Your billing provider shapes what an affiliate program can and can’t do — how conversions are attributed, whether commissions can be recurring, and who handles tax. If you’re choosing a provider (or wondering whether yours supports affiliates well), here’s how Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar compare for referral tracking.
The one thing that matters for attribution
Every affiliate program needs to match a referral click to a payment event. What differs across providers is the event you attribute against and who the “merchant of record” is.
- Stripe — you are the merchant of record. You get granular events (
checkout.session.completed, subscription lifecycle webhooks) and full control, but you handle sales tax/VAT yourself. - Paddle — Paddle is the merchant of record and handles global tax. Attribution keys off Paddle’s transaction and subscription events instead of raw Stripe objects.
- Lemon Squeezy — also merchant of record with tax handled for you; popular with indie and small SaaS. Clean webhooks for orders and subscriptions.
- Polar — developer-focused, merchant of record, strong fit for open-source and API products; modern event model.
Side-by-side
| Stripe | Paddle | Lemon Squeezy | Polar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merchant of record | You | Paddle | Lemon Squeezy | Polar |
| Handles global tax | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Recurring commissions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Full control | Global B2B/B2C | Indie SaaS | Devs / OSS |
All four can power a solid affiliate program — the trade-off is control (Stripe) vs. tax handled for you (the other three).
What to check before committing
- Does your affiliate tool support your provider natively? Many are Stripe-only. If you use Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, or Polar, confirm real support — not a workaround.
- Recurring vs. one-time — make sure conversions map to the subscription so you can pay lifetime commissions if you want to.
- Refund handling — a hold window matters more when the provider handles tax and refunds on your behalf.
Where Qanary fits
Qanary runs one attribution spine across all four providers, so switching billing (or running more than one) doesn’t mean rebuilding your affiliate program. And its pricing is usage-based, so it never takes a cut of affiliate revenue regardless of which provider you’re on — see usage-based vs revenue-share pricing. To set one up, start with the Stripe affiliate program guide — the flow is similar across providers.
FAQ
Which billing provider is best for a SaaS affiliate program?
Any of the four works. Choose Stripe for maximum control if you’ll handle tax yourself; choose Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, or Polar if you want the merchant of record to handle global tax.
Can I run recurring affiliate commissions on Paddle or Lemon Squeezy?
Yes — as long as your affiliate tool maps conversions to the provider’s subscription events, recurring commissions work the same way they do on Stripe.
What if I switch billing providers later?
If your affiliate platform supports multiple providers on one attribution spine, switching billing won’t force you to rebuild the program or lose historical attribution.
More comparisons are in the comparisons hub.