Payments and billing: the agent answers

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming your product passes its onboarding review and customers accept Paddle as the legal seller on their invoices.

The deciding factor is the deadline and the team’s lack of billing experience. Paddle acts as merchant of record: it calculates, collects, files, and remits EU VAT and US sales tax, issues compliant invoices, handles fraud and chargebacks, and supports subscriptions. That removes a substantial tax-registration and operational project from a one-month launch. [Paddle’s VAT explanation](https://www.paddle.com/help/sell/tax/how-paddle-handles-vat-on-your-behalf)

For your requirements, it supports:

- Monthly and annual recurring prices.
- Card checkout with automatic renewals.
- PDF invoices and a hosted customer portal.
- VAT/tax IDs and corrections to customer invoice details.
- Sales-assisted invoices with PO numbers, payment terms, and bank-transfer collection. [Paddle invoicing documentation](https://developer.paddle.com/build/invoices/create-issue-invoices/)
- An API, webhooks, sandbox, and SDK-oriented integration suitable for Node.

The standard checkout price is currently **5% + $0.50 per transaction**, including payments, billing, tax compliance, fraud, chargebacks, and payment-related customer support. Manually issued invoices paid by bank transfer are listed separately in Paddle’s terms at **3.5%**. [Pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing) and [service terms](https://www.paddle.com/legal/terms)

What I weighed against it:

| Consideration | Paddle | Stripe Billing + Tax |
|---|---|---|
| Tax liability | Paddle is responsible as merchant of record | You remain the seller and normally retain registration, filing, and remittance responsibility unless buying additional compliance services |
| Time to launch | Smallest operational surface | Excellent developer experience, but more tax/accounting decisions |
| Cost | Higher bundled percentage | Usually lower payment cost before Billing, Tax, filing, fraud, and operational costs |
| Invoice identity | Paddle is the legal seller | Your company is the seller |
| Control | More standardized checkout, terms, support, and risk decisions | More control over payment flow and customer relationship |
| Cash flow | Paddle currently pays sellers monthly | Stripe generally offers more frequent payouts |
| Future flexibility | Migration is possible, but leaving a merchant of record is a meaningful project | Wider ecosystem and more composable architecture |

Stripe Billing itself currently charges **0.7% of billing volume**, in addition to payment processing; Stripe Tax and compliance services can add further fees. It is the option I would choose if you already had tax expertise, needed your own legal entity on every customer invoice, or expected enterprise procurement to reject an intermediary seller. [Stripe Billing pricing](https://stripe.com/billing/pricing) and [Stripe pricing](https://stripe.com/pricing)

I would not select Stripe Managed Payments for this deadline. It now offers a merchant-of-record model, but it is still documented as a **public preview**, costs 3.5% in addition to processing and Billing fees, and has integration limitations around invoice items and one-off invoicing. [Stripe Managed Payments](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/managed-payments/how-it-works?locale=en-GB)

I also considered Chargebee and Adyen:

- **Chargebee** is strong when you need complex catalogs, multiple gateways, CPQ, revenue recognition, or sophisticated enterprise billing. For two recurring intervals, it adds another system without removing your underlying merchant and tax obligations.
- **Adyen** is attractive at substantial scale, particularly for payment optimization and negotiated processing economics, but it is not the simplest turnkey subscription-plus-tax answer for a first billing launch.

Before committing, I would make these three checks this week:

1. Complete Paddle’s domain, business, and product approval immediately. Manual business verification is estimated at 2–4 business days, but approval is not guaranteed. [Account verification](https://www.paddle.com/help/start/account-verification)
2. Send a sample Paddle invoice to two representative EU customers and two US enterprise customers. Confirm their procurement teams accept Paddle as the supplier and can handle its VAT/tax identifiers.
3. Get written confirmation from your accountant about how Paddle payouts and self-billing documents will be booked in your company’s jurisdiction. Merchant of record greatly reduces indirect-tax work, but it does not eliminate your ordinary corporate accounting and income-tax obligations.

One notable cash-flow tradeoff: Paddle says balances are paid on a monthly schedule, generally sent by the 15th, rather than withdrawn on demand. [Payout schedule](https://www.paddle.com/help/manage/get-paid/when-and-how-do-i-get-paid)

So the practical decision is: **launch on Paddle now, unless invoice identity or enterprise procurement makes merchant-of-record unacceptable. If either does, use Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax and engage a cross-border tax service/accountant immediately.**

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming Paddle approves the business and its merchant-of-record arrangement is acceptable to your customers.

The decisive factor is the deadline. Paddle becomes the legal seller—merchant of record—so it takes responsibility for calculating, collecting, and remitting EU VAT and applicable US sales tax, while issuing the customer’s compliant invoice. That removes a large compliance project from a team that has never implemented billing. Paddle also supports monthly/annual subscriptions, cards, VAT-number handling, plan changes, proration, dunning, and a hosted customer portal. [Paddle’s SaaS overview](https://developer.paddle.com/get-started/how-paddle-works/saas/) and [VAT explanation](https://www.paddle.com/help/sell/tax/how-paddle-handles-vat-on-your-behalf) cover this model.

For B2B sales, its invoicing is stronger than a checkout-only product: you can issue invoices with payment terms and purchase-order numbers, accept cards or bank transfers, reconcile payments, and move customers between automatic subscription collection and manual invoicing. [Paddle invoicing documentation](https://developer.paddle.com/concepts/sell/sales-assisted-invoice/)

The Node integration is reasonable: there is an official TypeScript-aware SDK with webhook verification, plus a sandbox. I would use hosted checkout and the hosted portal rather than building either. [Node SDK](https://developer.paddle.com/sdks/libraries/node/)

What I weighed:

- **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax:** best choice for control, ecosystem, reporting flexibility, and usually lower raw payment-processing cost. But Stripe is normally not the merchant of record. Tax calculation is not the same as assuming the tax liability: you must determine nexus, obtain registrations, configure them, manage exemption evidence, file, and remit. Stripe explicitly notes that creating a tax registration in Stripe does not itself register the business with authorities. [Stripe Tax registrations](https://docs.stripe.com/api/tax/registrations) With an experienced finance/tax function—or higher enterprise volume—I might choose Stripe. For this team and deadline, I would not.

- **Lemon Squeezy:** also a merchant of record and capable of subscriptions, VAT, invoices, and cards. [Lemon Squeezy documentation](https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/) I see it as more compelling for creators and simpler digital-product businesses. Paddle’s SaaS subscription lifecycle and sales-assisted invoicing make it the better B2B fit.

- **Adyen:** powerful payments infrastructure, especially at enterprise scale, but it does not eliminate the tax-and-invoicing work in the way required here. It is excessive for a first billing launch next month.

- **Chargebee/Recurly-style billing layers:** useful when billing complexity becomes the main problem, but they still need a processor and usually a separate tax/compliance setup. That is more vendors and integration surface, not less.

- **Merchant-of-record tradeoffs:** Paddle’s standard checkout price is currently **5% + $0.50 per transaction**; bank-transfer invoicing is listed at **3.5%**. That is materially more than bare card processing. [Paddle pricing terms](https://www.paddle.com/legal/terms) Paddle—not your company—appears as the seller on invoices and may appear in payment descriptors. You also accept less control over checkout, underwriting, refunds, payouts, and account risk. Some enterprise procurement teams may insist on contracting with and receiving invoices directly from your legal entity; that needs validating before committing.

Before signing, I would test Paddle invoices with two or three actual target customers or friendly prospects. Confirm that their procurement teams accept Paddle as reseller/MoR, that the invoice shows the fields they require, and that VAT-number validation and reverse-charge treatment work for your expected countries.

For the one-month launch, I would scope the implementation tightly:

1. Apply for Paddle production approval immediately; treat approval as a schedule risk.
2. Create one product with monthly and annual prices.
3. Use hosted checkout and customer portal.
4. Store Paddle customer, subscription, and price IDs—not card data.
5. Make signed, idempotent webhooks the source of truth for entitlement changes.
6. Test renewals, failed payments, cancellation, upgrades, refunds, EU VAT-ID cases, and US tax/exemption cases.
7. Reconcile the MoR payout statement with your accounting system and have your accountant confirm how Paddle payouts and fees should be booked.

My decision would change to Stripe if you already have tax registrations and filing support, require your own legal entity on every customer invoice, expect substantial negotiated enterprise contracts, or have enough volume that Paddle’s additional percentage outweighs the compliance headcount it saves.

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming your product is eligible and Paddle approves the account immediately.

