Different layers of the stack
LicensorPro vs Paddle
Paddle is a merchant of record aimed at software companies that are scaling. LicensorPro is a licensing and update server you host yourself. If you are choosing between them you are probably asking the wrong question — but there is one real overlap, and one pricing detail that catches plugin sellers out.
The catch nobody mentions: products under $10
Paddle's headline rate is 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction. Underneath it sits a footnote that matters a great deal if you sell add-ons or cheap licences:
“If you're selling products under $10 or require invoicing, contact us for custom pricing.”
Read that as: the published rate is not for you if your price point is low. It is on their own pricing page and it is easy to miss, and it is the single most useful thing on this page if you were budgeting a $7 add-on around 5%.
The 50¢ fixed component says the same thing more quietly. On a $7 sale, 5% + 50¢ is 12.1%, not 5%.
Where the money actually goes
| Sale price | Paddle at 5% + 50¢ | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| $7 | $0.85 | 12.1% |
| $29 | $1.95 | 6.7% |
| $99 | $5.45 | 5.5% |
| $399 | $20.45 | 5.1% |
Paddle's own comparison table is worth reading
To their credit, Paddle publish what a plain payment service provider costs once you add the pieces back: full tax registration and filing as a +0.5% add-on, advanced churn recovery at $0.02–$0.07, subscription billing adding up to 3.9%, plus international card fees. That is an honest argument for bundling, and it is the strongest case for using a merchant of record at all.
Feature by feature
Paddle rows come from its pricing page; a "no" means that page doesn't list the feature. Our rows are checked against the LicensorPro 2.5.1 release.
✓ included✓ Pro+ only from that tier up~ partly (catch noted)✗ not availablenot tested hands-on paid screen we did not buy
What each one is3 rows
| Feature | Paddle | LicensorPro |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant of record (tax registration, filing, remittance) | ✓ Yes | No; can use Paddle as its gateway |
| Cost | 5% + 50¢ per transaction; custom pricing under $10 or for invoicing | $199 to $799 a year, flat, plus your gateway |
| Where customer data lives | Paddle | Your own server |
Billing7 rows
| Feature | Paddle | LicensorPro |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout and subscriptions | ✓ Yes | Through a gateway driver, Paddle included |
| Failed payment and churn recovery | ✓ Yes | Dunning emails and renewal reminders |
| Invoicing | B2B invoicing on custom pricing | ✓ Yes |
| Fraud and chargeback protection | ✓ Yes | Blocklist; the gateway's own tools |
| Support for your customers' billing questions | 24/7 | ✗ No |
| Revenue and subscription reports | ✓ Yes | Revenue, MRR, churn, LTV, ARPU, conversion, refund rate |
| Coupons, bundles and affiliates | not tested hands-on | Coupons Solo; bundles and affiliates Studio |
Licensing and delivery5 rows
| Feature | Paddle | LicensorPro |
|---|---|---|
| Licence keys with activation limits | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| WordPress plugin updates in wp-admin | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Release channels and staged rollouts | ✗ No | Rollouts Solo; beta, RC, dev on Studio |
| Signed licence responses checked by the SDK | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Customer portal with licences and downloads | Billing and subscriptions | ✓ Yes |
Sources (2)
- Paddle: https://www.paddle.com/pricing
- LicensorPro: https://jnkplugins.com/licensorpro/pricing.php
What only one of them does
Only in Paddle
- Merchant of record: sales tax registration, filing and remittance, fraud and chargeback liability.
- 24/7 support for your customers' billing questions, localized checkout, and a migration service.
- Nothing to host, and one vendor accountable for billing, tax and churn.
Only in LicensorPro
- Licence keys with activation limits, WordPress updates, release channels and staged rollouts.
- A flat price instead of 5% + 50¢, which matters most on low-priced add-ons.
- Paddle is one of its 19 gateway drivers, so the two work together: Paddle for checkout and tax, LicensorPro for licences.
What LicensorPro looks like
Screens from LicensorPro 2.5.1 on our own machine with demo data. The licence page's API address is shown as licenses.northwind.studio instead of our local address.
How we compared. Paddle's rate, footnote and comparison table come from paddle.com/pricing, read on 17 September 2026. We haven't opened a Paddle account. LicensorPro rows were checked against the 2.5.1 release and our pricing page.
Which one should you actually pick
Paddle is the right call if…
- You are past the point where handling international VAT yourself is sensible.
- Your price points are well above $10 and subscriptions are the core of the business.
- You want one vendor accountable for billing, tax and churn.
You will still want LicensorPro if…
- The thing being sold is a WordPress plugin that needs to auto-update.
- Licences need activation limits, expiry and revocation rather than just existing.
- You would rather not hand customer records to a third party you do not control.
As with Lemon Squeezy, the common arrangement is both: Paddle at the checkout, LicensorPro behind it. A webhook on the completed sale issues the licence.
Found something wrong on this page? Paddle's rates and add-on pricing change, and we would rather be corrected than be inaccurate. Tell us and we will fix it — [email protected].