Merchant of Record fee calculator with real 2026 rates
Compare what 8 platforms really take from each sale, from the headline rate to the surcharges they don't advertise. Every number is verified against official pricing pages.
| Platform | Fee | Effective rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| $3.20 | 3.20% | $96.80 | |
 KelviqMoR First $5K lifetime volume | $3.30 | 3.30% | $96.70 |
 CreemMoR | $4.30 | 4.30% | $95.70 |
| $5.50 | 5.50% | $94.50 | |
 PaddleMoR | $5.50 | 5.50% | $94.50 |
 Polar.shMoR Starter (free) | $5.50 | 5.50% | $94.50 |
| $6.70 | 6.70% | $93.30 | |
 GumroadMoR Direct sale (your audience) | $13.70 | 13.70% | $86.30 |
The ranking counts per-transaction cost only. Monthly plan fees, payout fees, and dispute fees are listed separately on each platform page. Rates are verified against official pricing pages, and the sources list the dates.
The full fee breakdown for every platform
Every published fee, side by side
| Stripe | Stripe Managed Payments | Paddle | Lemon Squeezy | Polar.sh | Creem | Gumroad | Kelviq | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base transaction fee | 2.9% + 30¢ | 6.4% + 30¢ | 5% + 50¢ | 5% + 50¢ | Starter (free) 5% + 50¢ Pro ($20/mo) 3.8% + 40¢ Growth ($100/mo) 3.6% + 35¢ Scale ($400/mo) 3.4% + 30¢ | 3.9% + 40¢ | Direct sale (your audience) 10% + 50¢ + processing Gumroad Discover marketplace 30% iOS/Android app sale 40% | First $5K lifetime volume 2.9% + 40¢ After $5K lifetime volume 3.5% + 40¢ |
| International cards | +1.5% | +1.5% | No surcharge | +1.5% | +1.5% | No surcharge | No surcharge | +1.5% |
| Currency conversion | +1% | +1% | No surcharge | No surcharge | No surcharge | No surcharge | No surcharge | No surcharge |
| Subscription billing | +0.7% | Included | Included | +0.5% | Included | Included | Included | +0.5% |
| PayPal | Not offered | Not offered | Included | +1.5% | Not offered | Not offered | Supported (processing fee applies) | Not offered |
| Monthly fee | None | None | None | None | Varies by plan ($0–$400/mo) | None | None | None |
| Payout fees | Free standard payouts to US bank accounts (Instant payouts cost 1.5% (min 50¢)) | Free standard payouts to US bank accounts | Free payouts. An FX margin of roughly 1.5–3% applies when your payout currency differs from the sale currency ($15 SWIFT wire fee for some currency/bank combinations) | US bank free, non-US bank 1%, PayPal 50¢ (US) or 3% capped at $30 (international) ($50 minimum payout balance) | $2/month with payouts + 0.25% + 25¢ per payout (0.25–1% FX on non-USD payouts) | EU/SEPA free, elsewhere $7 or 1% per payout, whichever is higher (Payouts on the 1st and 15th) | Weekly payouts to bank or PayPal | Standard payouts included (T+7, or T+3 on enterprise) |
| Dispute / chargeback fee | $15.00 | $15.00 | Chargeback fees absorbed by Paddle | $15.00 | $15.00 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Sales tax / VAT handling | You register, file, and remit sales tax/VAT (Stripe Tax adds 0.5%) | MoR Stripe is the seller of record and handles global tax | MoR Paddle handles global sales tax and VAT as the legal seller | MoR Lemon Squeezy handles global sales tax and VAT as the legal seller | MoR Polar handles global sales tax and VAT as the legal seller | MoR Creem handles global sales tax and VAT as the legal seller | MoR Gumroad has handled all sales tax worldwide as merchant of record since Jan 2025 | MoR Kelviq handles global sales tax and VAT as the legal seller |
| Other fees and notes | Stripe is not a merchant of record, so tax registrations and chargeback liability stay with you. The 0.7% subscription surcharge is Stripe Billing, required for recurring payments. | Effectively Stripe's ~3.5% MoR fee stacked on standard processing. Built from the Lemon Squeezy acquisition. Existing LS merchants are being migrated here. | The 5% + 50¢ is all-in, with no international card, subscription, or PayPal surcharges. The real cost of Paddle usually shows up in the payout FX margin, not the checkout fee. | Surcharges stack. An international PayPal subscription pays 5% + 1.5% + 1.5% + 0.5% + 50¢. | Paid plans trade a monthly fee for a lower rate, and the break-even depends on your volume. | There is no international card surcharge. The 3.9% + 40¢ applies to all cards. Optional features add fees of 2% for affiliates and 5% for cart recovery. | Discover (30%) and app sales (40%) include processing. Direct sales add card/PayPal processing on top. | No monthly fee, with usage billing and entitlements included. |
| Source | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (US rates. stripe.com geo-serves pricing by visitor location) | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Public preview pricing (launched Feb 2026), may change at GA) | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Acquired by Stripe. Merchants are being migrated to Stripe Managed Payments) | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Plans introduced May 2026. Grandfathered Early Member orgs pay 4% + 40¢ + 0.5% on subscriptions) | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Direct-sale processing fees are charged on top of the 10% + 50¢. Confirm in-app) | Official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 |
Values come straight from each platform’s published pricing. A dash means the platform does not publish that fee, which is not the same as the fee being zero.