The deciding factor is not its card API—it’s that Paddle acts as the **merchant of record (MoR)**. Paddle becomes the legal seller, validates EU VAT IDs, applies reverse charge where appropriate, calculates US sales tax/VAT, files and remits it, and issues compliant customer invoices. That removes the riskiest work from a team launching next month with no billing experience. [Paddle’s VAT model](https://www.paddle.com/help/sell/tax/how-paddle-handles-vat-on-your-behalf) and [tax-compliance overview](https://www.paddle.com/billing/tax-and-compliance) explain the arrangement.

For your specific requirements:

- Monthly and annual subscriptions are native.
- Card checkout and renewals are handled.
- Customers can access invoices through the portal.
- Sales-assisted invoices can include PO numbers and payment terms and can be paid by checkout or bank transfer. [Invoice documentation](https://developer.paddle.com/build/invoices/create-issue-invoices/)
- There is an official Node/TypeScript SDK, including webhook-verification helpers. [Node SDK documentation](https://developer.paddle.com/sdks/libraries/node/)
- Published checkout pricing is **5% + $0.50**, including billing and tax compliance. [Paddle pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing)

What I weighed against it:

| Consideration | Paddle | Stripe Billing + Tax |
|---|---|---|
| Tax responsibility | Paddle owns calculation, registration, filing and remittance | You remain the seller and ultimately own registrations and filings |
| Launch risk | Lower | Higher without experienced finance/tax help |
| Node ecosystem | Good | Excellent |
| Checkout/API flexibility | More constrained | Best-in-class |
| Cost | Higher bundled percentage | Usually cheaper before tax/compliance overhead |
| Customer statement/invoice seller | Paddle/its entity appears as reseller | Your company is the seller |
| Enterprise customization | Adequate, but opinionated | Much stronger |
| Portability | MoR migration can be awkward | More control over billing architecture and customer relationship |

Ordinary **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax** was the runner-up. Stripe has an excellent subscription model, hosted checkout, customer portal, invoices and tax-ID handling. But Stripe’s own documentation makes the important distinction: after registration, the seller must file and remit collected tax, although Stripe and filing partners can assist. [Stripe Tax setup](https://docs.stripe.com/tax/set-up) and [filing guidance](https://docs.stripe.com/tax/filing)

Stripe now also has **Managed Payments**, its MoR offering, but it is currently labeled public preview. It handles indirect tax and invoicing, but I would not put a deadline-sensitive launch on a preview product without written confirmation of eligibility, functionality and support. [Managed Payments documentation](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/managed-payments/how-it-works)

I would not choose:

- **Chargebee plus a gateway:** powerful, but another system and reconciliation boundary you don’t need for four basic prices.
- **Lemon Squeezy:** also an MoR, but Paddle is more squarely oriented toward SaaS subscriptions and sales-assisted B2B invoicing.
- **A custom Stripe tax process:** too much operational and compliance risk for next month.

Before committing, I’d confirm these points with Paddle this week:

1. Your legal entity, product category and target countries will pass onboarding in time.
2. The invoice contains every field your EU customers require: legal names, addresses, VAT IDs, sequential number, supply date and reverse-charge notation.
3. “Proper invoices” means both automatic subscription documents and manual net-term/PO invoices—the latter has a different workflow.
4. Required payout currencies, settlement timing and refund policy work for finance.
5. Paddle appearing as reseller/MoR is acceptable to your larger customers.
6. Your accountant agrees on booking Paddle payouts, fees, deferred annual revenue and the reverse invoices/statements Paddle supplies.

Implementation-wise, keep Paddle IDs outside your authorization model. Store your own `account`, `plan`, `entitlement`, and billing-status records; process signed webhooks idempotently; provision only from verified events; and run renewals, failed payments, refunds, upgrades, VAT-ID cases and manual invoices through the sandbox.

If Paddle onboarding or its reseller model fails one of those checks, the fallback is **Stripe Checkout + Billing + Tax Complete**, with an accountant or tax partner explicitly owning registrations and filings.

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming you sell ordinary SaaS rather than regulated services.

The deciding factor is not card processing—it is who owns the tax liability. Paddle acts as the merchant of record: it becomes the legal seller, calculates and collects EU VAT and US sales tax, files returns, remits the tax, handles chargebacks, and issues compliant invoices. That substantially reduces the risk of a first-time billing team launching across two tax regimes in one month. [Paddle’s tax model](https://www.paddle.com/help/sell/tax/how-paddle-handles-vat-on-your-behalf)

It supports monthly and annual subscriptions, automatic card collection, and manually collected invoices. Those invoices can include payment terms and PO numbers and can be paid by bank transfer or checkout; renewal invoices and reconciliation are integrated with the subscription. [Paddle invoicing documentation](https://developer.paddle.com/build/invoices/create-issue-invoices/)

### Why not Stripe first?

Stripe Billing is the stronger long-term choice when you want maximum flexibility and your own company must be the seller on every invoice. But ordinary Stripe Payments + Billing + Tax leaves your company responsible for determining registrations, registering, filing, remitting, and maintaining compliance. Stripe explicitly says merchants must register before collecting and must file and remit where registered. [Stripe Tax setup](https://docs.stripe.com/tax/set-up) and [filing responsibilities](https://docs.stripe.com/tax/filing)

Stripe now also offers a merchant-of-record product, Managed Payments, so I would ask its sales team about eligibility and rollout timing. I would not make a next-month launch depend on gaining access to a newer sales-assisted product.

### The trade-offs I weighed

| Consideration | Paddle | Stripe Billing |
|---|---|---|
| EU VAT and US sales tax | Paddle owns collection, filing and remittance | You own it unless using Managed Payments |
| Legal seller on invoice | Paddle | Your company |
| Launch risk for an inexperienced team | Lower | Higher |
| API and billing flexibility | Good for standard SaaS | Excellent |
| Enterprise procurement | Some buyers may object to Paddle being the seller | Usually cleaner |
| Cost | 5% + $0.50 per checkout transaction | Commonly lower, but processing, Billing and Tax are separate |
| Future payment-provider choice | More constrained | Broader ecosystem and control |

Paddle’s current published checkout price is **5% + $0.50**, including payments, billing and tax compliance; bank-transfer invoicing is priced differently under its terms. [Paddle pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing) By comparison, Stripe’s published US baseline is 2.9% + $0.30 for domestic cards, plus 0.7% of subscription volume for Billing and additional Tax costs. Actual rates depend on your company’s country and card mix. [Stripe pricing](https://stripe.com/pricing)

The higher Paddle fee is effectively buying tax operations, compliance ownership, dispute handling, and delivery speed.

### What could reverse my decision

I would choose Stripe instead if any of these are true:

- Your customers insist that your legal entity—not a reseller/MoR—appear as the supplier.
- Most revenue will come from negotiated enterprise contracts with custom terms, complex amendments, or unusual invoicing.
- You already have accountants handling EU VAT/OSS and US sales-tax nexus, registration, and filing.
- Billing flexibility and lower costs matter more than launching quickly.
- Paddle cannot onboard your legal entity or approve your product promptly.

That first point deserves testing immediately: show a sample Paddle invoice to two or three likely customers’ finance teams. “Proper invoice” and “invoice issued by our company” are not necessarily the same requirement.

### Minimum implementation I’d ship

Use Paddle’s hosted checkout and customer portal rather than building billing screens. On the Node backend:

- Keep your own immutable mapping of account → Paddle customer/subscription IDs.
- Treat signed webhooks as the source of billing state.
- Store and deduplicate webhook event IDs.
- Grant service from paid/valid subscription events, not from the browser redirect.
- Model entitlements separately from plan names so pricing can change later.
- Test renewals, failed cards, cancellation, refunds, upgrades, downgrades, VAT IDs, reverse charge, and invoice payment.
- Decide explicitly whether access begins when an enterprise invoice is issued or only after it is paid.

Start Paddle onboarding immediately; merchant verification and checkout-domain approval, rather than coding, may be the critical path. Also retain an accountant: merchant-of-record service removes indirect-tax work on customer sales, but not your corporate income tax, bookkeeping, payout reconciliation, or revenue-recognition obligations.

I’d use **Paddle**, assuming this is standard SaaS sold mostly through self-service checkout.

The decisive reason is that Paddle is the merchant of record. It—not your company—calculates, collects, files, and remits EU VAT and applicable US sales tax. For a team new to billing with a one-month deadline, that removes a much larger risk than payment integration itself. Paddle supports monthly and annual subscriptions, an official Node SDK, webhooks, customer self-service, compliant invoices and credit notes, and sales-assisted invoices paid by card or bank transfer. [Paddle’s model and developer tooling](https://developer.paddle.com/get-started/how-paddle-works/), [invoicing capabilities](https://developer.paddle.com/concepts/sell/sales-assisted-invoice/).

