Stripe
Stripe tends to fit when
You can be the merchant, you will take on tax and invoicing work (or hire it), and you want the control and the ecosystem. Revenue is yours to recognize correctly. Fees are a line. Chargebacks are yours.
Stripe vs Paddle (startups)
Stripe vs Paddle: collecting revenue versus a merchant-of-record path
Reviewed August 21, 2026 by Robb
Stripe is the default processor: you are typically the merchant. Paddle is often used as a merchant of record: they sit in the flow, handle more of the tax mess, and take a different cut. This is a finance decision disguised as a checkout decision. It changes how revenue hits the books, what you owe in sales tax, and what a QoE will reconstruct. Pick it with the ledger in the room.
Paddle
Paddle / MoR tends to fit when
You sell globally, you do not want to be the merchant of record in a dozen places yet, and you will accept their fees and their cut of the customer relationship. Read the contract. Map how payouts become revenue in the ledger. It is not ‘same as Stripe with extra tax magic.’
Gross versus net
If you book payouts as revenue, you will lie to yourself. Fees, refunds, and MoR withholdings need a model. We set the accounts so the P&L matches how cash actually moves.
Tax is the reason people switch
Sales tax and VAT at scale are real work. MoR can buy you time. It is not free, and it can complicate a later move to being the merchant yourself. Plan the end state.
Deferred revenue still exists
Annual prepay is a liability until you earn it. Processor choice does not erase that. A raise that shows cash as if it were all earned will get picked apart.
Frequently asked questions
Can we use both?
Some companies do, by product or region. Two processors means two reconciliations. Have a reason.
Which looks better in diligence?
Clean reconciling revenue. A mysterious MoR net number with no roll-forward looks worse than Stripe with a tax accrual you can explain.
Who should decide?
Product plus finance plus counsel on tax. Not a landing-page comparison table.