Stripe processes the payment. We become the seller.
Stripe is the best payment processor there is — the APIs, the docs, the reliability. We're not arguing with that, and we admire the engineering.
But Stripe is a processor, not a merchant of record. With Stripe, you are the seller of record: you register for VAT across the EU and beyond, you file the returns, you carry the tax and chargeback liability. lernaura takes all of that on — from inside the EU, on EU-owned hardware.
The 30-second version
| lernaura | Stripe | |
|---|---|---|
| Headline rate | 5% + €0.50 (all-in MoR) | 2.9% + 30¢ + 0.5% tax* |
| Merchant of record | Yes — we're the seller | No — you are the seller |
| Who registers & files VAT | lernaura | You, in every jurisdiction |
| Who carries tax & chargeback liability | lernaura | You |
| EU VAT / OSS / IOSS | Collected & remitted | Calculated only; you file |
| DAC7 + DSA seller verification | Included | Yours to solve |
| Company & data | Denmark, Scaleway (EU) | US company, US-owned cloud |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Creator software included | Yes, free | No |
*Stripe's own merchant-of-record product, Stripe Managed Payments, is 5% + $0.50 — the same as ours — but it's a US-operated rail. Plain Stripe plus Stripe Tax (0.5%) leaves you as the seller of record.
Where Stripe is strong
Stripe is a genuinely world-class payment processor: the cleanest API in the industry, superb documentation, deep customization, and reliability at enormous scale. If you want maximum control over checkout and billing and you have the finance capacity to be your own merchant of record, very little beats it.
We're not competing with Stripe on processing — we think it's excellent. We're competing on the thing Stripe deliberately doesn't do in its core product: take the seller-of-record role, the tax registration, the filing and the liability off your plate. And we do it from inside the EU.
Where we differ
This isn't a like-for-like on processing — it's a difference in what the rail is responsible for.
A US company
Stripe is US-headquartered, which brings your customers' data under US law — the CLOUD Act and FISA 702 — even when it sits in an EU region. lernaura is an independent Danish company under EU law.
US-owned cloud
Stripe runs on US-owned cloud infrastructure. An EU region of a US cloud is still reachable under the CLOUD Act. lernaura's database and hardware are Scaleway — French-owned, in French data centres — with no US-owned link in the chain.
Who is the seller of record
This is the real difference. With Stripe you remain the merchant of record: you register for VAT/OSS in every jurisdiction, file the returns, and carry the tax and chargeback liability. Stripe Tax (0.5%) calculates rates but does not file or take liability. lernaura becomes the legal seller, so registration, filing, remittance and liability are all ours.
The software is free
Stripe is infrastructure; you build everything around it. On lernaura the same 5% + €0.50 includes lernaura Creator — courses, community, newsletters, live — free. If your product is digital content, that's an entire stack you no longer assemble or pay 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 — CLOUD Act, Schrems, and what EU buyers will require — is on the sovereignty for SaaS page.
Pricing
On the processing line Stripe looks cheaper — roughly 2.9% + 30¢ plus 0.5% for Stripe Tax. But that number assumes you do the merchant-of-record job yourself: VAT registration across jurisdictions, filing returns, handling audits, and eating tax and chargeback liability. Price that work — a tax engine, an accountant, your own time — and the gap closes fast.
The honest like-for-like is Stripe's own MoR product, Stripe Managed Payments, at 5% + $0.50 — identical to us. At that point you're choosing between two merchant-of-record rails at the same price: one US-operated, one EU-sovereign with the creator software included.
Who each is best for
Stripe is the better pick if:
- You want maximum control and the best payment API, and you'll own checkout and billing yourself.
- You have the in-house finance capacity to be your own merchant of record across jurisdictions.
- Data sovereignty isn't a procurement requirement for your buyers.
lernaura is the better pick if:
- You want the seller-of-record role — VAT registration, filing and liability — off your plate entirely.
- You want that done from inside the EU, on EU-owned hardware, with no CLOUD Act exposure.
- You'd otherwise pay separately for the content/creator software we include free.
- You'd rather not staff a tax-and-compliance function to sell digital goods across borders.
FAQ
- Isn't Stripe already a merchant of record?
- No. With standard Stripe you are the merchant and seller of record — you register for VAT, file returns and carry the tax and chargeback liability. Stripe Tax (0.5%) calculates rates but you still file. Stripe's MoR product, Stripe Managed Payments, does take that on, at 5% + $0.50 — the same as us, but US-operated.
- Stripe has EU data centres — isn't that enough?
- An EU region of a US-owned cloud is still reachable under the US CLOUD Act, because Stripe is a US company. lernaura runs on Scaleway, a French-owned company, so there is no US-owned link in the chain.
- Stripe looks cheaper — is it?
- On the processing line, yes (~3.4% + 30¢ with Stripe Tax). But that leaves you as the seller of record, doing VAT registration, filing and liability yourself. Add a merchant-of-record layer and you're at 5% + $0.50 either way — and ours includes the creator software.
- Can I keep using Stripe for processing?
- No — payment processing is part of being your merchant of record; that's how the tax and the liability transfer cleanly. If you're on Stripe today, we map your products and subscriptions onto our rail, and your buyers keep paying the way they already do.
- 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 Lemon Squeezy
The same price from an EU company rather than a Utah one, now part of Stripe.
- 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.