What I weighed:

- **Tax responsibility:** Stripe Tax can calculate tax, but standard Stripe leaves registrations, filings, remittance, and audit exposure with you. Paddle takes that liability as merchant of record.
- **Invoices:** Paddle can issue the legal invoice, validate customer details, handle tax treatment, credit notes, payment reconciliation, and recurring renewals. The tradeoff is important: **Paddle appears as the seller on the invoice**, not your company.
- **Cost:** Paddle’s standard checkout pricing is **5% + $0.50 per transaction**, including billing, tax compliance, fraud, and chargebacks. Bank-transfer invoice payments are listed separately at 3.5%. [Paddle pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing/), [contractual fee details](https://www.paddle.com/legal/terms). Stripe’s raw processing is cheaper, but Billing, Tax, filing services, fraud work, and internal accounting time narrow the difference considerably.
- **B2B procurement:** Paddle now supports manual invoices and bank transfer, but Stripe is still stronger when deals involve purchase orders, highly negotiated contracts, net-30/60 terms, complex usage billing, or customers insisting that your legal entity be the invoice issuer.
- **Engineering:** Both have good Node integrations. Paddle’s checkout and portal reduce the amount you must safely build in four weeks.
- **Control and portability:** Stripe gives you more control over checkout, payments, reporting, and the customer relationship. A merchant-of-record setup creates more vendor dependency and a potentially more involved future migration.

I would choose **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax instead** if either of these is true:

1. Your company already has accountants handling EU VAT and US sales-tax registrations and filings.
2. A meaningful share of revenue will come through enterprise contracts where your own entity must issue the invoice.

I would not base a next-month launch on Stripe Managed Payments yet without confirming eligibility and exact invoicing behavior with Stripe: it is a merchant-of-record product, but its documentation still labels it a public preview. Standard US list pricing also adds 3.5% on top of payment-processing fees. [Stripe Managed Payments documentation](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/managed-payments/how-it-works), [Stripe pricing](https://stripe.com/pricing).

Before committing code, get Paddle to confirm in writing:

- your company and SaaS product are eligible;
- supported settlement country/currency and payout timing;
- the exact sample invoice shown to an EU VAT-registered customer, an EU customer without a VAT ID, and a US customer;
- handling of VAT-ID validation, reverse charge, credit notes, refunds, and bank transfers;
- onboarding/approval completion within your launch window.

Then implement only hosted/overlay checkout, signed webhooks, an internal entitlement state, and Paddle’s customer portal. Never make “returned from checkout” the event that grants access; provision from verified webhook state and make every handler idempotent.

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming customers accept Paddle—not your company—as the legal seller on their invoices.

The decisive factor is the deadline and the team’s lack of billing experience. Paddle is a merchant of record (MoR): it calculates, collects, files, and remits EU VAT and US sales tax, while also handling payments, fraud, chargebacks, subscription billing, and buyer-facing invoices. Its official Node SDK, sandbox, webhook simulator, hosted checkout, and customer portal make a one-month launch realistic. [Paddle overview and developer tooling](https://developer.paddle.com/get-started/how-paddle-works/)

Paddle supports:

- Monthly and annual subscriptions
- Card payments and localized payment methods
- EU business details and VAT numbers
- Compliant PDF invoices for card purchases
- Sales-assisted invoices with PO numbers, payment terms, and payment by bank transfer or checkout
- Updating certain invoice details after issuance

Those invoicing capabilities are documented in its [business entities](https://developer.paddle.com/api-reference/businesses/), [invoice workflow](https://developer.paddle.com/build/invoices/create-issue-invoices/), and [invoice revision](https://developer.paddle.com/build/transactions/revise-transaction-customer-details/) documentation.

The standard checkout price is **5% + $0.50 per transaction**, including tax compliance and subscription billing. Bank-transfer invoicing is priced separately in Paddle’s agreement. [Paddle pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing), [Paddle service terms](https://www.paddle.com/legal/terms)

### What I weighed

| Option | Why consider it | Why I wouldn’t choose it here |
|---|---|---|
| **Paddle** | MoR, SaaS-focused, tax filing included, strong invoicing and Node tooling | Higher percentage fee; Paddle appears as seller |
| **Stripe Billing + Tax** | Best API ecosystem, more checkout control, usually better economics at scale | You remain responsible for determining obligations, registrations, filings, and remittance; too much operational risk for this timeline |
| **Lemon Squeezy** | MoR and quick integration | Base 5% + $0.50 can gain another 0.5% for subscriptions and 1.5% for international transactions—particularly unattractive for EU SaaS sales. [Fee details](https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/fees) |
| **Adyen** | Excellent global acquiring and enterprise payment control | Primarily payments infrastructure, not the turnkey tax-and-billing package this inexperienced team needs |
| **Chargebee/Recurly-style stack** | Rich subscription orchestration | Still requires a processor and usually a separate tax/compliance arrangement; more moving parts |

Stripe is the serious alternative, but Stripe Tax does not eliminate your underlying seller obligations. You must identify tax jurisdictions, register, collect, and arrange filing; Stripe explicitly documents those responsibilities. [Stripe registration guidance](https://docs.stripe.com/tax/registering)

### The one decision that could reverse my recommendation

Ask three representative enterprise prospects:

> “Will procurement accept an invoice where Paddle is the seller/merchant of record and our company is the software supplier?”

If important customers require your legal entity on the invoice, require vendor onboarding directly with you, or negotiate unusual contracts, credits, consolidated invoices, or payment schedules, choose **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax plus a tax filing partner/accountant** instead. That route costs more engineering and operational time but preserves the direct customer/vendor relationship.

Before signing, I would also verify:

- Your exact SaaS and countries are accepted during Paddle underwriting.
- Contract language, DPA, refunds, chargebacks, payout timing, and currency conversion.
- Whether “proper invoices” means automatic tax invoices after card payment or procurement-style net-30 invoices—Paddle supports both, but the workflows and fees differ.
- Seat changes, prorations, trials, discounts, grandfathering, and cancellation policy.
- Accounting treatment: with an MoR, payouts are normally recorded differently from direct gross customer revenue; have your accountant approve the flow.
- Export and migration provisions so subscription data and payment credentials do not become an unpleasant lock-in later.

For the first release, I’d use hosted checkout and the hosted customer portal, keep entitlements in your own database, and process signed webhooks idempotently. Do not unlock service from the browser redirect alone. That gives this team the safest credible route to being live next month.

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming this is ordinary cloud-hosted B2B SaaS and Paddle approves the business during onboarding.

The decisive factor is not cards or subscriptions—many providers do those well. It is that Paddle acts as the **Merchant of Record (MoR)**. Paddle becomes the legal seller, validates and applies VAT treatment, collects and remits EU VAT and US sales tax, issues compliant customer invoices, and handles much of the fraud and chargeback burden. That is a substantial risk reduction for a team with no billing experience and a one-month deadline. Paddle explicitly supports B2B SaaS and charges a standard **5% + $0.50 per checkout transaction**, including payments, subscriptions, tax compliance, and billing support. Bank-transfer invoicing has separate terms. ([Paddle pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing), [VAT handling](https://www.paddle.com/help/sell/tax/how-paddle-handles-vat-on-your-behalf), [service terms](https://www.paddle.com/legal/terms))

### Why not plain Stripe?

Stripe has the stronger developer ecosystem and generally gives you more control. Its Node SDK, subscription state model, checkout, customer portal, reporting, and support for unusual billing structures are excellent.

But ordinary Stripe Billing plus Stripe Tax does **not** make tax liability disappear. You remain the merchant, must determine where registrations are required, file returns, remit tax, maintain evidence, and own invoice compliance. Its visible costs also stack: Stripe Billing is currently 0.7% of recurring volume, in addition to payment processing and tax-related services. ([Stripe Billing pricing](https://stripe.com/billing/pricing))

Stripe now has **Managed Payments**, under which Stripe becomes the MoR and handles indirect-tax filing and remittance. It deserves a proof of concept, especially if your team already knows Stripe, but the documentation currently labels it a **public preview** and limits supported products and business locations. I would not make a next-month launch depend on a preview product without written confirmation of eligibility and production readiness. ([Stripe Managed Payments](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/managed-payments/how-it-works))

### What I weighed

| Consideration | Paddle | Stripe as your own MoR |
|---|---|---|
| Fast, low-risk EU/US launch | Strongest advantage | More accounting and tax setup |
| VAT and US sales-tax liability | Paddle assumes it | You retain it |
| VAT-ID/reverse-charge invoices | Handled by Paddle | Configurable, but your responsibility |
| Monthly/annual cards | Straightforward | Straightforward |
| Node integration | Good API, SDK and webhooks | Best-in-class |
| Advanced/custom billing | Adequate for normal plans, seats and add-ons | Usually more flexible |
| Cost | Higher transaction percentage | Often cheaper before compliance overhead |
| Customer-facing seller | Paddle appears as seller | Your company appears as seller |
| Cash flow | Payout schedule rather than direct settlement | Typically faster/direct |
| Portability and control | More provider dependency | Greater control |

I also considered Lemon Squeezy. It is another MoR and handles VAT/sales tax, but its published base price is also 5% + $0.50 and it adds fees in cases such as subscriptions and international transactions. For a B2B SaaS with invoice and procurement requirements, I would favor Paddle’s SaaS and enterprise-invoicing orientation. ([Lemon Squeezy pricing](https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/pricing), [fee details](https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/fees))

Adyen is attractive later at substantial scale, especially when payment routing and negotiated acquiring economics dominate. It is not the quickest answer to your tax-and-invoice problem: you would still be building or buying much of the billing and tax-compliance layer.

