Turn your business around with Freemius
0% for 3 months on up to $10K in sales. New customers only. Activated after migration.
Free migration and 0% platform fees for the first 3 months.
Paddle vs. Freemius: at a glance
Here’s a quick look at where each platform came from and where they’re headed next.
Paddle was founded in 2012. Backed by $318M in venture funding, it has grown into a “Revenue Delivery Platform” used by 6,000+ businesses selling digital products worldwide.
Over the years, Paddle expanded through acquisitions like DevMate (for licensing tools) and ProfitWell (for subscription analytics and churn reduction). Today it processes more than $1B in payments annually and positions itself as a one-stop shop for scaling software billing.
This growth has come with trade-offs. Long onboarding times, reports of slow or unresponsive support, and even account closures have created uncertainty for indie developers. A recent FTC settlement showed how exposed large MoRs are to regulatory pressure. As compliance scrutiny increases, companies like Paddle are becoming far more cautious, even banning entire product categories such as generative AI tools to avoid potential risk. That lower risk tolerance often hurts smaller or more innovative software makers, who can be offboarded even when their products are legitimate.
Freemius has been operating since 2014, designed by makers for makers building their businesses from the ground up. Instead of chasing every type of digital product, it focuses deeply on SaaS, desktop software, and WordPress plugins and themes.
Beyond payments and compliance, Freemius offers the building blocks of a software business: licensing, subscriptions, churn recovery, affiliate management, analytics, and marketing automation, all tightly integrated.
As a bootstrapped and independent company, Freemius sets its roadmap with direct input from thousands of developers already selling on the platform. The team does more than just build features; they help software makers with advice on pricing, packaging, and growth strategy. Essentially, a strategic extension of their business rather than just a billing tool.
What makes Freemius the best Paddle alternative
- Tools and workflows that aren’t fully optimized for indie developers or smaller software businesses
- Long onboarding processes and slow or inconsistent support
- A shift in focus toward larger SaaS clients, leaving smaller makers feeling overlooked
Freemius was built for the other part of the market: indie developers, plugin/theme shops, and micro-SaaS founders. If you’re making $10K, $20K, or $30K a month, you’re not “too small to matter” — you’re a VIP.
01
Platform fit by
business size
Paddle’s sweet spot is scale — companies with dedicated teams and millions in volume. Smaller sellers often feel sidelined, with a lengthy 1–6 week KYC process just to start and limited flexibility for plugins, desktop apps, or niche SaaS.
Freemius is a modern, developer-friendly commercial infrastructure that goes way beyond billing. It flips the model: you can start selling in minutes, and our infrastructure is purpose-built for the realities of small software teams. That means licensing, trials, renewals, cart recovery, and revenue analytics are all baked in without needing to glue tools together.
Paddle prioritizes volume. Freemius prioritizes you.
02
Support & partnership
With Paddle, many founders report waiting 5+ days for a response or never getting clear answers on account issues. It’s a transactional experience: you’re a customer in a queue.
At Freemius, support is part of the product. Our team blends technical know-how with real business insight. So, whether you’re debugging a license flow or figuring out how to price your SaaS, you’ll get help that moves your business forward.
- Avg. 24h support turnaround
- Developer-to-developer assistance
- Hands-on onboarding and migration help
- Strategic guidance on pricing, packaging, retention, and scaling
With Paddle, you get a ticket number. With Freemius, you get a partner that prioritizes your best interest.
“We’ve worked with Freemius since 2018 and it’s been a great, positive experience. Their support is amazing, and they’re always improving things.”
DeoThemes
“The team at Freemius helped us get our unique code sorted and live. We now have both the Free and Premium versions available.”
ProFeedWP
03
Community & ecosystem
Freemius surrounds you with people and opportunities:
- 1,900+ developers and makers in our Slack community
- A built-in affiliate platform with recruitment support
- Warm introductions to acquirers and investors when it’s time to scale or exit
Paddle gives you tools. Freemius gives you tools and a network.
From business size fit, to responsive support, to a thriving community — Freemius is the partner built for software makers who don’t just want to process payments, but want to grow.
