Comparison · Updated November 2, 2026
Xsolla vs Paddle (Merchant of Record)
Xsolla
B-
Xsolla is a merchant of record built specifically for video games, founded in Perm, Russia in 2005 as 2Pay by Aleksandr Agapitov, renamed Xsolla in 2011 and headquartered in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles since the company moved to California in 2010. It becomes the legal seller of your game or in-game item, which transfers sales tax, VAT, fraud loss and chargeback liability off the developer and onto Xsolla, and it is the dominant option for direct-to-player web shops that route around the 30% mobile app store cut. Its marketing describes a revenue share as low as 5%, with over 1,000 payment methods across 200-plus markets, 130-plus currencies and 25-plus languages. It publishes no full rate card, and its recent corporate history — a 2021 mass dismissal driven by workforce analytics, six former-executive lawsuits since 2019, and a 2024 Bloomberg investigation into more than $100 million moving between company and founder accounts — deserves as much of a developer's attention as the pricing does.
Paddle
B
A London merchant of record for software, SaaS and AI companies, founded in 2012 and used by more than 6,000 digital product businesses by its own July 2025 count. It publishes one flat price — 5% + 50¢ — and in exchange becomes the legal seller of your product, taking on global sales tax and VAT registration, filing and liability. That is a real transfer of risk, and it is expensive: roughly double a card processor's rate, paid out once a month rather than daily.
VS
Overview
Xsolla and Paddle both act as merchant of record: they become the legal seller of your digital product, collect the money, and take on the sales tax and VAT the sale creates. We compare them for a developer selling digital goods online to buyers in many countries, using each company's own website, help centre and published terms as read on 2 November 2026. Figures are in US dollars. Paddle publishes its standard price in its Master Services Agreement (last updated 6 October 2026): 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, with payment methods, tax compliance, fraud protection and buyer support included. Xsolla publishes no rate card or standard agreement. Its Login and Anti-Fraud product pages advertise a 5% Xsolla fee with no upfront cost, and its pricing page advertised '5%', 'No upfront cost' and 'One price' as recently as January 2026. That page now redirects to a contact form. Xsolla's commercial terms, payout minimum and termination terms sit in a licensing agreement that is signed inside its Publisher Account and is not public. Xsolla was founded in Perm, Russia in 2005 as 2Pay, moved its headquarters to Los Angeles in 2010, and builds tools exclusively for the video game industry. Paddle (Paddle.com Market Ltd) is a London company founded in 2012 that sells to software, SaaS, app and game businesses. Both pay out monthly.
Key Takeaways
- ✓It depends on what you sell. Xsolla builds only for video games, with a web shop and a US Buy Button for routing mobile players off the app stores. Paddle serves software, SaaS and app companies, and also sells to games.
- ✓Paddle's price is in its contract: 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, with payment methods, tax, fraud protection and buyer support included. Xsolla advertises a 5% fee on its product pages but publishes no rate card, and its payment webhook lists the payment-method fee as a separate item from the Xsolla fee.
- ✓Both pay monthly. Paddle pays by the 15th of the following month once your balance passes a threshold you set from $100 to $100,000. Xsolla pays on a date set in your contract once you reach a minimum that it does not publish, and it does not pay early.
- ✓Paddle's agreement has no minimum term and lets either side end it on 30 days' written notice, though it can hold funds for six months or more after termination. Xsolla does not publish its contract length or notice terms.
- ✓Xsolla says it covers 130+ currencies and 1,000+ payment methods. Paddle says 30+ local currencies and does not publish a payment-method count.
Xsolla
Xsolla suits a game studio or publisher selling in-game items, currency or game keys to players around the world, especially a mobile studio building a web shop to move purchases off the app stores. Get the total effective rate, including payment-method fees, plus the payout minimum and exit terms in writing before you integrate, because none of them is published.
Paddle
Paddle suits a software, SaaS, AI or app company that wants a merchant of record with its price and terms on its website: 5% + 50¢, no monthly fee, no minimum term and 30 days' notice to leave. Plan for monthly payouts, currency-conversion margins of 2% to 3%, and the 50¢ fixed fee on low-priced items.
The Verdict
It Depends on Your Needs
Why?
Choose by what you sell. Xsolla is built only for video games and says it covers far more local currencies (130+ against Paddle's 30+) and 1,000+ payment methods, which matters for players in markets where cards are not the norm. Paddle sells to software, SaaS and app companies as well as games, and publishes the things Xsolla keeps in private contracts: its fee, what the fee includes, its payout minimum, a 30-day notice period and no minimum term. A game studio should get Xsolla's total effective rate and payout terms in writing and compare them with Paddle's published 5% + 50¢.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Pricing (as read 2 November 2026)
| Feature | Xsolla | Paddle |
|---|---|---|
| Headline transaction fee | 5% (advertised) | 5% + 50¢ |
| Paddle's figure is clause 3.2(i) of its Master Services Agreement (Paddle Checkout: 5% of the sale price plus $0.50) and its pricing page. Invoiced sales paid by bank transfer are 3.5%. Paddle asks sellers of products under $10 to contact it for bespoke pricing, and may apply an 'Alternative Discount' it communicates separately. Xsolla's 5% appears on its Login page ('only a 5% fee for transactions') and Anti-Fraud page ('5% Xsolla fee'). Its pricing page advertised '5%', 'No upfront cost' and 'One price' in a 14 January 2026 archive copy (the last capture) and now redirects to a contact form. Xsolla's terms are set in a licensing agreement that is not public, so its 5% is an advertised figure, not a published rate card. | ||
| Payment-method costs | Separate line item | Included |
| Paddle's pricing FAQ says there is no additional cost for providing additional payment methods. Xsolla's payment webhook reports the 'Xsolla fee' and the 'payment system fee' as separate items, alongside repatriation costs and direct withholding tax. Xsolla does not publish what the payment-method fee is for any method. Its archived January 2026 pricing page said Xsolla would 'process all payment fees' for card transactions, so ask how your contract treats them. | ||
| Setup or monthly fee | No upfront cost | None |
| Paddle: 'No monthly fees, migration fees, or hidden extras.' Xsolla's Login and Anti-Fraud pages say 'No upfront costs'. It publishes no statement on monthly fees. | ||
Headline transaction fee
Xsolla
5% (advertised)
Paddle
5% + 50¢
Paddle's figure is clause 3.2(i) of its Master Services Agreement (Paddle Checkout: 5% of the sale price plus $0.50) and its pricing page. Invoiced sales paid by bank transfer are 3.5%. Paddle asks sellers of products under $10 to contact it for bespoke pricing, and may apply an 'Alternative Discount' it communicates separately. Xsolla's 5% appears on its Login page ('only a 5% fee for transactions') and Anti-Fraud page ('5% Xsolla fee'). Its pricing page advertised '5%', 'No upfront cost' and 'One price' in a 14 January 2026 archive copy (the last capture) and now redirects to a contact form. Xsolla's terms are set in a licensing agreement that is not public, so its 5% is an advertised figure, not a published rate card.
