Stripe and billing

How a SaaS charges, renews and refunds. These notes compare Stripe, RevenueCat and Paddle on fees, tax and the work each one leaves you.

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A phone and a browser window, each holding a ten by ten grid of dark cells; the phone has one cell fully lit, the browser one cell seven tenths lit

Business

RevenueCat vs Stripe Billing in 2026: 1% vs 0.7% fees

RevenueCat is free to $2,500 monthly tracked revenue, then takes 1%. Stripe Billing adds 0.7% on top of processing. Which layer fits mobile, web, or both.

Two dark receipt cards side by side: the left one headed by a wide white bar with a small grey line under it and a fee bar in three white pieces at its foot; the right one headed by two short bars side by side, one white and one outlined, with a single white fee bar of the same length at its foot

Business

Stripe Managed Payments vs Paddle: fees, tax and limits in 2026

Managed Payments adds 3.5% to Stripe's fees; Paddle charges 5% + 50¢ all in. Where each merchant of record wins for a SaaS, and what Stripe won't sell.

Left, a payment form whose lit button sends a new lit tile across to a panel on the right, where it sits above three control rows and a struck-out empty slot

Infra

Stripe Checkout vs Customer Portal: what each one can't do

The Customer Portal updates and cancels subscriptions but cannot create one: that job stays with Checkout. What each owns, and how to wire the two.

A lit payment card whose line to a tile on the right narrows at three gates, each dropping a white slice; below, a timeline with a solid and a dashed range

Business

Stripe integration cost and timeline for a SaaS in 2026

Stripe Billing adds 0.7% and Stripe Tax 0.5% on top of 2.9% + $0.30, and a production subscription integration runs $25,000 to $60,000. The real ranges by scope.

Left, a card joined by one looping line to one lit tile; right, a lit hub tile between rings of seller tiles and buyer dots, all joined by white lines

Business

Stripe integration partner vs DIY: when each one wins in 2026

Basic Stripe subscription billing runs 2 to 5 days. Connect marketplaces run 6 to 10 weeks. Where DIY breaks down and a verified partner pays off.

A stream of dots running into a large gauge of six white segments with a white needle, a few doubled dots dropping out below the stream, a bill card under the gauge

Business

SaaS usage metering and billing: the 6-step Stripe setup

Pick the pricing shape, define the meter, record events idempotently, wire it to a Stripe price. Six steps to usage-based billing without revenue drift.

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