Paddle
Paddle
Overview
Paddle is a specialized Merchant of Record (MoR) platform designed to offer a complete payment, billing, tax compliance, subscription management, fraud protection, and analytics solution for software, SaaS, and digital goods businesses. More than 6,000 SaaS and app companies worldwide use Paddle. It simplifies global e-commerce by managing payments, tax, compliance, and back-office tasks, allowing businesses to grow without creating their own payment systems.
What Is Paddle?
Paddle acts as the Merchant of Record. This means that customers pay Paddle directly instead of the merchant. Paddle processes the transaction, takes on compliance responsibilities like paying VAT or sales tax, manages chargebacks and fraud prevention, and then sends the net proceeds to the merchant.
The MoR model allows software vendors to sell globally quickly. They do not have to set up foreign bank accounts, deal with multiple tax jurisdictions, or manage compliance for each region. The provider also takes care of invoicing and revenue reconciliation as part of the service.
Key Features of Paddle
Global Payment Processing & Checkout
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Accept payments in over 29+ currencies across more than 200 countries and territories, with support for popular global and local payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and wire transfers.
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Paddle’s checkout auto‑localizes based on buyer location, displaying language, currency, and regional payment options dynamically to maximize conversion.
Subscription & Billing Management
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Handles subscription billing, including free trials, automatic renewals, upgrades, downgrades, and metered usage.
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Offers customizable invoicing via API, automated send-outs, and revenue reconciliation, reducing manual finance workflows.
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Support for dunning and failed payment recovery, with a tool called “Retain” that automates recovery of failed card payments to reduce churn.
Tax, VAT & Compliance Automation
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Paddle calculates and remits taxes (VAT, sales tax, GST) in over 100 jurisdictions, fully handling compliance obligations on behalf of merchants.
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The MoR model ensures merchants do not need to register in each region, as Paddle takes the liability for tax filing and remittance.
Fraud Protection & Chargeback Defense
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Strong fraud detection and prevention built-in, including manual verification for high-risk transactions, which improves trust and security.
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Paddle also manages chargeback disputes and representation, helping merchants retain more revenue while reducing fraud‑related losses.
Reporting, Analytics & Business Insights
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Offers real‑time dashboard metrics on revenue, active subscriptions, churn, ARR/MRR, renewal rates, and customer cohorts.
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Built-in integration with a subscription analytics platform provides advanced insights including growth trends and segment analysis.
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Paddle’s reporting suite helps with transparency across billing, taxes, subscriptions, and revenue sources, making subscription businesses investment‑ready.
App Store Monetization & Cross‑Platform Subscription
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Paddle offers an integration with third-party subscription infrastructure to enable app developers to handle subscriptions across iOS, Android, and web while Paddle manages payments, tax, and compliance for web‑based sales.
Ideal Use Cases & Who Should Consider Paddle
SaaS Companies & Digital Product Sellers
Any business selling software, SaaS subscriptions, digital content, or apps benefits from Paddle’s all‑in‑one infrastructure: it removes the need to build or manage a fragmented stack of payment and billing tools.
Businesses Selling Globally
If you’re operating in multiple jurisdictions and need to handle various currencies, local payment methods, and tax compliance, Paddle’s MoR setup allows fast entry into new markets without legal overhead or local registrations.
Founders & Developers Seeking Simplicity
Paddle lets teams focus on product and growth, not payments plumbing. Its hosted checkout, APIs, and managed compliance take the burden off technical and finance teams.
Advanced Subscription Management Needs
If your business relies heavily on recurring billing, trial management, upgrades, downgrades, proration, dunning, and churn recovery, Paddle includes those tools natively.
App Developers Monetizing Outside Native App Stores
With cross-platform support, app makers can shift subscriptions from native app stores to web‑based sales, unlocking better margins while still supporting iOS/Android access.
Conclusion
Paddle is a subscription-first payment system built for SaaS, digital goods, and app businesses that want to grow globally with less hassle. As the Merchant of Record, Paddle takes care of payment transactions, invoicing, subscription billing, tax and VAT compliance, fraud prevention, chargebacks, and analytics. This lets merchants focus on their products and growth.