Lemon Squeezy alternatives in 2026: where to sell as it moves to Stripe
Lemon Squeezy is steering sellers to Stripe Managed Payments. Here are 8 Lemon Squeezy alternatives compared on fees, tax handling, and what you sell.
Lemon Squeezy still works and still takes sign-ups, but Stripe owns it and has said its future is Stripe Managed Payments. If you sell software and want tax handled, the closest swaps are Stripe Managed Payments itself (3.5% on top of Stripe's fees), Paddle (5% + 50¢), and Polar (from 5% + 50¢). If you sell courses, coaching, or downloads to your own audience, Gumroad and Payhip handle tax for you, and Stan and Eden give you a creator store but leave tax to you. Eden also connects to Lemon Squeezy, so you can keep it as your checkout.
This guide is for anyone selling on Lemon Squeezy now, or who was about to start there. Full disclosure: we make Eden, which is on this list. Every price, fee, and date below was checked on each company's own site or docs in September 2026.
What's happening to Lemon Squeezy
- July 26, 2024: Stripe bought Lemon Squeezy.
- January 28, 2026: Lemon Squeezy posted a "2026 update" saying it is building its future through Stripe Managed Payments, Stripe's own merchant of record product. It said its goal is to give Lemon Squeezy users an easy way to move over. It also apologized for slower support and fewer product updates while the team worked on it.
- April 22, 2026: Stripe made Managed Payments generally available, per its docs changelog.
What Lemon Squeezy has not done is set a shutdown date or a forced move date. Its site still has a "Get started" button and a banner pointing to the 2026 update. So nothing breaks tomorrow. But a product whose own team says the future is somewhere else is a risky place to build a new business, and support is already slower.
Why people picked Lemon Squeezy
Mostly for one reason: it's the merchant of record. That means Lemon Squeezy is the legal seller. It charges the right sales tax or VAT in each country, files it, and pays it. You get one payout and no tax registrations in dozens of places.
That matters most for software and SaaS sold worldwide, where VAT rules pile up fast. It's also why Lemon Squeezy's fee is higher than plain card processing: you are paying someone to carry the tax work.
So the first question for any alternative is simple. Do you need someone else to handle tax? If yes, look at merchants of record. If you sell mostly to one country and your accountant can handle sales tax, a creator store with a lower fee may fit better.
What Lemon Squeezy costs now
From Lemon Squeezy's pricing page and fee docs:
| Fee | Cost |
|---|---|
| Base fee per sale | 5% + 50¢, no monthly fee |
| Buyer outside the US | +1.5% |
| PayPal payment | +1.5% |
| Subscription payment | +0.5% |
| Sale recovered by abandoned cart | +5% |
| Sale through an affiliate | +3% (you), +2% (affiliate) |
| Payout to a non-US bank via Stripe | 1% per payout |
| Payout via PayPal | 50¢ (US), 3% capped at $30 |
The base fee covers card processing, so there's no separate Stripe charge on top. On a $30 sale to a US buyer, you pay $2.00. The same sale to a buyer in Germany costs $2.45.
The short version
| Platform | Best for | Monthly | Fee per sale | Handles tax for you? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Managed Payments | Software and digital products | $0 | 3.5% + Stripe fees | Yes |
| Paddle | SaaS and software companies | $0 | 5% + 50¢ | Yes |
| Polar | Developers | $0 to $400 | 5% + 50¢ down to 3.4% + 30¢ | Yes |
| FastSpring | Bigger software businesses | Quote | Custom quote | Yes |
| Gumroad | Creators who never want to think tax | $0 | 10% + 50¢ + processing | Yes |
| Payhip | Creators who want tax handled cheaply | $0 to $99 | 5%, 2%, or 0% + processing | Yes (VAT, US and Canada tax) |
| Stan Store | A store in your link in bio | $29 or $99 | 0% + processing | No |
| Eden | Courses, coaching, and AI products | $29 | 5% + processing | No |
"Processing" means Stripe or PayPal's own fee, usually 2.9% + 30¢ for a US card.
1. Stripe Managed Payments
This is where Lemon Squeezy is pointing its users. Stripe becomes the merchant of record and handles sales tax, VAT, and GST in more than 80 countries, plus fraud, disputes, and customer support on each order.
What it does well:
- The Stripe you already know. Same dashboard, same API. You turn it on for Stripe Checkout or Payment Links.
- Subscriptions and one-time sales. Free trials work too.
Where it falls short:
- It's a checkout, not a store. Stripe's docs cover Checkout and Payment Links. There's no storefront, product delivery, or affiliate program like Lemon Squeezy had.
- Strict product rules. It covers software, games, digital media, and online courses. Stripe says professional services, and anything that needs a person to deliver it, like live one-on-one coaching, don't qualify.
- Your business must be in a supported country, which today means the US, Canada, much of Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore.
Price: 3.5% per sale on top of Stripe's normal fees. On a US card that's about 6.4% + 30¢, or $2.22 on a $30 sale.
Best for: software and SaaS sellers who want to stay inside Stripe.
2. Paddle
Paddle is the longest-running name here. It's a merchant of record built for SaaS, software, apps, and games, with subscriptions, failed payment recovery, and tax filing included.
Where it falls short: it's built for software companies, not creators. Products under $10 need custom pricing.
Price: 5% + 50¢ per checkout sale, no monthly fee.
Best for: SaaS businesses that want the same fee Lemon Squeezy charged, from a company that only does this.
3. Polar
Polar is a merchant of record aimed at developers: software, license keys, subscriptions, and usage billing. It publishes its prices openly.
Where it falls short: it's made for developer products. Buyers outside the US add 1.5%, and each dispute costs $15 whether you win or lose.
