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Stripe vs Paddle

Stripe processes payments and leaves sales tax and VAT to you. Paddle becomes the seller of record: it charges the customer, files the tax and pays you what is left. Comparing their fees is only half the comparison.

By Biel Vazquez · Rates verified

Short answer

On fees alone, Stripe wins at home and the gap closes abroad. A €1,000.00 sale from Germany to a Spanish company costs €15.25 on Stripe and €50.50 on Paddle. A $5,000.00 sale from the US to Spain costs $254.60 and $250.50, and only Paddle's figure includes the tax work.

A flat rate against a stack of layers

Paddle charges the same 5% plus a fixed fee wherever the buyer is, and states that currency conversion and international handling are included. Stripe starts much lower, 1.5% on a European card for a European account, then adds a surcharge for a foreign card and 2% for converting the currency.

For sales inside your own region Stripe is far cheaper: 1.52% against 5.05% on the German example. For an EU seller with US customers paying in dollars, Stripe's three layers add up to 5.09%, against Paddle's 5.01%.

What the flat rate buys is the merchant-of-record role. Paddle registers for and remits sales tax and VAT in the places your customers are, issues compliant invoices and handles many payment methods. With Stripe you do that yourself, or pay for add-ons and an accountant.

Paddle reviews businesses before onboarding and is built for software and digital products. Consulting, agency work and one-off service invoices generally do not fit; for those, a processor is the tool.

What each one takes from a $5,000.00 payment

PaymentStripePaddleCheaper
US client → US business$5,000.00 invoice$145.302.91%$250.505.01%Stripe
US client → Spanish business$5,000.00 invoice$254.605.09%$250.505.01%Paddle
US client → UK business$5,000.00 invoice$254.555.09%$250.505.01%Paddle
German client → US business€5,000.00 invoice€268.105.36%€250.505.01%Paddle

All four fee layers included. Stripe is cheaper in 1 of 4 payments, Paddle in 3. Try your own route on the map.

Choose Stripe if…

  • Most of your sales are in your own country or region.
  • Your customers are businesses and you can apply the VAT reverse charge.
  • You sell services, or you want full control of checkout and billing.

Choose Paddle if…

  • You sell software or digital products to consumers in many countries.
  • You do not want to register for and file sales tax and VAT abroad.
  • Most of your revenue crosses a border, where the fee gap to Stripe is smallest.

How each one is priced, layer by layer (account in the EEA)

Fee layerStripePaddle
Card or receiving fee1.5% + 0.255% + 0.50
Cross-border surcharge1% UK · 1.65% internationalnone
Currency conversion2%included / none
Payout to bankfreefree

Sources: Stripe · Paddle. Fixed amounts in the account currency.

Questions

Is Paddle more expensive than Stripe?

On domestic sales, much more: 5.05% against 1.52% on a euro sale inside the EU. On cross-border sales with a currency conversion the two are close (5.01% against 5.09% from the US into a euro account), and Paddle includes tax compliance.

What does a merchant of record do?

It is the legal seller of your product. It charges the customer, calculates, collects and remits the sales tax or VAT due in the customer's country, handles refunds and chargebacks, and pays you the net amount.

Can I sell services through Paddle?

Generally not. Paddle is aimed at software and digital products and reviews each business before onboarding; consulting and one-off service work usually fall outside what it accepts.

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