + 50¢ as Lemon Squeezy, so the Paddle decision turns on surcharges, product type and billing depth rather than the base rate. Our Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy comparison covers the creator side.

Launch what you sell#

ZeroRaised is a launch directory for products built without institutional VC, and you can submit your product for free once your checkout is live. For more guides on pricing, payments and launching without investors, join the ZeroRaised newsletter.

Sources#

• Paddle pricing, last checked 6 Nov 2026
• Lemon Squeezy pricing, last checked 6 Nov 2026
• Lemon Squeezy fees documentation, last checked 6 Nov 2026
• Lemon Squeezy: 2026 update, last checked 6 Nov 2026