Best Payments Platform for SaaS in 2026

Payment processing is foundational to your SaaS business. The choice between being the merchant of record or using a platform that handles everything affects your launch speed, compliance burden, and margins.

TL;DR

• •Best overall: Stripe
• •Best for global sales without tax hassle: Paddle
• •Best for indie hackers: Lemon Squeezy
• •Best for marketplace/connect: Stripe

The merchant of record question

This is the most important decision in payments.

You as merchant (Stripe, PayPal):

• •Lower fees
• •Full control
• •You handle tax compliance
• •You handle chargebacks and refunds

Platform as merchant (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy):

• •Higher fees
• •Less control
• •They handle tax compliance globally
• •Simplified legal setup

Provider deep dives

Stripe

Stripe is the gold standard for payment processing with the best developer experience in the industry.

Strengths:

• •Best-in-class documentation and DX
• •Comprehensive feature set
• •Strong ecosystem of integrations
• •Marketplace/Connect for platforms

Tradeoffs:

• •You handle all tax compliance
• •Account holds can be aggressive
• •Support can be slow at lower tiers

Best for: Most SaaS products, marketplaces, developer-first companies.

Paddle

Paddle acts as merchant of record, handling global tax compliance and billing.

Strengths:

• •Handles VAT, sales tax, GST globally
• •Merchant of record (less legal complexity)
• •Good checkout experience
• •Subscription management included

Tradeoffs:

• •Higher fees (5% + 50¢)
• •Less checkout customization
• •Not suitable for physical goods

Best for: SaaS selling globally, solo founders, teams avoiding tax complexity.

Lemon Squeezy

Lemon Squeezy is a merchant of record platform designed for indie hackers and digital products.

Strengths:

• •Beautiful checkout experience
• •License key management built-in
• •Great for digital products and downloads
• •Indie-hacker friendly pricing

Tradeoffs:

• •Newer platform
• •Less mature API than Stripe
• •Higher fees than being your own merchant

Best for: Indie hackers, digital product creators, SaaS with license keys.

PayPal

PayPal offers high consumer recognition but a dated developer experience.

Strengths:

• •High consumer trust
• •PayPal wallet users (instant checkout)
• •Good for B2C
• •Venmo integration

Tradeoffs:

• •Dated developer experience
• •Complex account management
• •Aggressive holds on new accounts

Best for: B2C products, audiences expecting PayPal, low-trust purchases.

Fee comparison

Decision matrix

Implementation checklist

1. Decide if you want MoR or to be your own merchant
2. Set up hosted or embedded checkout
3. Implement webhooks for subscription lifecycle
4. Build retry logic for failed payments
5. Test refunds and chargebacks before launch

Final recommendation

Start with Stripe if you have the resources to handle tax compliance or are only selling in one country. Choose Paddle if you want to sell globally without setting up tax infrastructure. Lemon Squeezy is great for indie hackers selling digital products. Only add PayPal if your customers specifically ask for it.

Last updated: January 2026