Paddle

Paddle is a merchant of record for software companies, founded in London in 2012 and trading as Paddle.com Market Limited. The model is different from a normal gateway. Paddle is the legal seller of each subscription or licence, so it collects and pays sales tax, VAT and GST in each jurisdiction, takes the fraud and chargeback risk, and answers buyers' billing questions. The software company gets a payout, net of fees, instead of running its own merchant account.

Buyers can pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal in most places, and by bank transfer against invoices. Local methods include iDEAL with Wero in the Netherlands, Bancontact, BLIK, MB WAY, Pix, UPI, Alipay, WeChat Pay, and in Korea Kakao Pay, Naver Pay, Payco, Samsung Pay and local cards. Apple Pay and Google Pay are not offered to buyers in India or Turkey. Paddle sells into more than 200 countries and territories and blocks those under sanctions.

The standard price is 5% plus 50 cents per checkout transaction, with no monthly fee, and larger sellers can negotiate. That rate covers billing, tax filing and dispute handling, so compare it with a gateway's fees plus your own tax-compliance costs, not with a card rate alone.

Paddle suits SaaS, apps and digital products sold to buyers in many tax jurisdictions, especially smaller teams without a finance department. It is not built for physical goods or marketplaces. Because Paddle is the seller, it reviews what you sell and can refuse categories it considers high risk.