Paddle
Payment infrastructure that handles tax, compliance, and billing as your merchant of record.
Overview
Paddle is a payment infrastructure that handles tax, compliance, and billing as your merchant of record. It handles merchant of record, tax handling, billing, and checkout, and it's best suited for saas companies wanting a merchant of record. It has been around since 2012, giving it a 14-year head start in building out integrations and refining the product.
The free plan offers no upfront costs. It's designed for small teams, striking a balance between simplicity and collaboration features.
Strengths
- Includes Merchant of Record as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
- Includes Tax Handling as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
- No upfront costs — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
- Established product with 14+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem
Weaknesses
- Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
- Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
- Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in payment processing
- Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up
Quick info
- Category
- Payment Processing
- Starting price
- 5% + $0.50
- Free tier
- Yes — No upfront costs
- Open source
- No
- Best for
- Small teams
- Founded
- 2012
Last updated 2026-04-12
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