Which payment providers do people use for their small SaaS?
I’m launching a SaaS and expect steady, organic growth rather than huge user numbers. The plan is to offer both monthly and annual subscriptions. Stripe seems to be the default recommendation these days, and I’ve heard good things about it. For those already…
I’m launching a SaaS and expect steady, organic growth rather than huge user numbers. The plan is to offer both monthly and annual subscriptions. Stripe seems to be the default recommendation these days, and I’ve heard good things about it. For those already running SaaS businesses, do you use Stripe or another provider? If something else, what made you choose it? I’m particularly interested in reliability, ease of integration, subscription management, none/low early fees and what the overall fees are like as the business grows. Any experiences or recommendations would be appreciated.
Collected discussion
Polarsh
Thanks, I haven’t come across Kuvr before. I’ll add it to the list and compare the subscription support, integration and tax handling against Stripe and the merchant-of-record options.
This seems to be the general consensus. I’m leaning towards Stripe because the subscription infrastructure is already established and the integration should be relatively straightforward. I agree that optimising small fee differences probably matters far less than launching reliably, although I do need to look more closely at international tax handling, but that is a future issue if my software can ever reach that stage 🤞
Thanks for the detailed breakdown. The merchant-of-record point is the main factor making me consider Paddle or Lemon Squeezy, but Stripe still appears to offer the strongest combination of integration, control and subscription functionality. I’m UK-based and expect relatively low initial volume, so I’m currently leaning towards launching with Stripe and reviewing the tax and administrative burden as international sales grow. It’s also worth mentioning my full time role is an accountant/tax advisor so I have the experience for tracking records and calculating tax 😅
Agreed. At this stage, getting subscriptions working reliably is more important than saving a small percentage on fees. I can reassess once there is enough volume for the difference to become meaningful.
I’m UK-based and expect the earliest users to be primarily in the UK, although the SaaS will be available internationally. I haven’t finalised the international sales-tax approach yet, which is why the merchant-of-record options are appealing, but I’m also looking at whether Stripe’s tax tools would be sufficient during the early stages. On a VAT front, it would take a while till I could ever reach that registration threshold so I will tackle that if required.
That is roughly where I have landed. I would rather use the established option and avoid turning payments into a separate development project before the product has meaningful demand. The fee difference can be reviewed later if the user volume justifies it.
That seems to be the strongest theme from the responses. The reliability, existing subscription features and documentation probably outweigh trying to optimise fees too early.
I haven’t heard of it, will look into it!
- In which markets are you intending to sell? - How are you planning on handling applicable local sales tax?
Stripe is boring for a reason: docs are decent, subscriptions don’t feel like a side quest, and every edge case has probably already hurt someone else first. I’d optimize for “can I launch this week without payment plumbing becoming the product?” over shaving fees early. Revisit alternatives once you actually have enough volume for the fee delta to matter.
Stripe is the standard, robust, many features
check out Kurv, they are competitive with many of the brands you'll find, just don't see a lot of hype for them
Stripe is still the right default for most early SaaS. Subscriptions, trials, proration, and customer portal are already there, so you are not rebuilding billing before you have demand. Fees are usually fine until volume is real. If you sell outside the US, check tax handling and local payment methods early. Paddle or Lemon Squeezy can make that simpler if you want them to act as merchant of record. Ship with something solid first, then optimize fees later.
Stripe is the most common
one piece of advice: choose the provider that's easiest to integrate not the one that's 0.3% cheaper you can always optimize payment costs later but changing providers before you've validated the business is usually unnecessary
Congrats on the upcoming launch! For a small SaaS looking for steady growth with monthly and annual subscriptions, here is a breakdown of your best options: 1. Stripe (The Industry Standard) Pros: Incredible documentation, native subscription management (Stripe Billing), and seamless scaling. Cons: They do not act as a Merchant of Record (MoR). You are responsible for calculating, collecting, and filing global sales tax/VAT. Fees: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. 2. Lemon Squeezy or Paddle (Merchant of Record Providers) Pros: They act as the reseller. They handle all global sales tax compliance, VAT, and fraud detection automatically. This saves massive administrative headaches for a small team. Cons: Slightly higher fees, and you have slightly less control over the checkout design compared to pure Stripe custom setups. Fees: Usually around 5% + $0.50 per transaction. Summary Advice Prioritize ease of integration over optimizing for a 1-2% fee difference right now. Choose Stripe if you want the absolute standard technical integration and already have a plan for handling global taxes. Choose Lemon Squeezy or Paddle if you want a true "set-it-and-forget-it" solution for global tax compliance so you can focus purely on building.
stripe
It would help if you mentioned where you were located, as some processors are only available in certain countries.
Stripe and enable Tax basic
Stripe is the most common. If not supported then Paddle.
small saas stripe. no brainer. switch once you hit 1M ARR
Polar.sh
Stripe. Relatively plug and play. Easy to test. Not the most tech savvy but was able to figure it out and get it fully set up within an afternoon
Paddle! Great product. Lemonsqueezy was second best. And now with Stripe, it’s just another product in their arsenal. Huge paddle fan here.