Payments
Stripe by default. Paddle for international tax. ACH when wires matter.
For most products Stripe is the right answer. The API is the cleanest, the customer portal is built in, the webhook surface is well-documented, and the dispute handling is the strongest in the market. We have shipped dozens of Stripe integrations.
When your customers are international and you do not want to deal with VAT, GST, sales tax in 50 states, and chargebacks yourself, Paddle is a merchant-of-record alternative. ACH and Plaid cover bank rails for B2B and large recurring invoices. Custom billing sits on top when you have usage metering, prepaid credits, or complex contract pricing.
Tools we reach for
Stripe
Default payment processor — subscriptions, one-time, usage-based.
Paddle
Merchant-of-record for international tax handling.
Plaid
Bank account verification and ACH initiation.
ACH / NACHA
Bank rails for large recurring B2B invoices.
Custom billing
Metering, credits, and contract pricing on top of a processor.
When we reach for it
- Stripe for almost every SaaS product
- Paddle when you sell internationally and want merchant-of-record handling
- Plaid + ACH for B2B with large recurring invoices
- Custom billing layer on top when usage metering or contracts are complex
When we don't
- Replacing Stripe with an in-house processor
- Custom tax engines when Stripe Tax or Paddle covers your geographies
Frequently asked
Stripe or Paddle?
Stripe gives you more control and a cleaner API. Paddle is merchant-of-record so it handles VAT, GST, and US state tax for you — useful if you sell globally and have a small finance team.
Can you handle usage-based billing?
Yes. Stripe Usage and Metered Billing cover most cases. For complex metering we run a custom billing layer that batches and reconciles before Stripe sees it.
How do you handle PCI compliance?
We never touch card data directly. Stripe Elements or Paddle Checkout collect card details in iframes that scope us out of PCI requirements beyond the lightest SAQ.
Need a team that ships in this stack?
Tell us the workflow. A one-page summary back within 48 hours and a proposal within a week.