Different layers of the stack
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.
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%.
| 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% |
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.
wp-admin.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].
Paddle charges 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, with no migration fees and no monthly fees. Products priced under $10, or sellers who require invoicing, are quoted custom pricing instead.
The 50¢ fixed component dominates at low prices. On a $7 sale, 5% + 50¢ works out at about 12.1% rather than 5%. Paddle also asks sub-$10 sellers to contact them for custom pricing rather than using the published rate.
Yes. Paddle becomes the seller of record, which means it takes on sales tax registration, filing and remittance, along with fraud and chargeback liability.
Paddle handles billing and subscriptions rather than licensing. It does not issue enforced activation limits or serve WordPress plugin updates, so software vendors typically pair it with a licensing system.
Yes. The usual pattern is a webhook from the completed Paddle checkout that creates the licence in your own licensing server, which then handles activations, expiry and updates.
Occasional, concrete posts on licensing, pricing and selling WordPress plugins. No sequences, unsubscribe in one click.
We store your address ourselves and never sell or share it. Privacy.