Stripe vs Creem vs Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy: getting paid when Stripe doesn't support your country

The short answer: if you live somewhere Stripe does not onboard, a merchant of record is usually the way in, and the question becomes which one can pay you out where you live. Take mainland China, where Stripe does not open accounts: of these four, Creem is the only one whose documentation says it pays out there (to Alipay for individuals, with limits). Paddle accepts individual sellers and does not exclude China, but does not say whether its wires reach mainland banks. Stripe needs a company in a supported country first, such as Hong Kong or the US. Lemon Squeezy does not list mainland China for payouts, and it is moving its users to a Stripe product that does not accept China-based sellers either.

Where we stand: we make ShipKit, which ships with both Stripe and Creem wired in, and shipkit.sh itself sells through Creem. Every fact about the platforms below comes from their own pricing pages, docs or help centres, checked on 25 September 2026. Where a platform does not say something, we mark it as not stated rather than guess. Fees and policies change often, so check the platform before you sign up. None of this is legal or tax advice.

The short version

First, the one idea that matters: merchant of record

The row that decides most of this table is the first one.

A merchant of record (MoR) is the legal seller. When a customer pays through Creem, Paddle or Lemon Squeezy, they are legally buying from that platform, which then pays you what is left after its fee. That is why the platform collects and remits sales tax and VAT: EU VAT, UK VAT, US state sales tax and the rest.

Stripe (the standard product) is a payment processor, and you are the merchant of record. Tax is yours: where to register and how to file. Stripe Tax can calculate it (0.5% per transaction in places where you are registered), but registering and filing are still your job.

For a solo developer that difference is large. Selling a $10 subscription to customers in thirty countries and handling each country's tax yourself is not realistic, and that is the problem a merchant of record solves. The price is a higher fee: around 4–5% or more, against Stripe's 2.9% base rate.

One thing a merchant of record does not do: it handles the tax on the buyer's side. The income tax you owe at home on what it pays you is still yours.

What you keep from a $99 sale

A one-time $99 purchase, paid with an international card, counting only the platform's transaction fee (no payout, conversion or tax):

The lower the price, the more the fixed fee hurts. The same sums on a $10 monthly subscription: Creem takes $0.79 (7.9%), Paddle $1.00 (10%), and a non-US Lemon Squeezy subscription $1.20 (12%). Paddle prices products under $10 separately.

To run your own prices, use our Stripe fee calculator, which puts all of these side by side.

The four, one by one

Stripe

For people who already have a company in a supported country. Stripe's self-serve signup covers 44 countries and regions. Hong Kong is one of them; mainland China is not. Opening an account in another country takes a company registered there, a physical (not virtual) local bank account, a real local address, a tax ID and a website. So the usual routes are a Hong Kong company or a US LLC through Stripe Atlas. (source, source)

Fees: a US account pays 2.9% + 30¢ for domestic cards, 1.5% more for international cards and 1% more when currency is converted; Stripe Billing adds 0.7% of billing volume for subscriptions. A Hong Kong account pays 3.4% + HK$2.35, with 0.5% more for international cards and 2% for conversion. (US, Hong Kong)

What you get: the lowest base rate, the most features and the largest ecosystem. What it costs: setting up and running a company abroad, and owning your tax.

Stripe Managed Payments

Stripe's own merchant-of-record product, generally available since 22 April 2026. It charges 3.5% on top of the normal Payments fees, sells digital products only, and needs an eligible tax code on every product. (source, source)

Two limits matter here. The seller must be based in a supported location: Hong Kong is on the list, mainland China is not. And customers in mainland China cannot buy through it: China is on its list of restricted customer countries. (source)

Creem

The friendliest of the four if you are an individual in mainland China. It is a merchant of record charging 3.9% + $0.40, with no monthly fee and no international card surcharge. (source)

China is on its supported-countries list, marked as having transfer limits, and onboarding accepts an individual's name or a business name. (source, source)

Payouts (source):

• Twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th, once the balance reaches 50 USD or 50 EUR
• Individuals in mainland China: paid to Alipay, up to 50,000 CNY per payout and 300,000–600,000 CNY a year
• Companies in mainland China: paid to a local bank account, listed as unlimited
• Bank transfers cost 7 USD/EUR or 1%, whichever is higher; USDC payouts cost 2%. The fee for Alipay payouts is not stated

Store review usually takes 24–48 hours, up to 72 at busy times. It wants a live site, visible pricing, a privacy policy and terms, and a support email that matches the site. A rejection is final and cannot be reviewed again, so get the site ready before you submit. Physical goods, deepfake tools, adult content, NFTs and crypto, and marketplaces are not allowed. (source)

Buyers can pay by card, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay; Alipay and WeChat Pay are listed as coming soon. (source)

Worth knowing: the Alipay yearly limit is plenty for a product that is just starting, but a growing business can outgrow it, and then a company is the next step.

Paddle

The long-established merchant of record, open to individuals. It charges 5% + 50¢; products under $10, or sales that need invoicing, are priced separately. (source)

Paddle supports every country except those on an exclusion list, and neither mainland China nor Hong Kong is on it. Individuals and sole traders do not need business verification. (source, source)

It reviews every domain you take payments on: a live HTTPS site with a product description and pricing, terms, a refund policy and a privacy policy reachable from the navigation, and a company or sole-trader name in the terms. Most domains are approved automatically; a manual review takes about 5–7 business days. (source)

Payouts go out by wire or Payoneer, monthly, by the 15th, above a default threshold of $100. There is usually no fee, though a $15 SWIFT fee may apply in some countries. (source)

Not stated: Paddle does not say country by country whether its wires reach banks in mainland China, or whether China pays the $15 SWIFT fee. If you plan to use Paddle from there, ask their support before you sign up.

Lemon Squeezy

Not one to pick from mainland China today.

First, the fee. The pricing page says 5% + 50¢, but the fees doc adds 1.5% for non-US sales, 1.5% for PayPal and 0.5% for subscriptions, so an international subscription can reach 8.5% + 50¢. (source, source)

Second, payouts. Its bank-payout list includes Hong Kong and not mainland China; PayPal payouts cover "200+ countries" without naming China. Its docs are blunt about it: if your country is not listed, you cannot use Lemon Squeezy. (source)

Third, where it is going. Stripe bought Lemon Squeezy in 2024, and on 28 January 2026 its founder wrote that the goal is an easy way for users to move to Stripe Managed Payments. No shutdown date has been announced and signup is still open, but the product it is heading to does not accept sellers based in mainland China. (source)

What we would do

• No company, and you want to start selling: Creem. It is the only one of the four whose docs say it pays out to the mainland, to Alipay for individuals, and it has the lowest fee of the merchants of record. Getting the first payment through matters more than anything else.
• You want a second option: try Paddle, after asking whether it can pay out to a mainland bank.
• You have a Hong Kong company: Stripe gives you the lowest base rate if you handle tax yourself. If you would rather not, use Creem, or look at Stripe Managed Payments if your product and customers qualify.
• You have a US LLC: Stripe is the most mature choice.
• Lemon Squeezy: from mainland China, there is no reason to choose it now.

A common path: start on Creem, and once revenue is steady, set up a company and move to Stripe. If that is the plan, write the payment code so the provider can be swapped from day one.

Where ShipKit fits

ShipKit has Stripe and Creem both wired in, and one environment variable, PAYMENT_PROVIDER, decides which one takes new checkouts. A subscription keeps renewing with the provider it started on, so moving from Creem to Stripe later strands nobody. The differences between the two inside the template (Creem has no in-app plan changes, for one) are in the payments docs. How shipkit.sh itself sells through Creem and delivers a private repository is in another post.