### Caveats to settle before signing

Paddle is not automatically right if “proper invoices” means sales-assisted enterprise deals with purchase orders, Net-30/60 terms, offline bank transfers, extensive invoice customization, consolidated billing, or customers insisting that **your company** be the invoice issuer. Paddle supports manual enterprise invoicing and bank transfers, but you should demonstrate your exact workflow and obtain its fee terms before committing.

I would require Paddle to confirm in writing:

- Your legal entity, SaaS category, customer countries, currencies, and expected launch date are approved.
- EU VAT-ID validation, reverse-charge wording, credit notes, refunds, and invoice numbering work as your accountant expects.
- US exemption certificates and tax-exempt organizations are supported appropriately.
- Your required card brands, bank-transfer terms, payout currency, payout timing, and refund policy.
- How subscription and payment-method data can be migrated if you leave.

Start onboarding immediately; MoR approval is an external dependency. In parallel, implement billing behind an internal entitlement layer: keep Paddle IDs and webhook events in your database, but never let “a checkout succeeded” directly become the permanent source of truth. Provision from verified webhooks, make handlers idempotent, reconcile daily, and test renewals, failed payments, upgrades, downgrades, cancellations, refunds, chargebacks, VAT-ID changes, and monthly-to-annual switching in the sandbox.

My decision rule would be: **Paddle for this launch; reconsider Stripe when volume makes the fee difference material or enterprise contracting requires your company to remain the seller of record.** Have your accountant review one sample EU B2B invoice, one EU invoice without a valid VAT ID, and one US invoice before production—the MoR removes transaction-tax administration, but not your own revenue recognition, income tax, or payout accounting.

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming you sell access to your own SaaS rather than operating a marketplace.

The decisive factor is its merchant-of-record model: Paddle—not your company—becomes the legal seller for each transaction and takes responsibility for calculating, collecting, filing, and remitting EU VAT and US sales tax. That removes the most dangerous work from a team learning billing under a one-month deadline. Paddle supports monthly and annual subscriptions, automatic card collection, sales-assisted invoices, bank transfers, credit notes, dunning, and a hosted customer portal. It also has an official Node/TypeScript SDK and sandbox. [Paddle’s SaaS overview](https://developer.paddle.com/get-started/how-paddle-works/saas/) and [invoice documentation](https://developer.paddle.com/concepts/sell/sales-assisted-invoice/) cover those flows.

The trade-off is cost and control. Published checkout pricing is **5% + $0.50 per transaction**, including payments, billing, tax compliance, fraud, chargebacks, and support; bank-transfer invoices have separate terms. [Current pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing) and [service terms](https://www.paddle.com/legal/terms). That is expensive compared with raw card processing, especially at high ACV, but probably cheaper than implementing and operating tax registrations, filings, invoicing, fraud, and dunning before next month.

What I weighed:

- **Paddle vs. Stripe Billing + Tax:** Stripe has the strongest ecosystem, flexibility, reporting, and usually better payment economics. But with ordinary Stripe Billing/Tax, you remain the seller and must identify tax obligations, register in relevant jurisdictions, and arrange filings. Stripe explicitly describes those responsibilities in its [registration documentation](https://docs.stripe.com/tax/registering?locale=en-GB). I’d choose Stripe if you already had finance/tax expertise, needed deep checkout customization, expected substantial volume, or required customers to contract and receive invoices directly from your entity.
- **Paddle vs. Lemon Squeezy:** Lemon Squeezy is also a merchant of record and handles VAT, but I would give Paddle the edge for a B2B SaaS because of its more explicit sales-assisted invoicing, bank-transfer, subscription-change, and enterprise billing workflows.
- **Chargebee/Recurly/Adyen:** Capable, but they don’t simplify this particular deadline enough. They tend to make more sense when you already have payment, tax, finance, and enterprise billing infrastructure.
- **Invoice identity:** Paddle will generally appear as seller on the tax invoice. Some enterprise procurement departments insist on buying directly from your legal entity. Validate this with three representative prospects before committing.
- **Accounting:** A merchant of record simplifies indirect tax but changes revenue recognition and reconciliation: you receive payouts net of taxes and fees. Have your accountant approve how Paddle statements, fees, refunds, and FX enter the ledger.
- **VAT evidence and exceptions:** Test VAT-ID collection, EU reverse charge, tax-exempt US customers, address changes, credit notes, and invoice wording in the sandbox. Also confirm any country-specific e-invoicing or fiscalization requirements with an accountant; “the provider generates a PDF invoice” is not universally the same as local compliance.
- **Approval risk:** Open the live account immediately—production processing requires approval. Do not postpone underwriting until the integration is finished.
- **Exit cost:** Keep your own internal `customer`, `plan`, `entitlement`, and billing-event records. Store Paddle IDs as external references so a later migration does not infect the product’s authorization model.

For implementation, I’d keep the first release deliberately narrow: four prices (monthly/annual per plan), hosted checkout, hosted customer portal, and server-side entitlements driven by verified, idempotently processed webhooks. Paddle’s [Node quickstart](https://developer.paddle.com/get-started/quickstart/node/) includes signature verification; never grant access from the browser redirect alone.

My decision would change to **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax** if either enterprise buyers reject a third-party seller on invoices, or projected volume makes Paddle’s premium materially larger than the cost of professional tax compliance. Otherwise, for this team and deadline, Paddle buys the most valuable thing: fewer ways to become accidentally non-compliant while launching.

I’d use **Paddle Billing**, assuming you sell access to your own SaaS rather than operating a marketplace.

The decisive reason is that Paddle is a **merchant of record (MoR)**. Paddle—not your company—becomes the legal seller for each transaction and takes responsibility for calculating, collecting, filing, and remitting EU VAT and US sales tax. For a team new to billing with a one-month deadline, that removes substantially more operational risk than merely calculating tax.

Paddle also covers the actual B2B workflow:

- Monthly and annual subscriptions, plan changes, seats, proration, trials, dunning, and a customer portal.
- An official Node SDK, REST API, sandbox, webhook simulator, and hosted/embedded checkout. [Paddle’s developer overview](https://developer.paddle.com/get-started/how-paddle-works/)
- Customer business details and VAT/tax IDs. If a valid VAT number is added later, Paddle can revise the transaction, refund tax where appropriate, and issue a revised invoice. [VAT and invoice revisions](https://developer.paddle.com/build/transactions/revise-transaction-customer-details/)
- PDF invoices for card transactions.
- Proper sales-assisted invoices with payment terms and PO numbers. Customers can pay those by card or bank transfer, and Paddle reconciles the transfer automatically. [Paddle invoicing](https://developer.paddle.com/build/invoices/create-issue-invoices/)
- USD, EUR, and GBP bank transfers for invoice-based subscriptions. [Bank-transfer support](https://developer.paddle.com/concepts/payment-methods/wire-transfer/)

The standard checkout price is **5% + $0.50 per transaction**, including billing, tax compliance, fraud/chargeback protection, and payment-related support. Paddle says invoiced transactions have separate pricing, so obtain that quote before committing. [Current Paddle pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing)

### What I weighed

| Option | Why I would or wouldn’t choose it |
|---|---|
| **Paddle** | Best fit here: SaaS-focused MoR, mature subscriptions, tax handling, Node support, and both self-serve card checkout and real invoice workflows. |
| **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax** | Best control, ecosystem, and usually better payment economics—but ordinarily *you* remain the seller and retain responsibility for registrations, filings, VAT evidence, exemptions, and invoice compliance. That is too much new machinery for this deadline. |
| **Stripe Managed Payments** | Potentially attractive MoR alternative, but its documentation currently labels it a **public preview**. I would not make a next-month launch depend on preview availability or limitations. [Stripe Managed Payments](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/managed-payments/how-it-works) |
| **Lemon Squeezy** | Also an MoR at 5% + $0.50 and handles tax, but I see it as more creator/digital-product oriented. Paddle has the stronger B2B SaaS story around sales-assisted invoices, purchase orders, bank transfers, hybrid collection, and subscription changes. [Lemon Squeezy tax handling](https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/payments/sales-tax-vat) |
| **Chargebee + a gateway/tax stack** | Powerful for complicated enterprise billing and RevOps, but more vendors, configuration, cost, and implementation surface than this launch appears to need. I’d revisit it when pricing or contract workflows become genuinely complex. |

### The important catch

With Paddle, customer invoices name **Paddle as the seller**, not your company. Confirm that your target customers’ procurement departments accept this. If customers require contracts and invoices directly from your legal entity, or need supplier onboarding under your company’s tax identity, I would instead use **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax plus a tax/accounting provider**—accepting the extra compliance burden in exchange for owning the commercial relationship.

