Paddle is the clear choice when the hard part isn’t app-store subscriptions—it’s running global web billing without becoming a tax and compliance expert. Unlike RevenueCat, which primarily solves app-store purchase infrastructure, Paddle acts as a
Merchant of Record and takes on VAT/GST, invoicing, and much of the operational commerce burden.
That MoR model is especially valuable for solo founders and small teams selling digital products worldwide, where tax registration, localized checkout, and invoicing can otherwise consume weeks of work. Paddle’s checkout and billing stack can reduce the amount of custom code needed to sell subscriptions on the web.
Paddle is also a practical alternative when
Stripe isn’t available in a founder’s region, or when a team wants a single provider to handle payments, refunds, and buyer paperwork. The trade-off versus a pure infrastructure layer is economics and process: MoR typically costs more and can introduce
approval or onboarding friction compared with a plug-in SDK.
For web-first monetization with compliance handled end-to-end, Paddle is a fundamentally different, often better-fitting alternative.