Dodo Payments is a Merchant of Record built for AI-first companies — global tax handled in 220+ countries, individuals welcome. That part is real. What the homepage doesn't show: how the fee stack behaves at AI-app ticket sizes, how payouts actually work, and what merchants report when risk review happens after the money is collected. Everything below is sourced from Dodo's own pricing page, docs and public reviews (as of July 2026).
| Scenario | Dodo fee | Effective rate | paas.build (3.9% flat) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $9 sub, US card (4.5% + $0.40) | $0.81 | 8.9% | $0.35 = 3.9% |
| $9 sub, international card (6% + $0.40) | $0.94 | 10.4% | $0.35 = 3.9% |
| $9 sub via PayPal (7.5% + $0.40) | $1.08 | 11.9% | $0.35 = 3.9% |
| $29 sub, international (6% + $0.40) | $2.14 | 7.4% | $1.13 = 3.9% |
Fair caveat: Dodo's fee includes tax remittance (they are the Merchant of Record); paas.build's does not — you remain the seller and handle your own tax, with tooling.
"Customer payments were collected successfully, then the account was suspended before my first payout and funds were held for 120 days."
"They told us the payment would be released after 120 days — but months have passed and we still haven't received a single cent."Dodo's official response confirms the mechanism: the hold is "a requirement under card network rules to account for dispute and chargeback exposure." That's a legitimate policy — and exactly the asymmetry you accept when someone else is the merchant. Source: Trustpilot — Dodo Payments (quotes from public reviews, July 2026; experiences vary)
Published base is 4% + $0.40. With the international-card surcharge (+1.5%) and subscription surcharge (+0.5%) a $9 monthly subscription costs $0.94 = an effective 10.4%; via PayPal it reaches 11.9%. Refunds cost $1, disputes $30, payouts under $1,000 carry a $5 fee. Source: dodopayments.com/pricing.
Integration is fast, but verification "typically takes 24–72 working hours" (longer with manual review) plus a product-approval gate. By comparison, paas.build opens a real capped merchant account the same session via progressive KYB, with verification completing in the background.
Multiple public Trustpilot reviews describe accounts suspended before first payout with funds held for 120 days; Dodo's response attributes the hold to card-network dispute-exposure rules. Standard payouts are bi-monthly with a $50 minimum.
If you are a UK, EU or US builder who wants to stay the merchant: paas.build — a live merchant account the same day, 3.9% flat with no fixed fee, your brand on the checkout, and platform payouts/splits. If you need worldwide tax handled for you or are outside those regions, an MoR (Dodo, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy) remains the right category.