Paddle Review: Features, Pricing & Alternative
Joshua D'Costa
Growth & Marketing
Dec 1, 2025
|
5
min
Paddle is a payment infrastructure platform for software companies. It promises to handle “all payment complexity, taxes, and compliance” so that founders can focus on their product.
In this review we’ll look closely at Paddle’s features, reach, pricing, and downsides, and explore the alternative in 2025 for indie hackers and SaaS founders. So you have a clear picture of how Paddle stacks up and which payment infra might be a better fit for your SaaS business.
What is Paddle?
Paddle is a Merchant of Record platform and a Payment Infrastructure. It is designed primarily for SaaS and software companies that sell internationally. By acting as MoR, it takes on the compliance burden: sales taxes, VAT, GST, and legal regulations in each region are automatically managed by Paddle.
For developers and founders, you simply integrate Paddle’s API or SDK into your site/app, and Paddle’s backend takes care of currency conversions, localized checkout, invoices, taxes, fraud screening, and support. Paddle aims to simplify global sales for software businesses.
Paddle Supported Countries
Paddle supports selling in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. It offers localized checkouts in more than 17 languages and 29 currencies. If a country is under sanctions or not supported, Paddle blocks payments from there by default.
Paddle Features
Paddle offers a comprehensive feature set for SaaS billing:
Subscription Billing & Recurring Payments: Paddle handles both one-time purchases and ongoing subscriptions. You can automate monthly invoicing and charge clients’ cards on file.
Automated Invoicing & Payment Reconciliation: Using Paddle’s API, developers can create invoices, reconcile payments, and grant product access automatically after payment.
Global Tax Compliance: Paddle automatically applies sales taxes for 100+ jurisdictions. It calculates, collects, and remits these taxes so you never have to manually file local tax returns.
Fraud Detection & Chargeback Handling: Paddle’s fraud tools aim to block suspicious purchases and reduce false declines.
Developer-Friendly API: All of Paddle’s functionality is exposed through a developer-focused API and SDKs, enabling custom integrations with your product or site.
Reporting & Analytics: Paddle’s dashboard provides real-time charts of revenue, churn, and customer stats. You can break down performance by country, product, date range, etc.
Flexible Checkout & Bundles: Paddle lets you create bundles, upsells, and discounts. You can customize the checkout experience with your branding, or use Paddle’s hosted checkout pages.
Disadvantages of Paddle
Some users find the dashboard and reports less intuitive than competing tools. You can do most analysis in Paddle’s UI, but heavy reporting or very specific breakdowns (like custom country slices) sometimes require workarounds.
Onboarding and support are not flawless. A portion of merchants report slower responses during verification or when dealing with high-risk cases, and strict anti-fraud checks have occasionally caused delays or account holds.
Advanced billing needs can be awkward. Paddle covers core subscriptions and checkout flows well, but highly customized invoicing or niche self-service features may need extra engineering or third-party tools.
Paddle Pricing
Pay-as-you-go model with no monthly fee.
Standard rate: 5% + $0.50 per transaction.
Fee includes: global payment processing, tax handling, fraud protection, chargeback coverage, and customer billing support.
Enterprise/custom plans available for high-volume merchants (negotiable rates, dedicated services).
Best Paddle Alternatives in 2025
Dodo Payments
Dodo Payments is a Payment Infrastructure aimed at SaaS founders, indie hackers, and solopreneurs. Like Paddle, Dodo Payments acts as a Merchant of Record: it handles cross-border payments, tax compliance, and fraud on your behalf.
Features of Dodo Payments
Global Payment Coverage: Dodo Payments supports transactions in over 220 countries and territories and 30+ payment methods
Automatic Tax Compliance: It automatically handles international taxes in every region. You simply define your product prices and Dodo Payments remits the correct tax for each sale.
Unified Developer Platform: Everything is in one dashboard. You get a centralized analytics console showing revenue trends, subscription counts, refunds, churn, top-selling countries, etc.
Subscription & Invoicing: Dodo Payments has built-in subscription billing, usage-based plans, and invoicing tools. It also supports sending automated invoice emails.
Fraud Prevention & Chargebacks: It incorporates fraud screening on transactions to help minimize chargebacks. If disputes do occur, Dodo Payments’ support team steps in to handle them so you don’t have to.
Developer-Centric API: Its APIs and SDKs are designed to be simple and flexible. You can also integrate Dodo into mobile apps or self-serve portals with ease.
Customer Support: Every account comes with access to dedicated support staff who understand SaaS billing, from onboarding through any payment issue.
Why Dodo Payments is a Better Alternative for SaaS
Dodo Payments is built with indie founders and small SaaS teams in mind, which makes the whole experience feel more focused and intuitive. The product, docs, and support are tailored to the real-world needs of solo builders and bootstrapped apps, no enterprise bloat, no complex workflows to fight through.
Its pricing is also refreshingly clear. You choose a plan, know exactly what you’ll pay, and don’t get hit with extra charges for basics like invoicing or analytics.
For teams selling in India, UPI Autopay is a genuine advantage, letting you run recurring subscriptions through a payment method customers already trust. It’s one of those practical features that quietly boosts conversions and retention without adding friction.
Dodo Pricing
Dodo Payments standard plan charges 4% + $0.40 per transaction with no hidden fees.
Dodo Payments also offers custom enterprise pricing with a dedicated support team, but startups usually start on pay-as-you-go.
Final Thoughts
Paddle remains a strong choice for SaaS companies needing a turnkey global billing solution. If you value a mature system with robust compliance and support, Paddle is the choice.
For many indie hackers and small SaaS founders, Dodo Payments is worth a serious look. It offers the same essential MoR benefits but tailored to a lean startup’s needs. Lower fees, transparent pricing, and a developer-focused API give Dodo Payments an edge if you fit its target profile.
