Dodo Payments vs Lemon Squeezy vs Polar 2026

On the headline US card rate, Dodo Payments undercuts the other two at 4% + 40¢ against their 5% + 50¢ entry rates, which makes it look like the obvious pick. It usually is not that simple. All three are merchants of record that fold global tax compliance into the fee, so the deciding number is the effective rate once add-ons for international cards, payment methods, and subscriptions stack on. This guide gives the verified fees and the surcharges that change the real cost. Figures were checked against vendor pages on October 19, 2026, including a Polar fee change effective May 27, 2026.

1. The headline fees

Provider	Base fee (US card)	Merchant of record
Dodo Payments	4% + 40¢[1]	Yes
Lemon Squeezy	5% + 50¢[2]	Yes
Polar Starter (new orgs, free)	5% + 50¢[3]	Yes
Polar Pro ($20/mo)	3.8% + 40¢[3]	Yes
Polar Growth ($100/mo)	3.6% + 35¢[3]	Yes
Polar Scale ($400/mo)	3.4% + 30¢[3]	Yes
Polar Early Member (pre-May-27 orgs)	4% + 40¢ + 0.5% subs[3]	Yes

Dodo Payments has the lowest base rate at 4% + 40¢ for domestic US cards^[1]. Lemon Squeezy sits at 5% + 50¢^[2]. Polar's free Starter plan is 5% + 50¢ for new organizations, and its paid plans trade a monthly fee for a lower rate; organizations created before May 27, 2026 keep the older 4% + 40¢ plus 0.5% subscription rate^[3]. Without a monthly fee, Dodo is the cheapest of the three on US cards. Polar Pro's 3.8% + 40¢ undercuts it once monthly sales pass $10,000, the point where a 0.2-point saving per sale covers the $20 fee. On subscription payments, where Dodo adds 0.5% and Polar's current plans add nothing, the saving is 0.7 point and Pro pays off from about $2,900 a month^[1][3].

2. All three are merchants of record

What you are buying with the percentage is a change in who is legally selling. Under the merchant-of-record model, the provider, not you, is the seller of record on every transaction, so its name appears on the customer's statement and it owns the tax obligation that comes with the sale. From there it calculates, collects, and remits VAT and sales tax wherever your buyers are, and handles processing and fraud^[1][2][4]. For a solo founder selling internationally, that means never registering for or filing tax across jurisdictions yourself.

So the choice among the three is not whether you get tax handling, since all three provide it, but which one offers the best effective rate and product fit for your sales.

3. Polar's May 2026 fee change

Polar is the one to read carefully right now. For organizations created on or after May 27, 2026, the entry plan is Starter at 5% + 50¢, with Pro, Growth and Scale plans that lower the rate for a monthly fee. Organizations created before that date keep the earlier Early Member rate of 4% + 40¢ plus 0.5% on subscriptions indefinitely, unless they upgrade to a paid plan, which retires it^[3]. So the rate you see depends on when your Polar organization was created, and older reviews quoting 4% + 40¢ apply to grandfathered accounts, not new sign-ups.

If you are evaluating Polar today and will create a new organization, budget for 5% + 50¢ on Starter, level with Lemon Squeezy and above Dodo's base rate, until your volume justifies a paid plan.

4. Add-on fees that stack

The base rate is not the whole bill. All three add surcharges that depend on how you get paid:

• International cards: +1.5% on all three^[1][2][4].
• Payment method: Dodo adds +3% for PayPal and BNPL; Lemon Squeezy adds +1.5% for PayPal^[1][2].
• Subscriptions: Dodo and Lemon Squeezy add +0.5% on subscription payments, as do Polar Early Member organizations; Polar's current plans add nothing^[1][2][3].
• Disputes: Dodo charges $30 per dispute and Polar $15^[1][4].

So your effective rate depends on your mix of domestic versus international and one-time versus subscription sales. Model it against your pricing with the SaaS pricing strategy calculator and fold the processor cost into your stack with the AI stack cost calculator.

5. Which to pick

• Lowest base US rate: Dodo Payments at 4% + 40¢.
• Established, polished MoR: Lemon Squeezy at 5% + 50¢.
• Already on a pre-May-27 Polar org: grandfathered 4% + 40¢ + 0.5% subs is competitive.
• Creating a new Polar org: budget for 5% + 50¢ on Starter, level with Lemon Squeezy; Pro at 3.8% + 40¢ beats Dodo above $10,000 a month in sales.
• Heavy international or PayPal sales: compare effective rates after add-ons, not headlines.

Re-verify each fee page before committing; merchant-of-record fees and add-ons change, as Polar's May 2026 update shows. For a two-way version, see Polar vs Creem and Polar vs Lemon Squeezy.

All fee figures checked against the official pricing and fee pages on 2026-10-19.

Frequently asked questions

What are the fees for Dodo Payments, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar in 2026?

All three are merchants of record with similar headline rates. Dodo Payments charges 4% + 40¢ per transaction for domestic US cards. Lemon Squeezy charges 5% + 50¢ per transaction. Polar starts organizations created on or after May 27, 2026 on a free Starter plan at 5% + 50¢, with paid plans from $20 a month that cut the rate as far as 3.4% + 30¢, while organizations created before that date keep 4% + 40¢ plus 0.5% on subscriptions, all checked October 19, 2026. Dodo is the lowest rate of the three without a monthly fee. Each also has add-on fees for international cards, certain payment methods, and disputes, so compare the effective rate for your real sales mix, not just the headline.

Are Dodo Payments, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar merchants of record?

Yes, all three operate as merchants of record. The practical effect is that each becomes the legal seller of record on your sales, so its name, not yours, carries the tax obligation. It then calculates, collects, and remits VAT and sales tax wherever your customers are, and runs the processing and fraud handling, all in exchange for the percentage fee. For a solo founder this removes the burden of registering for and filing tax in multiple jurisdictions, which is the main reason to pay this fee instead of using a bare processor like Stripe directly. The tradeoff is the higher percentage over raw card processing, which is what buys the compliance.

Did Polar change its pricing in 2026?

Yes. Organizations created on or after May 27, 2026 start on a plan ladder: the free Starter plan at 5% + 50¢, Pro at $20/month for 3.8% + 40¢, Growth at $100/month for 3.6% + 35¢, and Scale at $400/month for 3.4% + 30¢. Organizations created before May 27, 2026 keep the earlier Early Member rate of 4% + 40¢ plus 0.5% on subscriptions indefinitely, unless they upgrade to a paid plan, which retires it, per Polar's fee documentation. So the rate you pay depends on when your Polar organization was created and which plan it is on. If you are creating a new organization now, budget for 5% + 50¢ on Starter, or a paid plan once your volume covers its fee, rather than the grandfathered numbers in older reviews.

Which merchant of record is cheapest for a solo founder?

Without a monthly fee, Dodo Payments is the lowest on US cards at 4% + 40¢, versus 5% + 50¢ for Lemon Squeezy and for Polar's free Starter plan, checked October 19, 2026. Polar's $20/month Pro plan charges 3.8% + 40¢, so it undercuts Dodo once monthly sales pass $10,000, and sooner on subscriptions, where Dodo adds 0.5% and Polar's current plans add nothing (about $2,900 a month). The cheapest in practice still depends on your sales mix: international cards add 1.5% on all three, and each has its own surcharges for certain payment methods, subscriptions, and disputes. Compute your effective rate by applying the base fee plus the relevant add-ons to your actual mix of domestic versus international and one-time versus subscription sales, then compare. Do not pick on the headline number alone.