Payment processors compared: fees, hosted checkout and payment links
Prices here are read from each vendor and scored on how much of the true cost is visible before you sign. Two meters run underneath: processors take a slice of each sale, and billing platforms add their own cut on top of a processor you still pay.
What do payment processing fees actually cost?
The three processors here price by the transaction, a percentage of each sale plus a fixed fee; the billing platforms add a monthly base instead, $249 through $599 where it is published. That base is only half the bill: a billing platform also takes a cut of your revenue, charged on top of the processor you still pay.
The three processors here, Stripe, Paddle and Lemon Squeezy, price by the transaction: a percentage of each sale plus a fixed fee, with no monthly minimum.
The only fixed monthly fees here come from billing platforms, as little as $249 and as much as $599, with a midpoint of $424.
Of the 18 tiers on the record, fourteen show no price at all, either because it is a percentage rate card the axis cannot plot, or because the tier is an enterprise quote.
A merchant of record folds sales tax, fraud and chargebacks into one larger cut; a billing platform charges a base fee and a share of your revenue over whatever processor moves the money.
Zuora alone lists nothing, quoting all three of its tiers; every other platform shows a rate up front, all checked July 29, 2026.
Score is pricing transparency, weighted 60, for how much of the cost a buyer can see before contacting sales, and user satisfaction from G2 and Capterra, weighted 40. What each platform can do is the grid below, not the score.
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Payment processors ranked: fee disclosure, hosted checkout and fraud
Ranked on how much you can price up front, not on what the platform can do.
Sorted by transparency scorePriced tiers 4 / 18Full disclosure 0 / 7How to read this table
Reading the console
The axis is a logarithmic price line: markers sit further to the right as the monthly price rises. A diamond marks a fixed monthly platform charge, one that does not rise with your team size, and diamonds are the only priced markers here, because most vendors do not sell a monthly plan. The per-transaction vendors carry a published rate card; the open-source engine is free when self-hosted, paid tiers only on request; and the enterprise platform that lists nothing carries a dashed marketplace estimate from a third party, flagged as someone else's number rather than a price it set. The feature columns list what each platform actually offers. An empty cell is a gap in our record, not a limit of the platform.
Price axis
One shared logarithmic axis, $249 to $599. A tick further right is genuinely dearer. The tall tick is the cheapest paid tier.
Diamond
A flat platform fee, billed per month, not per seat.
Granted
Listed on the vendor’s own pages on the verify date.
Conditional
Present, but some tiers carry no published price.
Not on the record
Absent from the recorded feature set. It means unlisted, not incapable.
01StripeUsage-priced, public rate cardNo free tier0 of 2 tiers pricedHosted checkout listedPayment links listedFraud tools listedRev recognition listedSales only81Alternatives to Stripe
02Lemon SqueezyUsage-priced, public rate cardNo free tier0 of 2 tiers pricedHosted checkout listedPayment links listedFraud tools not on the recordRev recognition not on the recordSales only81Alternatives to Lemon Squeezy
03PaddleUsage-priced, public rate cardNo free tier0 of 2 tiers pricedHosted checkout listedPayment links listedFraud tools listedRev recognition listedSales only80Alternatives to Paddle
04RecurlyNo free tier2 of 3 tiers unpricedHosted checkout listedPayment links not on the recordFraud tools listedRev recognition listed$249flat80Alternatives to Recurly
05ChargebeeFree tier1 of 3 tiers unpricedHosted checkout listedPayment links listedFraud tools not on the recordRev recognition listed$599flat79Alternatives to Chargebee
06LagoFree to start, paid tier on requestFree tier2 of 3 tiers unpricedHosted checkout not on the recordPayment links not on the recordFraud tools not on the recordRev recognition not on the recordFree56Alternatives to Lago
07ZuoraMarketplace estimatefrom $75,000 / yrNo free tier0 of 3 tiers pricedHosted checkout not on the recordPayment links not on the recordFraud tools not on the recordRev recognition listedSales only19*Alternatives to Zuora
GrantedSome tiers sealedNot on the recordFlat account fee, not per seat* score is user satisfaction alone: the vendor publishes no pricesScore ranks pricing transparency and user ratings, not capability. Capability is the grid.
Scroll the console sideways to reach the remaining conditions.
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Every processor's fee schedule and the date we checked each rate
Open a record for the vendor's whole tier table, the rate card where one is public, and the plans it only quotes on request. Rows sit in transparency-and-satisfaction order, best first.
Building a custom checkout and wiring the payments yourself. Stripe is the most complete API here, priced as a clean per-transaction rate card, but Radar, Billing, Connect and Tax are separate products that each add their own line to the invoice, and account holds can land with no phone line to call.
Critical gapThe automated risk engine triggers fund holds without direct human support access.
Plan table and expert take
Stripe: expert take
Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ card rate is the opening line, not the total. International cards add 1.5%, currency conversion 1%, and Radar, Billing and Connect bill separately. Disputes carry a flat fee, and account holds land with no phone support.
