Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Paddle vs RevenueCat

Paddle logo

Paddle

Accounting

The complete payments infrastructure for SaaS

From
$5/percent_plus_transaction
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
RevenueCat logo

RevenueCat

Mobile Development

In-app subscription infrastructure billed at 1 percent of tracked revenue measured before the app store takes its cut

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only RevenueCat has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Paddle paddle charges 5% plus 50 cents on every checkout transaction, which is well above a bare payment processor rate; RevenueCat the fee is 1 percent of revenue measured before the app store takes 15 or 30 percent, so the effective rate against money you actually receive is closer to 1.2 to 1.4 percent, a distinction that is easy to miss when modelling the cost.
  • They diverge on capability: Paddle covers Payment processing, RevenueCat covers Cross-platform entitlements.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Paddle and RevenueCat actually diverge.

Attributes where Paddle and RevenueCat differ
AttributePaddleRevenueCat
Starting price$5/percent_plus_transactionFree
Pricing modeltransactionPer month by tracked revenue
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, ApiiOS, Android, Web, React Native, Flutter
CategoryAccountingMobile Development
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Paddle

  • Payment processing
  • Sales tax handling
  • Subscription management
  • Checkout
  • Revenue metrics
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Various

Only in RevenueCat

  • Cross-platform entitlements
  • Server-side receipt validation
  • Remote paywalls
  • Experiments
  • Revenue charts and cohorts
  • Integrations and webhooks

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Paddle

  • Selling SaaS or digital products with a merchant of record handling taxnot RevenueCat
  • Global subscription billing and checkoutnot RevenueCat
  • Offloading sales tax and VAT compliance for cross border salesnot RevenueCat

RevenueCat

  • A small app team shipping subscriptions on both stores without writing two receipt validation backendsnot Paddle
  • Changing paywall pricing and layout without waiting for app reviewnot Paddle
  • Running a price experiment and attributing realised revenue rather than checkout events to each variantnot Paddle
  • Giving finance a single view of subscription revenue across App Store, Google Play and web purchasesnot Paddle

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Paddle

  • Paddle charges 5% plus 50 cents on every checkout transaction, which is well above a bare payment processor rate
  • The 50 cent fixed component falls heavily on low value sales, and products under $10 require custom pricing agreed with sales
  • Invoicing is not covered by the published rate and requires custom pricing
  • As a merchant of record Paddle sits between the seller and the customer, so payouts and tax handling run through Paddle rather than the seller's own processor

RevenueCat

  • The fee is 1 percent of revenue measured before the app store takes 15 or 30 percent, so the effective rate against money you actually receive is closer to 1.2 to 1.4 percent, a distinction that is easy to miss when modelling the cost.
  • The bill scales with success rather than with usage or headcount, so the largest invoice arrives in the month of your best growth, which is exactly when cash is committed elsewhere.
  • At high revenue the arithmetic turns against you: 1 million USD of monthly tracked revenue is 10,000 USD a month, at which point building and staffing receipt validation in-house becomes a serious comparison rather than a hypothetical one.
  • Subscriber and entitlement state lives in the vendor system, so migrating away requires re-validating historical receipts and running dual sources of truth during the transition, and that switching cost grows the longer you stay.
  • Growth features such as paywalls and web funnels are charged at the same 1 percent of what they track, so revenue attributed to those tools is billed even where you already had the infrastructure to handle it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Paddle

$5/percent_plus_transaction
  • Pay-as-you-go$5/percent_plus_transaction
    • 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction
    • Global payments and billing unified in one platform
    • Cross-border sales tax compliance
  • Custom Pricing$null/contact
    • All pay-as-you-go features
    • Custom pricing tailored to business model
    • Optional premium services access

RevenueCat

Free
  • Pro under thresholdFree
    • Free up to 2,500 USD in monthly tracked revenue
    • All product features included
    • No seat charges
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • 1 percent of monthly tracked revenue above 2,500 USD
    • Tracked revenue is measured before the app store commission
    • No minimum commitment stated
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Quoted
    • Volume discounts
    • Flexible tracking configuration

Which should you pick?

Choose Paddle if

  • You need payment processing.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want sales tax handling.
Paddle review

Choose RevenueCat if

  • You need cross-platform entitlements.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web, React Native, Flutter.
  • You also want server-side receipt validation.
RevenueCat review

Questions people ask

Is Paddle or RevenueCat better?
Neither clearly leads. Paddle starts at $5/percent_plus_transaction and RevenueCat at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Paddle or RevenueCat?
RevenueCat has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5/percent_plus_transaction for Paddle and Free for RevenueCat.
Does Paddle or RevenueCat run on more platforms?
Paddle runs on Web, Api. RevenueCat runs on iOS, Android, Web, React Native, Flutter.
Can I use RevenueCat for free?
Yes. RevenueCat has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Paddle starts at $5/percent_plus_transaction.
What is Paddle best used for?
Paddle is most often used for selling saas or digital products with a merchant of record handling tax, global subscription billing and checkout, offloading sales tax and vat compliance for cross border sales. Of those, selling saas or digital products with a merchant of record handling tax and global subscription billing and checkout are not what RevenueCat is typically brought in for.
What can Paddle do that RevenueCat cannot?
Paddle covers Payment processing, Sales tax handling, Subscription management, Checkout. RevenueCat covers Cross-platform entitlements, Server-side receipt validation, Remote paywalls, Experiments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Paddle: How much does Paddle charge per transaction?

Paddle charges 5% plus 50 cents per checkout transaction on their pay-as-you-go plan. Custom pricing is available for products under $10 or those requiring invoicing.

Source
RevenueCat: Is it really free to start?

Yes, up to 2,500 USD in monthly tracked revenue, with all features included and no seat charges.

Paddle: Are there hidden fees with Paddle?

No. Paddle emphasizes all-in-one pricing with no hidden costs, migration fees, or monthly fees. The stated 5% plus 50¢ rate covers payments, billing, tax compliance, fraud protection, and support.

Source
RevenueCat: Is the 1 percent taken from gross or net revenue?

Gross. The vendor bases pricing on pre-platform-cut revenue, so the app store commission is not deducted before the fee is calculated.

Paddle: Does Paddle offer custom pricing?

Yes. Paddle offers custom pricing arrangements for businesses with specific needs. Customers can contact Paddle directly to discuss custom pricing tailored to their business model.

Source
RevenueCat: What happens if RevenueCat is unavailable?

The SDK caches entitlement state locally so existing subscribers usually keep access, but new purchases and restores depend on the service.

RevenueCat: At what point should I build this in-house?

Somewhere above a few hundred thousand dollars of monthly tracked revenue the annual fee funds engineers, though it also buys cross-platform correctness you then own forever.

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