Start with the decision most comparison sites skip: will another company be the legal seller, or will you remain the merchant?
A lower transaction rate can leave tax registration, filing, disputes, billing support, invoices, and compliance with you. We make that responsibility visible before comparing features.
Set an annual turnover and transaction shape. The chart applies each reviewed public formula and flags estimates that exclude conditional or non-universal fees.
Not included: .
Comparable fees, different jobs. MoR fees cover a broader documented responsibility set. Direct-payment rows exclude your tax, billing, support, accounting, and compliance operations.
Uses documented public, usually US assumptions. A “partial” label means the displayed total excludes named conditional or non-universal fees; it never means those fees are zero.The provider becomes the legal seller and takes on the documented transaction, indirect-tax, fraud, and billing-support responsibilities.
8 provider profiles PATH 02You remain the legal seller while a processor, wallet, gateway, acquirer, or payment platform helps move the money.
8 provider profilesStart with eligibility, narrow by business shape, compare public costs, then test a real quote against the cost and risk of moving.
Answer five questions and get a transparent five-provider research shortlist.
Build your shortlist → 02 / ELIGIBILITYSeparate seller onboarding from buyer coverage and find the first hard constraint.
Check your country → 03 / COSTSelect two to four providers and compare the same revenue and transaction scenario.
Compare costs → 04 / SWITCHNormalize a quote, price the migration, stress payout cash flow, and share the complete case.
Build the decision →A full Merchant of Record platform built primarily for software, SaaS, subscriptions, and digital products.
A developer-focused global payments platform for cards, wallets, bank methods, hosted checkout, payment links, and custom payment flows.
A developer-focused Merchant of Record for software, digital products, subscriptions, usage billing, and built-in benefits.
A buyer-wallet and checkout product for PayPal, cards, Venmo, Pay Later, and eligible alternative methods.
Decide who should contract with the buyer and carry the sale-level obligations.
Seller country, product type, buyer markets, and payment methods remove impossible choices.
Add transaction count, international cards, FX, subscriptions, refunds, disputes, and payouts.
Understand exports, payment credentials, subscriptions, history, events, and entitlements.
Follow a payment from checkout through authorization, capture, settlement, payout, refund, and possible dispute.
Read guide →foundations · 10 minute readUnderstand percentage, fixed, cross-border, FX, billing, dispute, refund, payout, and platform costs without trusting one headline rate.
Read guide →operations · 12 minute readUnderstand the operational chain from determining where a sale is taxable through registration, calculation, evidence, filing, remittance, and audit support.
Read guide →operations · 9 minute readUnderstand why recorded sales, available provider balance, and money in the bank are three different numbers.
Read guide →growth · 9 minute readBalance conversion, recurring support, geography, operational cost, fraud, refunds, and implementation complexity.
Read guide →risk · 12 minute readEvaluate data exports, payment credentials, subscriptions, event history, tax evidence, entitlements, webhooks, contracts, and cutover options.
Read guide →