Price: Starter free at 5% + 50¢, Pro $20/mo at 3.8% + 40¢, Growth $100/mo at 3.6% + 35¢, Scale $400/mo at 3.4% + 30¢.
Best for: developers who want Lemon Squeezy's model with a lower rate as they grow.
4. FastSpring
FastSpring is a merchant of record for software, SaaS, games, apps, and digital products, including online courses and memberships.
Where it falls short: there are no public prices. You book a call and get a quote based on your sales.
Price: custom revenue share.
Best for: established software businesses that want to negotiate.
5. Gumroad
Gumroad has been the merchant of record since January 1, 2025, so it collects and pays sales tax and VAT for you. It sells downloads, courses, memberships, and more, and its Discover marketplace can bring buyers.
Where it falls short: it's the priciest option for direct sales. Card processing comes on top, and Discover sales cost 30%. See Gumroad fees.
Price: 10% + 50¢ per direct sale plus processing. 30% through Discover. No monthly fee.
Best for: creators who want zero tax work and might get found on Discover.
6. Payhip
Payhip sells downloads, courses, coaching, memberships, and physical products. It handles EU and UK VAT as your reseller, and collects and pays US and Canadian sales tax as a marketplace platform, all at no extra charge.
Where it falls short: the store is plain, and it isn't a full merchant of record in every country.
Price: Free with a 5% fee, Plus $29/mo with 2%, Pro $99/mo with 0%. Stripe or PayPal fees on top.
Best for: creators leaving Lemon Squeezy who sell ebooks, templates, or courses and still want tax handled.
7. Stan Store
Stan turns your link in bio into a store for downloads, courses, coaching calls, and memberships, with no cut of your sales.
Where it falls short: Stan is not a merchant of record. It can add sales tax at checkout, but only where you're registered, and filing is on you. Discount codes, upsells, and email marketing are on the $99 plan. More in Stan Store fees.
Price: Creator $29/mo, Creator Pro $99/mo, 0% fee. Processing on top.
Best for: creators who sell from social media and don't need tax handled.
8. Eden
Eden is a creator workspace with a store and a free link-in-bio page. It sells downloads, courses, cohorts, coaching, memberships, bundles, and Custom AI products: an AI trained on your material that buyers can chat with.
Let's be clear about the big difference. Eden is not a merchant of record. Sales go through your own Stripe account, and sales tax is yours to handle. So Eden is not a Lemon Squeezy replacement for SaaS or software licenses. It's for creators selling what they know to their own audience.
What it does well:
- Coaching, which Stripe Managed Payments won't cover. Applications for high-ticket offers, packages of calls, booking on your Google Calendar, a private space per client, and an AI clients can use between calls.
- Selling tools on the $29 plan. Order bumps, discount codes, timed sales, and testimonials. Pro at $79 adds up to 3 one-click upsells after checkout and an affiliate program.
- Keep Lemon Squeezy as your checkout. See the next section.
Where it falls short: you handle sales tax yourself, there's no marketplace, it sells in five currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD), and selling needs the Starter plan.
Price: page free. Selling from $29/mo, 5% per sale, processing on top.
Best for: creators selling courses, coaching, or AI products to an audience they already have.
How to use Lemon Squeezy with Eden
You don't have to pick one. Eden can use your own checkout, and Lemon Squeezy is one of three checkouts it connects to directly. Buyers pay on Lemon Squeezy, so Lemon Squeezy stays the merchant of record and keeps handling tax. Eden gives them access to the product.
- In Your store → Products, open the product and go to Offer.
- Pick My own checkout link and paste your Lemon Squeezy link.
- Connect Lemon Squeezy with an API key from Settings → API in Lemon Squeezy.
- Publish the product.
Each sale then gives the buyer access in Eden, and Eden takes no cut. Memberships work too: renewals keep access going, and a cancel keeps access until the paid time runs out.
The limits: cohorts and coaching need Eden's own checkout, Eden's checkout extras (order bumps, upsells, discount codes) are off, and connecting a checkout needs the Starter plan.
Which one should you pick?
- Choose Stripe Managed Payments if you sell software and want to follow Lemon Squeezy's own path.
- Choose Paddle if you run a SaaS and want a dedicated merchant of record at the same 5% + 50¢.
- Choose Polar if you're a developer and want public prices that drop as you grow.
- Choose Payhip if you sell creator products and want tax handled for less than Gumroad.
- Choose Gumroad if you want tax handled and a marketplace, and can live with 10%.
- Choose Eden if you sell courses, coaching, or AI products to your audience and can handle your own tax, or want to keep Lemon Squeezy as the checkout.
- Stay on Lemon Squeezy for now if it works and you're fine moving when Stripe's path is clearer.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lemon Squeezy shutting down?
No date has been announced. In January 2026 Lemon Squeezy said its future runs through Stripe Managed Payments and that it wants to make moving there easy. It still takes new sign-ups.
How much does Lemon Squeezy charge?
5% + 50¢ per sale, with no monthly fee. It adds 1.5% for buyers outside the US, 1.5% for PayPal, 0.5% for subscriptions, and more for affiliate and abandoned cart sales.
Is Stripe Managed Payments cheaper than Lemon Squeezy?
On US card sales it's close. Stripe charges 3.5% on top of its normal 2.9% + 30¢, about $2.22 on a $30 sale, versus $2.00 on Lemon Squeezy. International cards add more on both.
Can I sell coaching with Stripe Managed Payments?
Not live coaching. Stripe's rules say products that involve human work, like live one-on-one coaching, don't qualify. Sell coaching through a regular checkout and handle the tax yourself.
Selling courses, coaching, or an AI that teaches your method? Start Eden free and build your first product.