Polar vs Paddle (2026): Fees, Dunning, and Who Should Switch
Polar and Paddle are both merchants of record for software. They take the tax liability, they take a cut of every checkout, and they leave you to ship the product. The 2026 decision is not “which one is a payments company” — it is fees after add-ons, who emails the customer when a card fails, and whether you want a developer API or a full-stack billing desk.
| Polar.sh | Paddle | |
|---|---|---|
| Headline fee | Starter 5% + 50¢ · Pro 3.8% + 40¢ ($20/mo) · Early Member 4% + 40¢ | 5% + 50¢, no monthly fee |
| International cards | +1.5% | Included in the 5% + 50¢ |
| Failed-payment recovery | Retries + one portal notice | Included (Retain / revenue recovery) |
| Abandoned-checkout emails | Webhooks only | Not the reason people pick Paddle |
| Buyer support | You, plus Polar merchant support | Paddle handles payment/tax buyer tickets |
| Best for | Indie SaaS, API-first, Polar stack | Established SaaS that wants MoR + Retain |
Fees: the sticker is the same until Polar Pro
Paddle’s public pay-as-you-go price is 5% + 50¢ per checkout, no monthly fee, no migration fee. Products under $10 and invoicing go to custom pricing.[1]
Polar Starter is also 5% + 50¢ — then Polar adds 1.5% for international cards on every plan. Paid Polar plans drop the variable rate: Pro is 3.8% + 40¢ for $20/month and breaks even around $1,379/month in sales. Growth and Scale go lower at $100 and $400/month.[2] Early Member orgs (created before May 27, 2026) keep 4% + 40¢ if they never upgrade.
For a US-card $29 subscription, Starter and Paddle are a wash. For a global SaaS past ~$1.4k/month, Polar Pro is the cheaper MoR. For a mostly-international audience still on Starter, Paddle’s all-in rate can win because that 1.5% never shows up as a line item.
The full Polar ladder — including the $30 Sweden worked example — is in Polar.sh fees explained.
Dunning: this is Paddle’s actual advantage
Paddle sells the 5% + 50¢ as all-inclusive: tax, fraud, billing support, and revenue recovery. That is the ProfitWell Retain stack Paddle bought — failed-payment emails and card-updater work sit inside the fee.[1]
Polar retries charges and can send one customer-portal notice. It does not run a merchant-branded dunning sequence, and it does not email abandoned checkouts. If you move from Paddle to Polar to save 1% on Pro, you are also giving up the recovery product you were already paying for.
Developer experience vs billing desk
Polar is open source, API-first, with official adapters for Next.js, Laravel, and Better Auth. Checkout is a few lines if you already live in GitHub. That is why indie hackers default to it over Lemon Squeezy or Gumroad.
Paddle is the older, heavier MoR: more payment methods, invoicing (custom), 24/7 buyer support, and a sales motion once you want a negotiated rate. It is built for software companies that do not want to be the billing team. Polar is built for developers who do not want to be the tax team.
Polar vs Stripe is a different question
If the alternative in your head is “just use Stripe,” that is Polar vs Stripe — you become the merchant, you file the tax, you pick your own dunning tool. Polar vs Paddle is two MoRs. Do not mix the comparisons.
Who should pick which
- Pick Polar if you are shipping SaaS as a developer, you want the API, and you will either stay on Early Member / Starter or you have already crossed Polar Pro’s breakeven.
- Pick Paddle if you want one vendor for tax, buyer tickets, invoicing, and built-in failed-payment recovery, and you are fine paying a flat 5% + 50¢ forever (or negotiating custom).
- Stay where you are if you are mid-migration. Moving subscribers between MoRs is a project; a 1% fee delta rarely pays for a botched cutover.
If you land on Polar: replace Retain
Polar gives you checkout.expired, past-due subscriptions, and cancellation events. It does not send the win-back emails. Snagr plugs into Polar in one OAuth click and runs abandoned-checkout, failed-renewal, and cancellation sequences — free until it recovers your first payment, then $19/month flat, no percent of recovered revenue, with a 5% holdback so the dashboard is incremental lift, not coincidences. See recovering abandoned Polar checkouts.
FAQ
Is Polar cheaper than Paddle?
On Starter they match: 5% + 50¢. Polar then adds 1.5% for international cards; Paddle’s published rate is all-in. Once you clear about $1,379/month in sales, Polar Pro (3.8% + 40¢ + $20/mo) undercuts Paddle on volume.
Does Polar include dunning like Paddle Retain?
No. Paddle’s price includes revenue recovery / Retain. Polar retries failed charges and emails one portal notice; it does not run a merchant-branded dunning or abandoned-checkout sequence.
Should I switch from Paddle to Polar?
Switch if you want a developer-first API, open-source SDKs, and Polar’s paid-plan rates. Stay on Paddle if you want buyer support, invoicing, and built-in churn recovery in the same 5% + 50¢.
Sources
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