Stripe is the default choice for accepting payments online. But "default" doesn't mean "best," especially if you sell software. Between managing global sales tax, handling subscriptions, dealing with chargebacks, and staying compliant across dozens of countries, Stripe leaves a lot of work on your plate.
If you're building a SaaS product, an AI tool, or any kind of digital business, you deserve a payment stack that actually handles the hard parts for you. This guide breaks down the best Stripe alternatives in 2026, what they do well, and where they fall short.
What is Stripe?
Stripe is a payment gateway and processor. It lets you accept credit cards, debit cards, and various local payment methods through a developer-friendly API. Stripe handles the movement of money from your customer's account to yours.
What Stripe does not do: act as your Merchant of Record. That means you're still the legal seller. You're responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax, VAT, and GST in every jurisdiction where you have customers. You handle chargebacks, invoicing compliance, and regulatory filings yourself (or pay extra for add-ons like Stripe Tax).
Who is Stripe good for?
Stripe works well for marketplaces, e-commerce platforms, and businesses with dedicated finance teams who can manage tax compliance in-house. If you have the resources to handle the operational overhead, Stripe's flexibility and ecosystem are hard to beat.
Is Stripe the best option for selling SaaS?
What Stripe does well
- Developer experience. Clean API docs, robust SDKs, and excellent tooling.
- Payment method coverage. Supports 135+ currencies and dozens of local payment methods.
- Ecosystem. Huge marketplace of integrations, plugins, and third-party tools.
- Reliability. Battle-tested infrastructure processing billions of dollars annually.
Where Stripe falls short for SaaS
- You're the Merchant of Record. Tax compliance is your problem. Stripe Tax helps, but you still file and remit.
- Costs add up fast. Base rate of 2.9% + $0.30, plus Stripe Tax (0.5%), plus Stripe Billing fees, plus currency conversion fees. The real cost is often 4-5% or more.
- No built-in MoR features. No automated tax remittance, no revenue splits, no affiliate management out of the box.
- Support can be slow. Smaller businesses often report difficulty reaching human support.
Stripe Alternatives at a Glance
| Platform | Type | Sales Tax Handling | Key Feature | |---|---|---|---| | CREEM | Merchant of Record | Full compliance, collection & remittance | Built for indie hackers and AI builders | | Paddle | Merchant of Record | Full compliance, collection & remittance | Enterprise SaaS billing | | FastSpring | Merchant of Record | Full compliance, collection & remittance | Digital goods and software | | Lemon Squeezy | Merchant of Record (Stripe-owned) | Full compliance, collection & remittance | Simple creator-focused checkout | | Adyen | Payment Processor | Not included | Enterprise-scale processing | | Braintree | Payment Gateway | Not included | PayPal integration | | Checkout.com | Payment Gateway | Not included | High-performance enterprise payments |
Reasons to Consider Stripe Alternatives
Tax compliance is a full-time job. If you sell globally, you need to collect and remit VAT in 27 EU countries, GST in Australia, sales tax across US states, and more. Stripe doesn't do this for you.
Hidden costs stack up. Stripe's headline rate looks cheap, but add Stripe Tax, Billing, currency conversion, and dispute fees, and you're paying significantly more than advertised.
You want to focus on building, not billing. Every hour spent on tax filings, invoice compliance, and chargeback disputes is an hour not spent on your product.
Subscription management needs extra tooling. Stripe Billing exists, but complex scenarios (usage-based, tiered pricing, revenue splits) require custom development or third-party tools.
Two Approaches: Merchant of Record vs Payment Gateway
Before diving into specific alternatives, it helps to understand the two main categories.
Merchant of Record (MoR)
A Merchant of Record is the legal seller of your product. The MoR handles tax collection, remittance, compliance, chargebacks, and invoicing on your behalf. You get paid out after all obligations are settled. This is the "set it and forget it" approach for SaaS founders who want to focus on product.
Payment Gateway / Processor
A payment gateway moves money from buyer to seller. You remain the legal seller and handle everything else: taxes, compliance, disputes, invoicing. More control, but significantly more operational burden.
For most SaaS businesses, especially smaller teams, a Merchant of Record is the smarter choice.
The Best Stripe Alternatives for SaaS in 2026
1. CREEM
Type: Merchant of Record Pricing: 3.9% + $0.40 per transaction. No setup fees, no monthly fees.
CREEM is a Merchant of Record built specifically for software companies, indie hackers, and AI builders. It handles global tax compliance, subscription management, fraud protection, and payouts in one platform with zero add-on fees.
What makes CREEM different is its simplicity and transparency. One flat rate covers everything: tax collection and remittance in 50+ countries, revenue splits between co-founders and affiliates, license key generation, and automated invoicing. There are no hidden fees, no enterprise sales calls, and no month-long onboarding.
The developer experience is fast and clean. You can go from signup to accepting payments in under 10 minutes. The API is straightforward, with SDKs and pre-built checkout pages that just work.
Key features:
- Global tax compliance (VAT, GST, sales tax) with automatic collection and remittance
- Built-in affiliate management
- Revenue splits for co-founders and contractors
- Stablecoin payouts
- License key generation
- Subscription management with usage-based billing support
- No monthly minimums or setup fees
Best for: Indie hackers, solo founders, AI startups, and small-to-mid SaaS teams who want everything handled without enterprise pricing.