Paddle vs. Freemius:
feature breakdown
Here’s how both merchant of record platforms stack up on the features that matter most to software makers like you.
| | |
|---|---|
| Bootstrapped, founder led, agile, modern solution for micro-SaaS and small software companies | Heavily VC-funded, slow and outdated corporate behemoth, focused on finances, targeting large digital businesses |
| 4.7% + gateway fees | 5% + 50¢ |
Cart abandonment recovery | +10% extra cost |
Fee doesn’t apply to tax | Charged on gross, incl. VAT/GST in more than 80 countries – effectively >5% on 50%+ of transactions |
Focused on micro-SaaS, indie hackers, and small software companies | Targets large software companies making $1M+ in monthly sales volume |
Rapid approval process (start selling in minutes) | Rigorous 1-6 weeks KYC review process Requires having a website, terms, privacy, and more just to get started. |
An average 24-hour turnaround for support tickets | Often 5–14 days; unresponsive support reported |
Affiliate Platform | |
Modern UI/UX | |
Vibrant makers community | No active sellers community or ecosystem |
Real-time analytics | |
Immediate Refund processing | Requires approval by Paddle |
Fair refund handling: fees only if dispute lost | Fees always deducted |
Transparent volume pricing | Requires negotiation to lower fees |
Exit intent pop-ups with special discounts | |
Cancelation survey with subscription recovery | |
Retention discounts | Basic retry logic; no advanced retention automation |
Offer trials without a payment method | No cardless trials supported |
Verified buyers’ reviews collection | |
Custom-branded emails & checkout | |
No account termination risk * | Reports of sudden account closures and fund holds |
* As long as you comply with our Vendor Terms, sell allowed products, and operate from one of the supported countries.
What you actually pay
Paddle advertises a flat 5% + 50¢ fee, but the real cost can be higher.
Freemius uses a simple revenue-share model that starts at 4.7% + gateway fees and decreases as you scale, without charging for hidden add-ons.
Scaling with Freemius
Freemius is built to reward growth, not penalize it. Instead of locking you into a flat percentage, our Transparent Growth Pricing model lowers your fees automatically as your revenue increases:
| Monthly gross | Progressive rev-share |
|---|---|
| 0–$50,000 | 4.7% |
| $50,000–$60,000 | 4.5% |
| $60,000–$70,000 | 4.0% |
| $70,000–$80,000 | 3.0% |
| $80,000–$90,000 | 2.0% |
| $90,000–$100,000 | 1.0% |
| $100,000 + | 0.5% |
No back-and-forth, no hidden terms, and no negotiation headaches. Transparent. Predictable. Fair.
Gateway fees (~3.5%) apply consistently, but there are no extras for essentials like affiliate sales, subscription renewals, or cart abandonment recovery.
Takeaway:
Paddle’s flat 5% + $0.50 may look simple, but it quietly penalizes growth: fees are applied on gross (including taxes) and never refunded, so your effective rate rises as you scale.
Freemius, on the other hand, gets cheaper the more you sell and lets you keep more of what you earn and plan your growth without surprises.
Start selling with Freemius today
Set up your Freemius account in minutes and, if you’re launching a SaaS or app, enjoy 0% platform fees for the first three months:
Create your account — instant approval
Moving from Paddle?
We’ll help every step.
We’ll guide your migration with hands-on support, a clear plan, and the right tools, so you can switch with no downtime, no lost revenue, and no platform fees for the first three months.
1
Export data
With guided instructions from our team
2
Set up products and plans
Pricing, subscriptions, and trials included
3
Import licenses or subscriptions
Migrated directly into Freemius
4
Launch the new checkout
Fully tested and ready to go live
5
Sync renewals
Keep customer licenses updated automatically via webhook events
6
Notify customers (optional)
Communicate changes on your own terms
FAQ:
Paddle vs. Freemius
What are the key differences between Paddle and Freemius?
Paddle is a general MoR platform focused on digital goods, while Freemius was built specifically for software makers, from SaaS & desktop apps, to WordPress plugins and themes.
Freemius includes licensing, in-app upgrades, churn recovery, and community-driven growth support out of the box. Paddle offers strong tax compliance and subscription billing but requires more dev resources or workarounds for software-specific needs.
Which platform is better for licensing and plugins?
Freemius. Paddle’s licensing features are limited and mostly inherited from its DevMate acquisition, whereas Freemius offers a fully integrated licensing engine designed for plugins, SaaS, and desktop apps. This includes automatic updates, activations, and user-friendly license management.
Does Paddle charge fees on refunds?
Is Freemius a good monetization option?
What happens if I scale beyond $1M ARR?
Who owns the customer data?
Paddle is the merchant of record and legally owns the billing relationship with customers. Freemius gives you full access to customer data, so you can build direct relationships, run marketing campaigns, and maintain ownership of your audience.