Sells digital products as merchant of record, so it handles sales tax for you.
Lemon Squeezy sells digital products for you as merchant of record: it is the legal seller to your customer and handles VAT and sales tax worldwide, then pays you out. That convenience costs a higher fee per sale than paying Stripe directly.
Good for
Watch out for
| Build | Role | Plan | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital products shop (downloads / courses): Stripe vs merchant of record | Payments, Path BHandles VAT, signed downloads, licence keys | $0/mo; 5% + 50¢ (£0.37) per transaction | No monthly fee | Extra fees possible outside the US or for some payment methods (amount not quantified). Email free to 500 subscribers |
Stripe vs Lemon Squeezy vs Paddle for selling digital products
5% + 50¢ (about £0.37, rounded) per sale
Extra fees can apply outside the US or for some payment methods; the amount isn't published.
Stripe
Card payments, subscriptions and tax tools. You are the seller.
Good for: Subscriptions and one-off payments where you are happy to be the seller
Used in 4 builds, compared in 1
Paddle
Sells software and digital products as merchant of record.
Good for: Software and SaaS sold internationally
Used in 1 build, compared in 1
Vercel
Hosting for web apps, built around Next.js.
Good for: Next.js apps, which it runs with no setup
Used in 9 builds, compared in 1
Netlify
Hosting for websites and web apps.
Good for: Static sites and simple web apps on a tight budget
Used in 5 builds, compared in 1
Resend
Sends app emails, such as confirmations and receipts, from your own domain.
Good for: Early apps: the free plan covers 3,000 emails a month
Used in 4 builds, compared in 1
GitHub
Hosts your code; used here for secret and dependency checks.
Good for: Keeping your code safe and versioned
Used in 1 build