Paddle, without the US cloud underneath.
Paddle is a genuinely good merchant of record — the same 5% + 50¢ we charge, payments and tax bundled, trusted by thousands of software companies. If all you need is VAT off your plate, it works.
The difference is jurisdiction. Paddle is UK-domiciled and runs on US-owned cloud infrastructure, so the data-sovereignty question a European buyer has to answer doesn't go away. lernaura is EU-sovereign by construction — at the same price, with the creator software free on top.
The 30-second version
| lernaura | Paddle | |
|---|---|---|
| Headline rate | 5% + €0.50 | 5% + 50¢ |
| Merchant of record | Yes | Yes |
| EU VAT / OSS / IOSS | Included | Included |
| DAC7 + DSA seller verification | Included | Partial |
| Data on EU-owned hardware | Yes (Scaleway) | No (US-owned cloud) |
| Company domicile | Denmark (EU) | United Kingdom (non-EU) |
| US CLOUD Act exposure via infra | No | Yes (US cloud) |
| Creator software included | Yes, free | No |
| FX / payout surcharges | Transparent | ~1% FX, 2–3% conversion margin* |
*Paddle's advertised 5% + 50¢ doesn't include the ~1% FX spread or the 2–3% currency-conversion margin applied when your payout currency differs from the sale currency. On EUR-in / EUR-out you avoid most of it; on cross-currency it adds up.
Where Paddle is strong
Paddle is mature, well-funded and trusted by a large base of SaaS companies. The MoR model is proven, the checkout is solid, subscription billing and dunning are good, and the tax coverage is genuinely global. For a US or UK software company that just wants VAT off its plate, Paddle is a safe, boring choice — and boring is a compliment in payments.
We're not going to pretend Paddle is bad. It isn't. The case for switching isn't that Paddle fails at being a merchant of record; it's that it can't be European-sovereign, because of where it's domiciled and what it runs on — and for a growing set of EU buyers, that's now the deciding factor.
Where we differ
Same job, same price. The differences are structural — the things Paddle can't change without rebuilding.
Jurisdiction
Paddle is headquartered in London. Post-Brexit, the UK is a third country for EU data transfers, relying on an adequacy decision that is periodically reviewed and can be withdrawn. lernaura is a Danish company operating under EU law — there is no third-country bridge to maintain.
The hardware underneath
Paddle, like most of its peers, runs on US-owned hyperscaler cloud. That means the US CLOUD Act reaches the underlying infrastructure regardless of Paddle's UK domicile. 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
Selling through an EU platform increasingly means DAC7 platform-operator reporting and DSA seller verification. On lernaura both are part of the rail — handled for you, not a checkbox you chase.
The software is free
Paddle is a billing-and-tax layer; you bring your own product and front-end. On lernaura the same 5% + €0.50 also includes lernaura Creator — courses, community, newsletters, live — free. If your product is digital content, that's a large bill you simply don't pay.
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 argument — CLOUD Act, Schrems, and what "EU-sovereign" actually requires — is on the sovereignty for SaaS page.
Pricing
Identical headline: 5% + €0.50 on lernaura, 5% + 50¢ on Paddle. A fair merchant-of-record rate is a fair rate — the difference isn't the sticker.
Watch the edges, though. Paddle's rate excludes the ~1% FX spread and a 2–3% currency-conversion margin on cross-currency payouts. And on lernaura the creator software is included; on Paddle you assemble and pay for your product stack separately. The sticker is the same; what you get for it isn't.
Who each is best for
Paddle is the better pick if:
- You're a US or UK software company and EU data sovereignty isn't a procurement requirement.
- You want the most battle-tested MoR with the widest global tax coverage available today.
- You have no need for a content or creator front-end and just want billing plus tax.
lernaura is the better pick if:
- You sell to European buyers who ask where the data and the settlement actually sit.
- You want EU-owned hardware and no US-CLOUD-Act exposure — at the same price.
- You're a creator or content business that would otherwise pay for software on top.
- 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 Paddle?
- Yes — identical model. We become the legal seller, issue the invoice, collect payment, determine and remit VAT and sales tax, and handle refunds and chargebacks. The difference is jurisdiction and infrastructure, not the MoR mechanics.
- Paddle is UK, not US — why does the CLOUD Act matter?
- Because the CLOUD Act reaches US-owned cloud infrastructure regardless of the vendor's domicile, and Paddle runs on US hyperscalers. lernaura runs on Scaleway (French-owned), so there is no US-owned link in the chain for a warrant to reach.
- Is it actually the same price?
- The headline is identical: 5% + €0.50 vs 5% + 50¢. Paddle adds an FX spread (~1%) and a currency-conversion margin (2–3%) on cross-currency payouts that the headline doesn't show; we don't, and we include the creator software.
- Can I move from Paddle?
- Yes. We map your products, prices and subscriptions and run them on 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 Lemon Squeezy
The same price from an EU company rather than a Utah one, now part of Stripe.
- 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.