SaaS billing software, costed by stage
Billing is cost of revenue: whatever you pay Stripe, Chargebee or Paddle comes straight off gross margin. Here is what each option costs a SaaS company at pre-seed, seed and Series A volume, with card processing included, using prices read on each vendor's own pricing page.
Adlega makes financial forecasting software and is not a billing tool. No vendor here pays us: no affiliate or sponsored links. How we verify prices · Price changes and corrections
What billing costs at pre-seed, seed and Series A
| All-in billing cost | Pre-seed $10,000 MRR, 500 charges | Seed $50,000 MRR, 2,000 charges | Series A $250,000 MRR, 8,000 charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Billing | $510/mo 5.10 pts | $2,400/mo 4.80 pts | $11,150/mo 4.46 pts |
| Chargebee | $520/mo 5.20 pts | $2,450/mo 4.90 pts | $11,374/mo 4.55 pts |
| Recurly | $689/mo 6.89 pts | $2,389/mo 4.78 pts | $11,789/mo 4.72 pts |
| Maxio | $1,039/mo 10.39 pts | $2,649/mo 5.30 pts | Quote only |
| Paddle (merchant of record) | $750/mo 7.50 pts | $3,500/mo 7.00 pts | $16,500/mo 6.60 pts |
| Polar (merchant of record) | $600/mo 6.00 pts | $2,600/mo 5.20 pts | $11,300/mo 4.52 pts |
| Stripe Managed Payments (merchant of record) | $860/mo 8.60 pts | $4,150/mo 8.30 pts | $20,150/mo 8.06 pts |
Platform fee plus card processing at Stripe's US rate (2.9% + 30¢) wherever the tool's own fee does not include it. A merchant of record also collects and files sales tax and VAT. "pts" = share of revenue, which comes straight off gross margin. Cheapest plan per tool at each volume. Fees verified on the vendors' pricing pages, latest on October 11, 2026. Run your own numbers.
Two kinds of tool sit in this table. A billing platform (Stripe Billing, Chargebee, Recurly, Maxio) runs subscriptions, invoices and dunning on top of a payment gateway; you stay the seller and handle sales tax and VAT. A merchant of record (Paddle, Polar, Stripe Managed Payments) resells your product, so tax registration, filing and chargebacks become its problem, and its fee is higher to match. Compare like with like: a billing platform plus a tax tool against a merchant of record.
Verified entry prices
| Tool | Type | Entry plan | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baremetrics | SaaS metrics | Launch: from $75/mo ($49/mo billed yearly) | Active |
| Chargebee | Billing platform | Flow (pay as you go): $0 + 0.80% of monthly invoicing volume | Active |
| ChartMogul | SaaS metrics | Free: Free | Active |
| Lago | Billing platform | Open source (self-hosted): Free to self-host (AGPL-3.0) | Active |
| Lemon Squeezy | Merchant of record | Ecommerce (merchant of record): 5% + 50¢ per transaction | Acquired by Stripe |
| Maxio | Billing platform | Grow: Starting at $599/month | Active |
| Orb | Billing platform | Core: Custom pricing | Acquired by Adyen for $335M |
| Paddle | Merchant of record | Pay-as-you-go: 5% + 50¢ per Checkout transaction | Active |
| Polar | Merchant of record | Starter: Free + 5% + 50¢ per transaction | Active |
| Recurly | Billing platform | Starter: $249/mo + 0.9% of billing volume above $40K/mo | Active |
| Stripe Billing | Billing platform | Pay as you go: 0.7% of Billing volume | Active |
| Stripe Managed Payments | Merchant of record | Managed Payments: 3.5% per successful transaction, in addition to Payments fees | Active |
| Zuora | Billing platform | Quote only | Taken private by Silver Lake and GIC |
Each price read on the vendor's pricing page; latest check October 11, 2026. Weekly monitoring flags changes; see price changes. Chargebee replaced its free Starter plan with pay-as-you-go Flow pricing in 2026.
Billing comparisons
Pricing explained, head-to-head and alternatives, each with the cost at your stage.
Chargebee Alternatives (2026): 6 Billing Tools for Early-Stage SaaS, With Real Fees
Chargebee dropped its free tier in August 2026. Six alternatives ordered by fit for an early-stage SaaS, with verified fees and the all-in cost at $10K, $50K and $250K MRR.
Read the comparison → PaddlePaddle vs Stripe (2026): Real Cost at Each Stage, Including Stripe Managed Payments
Stripe plus Billing is the cheapest of the three; Paddle costs about 2 points more but takes on tax; Stripe Managed Payments costs more than Paddle once Billing is added.
