payments · side by side
Lemon Squeezy vs Stripe for a Next.js app
Both fill the payments slot, so a generated repo carries one or the other, never both. Every line below is read out of the two manifests.
Short answer
Pick Lemon Squeezy if
Solo founders and small teams selling SaaS, desktop apps or digital downloads worldwide. You get checkout, tax, license keys and a customer portal on day one, with no VAT registration anywhere. Strong fit for software sold with license keys, because Lemon Squeezy issues and validates them itself.
Pick Stripe if
SaaS selling to businesses and consumers in many countries. Best when you need real invoices, dunning, proration and a tax story your accountant will accept.
Side by side
Price, obligations, and the surface each one adds. No row is written by hand. This is manifest.yaml, rendered.
| From the manifest | Option ALemon Squeezy | Option BStripe |
|---|---|---|
| In one line | Lemon Squeezy Merchant of record with license keys built in. VAT and sales tax are its problem. | Stripe Hosted Checkout, a customer portal you never build, and webhooks you test locally. |
| Pricing | Lemon Squeezy 5% + 50c per transaction, no monthly fee. Non-US payments and PayPal each add 1.5%, and subscriptions add 0.5%. Tax calculation, filing and remittance are included. | Stripe 2.9% + 30c per successful US card charge. No setup or monthly fee. Stripe Billing adds 0.7% of billing volume. Stripe Tax is extra, charged per transaction where you are registered to collect. |
| Best for | Lemon Squeezy Solo founders and small teams selling SaaS, desktop apps or digital downloads worldwide. You get checkout, tax, license keys and a customer portal on day one, with no VAT registration anywhere. Strong fit for software sold with license keys, because Lemon Squeezy issues and validates them itself. | Stripe SaaS selling to businesses and consumers in many countries. Best when you need real invoices, dunning, proration and a tax story your accountant will accept. |
| Trade-offsVerbatim from the manifest | Lemon Squeezy
| Stripe
|
| Required companionsAdded for you, with a reason | Lemon Squeezy
| Stripe
|
| Recommended alongsideSuggested, never added for you | Lemon Squeezy
| Stripe
|
| Env vars you will manageEvery one documented in docs/onboard.md | Lemon Squeezy 9 variables · 3 required
| Stripe 9 variables · 3 required
|
| Dependencies added | Lemon Squeezy
| Stripe
|
| MCP serversWritten into .mcp.json | Lemon Squeezy None. No extra agent tools from this one. | Stripe
|
| Footprint in your repo | Lemon Squeezy 13 files, plus 3 injections into shared stack files | Stripe 10 files, plus 3 injections into shared stack files |
What changes in your repo
The paths each battery contributes, diffed. A path in the third list is written by both, so swapping rewrites that file rather than adding one.
Only with Lemon Squeezy (8)
scripts/1 file
billing/1 file
- test-webhook.ts
src/7 files
app/1 file
api/1 file
webhooks/1 file
lemonsqueezy/1 file
- route.ts
lib/6 files
billing/6 files
- lemonsqueezy-fixtures.ts
- lemonsqueezy-objects.test.ts
- lemonsqueezy-objects.ts
- lemonsqueezy-provider.test.ts
- lemonsqueezy-signature.ts
- lemonsqueezy.ts
Only with Stripe (5)
src/5 files
app/1 file
api/1 file
webhooks/1 file
stripe/1 file
- route.ts
lib/4 files
billing/4 files
- stripe-objects.test.ts
- stripe-objects.ts
- stripe-provider.test.ts
- stripe.ts
Same path, different implementation (5)
scripts/3 files
billing/3 files
- prune-events.ts
- reconcile.ts
- sync-plans.ts
src/1 file
lib/1 file
billing/1 file
- provider.ts
tests/1 file
e2e/1 file
- billing-webhook.spec.ts
Shared stack files Lemon Squeezy injects into
- env-required
- legal-processors
- verify-checks
Shared stack files Stripe injects into
- env-required
- legal-processors
- verify-checks
Lemon Squeezy in your .env.local
# required
LEMONSQUEEZY_API_KEY=replace_me_with_a_test_mode_api_key
LEMONSQUEEZY_STORE_ID=replace_me_with_the_numeric_store_id
LEMONSQUEEZY_WEBHOOK_SECRET=replace_me_6_to_40_chars
# optional
BILLING_PRICE_PRO_LIFETIME=
BILLING_PRICE_PRO_MONTHLY=
BILLING_PRICE_PRO_YEARLY=
BILLING_PRICE_TEAM_MONTHLY=
BILLING_PRICE_TEAM_YEARLY=
LEMONSQUEEZY_MODE=test
Stripe in your .env.local
# required
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_replace_me
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_replace_me
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_replace_me
# optional
BILLING_PRICE_PRO_LIFETIME=
BILLING_PRICE_PRO_MONTHLY=
BILLING_PRICE_PRO_YEARLY=
BILLING_PRICE_TEAM_MONTHLY=
BILLING_PRICE_TEAM_YEARLY=
STRIPE_AUTOMATIC_TAX=false
What changes for your agents
Each battery ships rules, skills, subagents and hooks that an agent loads before it touches the code that battery owns. Picking one is also picking how your agents behave in src/lib/billing/**.
