Paddle vs Polar
Paddle and Polar are both payments & billing tools. Paddle is aimed at small businesses and developers, while Polar is aimed at developers. Only Polar has a free plan.
Paddle
Merchant of record for software companies
Polar
Open-source monetization platform for developers
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium · $20 |
| Starting price | Not published | $20/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, Developers | Developers |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | GB · 2012 | SE · 2022 |
| Rating | — | — |
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.
Choose Polar if
Indie developers and small SaaS.
- Lower fees on paid plans
- Developer-friendly
- Open source
Look elsewhere if: Large SaaS needing enterprise invoicing (Paddle).
Paddle vs Polar pricing
Paddle
- Pay as you go5% + 50¢/per transactionMerchant of record: tax, fraud, chargebacks included
- CustomCustomVolume pricing for larger businesses
Polar
- Starter$05% + 50¢ per transaction
- Pro$20/mo3.8% + 40¢ per transaction, prioritized support
- Growth$100/mo3.6% + 35¢ per transaction
- Scale$400/mo3.4% + 30¢ per transaction, Slack support
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
Polar · Key features
- Merchant of record with global tax
- Checkout and subscriptions
- Usage-based billing
- License keys
- Benefits: GitHub repo, Discord roles, downloads
- Open source with SDKs
Cons
- Young company
- Fewer enterprise features
- Smaller support team
Paddle vs Polar: FAQ
Do Paddle and Polar have a free plan?
Paddle has no free plan. Polar has a free plan.
Which is better for small businesses, Paddle or Polar?
Paddle lists small businesses as a core audience, while Polar is aimed more at developers.