Paddle vs Chargebee: Comparison for UK Businesses

If you’re a SaaS business owner, or work in ecommerce, game development or other sectors which often require payment processing services and support, you may have heard of both Paddle and Chargebee.

Both providers offer some payment processing support, but they each have their own niche markets - which means that the Paddle vs Chargebee winner will depend on your unique business requirements.

This guide walks through both Paddle payment and Chargebee reviews. We'll also touch on Wise Business as another alternative you may consider if you need to receive payments internationally.

Wise offers multi-currency accounts for businesses, with ways to get paid in multiple currencies using local or SWIFT account details, no ongoing fees, and mid-market rate currency conversion.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

Paddle vs Chargebee - Comparison overview

As we’ve mentioned, Paddle vs Chargebee features and fees can vary quite a bit. While they each have overlapping services, their focus isn’t the same - and nor is the way they deliver their products. Here’s an overview of Paddle vs Chargebee core features as a starting point:

What is the difference between Paddle and Chargebee?

Paddle and Chargebee have some features in common, but they’re not the same.

Chargebee excels at subscription and recurring billing services, which can be especially useful for sectors which need to recruit and retain customers, including providing ongoing ways to manage payments on a repeat basis.

Paddle works particularly well for SaaS businesses, and offers a Merchant of Record service to take care of end to end tax, legal and compliance matters for people who sell online.

So while both providers let you receive payments from customers, the right one for you may vary depending on your own business model. Here’s a more detailed look at each to help you decide.

Chargebee review

Chargebee markets itself as a subscription management service first and foremost, helping businesses which operate on a subscription or ongoing billing model ways to recruit and retain customers. It focuses on a pretty diverse range of sectors including software and SaaS, education, ecommerce, media and publishing, and OTT/video customers.

Chargebee works with different payment processing services in different countries, and recommends specific options for individual customer needs. This allows selection of the optimal processing provider for each customer.

Chargebee has various different pricing models which can suit new businesses with smaller turnovers, established companies with regular turnover of up to 80,000 GBP a month, and custom packages for businesses which may need their own unique solution.

Overall, here are some of the key Chargebee products you may be interested in:

• Subscription management - to retain customers and provide different payment methods
• Billing and invoicing - ideal for clients needing ongoing invoicing
• RevRec - GAAP compliant revenue recognition
• Payments and accounting - including integration with other tools where needed
• Reporting and analysis - delivered through interactive dashboards

Is Chargebee a payment gateway?

Chargebee is not a payment gateway - instead it works with many payment processors such as Stripe, Braintree and PayPal, allowing you to pick the one which works best for your business. Chargebee has preferred status with some specific provider which may mean you get preferential services.

Is Chargebee safe?

Chargebee is safe to use. It has 99.9% uptime, and follows all industry requirements and standards in terms of security, privacy, tax and compliance.

Chargebee pricing

The costs of Chagebee's products and services are as follows:

• Starter: No fee for first 200,000 GBP billing cumulative, then 0.75%
• Standard: 499 GBP/month for up to 80,000 GBP billing, then 0.75%
• Custom pricing available

Bear in mind that other fees may also apply which can vary depending on the payment processor you use in conjunction with Chargebee. Fees may apply for international currency conversion, chargebacks or refunds for example. These can vary so you’ll need to check out the details once you’ve decided which combination of options you’re going to use.

Paddle review

Paddle orientates its services towards Saas (Software as a service) businesses, software companies, web stores and game developers. It provides pretty comprehensive solutions on either a pay as you go or a custom package basis which means it can suit new businesses, as well as very established companies which need more complex, high volume support.

Paddle acts as the merchant of record (MOR) in transactions, and as such can help online businesses and SaaS companies manage their sales including tax and legal considerations.

Paddle’s services cover end to end requirements such as payment, billing, fraud protection, and subscription management. That means that if you run an online or software business, you don’t need to have separate providers for each of these things - just use Paddle to arrange everything for you, and keep you globally legally compliant in all your transactions.

Here’s a summary of what Paddle can offer:

• Checkout services you can embed into your website or app
• Subscription management solutions
• Tax and compliance tools and management
• Fraud protection and prevention
• Data, reporting and analysis options

Accept customer payments by card, with wallets like Apple Pay, AliPay, and by bank transfer - options depend on the transaction type. Payments can be received in multiple currencies, and while Paddle can pay out in select currencies, there may be a fee for conversion if you withdraw in a currency different to the balance you hold.

Is Paddle a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is used by online businesses to process customer card payments, and similar sorts of electronic payment like bank transfers or mobile wallet transactions.

Paddle provides payment processing services, covering online payments made by customers using credit and debit cards, mobile wallets and more.

Is Paddle payments safe?

Paddle is considered safe to use for customers in the UK with normal common sense precautions. Paddle complies with industry regulations and standards, including in fraud prevention, audit and privacy protection. In fact, one of Paddle’s products sits around fraud prevention, helping online sellers and SaaS businesses make sure they’re safe and preventing unnecessary chargebacks, costs or fraud.

Paddle pricing

Paddle offers a pay per use, all-in pricing for its core products and services, although custom pricing is also available for high volume or low value transactions. Here’s a quick summary:

Manage your international business with Wise

While you’re looking at ways to get paid by customers and clients, check out Wise Business. Wise offers a convenient, cheap and flexible option if you need to receive foreign currency payments for your business, either from customers directly or through PSPs and marketplace sites like Stripe or Amazon.

Wise offers local and SWIFT account details for select countries and currencies, so you can get paid by customers globally. Receive payments in foreign currencies, and then hold the balance in your Wise account, or withdraw to a GBP account if you’d prefer.

Wise business account can hold and exchange 40+ currencies, with no ongoing fees or subscription charges for your account - you’ll just pay a one-time account opening charge to get full feature access. When you need to convert between currencies in your account, to make a withdrawal, or to send money to others, you get the mid-market rate with low fees from 0.33%.

Need more? Wise also lets you order expense cards for you and your team, send payments globally to bank accounts in 160+ countries, and also comes with multi-user access, batch payments, accounting integrations, and access to the Wise API as a standard feature.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

Both Paddle and Chargebee are reputable and well liked companies in the UK, offering payment processing support either through their own systems or in conjunction with partner services. Which is right for you will come down to the exact services you need, your turnover and your personal preferences. Use this guide to weigh up both providers and see which may suit your needs - and don’t forget to check out Wise Business as a handy alternative for comparison.

Sources used in this article:

Sources last checked 20-Sep-2024