Polar.sh alternatives in 2026

Paddle

Sign-up and approval: Create an account, then complete business and account verification before live payments. Prepare your product and website for review.

Fees: 5% + $0.50 per checkout transaction, checked on 9 Nov 2026. The published package has no monthly fee.

Payouts: Monthly payouts, with a minimum threshold of $100, £100 or €100, depending on balance currency. Methods include wire transfer and Payoneer. Plan operating cash around the payout cycle, rather than the date shown on a successful customer order.

Seller of record and tax: Paddle acts as Merchant of Record and handles sales-tax compliance. That is a material service difference when you compare it with keeping your own merchant account. Decide whether that responsibility transfer is part of what you want to buy.

Integration: Paddle.js supports overlay and inline checkout. Its documentation MCP server helps an agent retrieve integration guidance. Documentation access should not be confused with permission to operate a live payment account.

Best when software billing and tax handling belong in the same purchase.

Dodo Payments

Sign-up and approval: Dodo documents individual and registered-entity onboarding, with product, identity and bank checks. Live payments and payout eligibility are separate milestones.

Fees: Standard US cards and wallets cost 4% + $0.40; non-US payments add 1.5%, and subscriptions add 0.5%, checked on 9 Nov 2026. We opened the official Spanish pricing page because the English page could not be read by our web tool.

Payouts: Bank payouts run twice monthly by default, with a $100 default threshold that can be lowered to $50. Country routes vary. The pricing page charges $5 for payouts below $1,000. Consider batching withdrawals if small transfers would consume too much revenue.

Seller of record and tax: The standard offer uses Dodo as Merchant of Record for transaction tax and payment handling. Compare that specific offer when evaluating alternatives. Ask for a written description of responsibilities if your proposed integration uses a different commercial arrangement.

Integration: Dodo documents an MCP server for its payment API. Its verification guide recognizes payment links, checkout sessions, APIs and SDKs.

Best when your product fits its review process and the full billing cost works.

Creem

Sign-up and approval: Creem's merchant terms require verification before core live functions become available. Do not make approval speed the deciding factor without a response about your actual product and country.

Fees: The headline is 3.9% + $0.40 per successful transaction, checked on 9 Nov 2026. The finance documentation also lists payout and optional-feature charges. Treat the headline as the checkout rate, then price the features and withdrawal route you will actually use.

Payouts: Request withdrawal for the 1st or 15th, after reaching 50 USD or EUR. Bank transfers cost 7 USD/EUR or 1%, whichever is higher; USDC payouts cost 2%. Clearing and verification can postpone availability. Small withdrawals therefore deserve particular attention.

Seller of record and tax: Creem is the Merchant of Record and handles transaction taxes. You are choosing a reseller arrangement for your product.

Integration: Use the quickstart to build checkout and follow payment events. Creem publishes API, SDK, CLI and webhook support. Validate the complete purchase-to-access flow in your app; a redirect back to your site is not a substitute for confirming payment state.

Best when your checkout savings still hold after payout and optional-feature costs.

Lemon Squeezy

Sign-up and approval: The live business-intake form recommends a Stripe product; store activation docs remain public. We did not submit an application. New Lemon Squeezy store approval is unconfirmed, so obtain confirmation before building. The vendor update describes the move toward Stripe Managed Payments.

Fees: Published ecommerce pricing is 5% + $0.50, checked on 9 Nov 2026. International transactions and PayPal each add 1.5%; subscriptions add 0.5%. Ask which product and fee schedule a new application would actually receive.

Payouts: Bank or PayPal payouts are created twice monthly, with a $50 minimum and a 13-day hold. Payout creation and bank arrival are different dates. Withdrawal charges vary by method and region, so account for your destination rather than assuming the headline rate is the total.

Seller of record and tax: Lemon Squeezy acts as Merchant of Record and handles sales tax. That description concerns the Lemon Squeezy service. Do not assume the intake form will place you on that same service merely because you followed a Lemon Squeezy sign-up link.

Integration: The REST API covers checkouts, subscriptions, licenses and webhooks. Confirm availability first, then assess migration effort.

Best when the vendor confirms access and its digital-product tools fit your workflow.

Gumroad

Sign-up and approval: Set up your creator account and payout details. Verification and account review affect payout eligibility. Treat publishing a product and receiving money as separate steps.

Fees: Direct sales are 10% + $0.50; Discover sales are 30%, checked on 9 Nov 2026. The help center separately lists card processing at 2.9% + $0.30 on direct sales. Do not read the storefront headline as an all-inclusive direct-card cost.

Payouts: Weekly, monthly or quarterly schedules have a $100 standard minimum and a seven-day sales hold. Bank or PayPal availability depends on country; higher local thresholds can apply. Daily payouts have separate eligibility, so do not assume a new account receives daily settlement.

Seller of record and tax: Gumroad describes itself as Merchant of Record and handles sales-tax collection and remittance. Evaluate that alongside what the storefront saves you in delivery work.

Integration: Start with its creator selling flow. An API reference exists, but our web tool returned no readable API body, so we do not certify specific API capabilities here. For an application migration, verify subscription and access-management needs directly before choosing.

Best when a creator storefront saves enough work to justify the direct-sale costs.

paas.build

Sign-up and approval: The published offer is live the same day with a cap until verification completes. You keep your own merchant account. That is the site's stated offer, not a timed test conducted for this comparison; confirm eligibility for your actual business before setting a launch date.

Fees: 3.9% per transaction, no monthly fee and no setup fee, checked on 9 Nov 2026. The pricing page separately asks you to confirm dispute and refund charges.

Payouts: The pricing page offers daily, weekly or monthly schedules after card settlement, with exact timing confirmed at onboarding. Funds go to your bank account. A public universal minimum is not specified in the reference, so request the details for your setup.

Seller of record and tax: The pricing page says: "You're the seller of record: the money is yours, and so is your VAT or sales tax."

Integration: Agent documentation and SKILL.md cover MCP and hosted checkout; the pricing page covers embedded checkout and subscriptions. Platform payouts to your own users are also documented, with custom platform pricing. Scope that separately if your app moves money for other sellers.

Best when keeping your own merchant account is worth handling your own transaction taxes.

Polar

Sign-up and approval: Build your integration and submit your business for review before the first payout. Identity verification and a connected payout account are part of the process.

Fees: New-account Starter pricing is 5% + $0.50, plus 1.5% for non-US cards, checked on 9 Nov 2026. Paid plans lower the variable rate. Existing customers should compare their own plan before switching; the legacy offer is different from current Starter pricing.

Payouts: Manual withdrawals through Stripe Connect Express; a seven-day settlement delay applies by default to newer organizations. The USD minimum is $10; other currency and country thresholds vary. Stripe payout charges also apply, so compare withdrawal costs separately from checkout fees.

Seller of record and tax: Polar resells your digital product as Merchant of Record and handles international sales taxes. Choose it with that reseller relationship in mind.

Integration: The remote MCP server gives authorized agents access to products, customers, subscriptions and orders. The API and SDK model is designed around digital products. Check that your entitlement changes can follow the billing state before moving existing customers.

For an existing account, the Early Member rate is 4% + $0.40 with a subscription surcharge of 0.5%. Leaving that plan has consequences described in the fee documentation. Compare the account you have, not just the Starter headline in this table.

Best when developer control matters and you can budget for settlement and withdrawal costs.