Other tradeoffs I would explicitly accept with Paddle:

- Higher transaction cost than a bare payment processor.
- Less control over checkout, underwriting, disputes, refunds, and payment policy.
- Cash arrives through Paddle’s payout schedule rather than directly after each charge.
- Some customers may be confused that Paddle appears on the invoice or card statement.
- Moving away later requires migrating subscription and payment data, even if Paddle says there is no contractual lock-in.
- Low-priced monthly plans are disproportionately expensive because of the fixed $0.50; annual billing helps.

### What I would do this week

Apply for Paddle approval immediately—underwriting and domain/checkout review are the schedule risk. In parallel:

1. Get written confirmation of invoice pricing and supported countries for your legal entity.
2. Show a sample Paddle invoice to your accountant and two representative EU customer procurement teams.
3. Implement hosted checkout first, not a custom payment UI.
4. Treat signed webhooks as the billing source of truth; store Paddle customer, transaction, subscription, and price IDs locally.
5. Provision service only after the appropriate completed/paid event, and make webhook processing idempotent.
6. Test VAT-ID entry, US tax, upgrades/downgrades, failed renewals, refunds, credit notes, cancellation, and invoice payment before launch.
7. Keep entitlements separate from Paddle product IDs so a future billing migration does not infect your authorization model.

In short: **Paddle buys you the best chance of launching compliant billing next month.** I’d choose Stripe instead only if owning the seller-of-record relationship or supporting deeply bespoke enterprise contracts is already more important than minimizing tax and operational risk. This is still worth a short review with your accountant because the MoR handles transaction taxes, but your company must still account correctly for Paddle payouts and its own corporate taxes.

I’d use **Paddle Billing** as the merchant of record—assuming most customers can buy through self-service or relatively standard invoices.

The decisive factor isn’t card processing. It’s that Paddle becomes the legal seller and takes responsibility for calculating, collecting, filing, and remitting EU VAT and US sales tax. It also handles VAT-number validation and reverse charge for eligible EU B2B purchases. That removes a surprisingly large compliance project from a team trying to launch next month. [Paddle’s VAT/MoR explanation](https://www.paddle.com/help/sell/tax/how-paddle-handles-vat-on-your-behalf)

It covers the requested mechanics:

- Monthly and annual recurring prices, upgrades, downgrades, prorations, trials, dunning, and a customer portal.
- Card checkout with automatic recurring collection.
- PDF invoices for card transactions.
- Sales-assisted invoices with payment terms, PO numbers, bank transfer, or card payment. [Paddle invoice documentation](https://developer.paddle.com/build/invoices/create-issue-invoices/)
- Customer/business records, addresses, and tax identifiers.
- API, webhooks, sandbox, and a straightforward integration path for a Node backend.

The trade-off is cost. Paddle’s public pay-as-you-go price is **5% + $0.50 per checkout transaction**, including billing, payments, tax compliance, fraud/chargeback protection, and payment-related support. Manual invoices paid by bank transfer have separate terms. [Paddle pricing](https://www.paddle.com/pricing)

What I weighed before choosing it:

| Consideration | Paddle | Stripe Billing + Tax |
|---|---|---|
| Tax liability | Paddle is the merchant of record | Normally your company remains the seller |
| VAT/sales-tax filings | Handled by Paddle | You must arrange registrations and filing, unless using Stripe’s separate MoR product |
| Implementation risk next month | Lower | Higher, especially operationally |
| Processing cost | Higher | Usually lower at sufficient volume |
| Checkout/customization | More constrained | Better flexibility and broader ecosystem |
| Customer’s invoice supplier | Paddle | Your company |
| Enterprise procurement | Can create friction | Often preferable |
| Portability/control | Less control over the commercial relationship | More direct control |

Stripe was the strongest alternative. Its public US pricing currently shows **2.9% + $0.30** for domestic cards, **0.7% of Billing volume**, and separate Tax charges or plans. Stripe Tax can calculate tax, but calculation is not the same as accepting the legal obligation to register, file, remit, and handle audits. Stripe now also offers Managed Payments as a merchant-of-record service, priced publicly at **3.5% in addition to Payments fees**, but I would evaluate its availability and maturity for your exact countries and sales model before betting a one-month launch on it. [Stripe Billing pricing](https://stripe.com/billing/pricing), [Stripe product pricing](https://stripe.com/pricing)

The biggest reason not to use Paddle would be enterprise procurement. Because Paddle is the seller of record, its identity appears in the commercial and invoicing chain. Some larger customers will insist on:

- A contract directly with your company.
- Your legal name and VAT number as supplier.
- Custom payment terms, procurement portals, or vendor onboarding.
- Bespoke order forms, consolidated invoices, or currencies outside Paddle’s manual-invoice set.

If those requirements describe a meaningful part of your pipeline—or your annual contracts are large enough that 5% materially hurts—I’d choose **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax**, engage an accountant/tax service immediately, and accept that your company owns the compliance work. I would not add Chargebee, Recurly, or Zuora for this launch: they can improve subscription orchestration, but they add another system and generally do not remove merchant tax responsibility. Adyen is excellent payment infrastructure but is a heavier fit for this stage.

Before signing, I would make Paddle demonstrate one EU and one US purchase end-to-end in its sandbox, including:

1. A valid EU VAT ID and reverse-charge invoice.
2. An EU customer without a VAT ID.
3. A taxable US address.
4. Monthly and annual checkout.
5. Failed renewal and dunning.
6. Upgrade/downgrade proration.
7. Cancellation and refund/credit documentation.
8. A manually issued invoice paid by bank transfer and by card.

Also start account verification immediately; provider underwriting and checkout-domain approval, rather than Node development, may be the critical path.

So the short answer is: **Paddle for this launch because time and compliance risk dominate price; Stripe if direct enterprise invoicing, control, or high contract value dominates operational simplicity.** This should still be reviewed by your accountant or tax adviser, particularly for how Paddle payouts are recorded in your own books.

### The Recommendation: **Paddle** or **Stripe (Billing + Tax + Invoicing)**

Given your constraints—**no prior billing experience, live in ~4 weeks, EU/US B2B sales with VAT/sales tax and invoicing**—the decision boils down to whether you want a **Merchant of Record (MoR)** or a **Direct Payment Processor**.

For your specific timeline and lack of billing/tax experience, **Paddle** is the fastest and safest route to production. If you want maximum long-term flexibility and developer tooling, **Stripe** is the runner-up.

---

### Why **Paddle** (Top Pick for a 4-Week Deadline)

Paddle operates as a **Merchant of Record (MoR)**. When a customer buys a subscription, they are legally buying from Paddle, which resells your software.

#### Why it fits your situation:
1. **Zero Tax/VAT Liability:** 
   - In the EU, B2B cross-border rules (reverse charge with valid VAT ID validation via VIES) and domestic VAT calculations are messy. In the US, state-by-state economic nexus thresholds create continuous accounting work.
   - Because Paddle is the MoR, **they are legally liable for collecting, filing, and remitting sales tax and VAT globally**. You only receive a single monthly payout with a single invoice from Paddle.
2. **Compliant B2B Invoices Out of the Box:**
   - It handles EU-compliant VAT invoices, reverse charge, and customer VAT ID lookup automatically.
3. **Turnkey Checkout & Subscriptions:**
   - Prebuilt hosted checkouts and billing portals handle cards, Apple Pay/Google Pay, monthly/annual toggle logic, prorations, and self-serve upgrades/downgrades with minimal backend Node.js code.
4. **Speed to Market:**
   - With official Node SDKs (`@paddle/paddle-node-sdk`) and webhooks, a team with zero billing experience can build and test the integration within 1–2 weeks.

**Trade-offs:** Take rate is slightly higher (~5% + 50¢ per transaction), and payout happens on a net schedule.

---

### The Alternative: **Stripe (Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax + Customer Portal)**

Stripe is the industry gold standard for developer control, but you act as the merchant directly.