Where Stripe holds up
Unified API for cards, wallets, and local payment methods
Starting to sell a digital product today without reading tax law first. Lemon Squeezy is a merchant of record with no monthly fee, built for solo makers, and it runs affiliates even on its free plan. The base cut is fair, but a ladder of surcharges can push the effective rate well past it, and there are no physical goods.
Critical gapThe platform maintains opaque account review processes that risk sudden service termination.
Plan table and expert take
Lemon Squeezy: expert take
The tidy 5% + 50¢ base hides a surcharge ladder that can reach 12% + 50¢. Lemon Squeezy runs affiliates even on the free tier and files VAT as a paid service. Stripe bought it in 2024; no physical goods.
Where Lemon Squeezy holds up
Acts as Merchant of Record, handling global sales tax & VAT
Built-in license key generation and management for software
Integrated email marketing tools for customer engagement
Pay-what-you-want pricing and lead magnet (free download) features
Affiliate program management is included on the free plan
Not for a business selling mostly at home, where the merchant-of-record premium buys little. For a SaaS or software seller shipping worldwide, Paddle becomes the seller of record and files every VAT and GST return, folding tax, fraud and chargebacks into one larger per-sale cut you never see itemised.
Critical gapAccount termination occurs without direct administrative warnings.
Plan table and expert take
Paddle: expert take
Paddle bundles payments, VAT filing, fraud and chargebacks into one 5% + 50¢ merchant-of-record cut, so you never file tax. The catch: products under ten dollars or invoicing drop to custom pricing, and the fee is never itemised, so you cannot see what tax cost you.
Holding on to subscription revenue you already earn. Recurly leans on machine-timed dunning and gateway failover to recover failed charges, billing a fixed monthly base plus a slice of volume above an included threshold. Its top tier opens only at seven-figure annual billing, and there is no merchant-of-record layer, so tax stays yours.
Critical gapThe platform enforces periodic mandatory password resets for administrators.
Plan table and expert take
Recurly: expert take
Recurly bills a 249-dollar Starter base plus 0.9% on volume past the first 40K a month, with a 90-day trial up front. All-Access opens only at a million a year in billing, and Recurly runs no merchant-of-record layer, so tax stays yours.
Where Recurly holds up
Advanced dunning logic uses machine learning to time retries
Gateway failover automatically routes payments to a backup gateway
Not a payment processor, and not free once you scale. Chargebee is a billing layer over your gateway, running dunning, proration and revenue recognition. Starter stays free until cumulative billing crosses its ceiling, then charges a percentage of the overflow with no monthly fee. Moving to Performance swaps that for a fixed monthly base, a volume cap and an annual commitment.
Chargebee is a billing layer over your gateway, not a processor. Starter runs free to 250K in cumulative billing, then charges 0.75% on the overflow. Performance holds only 100K a month before that same 0.75% bites, on an annual term you cannot cancel monthly.
Not for a team without engineers to run it. For one that wants to own its billing stack, Lago is open-source metering you host yourself at no licence cost, and it bills on events rather than a percentage of revenue, the only platform here that does. The managed cloud runs well above the cost of hosting it, and dunning and revenue recognition are not built in.
Alone in the category, Lago meters billing events instead of skimming a percentage of revenue. The open-source core self-hosts for free; the managed cloud is quote-only and runs well above self-hosting. Dunning and revenue recognition are not built in.
Where Lago holds up
Meter any event, not just API calls, for flexible pricing models
Full data control and no vendor lock-in via open-source core
Running complex, high-volume subscription billing with a procurement team to match. Zuora is the enterprise incumbent at that scale, but it lists no price of its own anywhere: every tier is a custom quote, third-party listings only estimate the cost, and a rollout runs a year or more before it starts to pay off.
Critical gapThe platform requires significant administrative overhead and risks service disruptions during updates.
Plan table and expert take
Zuora: expert take
Zuora quotes all three tiers privately; the 75K / 175K / 250K annual figures are AWS Marketplace estimates, not Zuora's own price. Rollouts run 12-plus months, with setup estimated at 10K to 50K by third parties. A 36-month term saves about 5%, and only on Scale.
Where Zuora holds up
Handles complex usage-based, tiered, and hybrid billing models
Payment questions: Stripe on a hundred dollars, typical rates, lowest fee
How much is the Stripe fee on a hundred-dollar payment?
About ninety-six dollars and change. Stripe's Standard rate takes just under three percent of a domestic card plus a thirty-cent fee. Run the same hundred through Paddle or Lemon Squeezy and you keep closer to ninety-four, because a merchant of record charges five percent plus fifty cents. International cards, currency conversion and a disputed charge each cost more again.
What are typical payment processing fees?
For card payments, plan on roughly three percent plus a fixed cent charge per transaction. A plain processor like Stripe sits near that mark. A merchant of record such as Paddle charges more because it also files your tax. Bank rails like ACH cost far less than cards, and volume can pull the card rate down.
What payment processor has the lowest fees?
By headline rate, a bare processor beats a merchant of record, and bank-transfer rails beat cards outright. Stripe's ACH runs a fraction of its card rate, capped at a low flat ceiling. Lowest rate is not lowest cost, though. If a processor leaves you to file tax in every country you sell to, the cheap rate hides a real bill.