Lemon Squeezy
2
Skills
2
Rules
8
Solution docs
Rules (2)
Lemon Squeezy translates, the shared billing core writes
src/lib/billing/** · scripts/billing/**
Verify X-Signature on the raw body, and key every delivery without a delivery id
src/app/api/webhooks/lemonsqueezy/** · src/lib/billing/provider.ts · src/lib/billing/lemonsqueezy-objects.ts · src/lib/billing/lemonsqueezy-signature.ts · src/lib/billing/webhook.ts
Skills (2)
/add-plan
Add or change a plan or price on Lemon Squeezy (monthly, yearly or one-time lifetime). Edit src/lib/pricing.ts, create the variant, wire its env var, and prove checkout and the webhook end to end.
/test-webhook
Exercise the Lemon Squeezy webhook endpoint. Signed one-time purchases and refunds on localhost, forged requests, duplicates, mode and store guards, subscriptions and failed renewals.
Subagents and hooks
None of its own. The foundation agents and guard hooks still ship.
Stripe
2
Skills
4
Rules
6
Solution docs
1
MCP servers
Rules (4)
Stripe translates, the shared billing core writes the store
src/lib/billing/** · scripts/billing/**
Plans live in pricing.ts, Stripe ids live in env, amounts never come from the client
src/lib/pricing.ts · src/lib/billing/** · scripts/billing/**
Stripe objects are server-only
src/lib/billing/** · src/app/api/webhooks/stripe/** · src/app/**
Verify every Stripe webhook, keep every handler idempotent
src/app/api/webhooks/stripe/** · src/lib/billing/provider.ts · src/lib/billing/webhook.ts
Skills (2)
/add-plan
Add or change a plan or price on Stripe (monthly, yearly or one-time lifetime). Edit src/lib/pricing.ts, create the Stripe price, wire its env var, and prove checkout and the webhook end to end.
/test-webhook
Exercise the Stripe webhook endpoint locally. Forward real events with the CLI, buy a subscription and a one-time price, refund one, assert idempotency, and debug signature failures.
Subagents and hooks
None of its own. The foundation agents and guard hooks still ship.
What each one already knows
Solution docs land in docs/solutions/ in your repo and are published here, so you can read the failure modes before you commit.
Lemon Squeezy (8)
- Idempotent Lemon Squeezy webhooks when there is no delivery idLemon Squeezy signs the raw body with X-Signature, sends no event id, and retries three times. Build your own idempotency key, verify in constant time, and know what to re-read.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/idempotent-webhooks-without-a-delivery-id.md
- Lemon Squeezy license keys for desktop apps, CLIs and pluginsTurn on license keys per variant, activate and validate from the client with the public License API, and tie key expiry to the subscription. What to cache and what never to ship.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/license-keys.md
- What "merchant of record" means for your taxes on Lemon SqueezyLemon Squeezy sells to your customer and you sell to Lemon Squeezy. What that moves off your plate, what it does not, and how to show prices honestly.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/merchant-of-record-tax.md
- One-time purchases on Lemon Squeezy, from lifetime deal to refundA lifetime deal is a single-payment variant, and order_created fires for subscriptions too. How to tell them apart, find the buyer, show the purchase, and take access back on a refund.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/one-time-purchases-with-lemon-squeezy.md
- Lemon Squeezy orders, invoices and partial refunds, and what each does to accessThe first payment arrives as an order and an invoice, refunded_amount is a running total, and chargebacks send no event. How to record each once and revoke access on the right one.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/orders-invoices-and-partial-refunds.md
- Recovering from missed Lemon Squeezy webhooksThree retries over about two and a half minutes, then the event is gone. A nightly reconcile from the API, what it can and cannot rebuild, and how to fix the rows it cannot.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/recovering-from-missed-webhooks.md
- The Lemon Squeezy subscription state machine, and who keeps accesson_trial, active, past_due, unpaid, paused, cancelled, expired. Which unlock your product, how to normalize them, and the two states people get wrong.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/subscription-states-and-access.md
- Moving a Lemon Squeezy integration from test mode to live modeTest and live are separate worlds with separate keys, webhooks and variant ids. The checklist, and the silent mismatch that sells nothing.docs/solutions/lemonsqueezy/test-mode-to-live-mode.md
Stripe (6)
- Free trials in Stripe that do not leak accesstrialing is an entitled status and trial_will_end is not a payment. Where trials are configured, which events actually matter, and how to stop one person taking ten trials.docs/solutions/stripe/free-trials-that-do-not-leak.md
- Idempotent Stripe webhooks, or claim the event id before you do the workStripe delivers at least once, retries for three days and arrives out of order. An event ledger claimed before the handler runs is what stops double grants and lost updates.docs/solutions/stripe/idempotent-stripe-webhooks.md
- One-time payments with Stripe Checkout, from lifetime deal to refundA lifetime deal is a payment-mode Checkout Session, not a subscription. Which id to key it on, when it is really paid, how a receipt goes out, and how a refund or dispute takes the access back.docs/solutions/stripe/one-time-payments-with-stripe-checkout.md
- Proration when a customer changes plan, and why you should let the portal do itUpgrades, downgrades and seat changes each want different proration behaviour. What Stripe actually does, how to preview the amount, and when to build the flow yourself.docs/solutions/stripe/proration-when-plans-change.md
- Reconciling after a missed Stripe webhookA customer paid and the app does not know. How to find the gap, replay or re-sync the affected subscriptions and one-time purchases, and build a reconciliation job so the next outage is boring.docs/solutions/stripe/reconciling-a-missed-webhook.md
- Stripe Tax, and when you legally need to careWith Stripe you are the merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT are your liability. What Stripe Tax does and does not do, the thresholds that trigger obligations, and when a merchant of record is the better answer.docs/solutions/stripe/stripe-tax-and-when-you-need-it.md
Which one to pick
From meta.bestFor and meta.tradeoffs. If a claim is not in the manifest, it is not on this page.
