Lemon Squeezy
Lemon Squeezy
Role
International billing for non-Indian buyers. Geo-detected at checkout: India routes to Razorpay, everything else routes here. Lemon Squeezy is merchant-of-record (MoR) — they collect, remit, and file VAT / GST / US-state sales tax on our behalf, which is the only tractable way for a sole-proprietor with no entity to sell software internationally.
Methods supported
Credit + debit cards (Visa / Mastercard / Amex / Discover / JCB), Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal (via Lemon Squeezy account, not required of the buyer). No card-on-file required for one-off license-key purchases.
Free tier
- No setup, no monthly platform fee
- Pay-per-transaction (5% + 50¢ per charge — includes the MoR fee)
- Free dashboard, free webhooks, free test-mode
The MoR fee is bundled into the 5% — they handle VAT registration, quarterly filing, and reverse-charge invoicing. For an Indian sole proprietor with no foreign tax presence, this fee is cheaper than the accountant-time it replaces.
Card / subscription required?
NO to use the dashboard or test mode. Onboarding needs only business name, bank account / Wise / Payoneer for payouts, and a tax-residency declaration. No card on file from us; their cut is withheld at settlement.
Alternatives
- Stripe (fallback if LS rejects the merchant — but no MoR, we'd owe VAT/GST filing ourselves)
- Paddle (MoR, similar story to LS, slightly higher fees)
- Razorpay International (still routes through India settlement — worse FX + slower payouts)
Swap cost
Medium — the webhook handler in the Hono Worker is wrapped behind a
@chirag127/billing-lemon-squeezy package (planned). Swap = re-impl
webhook verifier + the checkout link generator.
Why this is our pick
The MoR model removes every international-tax obstacle for an Indian-resident sole proprietor. Stripe and Paddle exist as fallbacks; Razorpay International was rejected because it still books revenue into India FX (worse rates, GST exposure on cross-border digital services).