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Dodo Payments vs Polar: two merchants of record compared on fees, subscriptions, payouts and currency

Dodo Payments and Polar both sell your product as merchant of record and handle sales tax and VAT. Their per-sale rates, subscription surcharge, payout costs, dispute and refund fees, currency handling, and the monthly volume at which Polar Pro becomes cheaper.

September 29, 2026 Dodo PaymentsPolarpayment gatewaymerchant of recordpayment fees
Foundlie article cover: Payments

The short answer

Dodo Payments and Polar are both merchants of record. A merchant of record is the company that legally sells your product to the buyer: it charges the card, calculates, collects and remits sales tax and VAT, and pays you what remains. Neither asks you to register for tax in your customers' countries, so the comparison comes down to cost, payouts and how each handles currency. Polar is built for developers selling software, digital products and subscriptions.

On a $100 sale paid with a US card, Dodo Payments keeps $4.40 and Polar's free Starter plan keeps $5.50, as published on 28 September 2026: a gap of $1.10 in Dodo's favour. Polar's $20-a-month Pro plan changes that once your volume is high enough. For $29 US subscriptions, Pro becomes cheaper than Dodo from about $2,857 of subscription revenue a month, before payout costs.

The deciding factors are your monthly volume and where you receive money. Polar pays out through Stripe Connect, so you must be able to receive Stripe Connect payouts in your country; Dodo pays out on its own schedule, free from $1,000.

How they differ at a glance

Dodo Payments Polar
Type Merchant of record Merchant of record for software and digital products
Standard card rate 4% + $0.40 (cards and wallets) Starter 5% + $0.50; Pro 3.8% + $0.40; Growth 3.6% + $0.35; Scale 3.4% + $0.30
International cards +1.5% +1.5% on all plans
Currency conversion Adaptive Currency: buyer pays 2–4% by default unless you absorb it Not charged to the merchant in our model
Subscriptions +0.5% No separate fee on the new plans
Sales tax / VAT Dodo calculates, collects and remits Polar calculates, collects and remits
Payouts $5 under $1,000, free from $1,000; twice a month by default once the balance is above $50 Stripe Connect at cost: $2 per month with a payout + 0.25% + $0.25 per payout; cross-border 0.25%–1%
Disputes and refunds Chargeback $30; refund $1 Dispute $15 whatever the outcome; transaction fees not returned on refunds
Monthly fee None Starter $0; Pro $20; Growth $100; Scale $400
Who can open Sellers in many countries; check Dodo's list Sellers in many countries who can receive Stripe Connect payouts

Fees on the same sale

These figures use Dodo's standard card rate and Polar's free Starter plan, as published on 28 September 2026.

Scenario Dodo Payments Polar (Starter)
$100 US card fee $4.40 / net $95.60 fee $5.50 / net $94.50
$100 intl card fee $5.90 / net $94.10 fee $7.00 / net $93.00
$100 intl card + FX fee $5.90 / net $94.10 fee $7.00 / net $93.00
$100 intl subscription fee $6.40 / net $93.60 fee $7.00 / net $93.00
$29 US subscription fee $1.71 / net $27.29 fee $1.95 / net $27.05
$29 intl subscription fee $2.15 / net $26.85 fee $2.39 / net $26.61
$1000 intl card fee $55.40 / net $944.60 fee $65.50 / net $934.50
Charge needed to net $100 (US card) $104.58 $105.79

"Intl" means a card issued outside the US. "+ FX" means the customer pays in another currency; neither Dodo nor Polar charges the merchant for conversion in our model, so those figures do not change. Dodo's subscription rows include its 0.5% subscription surcharge; Polar's new plans have none, which is why the gap is smaller on subscriptions than on one-off sales.

On Starter, Polar costs more per sale than Dodo in every row: its rate is higher in both the percentage and the fixed part. The picture changes on Polar Pro, which the next section works through. Try your own prices in the Dodo Payments fee calculator, the Polar fee calculator or the all-gateways fee comparison.

When Polar Pro becomes cheaper than Dodo

Assume a $29 monthly subscription paid with a US card, using only the published rates above.

  • Dodo charges 4% plus the 0.5% subscription surcharge, so 4.5% of $29, which is about $1.31, plus $0.40: about $1.71 per payment.
  • Polar Pro charges 3.8% of $29, which is about $1.10, plus $0.40: about $1.50 per payment, plus $20 a month for the plan.

Both charge $0.40 as the fixed part, so the difference is only in the percentage: 4.5% minus 3.8% is 0.7%, which on $29 is about $0.20 per payment. Divide the $20 plan fee by that $0.20 and you get about 98.5. At 98 subscribers Dodo is still slightly cheaper; from 99 subscribers, about $2,871 a month, Polar Pro costs less. Because the fixed fees cancel out, the same threshold holds at any subscription price: $20 divided by 0.7% is about $2,857 of monthly subscription revenue. International cards add 1.5% on both, so the crossover does not move.