Payment-method costs
Xsolla
Separate line item
Paddle
Included
Paddle's pricing FAQ says there is no additional cost for providing additional payment methods. Xsolla's payment webhook reports the 'Xsolla fee' and the 'payment system fee' as separate items, alongside repatriation costs and direct withholding tax. Xsolla does not publish what the payment-method fee is for any method. Its archived January 2026 pricing page said Xsolla would 'process all payment fees' for card transactions, so ask how your contract treats them.
Setup or monthly fee
Xsolla
No upfront cost
Paddle
None
Paddle: 'No monthly fees, migration fees, or hidden extras.' Xsolla's Login and Anti-Fraud pages say 'No upfront costs'. It publishes no statement on monthly fees.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
Mobile game studio moving in-app purchases to a web shop
Recommended
Xsolla
Xsolla's Web Shop, catalogue tools and US Buy Button are built for moving mobile players' purchases off the app stores, and its checkout covers 130+ currencies. Paddle also offers web checkout for apps at 5% + 50¢. On low-priced items the 50¢ is a large share of each sale, and Paddle asks sellers of products under $10 to contact it for bespoke pricing.
SaaS, AI or desktop software company
Recommended
Paddle
Xsolla works only with video games. Paddle is built for software and subscriptions, and its 5% + 50¢ includes subscription billing, tax compliance, fraud protection and buyer support.
Developer who wants to know the full cost and exit terms before signing
Recommended
Paddle
Paddle's contract publishes its fee, chargeback fee, currency-conversion margins, payout timing and threshold, and a 30-day notice period. Xsolla advertises a 5% fee but publishes none of the rest, which is set in a contract you see only during onboarding.
PC or web game selling to players in many countries
Recommended
Xsolla
Xsolla says its checkout reaches 200+ geographies with 1,000+ payment methods and 130+ currencies. Paddle lists 30+ local currencies. Ask Xsolla how payment-method fees are charged for your main markets, because its payment webhook lists them separately from its 5% fee.
Seller who needs frequent access to cash
Neither. Both pay monthly and neither offers early payouts. Paddle pays by the 15th of the following month. Xsolla pays on the date in your contract, once you pass a minimum it does not publish.
Xsolla: Best for 2 use cases
Paddle: Best for 2 use cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
Paddle's standard price is 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, and its pricing page says payment methods are included at no extra cost. Xsolla advertises a 5% fee on its product pages but publishes no rate card, and its payment webhook lists payment-method fees separately from the Xsolla fee. Xsolla's advertised 5% carries no fixed per-transaction amount, which matters on small purchases, but what it charges for each payment method is not published. Compare a written Xsolla quote with Paddle's 5% + 50¢ at your average transaction size.
Under its Master Services Agreement, Paddle charges up to $20, £20 or €20 per chargeback or pre-chargeback alert. When a sale is converted into your balance currency, it adds a margin of 2% to 3% over the mid-market rate. A payout in a different currency can cost up to 1.5%, and an international bank transfer costs $15. There is no monthly fee.
Both pay monthly. Paddle converts your balance on the 1st and sends it by the 15th, provided it is above the threshold you set, from $100 to $100,000. Xsolla says you generally receive your revenue share monthly, on a date set by your contract, once you pass a minimum set in that contract. It does not pay out early.
Yes. Paddle has an online gaming payments offer and a web checkout for mobile apps. Its standard 5% + 50¢ applies unless it agrees other pricing, and its app checkout page quotes 5% + $0.50. Xsolla is built only for games and adds game-specific tools such as web shops, in-game item catalogues and player login. Paddle is the one of the two that also sells non-game software.
Paddle has no minimum term, and either side can end its agreement on 30 days' written notice. Paddle can hold back funds to cover refunds and chargebacks until six months after termination, or until the last subscription expires if that is later. Xsolla's commercial terms are in a licensing agreement signed inside its Publisher Account, and it does not publish the term or notice period.
Xsolla was founded in Perm, Russia in 2005 by Aleksandr Agapitov as 2Pay. It moved its headquarters to Los Angeles in 2010, was renamed Xsolla in 2011, and is based in Sherman Oaks, California. Paddle (Paddle.com Market Ltd) is a London company founded in 2012. Co-founder Christian Owens handed the chief executive role to Jimmy Fitzgerald in 2023.
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