Stripe vs Paddle
for indie hackers.
Paddle handles tax compliance, saving solopreneurs months of work.
What this actually means for indie hackers.
For indie hackers, Paddle is the no-brainer if you sell internationally — it handles VAT, sales tax, GST, and remittance globally as a Merchant of Record. The trade-off is a higher fee (around 5% all-in vs Stripe's 2.9%) but for a one-person operation, that fee buys back potentially weeks of tax compliance work each year. Stripe is the right pick when you're US-incorporated with a US-only customer base, or when you have legal/tax help to handle compliance yourself. LemonSqueezy is a third option that's indie-native and similarly priced to Paddle.
indie hackers-specific gotchas
- Paddle's fee bites at high volume — break-even point is around $20k MRR
- Stripe's tax handling (Stripe Tax) requires you to register and remit
- Paddle's checkout UX feels less native than Stripe's — affects conversion
- LemonSqueezy is the Paddle alternative for indie SaaS — worth comparing
- Migrating away from Paddle is harder than migrating away from Stripe
An indie hacker selling a $39/month SaaS to global customers picks Paddle. By month 6 they have customers in 14 countries. Paddle remits taxes in all of them. The 5% fee costs ~$200/month; doing it manually would consume 10+ hours/month.
Pick by use case.
Stripe
You're US-incorporated or large enough to manage tax compliance yourself.
Paddle
You sell SaaS internationally and want a Merchant of Record handling tax everywhere.
Direct comparison.
| Feature | Stripe | Paddle |
|---|---|---|
| Developer experience | Industry standard | Good |
| Tax handling | Stripe Tax (you remit) | They remit (MoR) |
| Pricing | 2.9% + 30¢ | Higher (~5% all-in) |
| Subscription primitives | Excellent | Excellent |
| Global payments | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance burden | On you | On Paddle |
We've shipped both.
If you're evaluating these as a indie hackers, brief us — we can save you weeks.
Talk to usCommon indie hackers questions.
Should I start on Paddle and move to Stripe later?
Possible but adds friction — better to commit early. Most indie hackers stay on their original choice.
What about Gumroad?
Higher fee (10%) but simpler. Fine for sub-$1k/month products.