Search this phrase and you'll mostly find Merchant of Record vendors. That's one valid answer to one specific need — but "payments for AI builders" is really four different products. Here's the whole map, including when not to pick us.
Who should be the legal seller of your product — you, or your payment provider? Every option below is a different answer to that question. (And to disambiguate: this guide is about payments for people who build apps with AI — Lovable, Bolt, Cursor, Claude Code, Replit, v0 — not Microsoft's "AI Builder" feature for Power Platform.)
| Category | You're saying… | Examples | Legal seller |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merchant of Record | "Handle my taxes, compliance and disputes — I'll sell through you." | Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, FastSpring, Creem, Dodo, Kelviq, Freemius | The provider |
| Fast PayFac | "Give me a live merchant account today — my brand, my customer, my pricing." | paas.build | You |
| Billing layer | "Give me subscriptions, credits, metering — on top of a processor I already have." | Lago, Orb, OpenMeter, RevenueCat | You (via your processor) |
| Processor / infra | "Give me primitives, I'll build the stack myself." | Stripe, Adyen, Braintree | You |
| If your sentence is… | Pick |
|---|---|
| "I want tax & compliance handled for me, globally." | MoR — Paddle / Lemon Squeezy / Creem / Dodo |
| "I want to take money today — no company, no week-long review." | paas.build — live the same session, capped until verification (progressive KYB), 3.9% flat |
| "My users need to get paid too" (marketplace, community, platform) | paas.build — splits, onboarding, payouts. An MoR structurally can't do this |
| "I need usage-based billing and entitlements on my existing Stripe." | Billing layer — Lago / Orb / OpenMeter / RevenueCat |
| "I have an engineering team and want full control." | Stripe / Adyen — and budget the integration time |
| "I'm not based in the UK, EU or US." | Not paas.build (yet) — an MoR is likely your best route |
AI builders ship a product in an evening, then hit payment onboarding designed for a slower era: form a company first (Stripe Atlas: $500 + an EIN wait that stretches to weeks for non-US founders), then a multi-day merchant review. paas.build compresses that to one prompt: a real merchant account — sandbox and production — the same session, via progressive KYB. Individuals and sole traders included; live capped (~£1,500) while verification completes in the background. One flat rate: 3.9%, no monthly fee.
And it's agent-native end to end: an open-source MCP server (your agent creates the account, not just manages it), llms.txt docs, scoped tokens, a three-line React checkout (@paasbuild/react), subscriptions, balances, payouts and webhooks. The rails: UniPaaS — an FCA-authorised Payment Institution (No. 929994), funds safeguarded in segregated accounts, settlement via J.P. Morgan, PCI DSS v4 — details on the trust page.
One sentence to remember the market by: MoRs sell tax peace-of-mind. Stripe sells flexible infrastructure. paas.build sells speed to a live account you own.
It depends on one question: do you want to stay the seller, or hand the sale to someone else? If you want tax and compliance fully handled and are willing to sell through a reseller, use a Merchant of Record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Creem, Dodo, FastSpring). If you want a live merchant account today, your brand on the checkout, and platform features like splits and payouts, use a fast PayFac like paas.build (UK, EU and US businesses; 3.9% flat).
Only if you want taxes and compliance handled for you and accept selling through a reseller. Many AI builders actually need the opposite: a real merchant account that goes live the same day, with their own brand on the statement. An MoR cannot move money between your users; a PayFac can.
A Merchant of Record becomes the legal seller — it handles VAT/sales tax but owns the transaction and the customer relationship. A PayFac (payment facilitator) onboards you as a sub-merchant: you stay the seller, keep your brand and customer data, and handle your own tax (with tooling). paas.build is a PayFac; Paddle is an MoR.
No — deliberately. On paas.build you are the seller of record: your brand, your customer, your pricing. VAT/sales tax remains your responsibility (we ship guides and tax-engine integrations). If you want tax handled for you, an MoR like Paddle or Lemon Squeezy is the honest recommendation.
On paas.build: the same session. Progressive KYB gives you a real merchant account (sandbox + production) immediately, capped around £1,500 until verification completes in the background. No company formation required — individuals and sole traders included. Available for builders based in the UK, EU and US.
No. Microsoft AI Builder is a Power Platform feature for building AI models inside Microsoft apps. This guide is about payment infrastructure for people who build software with AI tools (Lovable, Bolt, Cursor, Claude Code, Replit, v0) — sometimes called AI app builders or vibe coders.