For one-off sales the gap is smaller. Dodo's rate is 4% + $0.40 and Pro's is 3.8% + $0.40, a difference of 0.2%, so Pro needs about $10,000 of one-off sales a month to recover its $20.

Payouts move these thresholds up. Polar adds $2 in any month with a payout plus 0.25% + $0.25 per payout. With one domestic payout a month, and treating the payout as roughly equal to revenue (which slightly overstates it), Pro's fixed cost becomes about $22.25 and its per-dollar saving on subscriptions falls from 0.7% to about 0.45%. The crossover then sits at roughly $5,000 a month. If a cross-border payout fee applies to you (0.25% to 1%), and it reaches 0.45% or more, Pro's saving on subscriptions is used up and Dodo stays cheaper at any volume. Dodo's payouts are free from $1,000, so at these volumes its side usually adds nothing; below $1,000 each payout costs $5.

Dodo Payments in practice

Dodo Payments charges, as published on 28 September 2026 on its pricing page, 4% + $0.40 for cards and wallets, 1.5% more for international cards and 0.5% more for subscriptions. ACH Direct Debit costs 1.5%, capped at $15. There is no monthly fee.

Its Adaptive Currency feature lets buyers pay in their own currency. By default the buyer pays a 2–4% conversion fee, unless you choose to absorb it. That keeps your fee unchanged, but it raises the price a foreign buyer sees, so decide deliberately whether to absorb it.

Payouts, per the payout structure, run twice a month by default once your balance is above $50, cost $5 under $1,000 and are free from $1,000. A refund costs $1 and a chargeback costs $30, which is double Polar's dispute fee. If your product attracts disputes, that difference can matter as much as the per-sale rate.

Polar in practice

Polar's plans for organisations created from 27 May 2026 are Starter (free, 5% + $0.50), Pro ($20 a month, 3.8% + $0.40), Growth ($100 a month, 3.6% + $0.35) and Scale ($400 a month, 3.4% + $0.30). International cards add 1.5% on every plan, and the new plans charge no separate subscription fee. Polar's fees documentation also lists a legacy Early Member rate of 4% + $0.40 plus 0.5% on subscriptions, the same shape as Dodo's.

Payouts go through Stripe Connect and Polar passes the cost on: $2 in any month with a payout, 0.25% + $0.25 per payout, and 0.25% to 1% when the payout crosses borders. Disputes cost $15 whatever the outcome, and transaction fees are not returned when you refund a sale.

Polar's limits are scope and payout country. It is built for software and digital products, so confirm on its site that your product qualifies. And because payouts run through Stripe Connect, you must be able to receive Stripe Connect payouts where you are.

Who can use each one from Egypt or the Gulf

Dodo Payments and Polar both onboard sellers from many countries, and each publishes its own supported-country list; check it on the provider's site for your country before applying rather than relying on a summary. For Polar there is a second test: because it pays out through Stripe Connect, you need to be able to receive Stripe Connect payouts in your country.

A US LLC opens the US-priced setups described in this article. Foundlie forms the US LLC; each provider then decides after its own review, and approval is not guaranteed.

Which one to choose

Choose Dodo Payments if:

  • your monthly volume is below the crossover worked out above, or you sell mostly one-off products;
  • you cannot receive Stripe Connect payouts in your country, or a cross-border payout fee would apply to you;
  • you want local-currency prices for buyers, and are comfortable with the buyer paying the conversion fee or with absorbing it.

Choose Polar if:

  • you sell software or subscriptions and your volume is above the crossover, so Pro or a higher plan pays for itself;
  • disputes are a real risk for your product, since $15 per dispute is lower than Dodo's $30;
  • you can receive Stripe Connect payouts domestically.

Using both for the same product adds little, because each would be the seller for its own share of sales and you would reconcile two payout streams. It can make sense for separate products, for example Polar for a developer tool and Dodo for a product aimed at buyers who pay in their local currency.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper for a $29 monthly subscription?

On Polar's free Starter plan, Dodo is cheaper: $1.71 against $1.95 per US-card payment. On Polar Pro, Polar becomes cheaper from about 99 subscribers a month, roughly $2,857 of subscription revenue, before payout costs; with one domestic Stripe Connect payout a month, roughly $5,000.

Do both handle sales tax and VAT?

Yes. Both are merchants of record, so each is the seller on every transaction and calculates, collects and remits the tax.

Can I use Dodo Payments or Polar without a US company?

Both onboard sellers in many countries, so a company or individual outside the US may qualify; check each provider's supported-country list. For Polar you must also be able to receive Stripe Connect payouts in your country. A US LLC opens the US-priced setups described here, subject to each provider's review.

Who pays the currency conversion fee?

With Dodo's Adaptive Currency, the buyer pays a 2–4% conversion fee by default unless you choose to absorb it. Our figures include no conversion charge to the merchant for Polar; check its fees page for how it presents prices in other currencies.

Are fees refunded when I refund a customer?

Polar does not return transaction fees on refunds. Dodo charges $1 per refund; check its fee structure page for how it treats the original transaction fee.

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