What is the difference between a payment processor and a merchant of record?
A processor moves the money and leaves the paperwork to you. Stripe charges its rate, and you stay the seller who files sales tax. A merchant of record becomes the seller itself. Paddle and Lemon Squeezy remit VAT and sales tax on your behalf, take on fraud and chargebacks, and charge a higher cut for carrying that risk.
Is Paddle cheaper than Stripe?
Not on the rate. Paddle takes a bigger bite of each sale than Stripe does, and adds its own fixed fee. What you buy for the difference is tax compliance: Paddle files VAT and sales tax as the merchant of record, work you would otherwise do or pay an accountant for. The gap pays off once your tax footprint is wide.
How do I avoid surprise payment fees?
Read past the headline rate. The extras that catch people are international-card surcharges, currency conversion, manually keyed cards, chargeback fees, and the revenue-share overages a billing platform adds once you cross a plan's cap. None of them show up in the advertised rate. Ask for the all-in rate at your real volume and mix.
Is it legal to pass card fees to customers?
In much of the United States, yes, with limits: a surcharge is capped, has to be disclosed at checkout, and is banned outright in a few states. Rules differ across other countries, and the card networks set their own conditions. Most processors let you add a surcharge, but check the law where your buyers are before you switch it on.
Why do Chargebee and Recurly cost extra on top of Stripe?
They are not processors. Chargebee, Recurly and Lago sit above your gateway and handle what it does not: dunning, proration, upgrades, revenue recognition. The processor still takes its cut of each charge. The billing platform adds a base fee and a share of the revenue it manages, so a subscription business pays both.
Can you run subscription billing for nothing?
Yes, three ways. Lago's core is open source, so self-hosting costs nothing but the DevOps work behind it. Chargebee's Starter tier stays at zero until your cumulative billing passes a cap, then charges an overage above it. Recurly gives its Starter plan free for three months, capped by payment volume. Each free route ends at a revenue ceiling.
How long is the contract on a payment or billing platform?
Longer than a processor asks. Stripe, Paddle and Lemon Squeezy take a cut per transaction with no monthly fee and nothing to sign. Subscription billing works differently. Zuora sells twelve-month marketplace contracts and shaves about five percent off its Scale tier for a thirty-six-month term. Chargebee's $599 Performance plan bills monthly against an annual commitment.
Which payment platform handles sales tax for me?
The merchants of record. Paddle and Lemon Squeezy become the seller and remit VAT, GST and sales tax for you. Stripe sells Tax as an extra you pay for, but you stay the seller of record. The billing platforms, Chargebee and Recurly, leave tax to you or to a separate integration you wire up.
Do billing platforms charge a percentage like processors do?
In a way, but on a different number. A processor's cut is a percentage of each transaction. A billing platform's revenue share is a percentage of everything it bills, charged on top of its base fee, and it starts once you pass the plan's included volume. Chargebee and Recurly both work this way, so you can pay two percentages on the same dollar.
Field note 01
The point where a merchant of record beats doing tax yourself
A merchant of record like Paddle or Lemon Squeezy takes more per sale than a bare processor, because it becomes the legal seller and files your sales tax, VAT and GST for you. The headline rate looks worse until you price the filing work it removes.
Sell into a handful of countries and the extra points buy back days you would otherwise spend on returns. Sell almost entirely at home, and you are paying a global-tax premium for a problem you do not have. What tips the math is your tax footprint, not the rate card.
Field note 02
A billing platform is a second bill, not a cheaper processor
Chargebee, Recurly and Lago do not move money. They sit on top of a processor and run the parts it leaves out: dunning, proration, upgrades, revenue recognition. You still pay Stripe or its rival underneath, and the billing platform adds its own base fee plus a share of what it bills.
So a subscription business often pays two meters at once, the processor's cut on each charge and the billing layer's cut on total revenue. Lago is the odd one out: its open-source core meters events instead of skimming a percentage, which is why teams that can host it themselves reach for it.
The verdict on payment platformSigned review · Updated
Oleh KemFounder & Lead AnalystComparEdge Editorial
Decide what you are buying first: a processor moves money, a merchant of record also files your taxes, and that second service is priced into every transaction. Flat headline rates read simple until the surcharge tiers start stacking.
Model a real month of your volume against each rate card before committing. The score here follows disclosure, and the quote-only billing suites carry that choice in their rank.
MethodEvery price on this page is read from the vendor's own pricing page: 18 plans across seven vendors, last verified .
DisclosureCollection is tool-assisted; every verdict is written and signed by a human analyst.
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Not sure which? Answer one, take a shortlist.Pick the line that sounds like your team. Each one opens the vendor built for it.
How this review is made. Prices are read from vendor pricing pages and re-checked on the dates shown against each product. Condition columns reflect the feature set recorded on the vendor’s own pages on that date. ComparEdge sells no payment platform and takes no vendor payment for placement. Where a vendor publishes nothing, this page says so rather than estimating. Ranking is by transparency score: pricing transparency 60%, user satisfaction 40%. What a product can do is shown in the condition columns and carries no weight in the number.
Oleh Kem
