Lemon Squeezy vs Chargebee

Merchant of record meets subscription billing that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out when you need to handle a prorated refund. Here's our take.

Lemon Squeezy

Nice Pick

Merchant of record. They handle tax so you don't have to.

Pros

• Handles VAT/tax
• Simple setup
• Good for digital products

Cons

• Higher fees
• Less control
• Fewer features

Chargebee

Subscription billing that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out when you need to handle a prorated refund.

Pros

• Handles complex subscription logic like upgrades, downgrades, and prorations automatically
• Integrates with over 30 payment gateways and accounting tools out of the box
• Provides detailed revenue analytics and dunning management to reduce churn
• Supports global tax compliance (VAT, GST, etc.) without custom code

Cons

• Pricing tiers can get expensive as you scale, especially with add-ons
• Customization beyond their UI sometimes requires webhook hacking

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Lemon Squeezy is a payments while Chargebee is a hosting & deployment. We picked Lemon Squeezy based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Lemon Squeezy wins

Based on overall popularity. Lemon Squeezy is more widely used, but Chargebee excels in its own space.