#### Why choose Stripe:
- **Best-in-class Node.js SDK & DX:** `@stripe/stripe-node` has the most mature documentation, webhook tooling (`stripe listen` CLI), and community support.
- **Components Available:**
  - **Stripe Billing:** Manages monthly/annual recurring plans, prorations, and tier upgrades.
  - **Stripe Tax:** Real-time tax calculation and reverse-charge VAT ID verification during checkout.
  - **Stripe Invoicing & Customer Portal:** Generates B2B PDF invoices and lets customers manage cards/cancellations without custom frontend UI.

**Trade-offs / Warning for Next Month:**
- Stripe Tax *calculates* the tax and warns you when you cross nexus thresholds, but **your company is still legally responsible for registering, filing, and remitting taxes in each jurisdiction** (EU countries + US states). If you don't already have a tax/accounting pipeline setup, this can create an administrative headache.

---

### What Else Was Weighed

| Option | Verdict | Why It Was Ruled Out / Considered |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Lemon Squeezy** | *Runner-up MoR* | Built for digital products & SaaS (similar to Paddle as an MoR). However, following its acquisition by Stripe, developer roadmap changes and feature focus make Paddle a more battle-tested choice for dedicated B2B subscription setups. |
| **Chargebee / Recurly** | *Too Complex / Expensive* | These are subscription management layers that sit on top of gateways (e.g., Chargebee + Adyen/Braintree). They require configuring multiple vendors, contracting, and longer implementation cycles—not suitable for a 1-month turnaround by a first-time team. |
| **Braintree / PayPal** | *Too Low-Level* | Excellent payment rails, but weak out-of-the-box B2B subscription and global VAT/tax compliance compared to modern SaaS-focused alternatives. |

---

### Implementation Checklist for Launching Next Month

1. **If choosing Paddle (Recommended for 1-Month Launch & Tax Relief):**
   - Use **Paddle Billing** (Paddle's modern API).
   - Install `@paddle/paddle-node-sdk`.
   - Setup a webhook endpoint for subscription events (`subscription.created`, `subscription.updated`, `subscription.canceled`).
   - Use Paddle Overlay or Hosted Checkout for pricing page integration.
2. **If choosing Stripe:**
   - Enable **Stripe Tax** in the Stripe Dashboard.
   - Use **Stripe Checkout** (with `tax_id_collection[enabled]=true` for EU VAT) + **Stripe Customer Portal**.
   - Sync subscription state using Stripe webhooks (`customer.subscription.*`).

For your scenario—**Node backend, zero prior billing experience, EU & US customers, VAT & invoice compliance, and a tight 1-month deadline**—the clear top recommendation is a **Merchant of Record (MoR)** provider, specifically **Paddle** (or **Lemon Squeezy**).

---

### **Top Choice: Paddle**

#### Why Paddle fits best:
1. **Merchant of Record (MoR) Model**:
   * Paddle acts as the legal reseller. **They handle VAT/sales tax registration, calculation, collection, and filing across all EU member states (VAT MOSS/OSS) and US states**, along with currency conversion and local tax compliance.
   * If nobody has done billing before, self-handling EU B2B reverse-charge VAT, VIES VAT number validation, and US economic nexus rules within 30 days is a high-risk legal/financial liability.
2. **Built-in B2B Invoicing & Subscriptions**:
   * Native support for automated recurring invoices, EU-compliant tax invoices, PDF generation, credit notes, and customer billing portals.
3. **Speed to Market with Node.js**:
   * Paddle provides an official Node.js SDK (`@paddle/paddle-node-sdk`) and webhooks.
   * You can spin up standard monthly/annual subscription checkout overlays or hosted pages with minimal boilerplate in days rather than weeks.

---

### **Alternatives Weighed & Why They Were Passed Over**

| Provider | Model | Pros | Why it was not chosen for this timeline |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Stripe** *(Billing + Tax + Invoicing)* | Payment Gateway / PSP | Best-in-class developer UX, extensive docs, Node SDK, handles cards & ACH/SEPA. | **You remain the legal seller.** Even with *Stripe Tax* calculating VAT and *Stripe Invoicing*, **your company must register for VAT in the EU (OSS) and remit taxes manually**. Managing tax liability and filings with no prior experience in < 30 days is risky. |
| **Lemon Squeezy** | Merchant of Record | Clean UI, modern API, handles all global taxes/VAT, fast setup. | Owned by Stripe; great option, but Paddle historically has deeper, more mature B2B invoicing features (e.g., custom wire transfer workflows, bespoke contract invoicing, robust seat-based models). Lemon Squeezy is a very close runner-up. |
| **Chargebee / Recurly** | Subscription Management Layer | Enterprise-grade recurring billing logic, integrations with ERPs/CRMs. | Heavyweight, complex configuration, expensive, and still requires bringing your own payment gateway (e.g., Stripe) + separate tax service (TaxJar/Avalara). Too heavy for a 1-month launch. |

---

### **Recommended 1-Month Implementation Checklist**

1. **Sign up & Verify**: Get KYC/onboarding done on **Paddle** immediately (compliance approvals can take 2–5 business days).
2. **Set up Products & Pricing**: Define your Monthly & Annual price points in Paddle's dashboard. Enable automatic VAT/Tax collection.
3. **Backend Integration (Node.js)**:
   * Install `@paddle/paddle-node-sdk`.
   * Implement a secure webhook endpoint (listening for `subscription.created`, `subscription.updated`, `subscription.canceled`, `transaction.completed`).
   * Store `customer_id`, `subscription_id`, `status`, and `current_period_end` in your database against the tenant/organization.
4. **Frontend Checkout**:
   * Use **Paddle.js** overlay or hosted checkout on your pricing page.
5. **Customer Portal**:
   * Leverage Paddle's customer portal link so users can update card details, change plans, or download PDF VAT invoices without custom UI work.

Given your constraints:
* **Timeline:** 1 month to launch
* **Team experience:** Zero prior billing experience
* **Market/Compliance:** US & EU customers (B2B VAT reverse-charge, tax calculation, compliant PDF invoicing)
* **Stack:** Node.js

---

### The Recommendation: **Paddle** or **Lemon Squeezy** (Merchant of Record)

> **Top Pick:** **[Paddle](https://www.paddle.com/)** (or Lemon Squeezy, now part of Stripe).

#### Why a Merchant of Record (MoR) is the only realistic 1-month choice:
In the EU, B2B SaaS billing isn't just charging a credit card. You need:
1. **VAT validation:** Querying the EU VIES system in real-time to validate the buyer's VAT ID.
2. **Reverse charge handling:** Applying 0% VAT when a valid VAT number is provided outside your home country, or local VAT if domestic/non-VAT registered.
3. **Legally compliant B2B tax invoices:** Meeting specific EU/country invoicing requirements (sequential numbering, legal addresses, VAT IDs, exchange rates).
4. **Remittance:** Registering, filing, and remitting VAT across various EU tax authorities (OSS/IOSS) and US state sales tax nexus thresholds.

With **Paddle (MoR)**:
* **They are the legal seller.** Paddle handles global tax compliance, VAT validation, invoice generation, currency conversions, and tax remittance automatically.
* **SDK / API:** Clean Node.js SDK (`@paddle/paddle-node-sdk`) and drop-in hosted checkout or overlay (`Paddle.js`).
* **Customer Portal:** Self-serve billing portal for customer invoice downloads, payment method updates, and plan switching out-of-the-box.
* **Speed to Market:** You can wire up hosted checkout + webhooks in 2–3 weeks without touching tax logic or invoice generation engines.

---

### What else was weighed (and why they were rejected for this timeline)

| Provider / Setup | Why it was considered | Why it didn't win for a 1-month launch |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax + Stripe Invoicing** | Industry standard, best Node SDKs, maximum long-term control. | **Tax liability & overhead.** Stripe calculates tax, but **you** are still the merchant of record. You must register for EU VAT/OSS, track US state sales tax nexuses, and file/remit taxes. Setting up legal tax registrations and filings alone usually takes more than a month. |
| **Chargebee / Recurly (+ Stripe gateway)** | Powerful subscription orchestration, multi-gateway support, mature B2B features. | **Complexity & Cost.** Heavy enterprise footprint. Steeper learning curve, higher baseline pricing, and still leaves you responsible for tax filings and liability. |
| **Custom Stripe implementation** | Lowest transaction fee percentage. | **Engineering time.** Building recurring billing, webhooks, dunning, proration, and compliant PDF invoice rendering from scratch with zero prior billing experience will blow past your 1-month deadline. |

---

### Key Trade-offs to Accept with a Merchant of Record (Paddle)

1. **Higher Take Rate:** ~5% + $0.50 per transaction (vs. Stripe’s ~2.9% + $0.30 + add-on fees). However, factoring in the cost of tax filing tools (TaxJar/Quaderno), accountant fees, and dev maintenance, MoR is cheaper at early-to-mid stage.
2. **Paddle’s Name on Bank Statements:** Paddle appears on credit card statements (often as `PADDLE.NET* YOURCOMPANY`), though you can customize your descriptor.
3. **Data Portability:** If you migrate away to direct Stripe down the road, migrating active payment tokens from an MoR requires a coordinated data transfer process.

