Lemon Squeezy is a merchant-of-record platform that handles payments, global sales tax and VAT, subscriptions, and license keys for SaaS and digital products, so makers can skip the tax and compliance headache. Its clean setup and indie-friendly polish are a real draw. Sellers consider alternatives after its Stripe acquisition, or when they want lower fees, a marketplace audience, richer subscription billing, or open-source control.
Last updated 2026-07-16 · We assessed payment and merchant-of-record tools on tax and VAT handling, fees, subscription and licensing features, payout reach, and how much compliance burden they remove from the seller. Because MoR and raw payment processors solve different problems, each pick spells out the trade-off clearly.
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Paddle | Usage-based | Established SaaS wanting hands-off tax |
| Gumroad | Usage-based | Creators selling digital downloads fast |
| Stripe | Usage-based | Teams wanting full control over payments |
| FastSpring | Usage-based | Global software sales with full service |
| Polar | Usage-based | Developers wanting an open-source MoR |
Established merchant of record
Paddle is a mature merchant-of-record built for SaaS, taking on global tax, compliance, billing, and fraud so you don't have to register for VAT anywhere. Its enterprise-grade billing and reporting are a strength. The trade-off is that onboarding approval can be stricter and its interface less indie-friendly than newer, lighter tools.
Best for: Established SaaS wanting hands-off tax
Simplest storefront for creators
Gumroad lets creators sell digital products, memberships, and downloads with almost no setup, acting as merchant of record and handling tax while providing a built-in discovery audience. Its simplicity is unmatched for one-off sales. The trade-off is comparatively high per-sale fees and limited customization, which suit creators more than product-led SaaS teams.
Best for: Creators selling digital downloads fast
Flexible developer-first payments
Stripe is the developer standard for payments, offering unmatched APIs, subscriptions via Billing, and global card coverage at lower base fees than MoR platforms. It's ideal when you want full control of the checkout. The important trade-off is that Stripe is not a merchant of record, so sales-tax and VAT compliance (even with Stripe Tax) remains your responsibility.
Best for: Teams wanting full control over payments
Full-service global MoR
FastSpring is a long-running full-service merchant of record handling global payments, tax, subscriptions, and localized checkout for software companies. Its breadth and support suit teams selling worldwide. The trade-off is a more traditional, sales-assisted feel and pricing that's less transparent upfront than the newer self-serve platforms.
Best for: Global software sales with full service
Open-source MoR for developers
Polar is a developer-first, open-source merchant of record that covers tax and billing while integrating tightly with GitHub and modern SaaS workflows, including usage-based pricing. Its transparency and maker focus resonate with indie devs. The trade-off is that it's younger than incumbents, so its ecosystem and edge-case tooling are still maturing.
Best for: Developers wanting an open-source MoR
Building something in this space? Browse the LaunchHive maker directory for more tools, or launch your own product.