See what every Merchant of Record really costs
Headline rates are only half the bill. Most platforms add surcharges for international cards and subscriptions. AgentaOS charges one flat rate on cards and subscriptions, files your sales tax and VAT, handles disputes, and audits your product, pricing and legal pages free before you go live. Here is the full picture, sources included.
What does a Merchant of Record really cost?
On headline rate alone, Creem is the lowest here at 3.9% + $0.40, and AgentaOS is next at a flat 4% + €0.40 on Pro. The real bill depends on the extras: most platforms add +1.5% on international cards and +0.5% on subscription renewals. AgentaOS adds neither: no subscription or cart-recovery surcharge, and no surcharge on international cards during the launch period. Tax filed in 135+ countries, disputes handled, and a free Revenue & Billing Audit of your product, pricing and legal pages are included. On a worldwide subscription business collecting €10,000/month, about €9,511 lands in your bank with AgentaOS, versus roughly €9,570 with Creem, €9,450 with Paddle or Polar, €9,360 with Dodo Payments, €9,250 with Lemon Squeezy and €8,950 with Gumroad.
How much actually lands in your bank
Enter your price and volume. Every Merchant of Record is ranked by what reaches your account, most first, surcharges included. Small percentage differences compound over a year.
| Platform | In your bank /mo | In your bank /year | Rank |
|---|
Estimates on your inputs, public list prices 2026, per-sale fees included and treated as equivalent across currencies. AgentaOS shows your lower-cost plan automatically (Pay as you grow 4.5% + €0.50, or Pro 4% + €0.40 with €49/mo). Creem is 3.9% + $0.40. Dodo Payments adds international and subscription surcharges (about 6% cross-border); Lemon Squeezy reaches about 7% with the same surcharges. AgentaOS adds no subscription or cart-recovery surcharge and no surcharge on international cards during the launch period.
Every Merchant of Record, ranked
Every major Merchant of Record, ordered by what actually reaches your bank on a typical SaaS: buyers, subscriptions, on €10,000 a month.
1. Creem Lowest headline rate
At 3.9% + $0.40, Creem has the lowest headline rate in this comparison, and we will say it plainly: on rate alone, Creem wins. On €10,000 a month about €9,570 lands in your bank. Best if the rate is the only thing you are optimising for and you are happy to handle growth, billing review and optimisation yourself.
2. AgentaOS Best for subscription SaaS
A flat rate on cards, subscriptions included: 4% + €0.40 on Pro (€49/month) or 4.5% + €0.50 with no monthly fee, whichever is lower for you, applied automatically. No surcharge on renewals where most rivals add 0.5%, and no surcharge on international cards during the launch period. On €10,000 a month about €9,511 lands in your bank. Every merchant gets a free Revenue & Billing Audit: we review your product, pricing and legal pages before you go live, and you keep the written report either way. Best for founders building recurring, worldwide revenue who want the billing reviewed by people who do this all day.
3. Polar
Open-source and developer-first at 5% + 50¢ on the free Starter plan, with paid plans ($20 to $400/mo) lowering the rate to 3.4 to 3.8%. On the Starter plan you keep about €9,450. Best for open-source and developer tools that value the ecosystem and grow into the volume tiers.
4. Paddle
The established enterprise incumbent at 5% + $0.50. You keep about €9,450. Best for larger companies that want a mature, battle-tested Merchant of Record with deep integrations.
5. Dodo Payments
4% + $0.40 with no monthly fee and the widest reach here, 220+ countries. It adds +1.5% on international cards and +0.5% on subscriptions, so a cross-border subscription lands near 6% and you keep about €9,360. Best when you need very broad geographic coverage and sell mostly one-off or to US buyers.
6. Lemon Squeezy
Stripe-owned, 5% + $0.50 base, rising to about 7% once international-card and subscription surcharges apply. You keep about €9,250. Best if you want Stripe's ecosystem and extras like license keys and affiliates.
7. Gumroad
The simplest and the priciest, 10% + $0.50 on direct sales (30% through their Discover marketplace). You keep about €8,950. Best for one-off digital products and creators who value simplicity over cost.
A note on Stripe. Stripe itself is not a Merchant of Record, so with plain Stripe you register and file tax yourself. Its Merchant-of-Record product, Managed Payments, adds 3.5% on top of standard Stripe fees, which works out at roughly 6.4% domestic and around 8% cross-border. Worth it if you are already deep in the Stripe ecosystem and want everything under one contract.
Public list pricing as of August 2026, on a €10,000/month SaaS (100 worldwide subscription sales at €100). Real rate = base rate plus per-sale fee plus any international (+1.5%) or subscription (+0.5%) surcharge, and each platform's own fee on withdrawal. AgentaOS charges a flat rate on cards and subscriptions plus a 1% payout fee (from €1) when you withdraw your balance. Verify each provider’s current rates. See our Terms for how pass-through costs are handled. A cost comparison, not financial advice.
Sources, each retrieved 21 August 2026: Creem pricing · Paddle pricing · Lemon Squeezy fees · Polar fees · Dodo Payments pricing · Gumroad pricing · Stripe pricing. AgentaOS rates are set out in our Merchant Terms. Providers change pricing without notice; check each source before relying on these figures.
Full head-to-head comparisons
AgentaOS vs Paddle
5%Paddle is the established enterprise MoR. AgentaOS is built for AI-native pricing at a flat 4%, with no subscription surcharge.
Compare vs Paddle →AgentaOS vs Lemon Squeezy
5% + surchargesLemon Squeezy is Stripe-owned, with surcharges that reach ~7%. AgentaOS is independent and EU-based, with a flat card rate.
Compare vs Lemon Squeezy →AgentaOS vs Polar
5% (tiers to 3.4%)Polar is open-source and developer-first. AgentaOS adds native AI billing and hands-on onboarding.
Compare vs Polar →The Merchant of Record that grows with you.
One flat rate on cards and subscriptions, no card surcharges, and a free Revenue & Billing Audit of your product before you sell. Start free.
Start free →