---

### Suggested 3-Week Implementation Plan

1. **Week 1: Product & Pricing Setup**
   * Create Products & Prices in Paddle Dashboard (Monthly & Annual).
   * Integrate `Paddle.js` for checkout on the frontend.
2. **Week 2: Backend & Webhooks**
   * Set up `@paddle/paddle-node-sdk`.
   * Implement webhook handlers for:
     * `subscription.created`
     * `subscription.updated` (upgrades/downgrades/cancellations)
     * `subscription.past_due` / `transaction.payment_failed`
3. **Week 3: Self-Service & Testing**
   * Implement the Paddle Customer Portal link so users can manage payment methods and download tax invoices without your team having to build invoice download APIs.
   * Run end-to-end sandbox tests with US & EU test cards and EU VAT IDs.

### Recommended Choice: **Stripe (Billing + Tax + Customer Portal)**

Given your constraints—**1-month deadline, no prior billing experience, Node.js backend, US/EU customers, EU VAT/reverse-charge, monthly/annual plans, cards, and proper invoicing**—**Stripe** is the fastest, lowest-risk choice to get into production.

---

### Why Stripe Fits Your Constraints

1. **Fastest Time to Market (Next-Month Deadline):**
   * **Stripe Customer Portal:** Offloads subscription upgrades/downgrades, card updates, cancellation flows, and downloadable invoice PDFs with zero custom UI.
   * **Stripe Checkout:** Pre-built, hosted checkout handling SCA (3D Secure), Apple/Google Pay, and card collection out of the box.
   * **Node SDK:** The official `stripe` npm library is mature, well-typed with TypeScript, and has extensive webhook handling utilities.

2. **EU VAT & US Sales Tax Built-in (Stripe Tax):**
   * Automatically calculates VAT based on customer location and validates EU VAT IDs in real time to apply **B2B reverse charge (0% VAT)**.
   * Generates compliant tax invoices automatically.

3. **B2B Invoicing & Net-D Terms:**
   * Generates PDF invoices compliant with EU/US regulations.
   * Supports both auto-debit (cards) and send-invoice flows (ACH, SEPA, bank transfer).

---

### What Else Was Weighed & Why They Were Ruled Out

| Provider | What It Offers | Why It Lost for This Scenario |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Paddle / Lemon Squeezy** *(Merchant of Record - MoR)* | Acts as the legal seller; handles 100% of tax filing, remittance, and compliance liabilities. | **Lower flexibility & B2B limitations.** While MoR eliminates tax filing work, their B2B invoicing, quote-to-cash workflows, and custom enterprise terms are less flexible than Stripe. Furthermore, MoR cut is higher (~5% + transaction fees), and payout delays can affect cash flow. |
| **Chargebee / Recurly** *(Billing Orchestrators on top of Gateways)* | Powerful multi-gateway routing, complex enterprise billing hierarchies, and contract management. | **High implementation complexity.** Requires integrating both the billing orchestrator and an underlying payment gateway (like Stripe or Adyen). For a team with no billing experience and a 1-month deadline, this introduces unnecessary architectural overhead. |
| **Lago / Autumn / Orb** *(Open-Source & Usage-Based Billing)* | Excellent developer control, open-source or metered/usage-based pricing engines. | **Overkill for tier-based billing.** Your requirement is straightforward monthly/annual tiers; usage engines require building/hosting your own tax and portal wrappers. |

---

### The 1-Month Implementation Blueprint (Node.js)

1. **Setup Stripe Products & Tax:**
   * Create Products with monthly and annual Prices in the Stripe Dashboard.
   * Enable **Stripe Tax** and configure default tax categories.
2. **Backend (Node.js/Express or Fastify):**
   * Create Checkout Sessions (`stripe.checkout.sessions.create`) with `tax_id_collection: { enabled: true }`.
   * Create Customer Portal Sessions (`stripe.billingPortal.sessions.create`) for self-serve management.
   * Handle Webhooks securely (`stripe.webhooks.constructEvent`) listening to key events:
     * `customer.subscription.created`
     * `customer.subscription.updated`
     * `customer.subscription.deleted`
     * `invoice.paid` / `invoice.payment_failed`
3. **Database Schema:**
   * Store only `stripe_customer_id`, `stripe_subscription_id`, `subscription_status`, and `plan_id` in your user/team table. Rely on Stripe for sensitive billing details.

Given your specific constraints—**Node.js backend, tight 1-month deadline, zero prior billing experience, and cross-border US/EU compliance (VAT, reverse charge, compliant B2B tax invoices)**—the recommended path is:

---

### **Primary Recommendation: Merchant of Record (MoR)**
👉 **Top Choice: Lemon Squeezy or Paddle** *(Lemon Squeezy is generally faster for modern Node/SaaS stacks; Paddle is the enterprise-tested alternative)*

#### Why an MoR fits your 1-month timeline:
1. **Zero Tax/VAT Liability:** An MoR acts as the legal reseller of your software. They calculate, collect, file, and remit EU VAT (including OSS, VIES B2B reverse-charge validation) and US sales tax automatically. You do not need to register for tax in EU countries or individual US states.
2. **Compliant Invoicing Out-of-the-Box:** Generating legally compliant EU VAT invoices (with your & the buyer's VAT ID, sequential numbering, tax breakdowns, exchange rates) is handled automatically.
3. **Speed to Market:** You use hosted checkout or drop-in overlays, prebuilt customer portals (for upgrades/downgrades/cancellations), and their official Node SDKs with webhooks.
4. **No Prior Billing Experience Needed:** You avoid building tax engines, dunning flows, and prorated subscription lifecycles from scratch.

---

### **Alternative: Stripe (Direct Payment Processor + Tax/Billing Stack)**
👉 **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax + Stripe Invoicing + Stripe Customer Portal**

If you want the industry standard and lower transaction fees, you can use Stripe's modular ecosystem:
* **The Pros:** Best Node.js SDK (`stripe-node`), robust docs, granular webhook coverage, and scalable infrastructure.
* **The Catch for your 1-month deadline:** Stripe is **not** a Merchant of Record. 
  * Stripe Tax calculates and collects taxes, but **you** are legally responsible for registering, filing, and remitting taxes to local tax authorities (e.g., EU VAT One-Stop Shop (OSS), individual US states exceeding economic nexus thresholds).
  * You will need an accountant or integration with a tool like TaxJar/Quaderno to actually file the returns.

---

### **Provider Comparison Matrix**

| Criteria | **Lemon Squeezy / Paddle** *(Recommended)* | **Stripe (Tax + Billing + Invoicing)** | **Chargebee / Recurly** |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Model** | **Merchant of Record (MoR)** | Payment Processor | Subscription Management Layer |
| **EU VAT & US Tax Filing** | **100% handled** (they remit) | Calculated only (**you remit & file**) | Calculated only (requires tax add-on) |
| **B2B Invoicing & VAT Validation** | Built-in automatic VIES check & invoices | Built-in (Stripe Tax + Invoicing) | Built-in |
| **Time to Launch** | ⚡ **1–2 weeks** | 🕒 2–3 weeks (plus tax registration) | ⏳ 4–6+ weeks (complex setup) |
| **Node.js Integration** | Official SDKs, hosted checkout/portal | Best-in-class Node SDK & webhooks | Good SDKs, higher configuration overhead |
| **Pricing** | ~5% + $0.50 per transaction | ~2.9% + $0.30 + 0.5–0.7% (Tax/Billing) | Processor fees + $250–$600+/mo base |

---

### **What Else Was Weighed (and Why They Weren't Picked)**

1. **Chargebee / Recurly over Stripe:**
   * *Verdict:* Overkill. They sit on top of a payment gateway (like Stripe/Adyen). You end up managing two vendor accounts, dual webhooks, and a more complex integration workflow. Not feasible or necessary for a team with no prior billing experience launching next month.
2. **Custom Stripe implementation (Custom DB Subscriptions + custom tax engine):**
   * *Verdict:* High risk. Proration math, tax-exempt edge cases (e.g., intra-EU B2B reverse charge), failed payment dunning, and invoice PDF generation typically take 6–8 weeks of dedicated engineering to get right without bugs.

