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Craftgate vs Lemon Squeezy

Craftgate and Lemon Squeezy are both payments & billing tools. Craftgate is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while Lemon Squeezy is aimed at freelancers and developers.

Craftgate

One-stop payment orchestration platform

Lemon Squeezy

Merchant of record for digital products

PricingPaidPaid
Starting priceNot publishedNot published
Free planNoNo
Free trial——
Built forSmall businesses, Enterprise, DevelopersFreelancers, Developers
Platformswebweb
CountryTRUS · 2021
Rating——

Choose Craftgate if

Merchants, marketplaces and platforms that work with several banks and payment providers.

  • Independent payment orchestration
  • Reduces dependency on one provider
  • Better authorization rates via routing

Look elsewhere if: Small stores using one gateway.

Choose Lemon Squeezy if

Indie hackers, solo developers and small SaaS who want payments plus tax handled with minimal setup.

  • Simple setup for solo developers
  • Tax and compliance handled
  • License keys built in for desktop software

Look elsewhere if: Marketplaces or larger SaaS needing invoicing depth (Paddle) or lowest fees (Polar).

Craftgate vs Lemon Squeezy pricing

Craftgate

  • CustomCustomCommission agreed per merchant; no public rates

Lemon Squeezy

  • Standard5% + 50¢/per transactionMerchant of record, no monthly fee
  • Additional fees+1.5%International cards and PayPal; +0.5% subscription payments

Craftgate · Key features

  • Single integration to virtual POS, payment institutions and alternative methods
  • Smart and dynamic payment routing
  • Retry of failed payments through an alternative provider
  • Autopilot continuity during POS downtime
  • Payment gateway, card storage, one-click and recurring payments
  • Link and QR payments and fraud management

Cons

  • Value grows with multiple POS agreements
  • Pricing quote-based

Lemon Squeezy · Key features

  • Merchant of record with global tax handling
  • Hosted checkout and overlay with localized pricing
  • Subscriptions, usage-based billing and customer portal
  • License keys with activation and validation API
  • Affiliates, discounts and email marketing
  • SDKs for Next.js and Laravel, webhooks and Zapier

Cons

  • Fees higher than direct Stripe
  • Roadmap tied to Stripe's plans
  • Less enterprise billing depth than Paddle

Craftgate vs Lemon Squeezy: FAQ

Do Craftgate and Lemon Squeezy have a free plan?

Craftgate has no free plan. Lemon Squeezy has no free plan.

Which is better for small businesses, Craftgate or Lemon Squeezy?

Craftgate lists small businesses as a core audience, while Lemon Squeezy is aimed more at freelancers and developers.

Not sure yet?