AI founders understand that AI has changed the way we build software. But while it's quicker than ever to launch an AI product, selling software across the globe with tax, fraud, and compliance is still a challenge.
Paddle lets you go to market as fast as you can build. It's a merchant of record platform that helps you unlock new markets, grow your revenue, and scale your business.
Companies like n8n, Relay.app, Hesse.ai, PostNitro, and Kaleido.ai use Paddle to power their business.
Key features for AI companies
Subscriptions, one-time charges, and custom items are all modeled as products and prices.
Automatically convert prices to local currencies, and set country-specific prices for key markets.
Tax, fraud, and 200+ payment methods covered for you — useful when you're shipping fast and scaling up.
Integrate quickly with the Paddle MCP server, docs MCP, agent skills, and starter kits.
Flexible pricing models
In Paddle, products and prices are flexible entities you compose into the structure you need. Products describe the items that you offer, and related prices describe how much and how often they're billed.
This means you can build common AI pricing patterns:
- Common SaaS pricing patterns, like good-better-best, per-seat, and add-on based pricing.
- Subscription plans with included quota when you want to offer a base plan with a quota baked into your provisioning logic
- Overages can be billed as one-time or non-catalog items on top of a subscription plan or zero-dollar subscription.
- Pay-as-you-go when you offer credit packs as one-time products.
- Custom enterprise deals, with manual invoicing for negotiated terms.
Paddle supports multi-product checkouts and subscriptions, so you can bundle multiple products together and bill for them together.
Metering and usage-based billing
Native usage-based billing
Usage-based billing is in early access (beta)
Include prepaid usage with subscription plans, report usage to Paddle as customers use your app, and let Paddle track each customer's balance. Apply to join the program.
With usage-based billing, you can include an allowance with a plan, like 10,000 API calls or 1 million tokens, then report usage to Paddle as customers use your app. Paddle keeps a running balance for each customer and tells you when it runs out.
It's in early access (beta). Join the program to learn more.
It works like this:
- Create a usage balance unit to describe what customers hold a balance of, like API calls.
- Create a meter to say how a usage event draws down a usage balance.
- Give customers an allowance of units as part of their subscription plans.
- Send usage events to Paddle each time a customer uses a metered feature. Paddle draws down their usage balance.
Set up usage-based billing walks through each step.
Third-party metering and billing
You can also track usage in your app using a metering library like OpenMeter, or a third-party usage billing provider, then bill for it in Paddle.
A typical workflow looks like this:
- Set up the base plan as a recurring price on whatever billing cycle you use.
- Track usage in your app. Use a metering library or track usage in your app.
- Add a custom line item to the upcoming transaction with the metered amount, unit price, and a description, or create an item for overage and bill for it.
- Paddle bills the customer at the next renewal, with the plan and the metered usage as separate line items. You can also bill for overage or usage right away, instead of waiting for the next renewal.
You can also bill purely usage-based (no base plan) by creating a zero-dollar subscription then adding items for usage each billing cycle, or sell prepaid credits as one-time products and track the balance in your app.
The pricing engine doesn't enforce a model, so you can compose what you need. For complex models, like tiered usage rates, free quotas, overage on top of included credits, you can combine the building blocks.
Build with AI
The Paddle MCP servers are the native integration point if you're building with AI tools or shipping AI features yourself.
Drop-in instructions that teach coding agents how to integrate Paddle correctly.
Build pricing, debug billing, generate reports, onboard enterprise customers — all in natural language.
Gives AI agents up-to-date Paddle knowledge — every guide, the OpenAPI spec, and SDK references.
Use both together. The docs MCP server tells the agent how Paddle works, and the Paddle MCP server lets it take actions for you.
Built for global scale
AI products are born global from day one. As a merchant of record, Paddle handles the global complexity for you:
- Tax compliance in 200+ countries without you registering for VAT, GST, or sales tax in each jurisdiction.
- 30+ currencies with automatic currency conversion and FX handling.
- Local payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, iDEAL, UPI, Pix, and more.
- Card processing routed to the best acquirer for each transaction to maximize approval rates.
Every market you'd otherwise have to register and build for is already covered, payment methods can be turned on in a couple of clicks, and you can set prices in any currency you want.
Ready to scale
Paddle comes with hybrid billing support, so you can move from subscriptions to invoices in one-click or API call, with no data duplication.
If you're landing enterprise deals early, Paddle handles the manual side:
- Automatic subscription invoicing with custom payment terms, purchase order numbers, and reconciliation handled by Paddle.
- Custom pricing per customer, depending on the deal you've signed.
- Tax-exempt billing for customers with valid VAT/GST registration numbers.
- Bank transfer payment alongside the standard card and digital wallets.
- Invoice payment links, so customers can pay directly by card or other payment method from the invoice.
You can use the Paddle MCP server to drive enterprise onboarding using natural language: paste your quote, ask the agent to set up the customer, and review the draft before the agent issues the first invoice.