Best AI tools for taking payments
Ranked by fit for most people. Prices checked against official pages.
| Tool | Best for | Skill | Free tier | Paid from | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Payments and subscriptions with best-in-class APIs | beginner | No monthly fee | 2.9% + 30c per US card transaction src 2026-10-13 | You handle sales tax/VAT unless using extra products |
| Lemon Squeezy | Merchant of record: sells digital products and handles tax | beginner | No monthly fee | unknown % (fee not extracted) src 2026-10-13 | Higher fees than raw Stripe |
| Paddle | Merchant of record for SaaS subscriptions | beginner | No monthly fee | 5% + 50c per transaction src 2026-10-13 | Approval process; higher fees |
| Polar | Developer-friendly merchant of record for SaaS and digital goods | dev | Starter: no subscription fee | 5% + 50c (Starter); Pro $20/mo src 2026-10-13 | Young platform |