Decision Engine
What are you building?
Who are your customers?
Where are your customers?
How do you charge?
What matters most to you?
Recommendation
Build on Stripe
You need the flexibility and API depth that Stripe provides.
Why this fits
- Maximum flexibility for custom billing logic and payment flows
- Best choice for B2B SaaS, usage-based pricing, and marketplaces
- Broadest API surface and integration ecosystem in payments
Trade-offs
- You own tax compliance — Stripe Tax helps but remittance is on you
- More engineering effort to build and maintain billing
- Operational complexity grows with scale
Recommendation
Use a Merchant of Record
Start with a platform that handles tax, compliance, and payments for you.
Why this fits
- Tax and compliance handled globally — no registration, no filing
- Faster time to revenue — less engineering, less ops
- Good fit for subscriptions, digital products, consumer SaaS
Trade-offs
- Less flexibility than building on Stripe directly
- Higher per-transaction fees (bundled with tax/compliance)
- Migrating away later requires rebuilding billing infrastructure
Recommendation
Stripe + supporting tools
Your situation is nuanced. Stripe as the foundation with specialised tools layered on top gives you the best balance of flexibility and coverage.
Why this fits
- Stripe provides the payment infrastructure and API foundation
- Add Chargebee or Recurly for subscription management if needed
- Add Orb or Lago for usage-based metering and consumption pricing
Trade-offs
- More moving parts — multiple vendors to integrate and maintain
- Higher total cost than a single MoR platform
- You still own tax compliance unless you add a MoR layer
No signup. No data stored. Just a recommendation.