2. Paddle
Type: Merchant of Record Pricing: 5% + $0.50 per transaction
Paddle is the most established MoR in the SaaS space. It handles tax compliance, subscription billing, and acts as your legal seller globally. Paddle has strong analytics, built-in dunning (failed payment recovery), and a solid checkout experience.
The trade-off is price and complexity. At 5% + $0.50, Paddle is notably more expensive than newer alternatives. The platform has also shifted toward mid-market and enterprise customers, which means smaller teams sometimes feel underserved. Onboarding can take days rather than minutes.
Key features:
- Full MoR with global tax compliance
- Paddle Retain for churn reduction
- ProfitWell Metrics (acquired) for analytics
- Checkout overlay and inline options
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise SaaS companies with established revenue looking for a proven, full-featured billing platform.
3. FastSpring
Type: Merchant of Record Pricing: Custom (typically around 5-6% for smaller volumes)
FastSpring is one of the oldest MoR platforms, primarily serving digital goods and software companies. It handles tax compliance, supports global payment methods, and offers a customizable storefront.
The platform works, but it shows its age. The UI feels dated compared to modern alternatives, and the developer experience isn't as polished. Documentation can be sparse, and integration typically takes longer. Pricing is opaque, requiring a sales conversation.
Key features:
- Full MoR with global tax compliance
- Customizable storefronts and popup checkouts
- Support for physical and digital goods
- Coupon and discount management
Best for: Established software companies selling desktop applications or digital downloads who need a proven, if somewhat dated, MoR solution.
4. Lemon Squeezy
Type: Merchant of Record (now owned by Stripe) Pricing: 5% + $0.50 per transaction
Lemon Squeezy started as the indie-friendly alternative to Paddle: simple, clean, and built for creators and small software businesses. Then Stripe acquired it in mid-2024, and the picture changed.
The platform still works, and the team has continued shipping updates. But the long-term direction is uncertain. Will Lemon Squeezy remain independent, or will it gradually merge into Stripe's product suite? Some users have already reported subtle changes in prioritization and support. If you're choosing a platform to build on for years, the acquisition adds a layer of risk.
Key features:
- Simple checkout and subscription management
- Full MoR with tax compliance
- Digital product delivery and license keys
- Clean, modern UI
Best for: Creators and small software sellers who are comfortable with the uncertainty of building on a recently acquired platform.
5. Adyen
Type: Payment Processor Pricing: Interchange++ (processing fee of €0.11 per transaction + scheme fees + interchange)
Adyen is a global payment processor built for enterprise. It supports 250+ payment methods across 100+ countries and processes payments for companies like Uber, Spotify, and eBay.
For SaaS startups, Adyen is overkill. The setup is complex, documentation assumes enterprise-level technical resources, and there's no MoR functionality. You handle all tax compliance, subscriptions, and billing yourself. Minimum volume requirements also make it impractical for smaller businesses.
Key features:
- 250+ payment methods globally
- Unified commerce (online + in-person)
- Advanced risk management
- Real-time data and reporting
Best for: Large enterprises processing high volumes who need granular control over their payment stack.
6. Braintree (PayPal)
Type: Payment Gateway Pricing: 2.59% + $0.49 per transaction
Braintree, owned by PayPal, is a solid payment gateway with the obvious advantage of native PayPal and Venmo integration. If a significant portion of your customers prefer PayPal, Braintree makes that easy.
Beyond PayPal integration, Braintree is a capable but unremarkable gateway. No MoR features, no tax handling, and the developer experience, while decent, hasn't kept pace with Stripe. The PayPal ownership also means occasional friction with account reviews and holds.
Key features:
- Native PayPal and Venmo support
- Drop-in UI for quick integration
- Vault for secure card storage
- Support for multiple currencies
Best for: Businesses where PayPal is a critical payment method and enterprise features aren't necessary.
7. Checkout.com
Type: Payment Gateway Pricing: Custom (interchange++ model, typically 0.1-0.4% + $0.08 processor fee on top of interchange)
Checkout.com is a high-performance payment gateway targeting enterprise businesses. It offers competitive interchange++ pricing, strong global coverage, and advanced payment optimization tools.
Like Adyen, Checkout.com is built for scale, not simplicity. There's no MoR, no tax handling, and the platform is designed for teams with dedicated payment engineers. Pricing requires a sales conversation and minimum volumes apply.
Key features:
- Interchange++ pricing for cost transparency
- Global acquiring in 150+ countries
- Payment optimization and intelligent routing
- Detailed analytics and reporting
Best for: High-volume enterprises that want granular control over payment routing and interchange optimization.
The Bottom Line
If you're a SaaS founder, AI builder, or indie hacker looking for a Stripe alternative in 2026, the choice depends on what you value most.
Want everything handled at the lowest cost? CREEM gives you full MoR coverage at 3.9% + $0.40 with zero add-on fees. No other MoR matches that price point while including affiliates, revenue splits, and tax compliance out of the box.
Want an enterprise-proven MoR? Paddle is the safe, established choice if you can stomach the 5% + $0.50 rate.
Want maximum control? Stick with Stripe or look at Checkout.com, but be ready to build and maintain your own tax, billing, and compliance infrastructure.
For most software businesses, the smartest move is to stop thinking about payments entirely. Pick a Merchant of Record that handles everything, and get back to building your product. That's exactly what CREEM was built for.
Get started with CREEM and start selling globally in minutes.