---

### **Action Plan for a 1-Month Launch**

1. **If you want zero tax/compliance overhead:** 
   * Sign up for **Lemon Squeezy** or **Paddle**.
   * Use their **Hosted Checkout** for Monthly/Annual plan selection.
   * Enable their **Customer Portal** so users can manage payment methods, download invoices, and toggle billing intervals without custom UI.
   * Set up a Node.js endpoint handling webhooks (`subscription_created`, `subscription_updated`, `subscription_cancelled`, `invoice_paid`) to sync entitlement flags to your database.
2. **If your company already has EU OSS tax registration & US tax infrastructure ready:**
   * Go with **Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax + Stripe Customer Portal**.

**Stripe** (Billing + Tax + Invoicing) - to najbezpieczniejszy wybór przy miesięcznym terminie i zerowym doświadczeniu z billingiem w zespole.

Co ważyłem:

- **Stripe vs Merchant of Record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy)** - MoR zdejmuje z was VAT całkowicie (oni są sprzedawcą, sami rozliczają podatek), ale w B2B to problem: faktury wystawia Paddle/Lemon Squeezy, nie wasza spółka, a dział zakupów klienta korporacyjnego często tego nie akceptuje. Stripe Tax tylko liczy i pobiera VAT (w tym reverse charge dla B2B UE z ważnym numerem VAT), ale rejestracja w OSS (UE) i nexus (US, stan po stanie) zostaje po waszej stronie - to więcej pracy administracyjnej, ale faktury idą pod waszą firmą, co dla B2B jest zwykle wymagane.
- **Stripe vs Chargebee/Recurly** - to nakładki subskrypcyjne, które i tak potrzebują osobnego procesora płatności i osobnego rozwiązania podatkowego pod spodem, więc przy miesięcznym deadline to dodatkowa integracja bez wyraźnego zysku, chyba że macie już bardzo złożoną logikę cenową.
- **SDK dla Node** - u Stripe jest dojrzały i pierwszej klasy, Billing + Checkout + Customer Portal odejmują większość UI do zarządzania subskrypcją, co realnie skraca czas do live.

Główny kompromis: bierzecie na siebie obowiązek rejestracji VAT (OSS w UE, ewentualnie nexus w wybranych stanach US), w zamian za pełną kontrolę nad fakturami i niższą prowizję niż u MoR.

Dla tego zestawu (B2B, EU + US, karty + faktury z VAT, Node, zero doświadczenia w billingu, deadline za miesiąc) wziąłbym **Stripe** - Billing + Tax + Invoicing w jednym.

Dlaczego akurat to:
- Jeden dostawca obsługuje karty (SCA/3DS gotowe od ręki), subskrypcje miesięczne/roczne z proracją, i fakturowanie z numeracją zgodną z VAT - nie trzeba spinać trzech osobnych systemów.
- Stripe Tax liczy i pobiera VAT automatycznie, w tym reverse charge dla B2B w UE przy podanym prawidłowym numerze VAT - a to akurat najczęstszy przypadek przy B2B, więc rzadko trzeba rejestrować się do VAT w każdym kraju z osobna.
- Node SDK jest dojrzały, dużo gotowych wzorców integracji, więc realnie mieści się w miesiąc.

Co jeszcze rozważałem i dlaczego odpadło:
- **Paddle / Lemon Squeezy jako Merchant of Record** - biorą na siebie całą odpowiedzialność za VAT/sales tax (oni są sprzedawcą, nie wy), co brzmi kusząco przy zerowym doświadczeniu w billingu. Cena: wyższa prowizja (zwykle 5%+ vs ok. 2,9% + koszt Stripe Tax), mniej kontroli nad wyglądem faktur i checkoutu, trudniejsza migracja później, jeśli urośniecie i zechcecie własnej rejestracji VAT. Wart rozważenia tylko, jeśli prawny/finansowy uzna, że ryzyko VAT jest nie do ogarnięcia samemu.
- **Chargebee / Recurly nad Stripe jako processorem** - sensowne przy skomplikowanym billingu (usage-based, złożone proracje, dużo planów). Przy prostych planach miesiąc/rok to zbędna dodatkowa warstwa integracyjna, a macie miesiąc na start.
- **Własna logika VAT** - odrzucone od razu, to pierwszy projekt billingowy w firmie, a zasady OSS/reverse charge łatwo spartaczyć.

Główny tradeoff do świadomej decyzji: ze Stripe sami odpowiadacie za poprawność podatkową (choć Stripe Tax to policzy), z Paddle/Lemon Squeezy oddajecie tę odpowiedzialność za wyższą prowizję. Przy typowym B2B z reverse charge ryzyko po stronie Stripe jest małe, więc zostałbym przy Stripe, chyba że macie klientów bez ważnego numeru VAT (np. mniejsze US-owe firmy kupujące jako individuals) w większej skali - wtedy warto to policzyć osobno.

Wziąłbym Stripe (Billing + Tax + Invoicing) - ma dojrzałe Node SDK, subskrypcje miesięczne/roczne z proration, oraz Stripe Tax, który sam liczy i nalicza VAT w UE (z reverse charge dla B2B) i sales tax w USA, plus generuje zgodne z przepisami faktury. Największy kompromis, jaki rozważałem: Stripe kontra Merchant of Record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy) - MoR całkowicie zdejmuje z was odpowiedzialność za rozliczanie i odprowadzanie VAT (oni są sprzedawcą), co przy zerowym doświadczeniu w billingu i miesiącu na start jest kuszące, ale kosztuje wyższą prowizję (zwykle 5-7% zamiast ok. 1.5-2% + Stripe Tax) i mniej elastyczności w wyglądzie faktur i integracji.

Skłaniam się do Stripe, bo VAT B2B w UE (reverse charge, VIES) jest prostszy niż B2C, więc ryzyko compliance jest niższe niż się wydaje - ale to decyzja odwracalna do przedyskutowania, nie zamknięta sprawa.

Dla zespołu bez wcześniejszego doświadczenia w billingu i z terminem "za miesiąc" wybrałbym **Stripe** (Billing + Tax + Invoicing) - najdojrzalsze SDK dla Node, największa szansa, że dokumentacja i community pokryją każdy przypadek brzegowy, którego jeszcze nie znacie, plus Stripe Tax automatycznie liczy VAT UE/US sales tax i generuje zgodne faktury.

Główny kompromis, który warto rozważyć: przy Stripe to wy zostajecie sprzedawcą (merchant of record) - macie obowiązek rejestracji VAT (schemat OSS to ułatwia, ale nie zdejmuje odpowiedzialności) i rozliczania go w odpowiednich jurysdykcjach. Alternatywa typu **Paddle** (Merchant of Record) przejmuje cały ten compliance za was za wyższą prowizję (~5% vs ~2,9%+dodatek podatkowy) - dla zespołu zerowego doświadczenia w billingu to może być warte dopłaty, kosztem mniejszej elastyczności przy większych umowach B2B (custom terms, przelewy, NET30).

Chcesz, żebym rozwinął porównanie Stripe vs Paddle pod kątem konkretnie waszego stacku (Node, jak wygląda struktura cenowa monthly/annual), czy to wystarczy jako punkt startowy?

Stripe (Billing + Tax + Invoicing) - to bym wybrał na start. Ma najlepsze SDK pod Node, subskrypcje miesięczne/roczne z automatycznym proratingiem, generowanie zgodnych z VAT faktur PDF, kartę i przelewy SEPA/ACH gotowe od ręki, no i najszerszą wiedzę w internecie, co przy zerowym doświadczeniu zespołu w billingu ma duże znaczenie na tempo wdrożenia.

Główny kompromis, który ważyłem: Stripe Tax liczy i pobiera VAT/sales tax, ale **rejestracja w krajach UE i faktyczne odprowadzanie podatku nadal jest po waszej stronie** - to realna praca compliance, którą łatwo nie docenić przy deadline "za miesiąc". Alternatywą jest dostawca typu Merchant of Record (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy) - oni stają się formalnie sprzedawcą, sami rozliczają VAT we wszystkich jurysdykcjach i biorą na siebie to ryzyko, kosztem wyższej prowizji (zwykle 5-8% vs ~2,9% + koszt Stripe Tax) i mniejszej elastyczności przy typowych dla B2B rzeczach: NET terms, faktury na PO, ręczne przelewy dla dużych klientów rocznych.

Krótko: jeśli wasi klienci to głównie samoobsługowa karta, brak działu prawnego od podatków i priorytetem jest "działa za miesiąc bez wpadki VAT" - poważnie rozważyłbym Paddle. Jeśli liczy się elastyczność sprzedaży B2B (custom invoicing, przelewy, negocjowane warunki) i jesteście gotowi ogarnąć rejestrację VAT (albo dokupić do tego usługę typu Kolekt/Fonoa) - Stripe.