Pick Lemon Squeezy when
Solo founders and small teams selling SaaS, desktop apps or digital downloads worldwide. You get checkout, tax, license keys and a customer portal on day one, with no VAT registration anywhere. Strong fit for software sold with license keys, because Lemon Squeezy issues and validates them itself.
And accept that(5)
- Lemon Squeezy is the seller on the statement and the invoice. Tax liability moves to it, which is the point. Your brand is not what the customer sees on their card line.
- The base rate, 5% + 50c, is above Dodo's 4% + 40c and matches Polar's free plan. Run the numbers against both before you launch.
- Owned by Stripe since 2024. In January 2026 it said its goal is an easy migration to Stripe Managed Payments. Read that plan before you build on it.
- The API cannot create products or prices. You create the variants in the dashboard;
billing:sync-planschecks them against src/lib/pricing.ts and finds their ids for you. - Webhooks carry no delivery id and retry only three times (5s, 25s, 125s). A handler that is down for three minutes loses events, so a nightly reconcile from the API ships with it.
Pick Stripe when
SaaS selling to businesses and consumers in many countries. Best when you need real invoices, dunning, proration and a tax story your accountant will accept.
And accept that(5)
- You are the merchant of record. You owe sales tax, VAT and GST yourself. Stripe Tax calculates and files, but the liability is yours. Merchant-of-record vendors (Polar, Dodo, Lemon Squeezy) take that liability, at a higher rate.
- Webhooks are mandatory. Every subscription change reaches you asynchronously, at least once and out of order. Skip idempotency and you will double-grant entitlements in production.
- Stripe is not available in every country, and some business types are not allowed. Check both before you build.
- The API is deeper than you need on day one. The failure mode is over-modelling billing before you have ten paying customers.
- The Stripe CLI's
stripe listenforwards real webhooks to localhost, so you test the full loop before you deploy.
Questions people actually ask
- Should I choose Lemon Squeezy or Stripe?
- Lemon Squeezy is best for solo founders and small teams selling SaaS, desktop apps or digital downloads worldwide. You get checkout, tax, license keys and a customer portal on day one, with no VAT registration anywhere. Strong fit for software sold with license keys, because Lemon Squeezy issues and validates them itself. Stripe is best for SaaS selling to businesses and consumers in many countries. Best when you need real invoices, dunning, proration and a tax story your accountant will accept. Both fill the payments slot, so a generated repo carries one or the other, never both.
- How much do Lemon Squeezy and Stripe cost?
- Lemon Squeezy: 5% + 50c per transaction, no monthly fee. Non-US payments and PayPal each add 1.5%, and subscriptions add 0.5%. Tax calculation, filing and remittance are included. Stripe: 2.9% + 30c per successful US card charge. No setup or monthly fee. Stripe Billing adds 0.7% of billing volume. Stripe Tax is extra, charged per transaction where you are registered to collect.
- What changes in my repo if I switch from Lemon Squeezy to Stripe?
- Lemon Squeezy writes 13 files, 9 environment variables and 2 dependencies, and installs 2 path-scoped rules, 2 skills and 8 solution docs. Stripe writes 10 files, 9 environment variables and 2 dependencies, and installs 4 path-scoped rules, 2 skills and 6 solution docs.
Decide once, then build the repo that already knows the decision.
Either way you get that choice’s rules, skills and solution docs installed, plus the guard hooks, an onboarding doc for exactly these env vars, and the Compound Engineering loop. Free and MIT.