Happy Valley

Mercury vs Paddle

Mercury and Paddle are both payments & billing tools aimed at small businesses and developers. Only Mercury has a free plan.

Mercury

Banking built for startups

Paddle

Merchant of record for software companies

PricingFreemium · $30Paid
Starting price$29.90/moNot published
Free planYesNo
Free trial——
Built forSmall businesses, DevelopersSmall businesses, Developers
Platformsweb, ios, androidweb
CountryUS · 2017GB · 2012
Rating——

Choose Mercury if

US-incorporated startups.

  • Fast, founder-friendly onboarding
  • No monthly fees on core
  • Excellent UI

Look elsewhere if: Non-US entities.

Choose Paddle if

SaaS and software companies that sell internationally and want to outsource tax and billing entirely.

  • Eliminates global tax compliance burden
  • Available to sellers worldwide including Turkey
  • Subscription billing and dunning included

Look elsewhere if: Marketplaces, physical goods or businesses that need Stripe-level API customization.

Mercury vs Paddle pricing

Mercury

  • Mercury$0Banking, cards, invoicing, bill pay, expense management
  • Plus$29.90/moRecurring invoices, ACH debit invoicing; 15% off annually
  • Pro$299/moRelationship manager, NetSuite categorizations

Paddle

  • Pay as you go5% + 50¢/per transactionMerchant of record: tax, fraud, chargebacks included
  • CustomCustomVolume pricing for larger businesses

Mercury · Key features

  • Business checking and savings
  • Debit and credit cards
  • Treasury and yield
  • Invoicing and bill pay
  • International wires
  • API and integrations

Cons

  • US entities only
  • Cash deposits limited
  • Not a full-service bank

Paddle · Key features

  • Merchant of record: global tax calculation, collection and remittance
  • Checkout overlay and inline with localized pricing
  • Subscriptions, trials, upgrades, proration and dunning
  • Payment methods: cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, local methods
  • Retain for failed payment recovery and ProfitWell Metrics
  • Invoicing for B2B, API and webhooks

Cons

  • Higher fees than direct Stripe
  • Less customization than Stripe APIs
  • Onboarding review can take time

Mercury vs Paddle: FAQ

Do Mercury and Paddle have a free plan?

Mercury has a free plan. Paddle has no free plan.

Not sure yet?