Why headline rates are misleading
Every payment platform advertises a simple number, such as “5% + 50¢” or “3.9% + 40¢”, but almost nobody pays the headline rate. The real cost of selling software or digital products depends on where your customers are, how they pay, and whether you bill once or monthly.
| Platform | $10 sale | $50 sale | $500 sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | $0.59 | $1.75 | $14.80 |
| Kelviq | $0.69 | $1.85 | $14.90 |
| Creem | $0.79 | $2.35 | $19.90 |
| Paddle | $1.00 | $3.00 | $25.50 |
| Lemon Squeezy | $1.00 | $3.00 | $25.50 |
| Polar.sh | $1.00 | $3.00 | $25.50 |
| Stripe Managed Payments | $0.94 | $3.50 | $32.30 |
| Gumroad | $2.09 | $7.25 | $65.30 |
Rate source
Every rate in this tool comes from the provider’s official pricing page.
- Creem official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10
- Gumroad official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Direct-sale processing fees are charged on top of the 10% + 50¢. Confirm in-app)
- Kelviq official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10
- Lemon Squeezy official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Acquired by Stripe. Merchants are being migrated to Stripe Managed Payments)
- Paddle official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10
- Polar.sh official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Plans introduced May 2026. Grandfathered Early Member orgs pay 4% + 40¢ + 0.5% on subscriptions)
- Stripe official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (US rates. stripe.com geo-serves pricing by visitor location)
- Stripe Managed Payments official pricing, last verified 2026-07-10 (Public preview pricing (launched Feb 2026), may change at GA)
Merchant of record vs payment processor
The platforms in this tool fall into two categories, and comparing their fees directly is misleading without understanding the difference.
A payment processor (standard Stripe) moves money. You stay the legal seller. You register for VAT in the EU, GST in Australia, and sales tax across US states, you file returns, and you eat chargebacks. Stripe’s 2.9% + 30¢ looks cheap because tax compliance isn’t in it. Stripe Tax alone adds 0.5%, and registrations and filings cost real money or real time.
A merchant of record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, Creem, Gumroad, Kelviq, Stripe Managed Payments) resells your product to the buyer. The MoR’s name is on the receipt, so global tax compliance, fraud liability, and most chargeback risk are its problem, not yours. That service is why MoR rates start around 4–6%. You’re buying an outsourced finance and compliance department, not just card processing.
The right comparison is therefore Stripe plus everything you’d bolt on (Billing, Tax, your accountant) versus one all-in MoR rate. That’s how this tool models it.
How we calculate
Fees are computed from each platform’s official published pricing, covering the base rate, the fixed fee, and every documented surcharge that applies to the scenario you select. Three rules keep the comparison honest.
- Per-transaction costs only in the ranking. Monthly plan fees (Polar’s paid tiers), payout fees, and dispute fees are shown separately rather than silently blended in, because they depend on your volume, not on one sale.
- Null is not zero. If a platform doesn’t publish a fee, we show a dash and say “not published”. We never assume it’s free.
- Every rate is cited. The sources section links each platform’s official pricing page with the date we last verified it.
The headline rate also skips extras that depend on how you sell:
- International cards add 1.5% on Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, and Kelviq. Paddle and Creem charge nothing extra.
- Subscriptions add 0.7% on Stripe (Billing), 0.5% on Lemon Squeezy and Kelviq.
- PayPal adds 1.5% on Lemon Squeezy, and isn’t offered at all on several platforms.
- Payouts are free to a US bank on Stripe, but cost 1% on Lemon Squeezy outside the US, $7-or-1% on Creem outside EU/SEPA, and $2/month + 0.25% + 25¢ on Polar.
- Currency conversion quietly takes another 1% on Stripe and an estimated 1.5–3% at payout on Paddle.
A SaaS with mostly international subscribers can pay nearly double the advertised rate. The calculator above computes your effective rate, total fees as a share of the sale, so the platforms are compared on what you actually keep.
Kelviq appears in the ranking under the same rules as every other platform, with strictly computed ordering and no promoted placement.