Paddle vs Tebex Comparison 2026
Paddle is a merchant of record for software and digital products, taking 5 percent plus 50 cents per checkout and handling sales tax registration across the countries you sell into. Tebex is built for one audience only, game servers selling ranks and cosmetics to their own players, at a flat 5 percent of store sales with no fixed fee and no monthly cost on the entry tier. Both charge the same headline percentage. Paddle is for general software sold to the public. Tebex is for a server community, and everything about it assumes players and in-game delivery.
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Paddle | Tebex | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Yes |
Paddle
Merchant of record for digital products
Paddle acts as the merchant of record, meaning it sells your product to the customer and then pays you, taking sales tax registration and remittance off your desk entirely. That is the whole difference between it and a plain card processor, and it is why software sellers outside the United States end up here. One rate covers payments, billing and tax. Products under ten dollars are quoted separately.
Our note
The extra two points over Stripe buys you out of tax registration, which is worth it the moment you sell across borders. Lemon Squeezy is the same company at the same headline rate with a lighter setup, so pick that one unless you need Paddle's billing depth.
Only on this side
- Covers digital products & storefronts
Tebex
Game server monetization at a flat five percent
Tebex sells ranks, cosmetics and subscriptions to the players on a game server, and handles the billing, renewals and plan changes that a community running its own payments ends up doing by hand. The entry tier has no monthly cost and takes a flat five percent instead, so a quiet month costs nothing. Store layouts are customisable and the checkout is theirs rather than a redirect somewhere else. Anybody outside game communities is the wrong audience, because everything here assumes a server and its players.
Why people weigh these two
- Tebex instead of Paddle
- Tebex is built specifically for selling perks and ranks on a game server at a flat five percent, a narrower niche than Paddle's general digital product tax handling.
- Paddle instead of Tebex
- Paddle acts as merchant of record, taking the tax and chargeback side off your hands.
Which one should you pick
Choose Paddle if you are selling software or a digital product to the general public, especially across borders where VAT rules apply. The rate is 5 percent plus 50 cents per checkout transaction, with sales tax registration and remittance included, and no monthly fee. Products under ten dollars are quoted separately, since the flat 50 cents eats more of a small sale. A game server selling ranks to its own players is not the audience this is built for.
Choose Tebex if you run a game server or community selling ranks, cosmetics or memberships to your own players: the entry tier has no monthly cost and takes a flat 5 percent, matching Paddle's headline rate but without the extra 50-cent fixed fee per transaction. Billing cycles and renewals run themselves, and the checkout stays on your own store rather than redirecting elsewhere. Anybody outside game communities is the wrong audience, since everything here assumes a server and a player list to deliver to.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper, Paddle or Tebex?
- On the entry tier, Tebex has the lower total cost per sale: a flat 5 percent with no fixed fee, against Paddle's 5 percent plus 50 cents per checkout. They serve completely different sellers, though, so the comparison rarely comes up for the same purchase.
- Does Tebex handle sales tax registration the way Paddle does?
- Its listing does not describe that as part of the product. Paddle is explicitly a merchant of record, registering and remitting sales tax across the countries you sell into as part of its rate. Tebex is built around game server billing rather than general tax compliance.
- Can I sell general software or digital downloads through Tebex?
- Nothing in its listing suggests that. Tebex assumes a game server, a player list and in-game delivery of what is sold. Paddle is built for exactly the general software and digital product sales Tebex is not aimed at.
- Does Tebex's rate change on its higher tier?
- The percentage stays the same 5 percent on both tiers; the paid tier adds a monthly fee, quoted in pounds, for extra features. Paddle has one rate, 5 percent plus 50 cents, with no separate tier to move up to short of custom pricing for large volumes.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.