The same simplicity, on European rails.
Lemon Squeezy made merchant-of-record selling feel easy: 5% + $0.50, tax handled, a clean checkout, no monthly fee. For indie makers it was the obvious choice, and the product is still good.
But Lemon Squeezy has always been an American company — based in Utah — so for a European seller it was never a sovereign option; the 2024 Stripe acquisition only deepens that, folding it into a US payments giant. lernaura is the EU-sovereign alternative, at the same price, with the creator software free.
The 30-second version
| lernaura | Lemon Squeezy | |
|---|---|---|
| Headline rate | 5% + €0.50 | 5% + $0.50 |
| Merchant of record | Yes | Yes |
| EU VAT / OSS / IOSS | Included | Included |
| DAC7 + DSA seller verification | Included | Partial |
| Company | Independent · Denmark (EU) | US (Utah) · Stripe-owned since 2024 |
| Data on EU-owned hardware | Yes (Scaleway) | No (US-owned cloud) |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes (US company + cloud) |
| Creator software included | Yes, free | No |
| Surcharges | Transparent | +1.5% intl, +1.5% PayPal, +0.5% subs* |
*On top of the 5% + $0.50, Lemon Squeezy adds roughly 1.5% for international cards, 1.5% for PayPal, and 0.5% for subscription billing. The headline rate is the floor, not the ceiling.
Where Lemon Squeezy is strong
Lemon Squeezy nailed simplicity. Onboarding is fast, the checkout is clean, tax is genuinely handled, and for a solo maker selling a digital product it removes almost all of the back-office in an afternoon. Now backed by Stripe's infrastructure and balance sheet, the reliability story is only stronger.
We like Lemon Squeezy. The case for switching isn't that the product got worse — it's that it's an American rail, and always has been. Utah-based from the start, and since 2024 part of a much larger US payments company. If your buyers are European and starting to ask the sovereignty question, that was always going to matter.
Where we differ
Same job, same headline price. The differences are about ownership and jurisdiction — the things a product update can't change.
An American company
Lemon Squeezy has been a US company from the start — based in Utah — and the 2024 Stripe acquisition folds it into an even larger US payments group. Either way it sits squarely under US law, including the CLOUD Act and FISA 702, for the data it holds about your European customers. lernaura is an independent Danish company under EU law.
The hardware underneath
Like its parent, Lemon Squeezy runs on US-owned cloud — an EU region of a US cloud is still reachable under the CLOUD Act. lernaura's database and hardware are Scaleway, a French-owned company in French data centres, with no US-owned link in the chain.
DAC7 and DSA, at the rail
EU platform obligations — DAC7 reporting and DSA seller verification — are part of the rail, handled for you rather than bolted on. For European sellers this is increasingly a procurement checkbox, not a nice-to-have.
The software is free
Lemon Squeezy sells you the billing-and-tax layer; you build the product around it. On lernaura the same 5% + €0.50 includes lernaura Creator — courses, community, newsletters, live — free. For a content business, that's a stack you stop paying for.
Built for you to try today
The integration is agent-first: a sandbox in one call, no signup, with a virtual clock and simulated payments — so you (or your coding agent) can prove a year of renewals, failed cards and disputes in minutes before committing to anything.
The full sovereignty argument — why a US company or a US cloud is the deciding factor — is on the sovereignty for SaaS page.
Pricing
Headline parity: 5% + €0.50 on lernaura, 5% + $0.50 on Lemon Squeezy. A fair merchant-of-record price is a fair price — the difference isn't the sticker.
The difference is in the add-ons and the inclusions. Lemon Squeezy stacks ~1.5% for international cards, ~1.5% for PayPal and ~0.5% for subscriptions on top; lernaura keeps the rate flat and includes the creator software. Same sticker, different total.
Who each is best for
Lemon Squeezy is the better pick if:
- You're a solo maker who wants the fastest possible setup and US ownership is fine.
- You're already deep in the Stripe ecosystem and want one vendor for everything.
- Your buyers don't ask where the data and settlement sit.
lernaura is the better pick if:
- Your customers are European and the ownership of the rail is now a real question.
- You want EU-owned hardware and no US-CLOUD-Act exposure, at the same price.
- You'd otherwise pay separately for the content/creator software we include free.
- You want to try before you commit — a sandbox in one call, a year of billing simulated in minutes.
FAQ
- Is lernaura a real merchant of record like Lemon Squeezy?
- Yes — the same model. We're the legal seller, we issue the invoice, collect payment, determine and remit VAT and sales tax, and handle refunds and chargebacks. What's different is that we're independent, EU-domiciled and on EU-owned hardware.
- Does Stripe owning Lemon Squeezy change the sovereignty picture?
- Not really — Lemon Squeezy was always a US company (Utah-based), so it was never EU-sovereign; the Stripe acquisition just makes it part of a larger US payments group. Either way it's under US law — the CLOUD Act and FISA 702 — for your European customers' data. lernaura has no US entity and no US-owned infrastructure, so that exposure doesn't exist.
- Is it actually cheaper?
- The headline is the same (5% + €0.50 vs 5% + $0.50). In practice lernaura is often lower all-in, because Lemon Squeezy adds international, PayPal and subscription surcharges, and we include the creator software the headline doesn't.
- Can I move from Lemon Squeezy?
- Yes. We map your products, prices and subscriptions onto our rail. Stored cards stay with the platform that holds them (a PCI boundary), so subscribers re-authorize once on their first renewal.
- Is the API ready?
- Yes — the sandbox is live: one call, no signup, a full isolated account with real API keys, and a virtual clock that fast-forwards a year of billing in minutes. When it works, claim the account and verify your business; production access is rolling out to design partners first.
Related reading
- lernaura vs Paddle
The same 5% + €0.50, but EU-sovereign rather than UK-domiciled on US-owned cloud.
- lernaura vs Stripe
With Stripe you are still the merchant of record — you register for VAT, file returns and carry the liability.
- What a merchant of record actually does
The legal seller-of-record role, the obligations it absorbs, and how it differs from a processor or a tax engine.