Read the comparison → ChargebeeChargebee vs Stripe Billing (2026): Cost at Every Stage and How to Choose
Chargebee runs on top of a gateway like Stripe; Stripe Billing is built into it. Current 2026 prices on both sides, the cost gap by stage, and when the gap is worth paying.
Read the comparison → ChartMogulChartMogul vs Baremetrics (2026): Price at $120K, $600K and $3M ARR, Free Plans and Dunning
Two subscription analytics tools, both priced on the ARR they track. ChartMogul has the bigger free plan; Baremetrics sells failed-payment recovery. List prices at $120K, $600K and $3M ARR.
Read the comparison → BaremetricsBaremetrics Pricing (2026): What It Costs and How It Compares to Adlega
Baremetrics is subscription analytics from your billing data: $49-$749/mo billed yearly, set by your ARR, no free plan. It shows what happened; Adlega forecasts what's next. Here's the cost and how they differ.
Read the comparison → Stripe BillingStripe Billing Pricing (2026): 0.7% Fee, $620 Plans and the All-In Cost at Each Stage
Stripe Billing is 0.7% of Billing volume plus card processing, or $620 to $5,750 a month on a 1-year plan. What that adds up to at pre-seed, seed and Series A.
Read the comparison → PaddlePaddle Pricing (2026): 5% + 50¢, Hidden Costs and What It Costs at Each Stage
Paddle is 5% + 50¢ per transaction with tax, fraud and chargebacks included. What that costs at pre-seed, seed and Series A, and the fees outside the headline rate.
Read the comparison → ChargebeeChargebee Pricing (2026): The New Flow Plan, Fees and What It Costs a Startup
Chargebee replaced its free Starter plan with Flow ($0 + 0.80% or $99 + 0.65%) in mid-2026. What that costs at pre-seed, seed and Series A, and who still gets it free.
Read the comparison → RecurlyRecurly Pricing (2026): Starter at $249/mo + 0.9%, All-Access and Add-ons
Recurly Starter is $249/month plus 0.9% of billing above $40K a month. Where that is the cheapest billing tool (about $35.6K to $55.5K MRR) and where it is not.
Read the comparison →Run your own numbers
Change MRR, charge count, the share of international cards and your gateway rate. Open the full calculator.
Your billing
Gateway defaults are Stripe's US card rate (2.9% + 30¢, +1.5% for international cards). Set the tax field to 0.5 to add Stripe Tax to the tools that are not a merchant of record; a merchant of record already includes tax.
Fees verified on each vendor's pricing page, latest on October 11, 2026. MoR = merchant of record: the vendor is the legal seller and handles sales tax and VAT. Paddle and Polar quote all-in fees; Stripe Managed Payments adds its fee to Stripe's card rate.
All options at your volume
| Tool | Platform | Processing + tax | Total / mo | % of revenue |
|---|
How we compare billing tools
Every price comes from the vendor's own pricing page and help docs and is dated; quote-only plans are marked, never estimated. Costs use the cheapest published plan that fits each volume, Stripe's US card rate for gateway fees, and three stage scenarios we use across all comparisons. None of these tools has been hands-on tested by us yet, and each page says so. Full rules on the methodology page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does subscription billing software cost?
At $50,000 MRR with 2,000 card charges a month, the all-in cost (platform fee plus card processing) ranges from about $2,400 a month on Stripe Billing or Recurly to $3,500 on Paddle and $4,150 on Stripe Managed Payments, or roughly 4.8 to 8.3% of revenue. The table above shows the same at $10,000 and $250,000 MRR.
What is a merchant of record?
A merchant of record is the legal seller of your product to the customer. Paddle, Polar and Stripe Managed Payments resell your software, so they collect, file and remit sales tax and VAT and handle chargebacks. A billing platform like Stripe Billing, Chargebee or Recurly only runs your subscriptions; you remain the seller and handle tax yourself or with a tax tool.
Is Stripe Billing free?
No. Stripe Billing costs 0.7% of billing volume pay as you go, or a 1-year plan from $620 a month that covers up to $100,000 of monthly volume, and Stripe card processing (2.9% + 30¢ for US cards) is charged on top.
Is a merchant of record worth the higher fee?
It depends on where your customers are. Paddle costs about 2 to 2.4 points of revenue more than Stripe with Billing at the volumes above; that premium replaces sales tax and VAT registration, filing and liability in every country you sell to. If most of your revenue is domestic and you are registered in few places, a billing platform plus a tax tool is usually cheaper.
Related: SaaS revenue recognition, usage-based pricing, unit economics calculator.
See what billing fees do to your runway
Billing is a gross-margin line. Adlega is a SaaS financial model with native MRR, gross margin, burn and runway, plus an AI CFO that explains every number, so you can see what a cheaper stack does to your plan.