Laravel Cashier options compared

What is Laravel Cashier

As you might know, Laravel has a great official Cashier package. It takes care of all possible billing-related tasks you can think of:

• Making payment
• Recurring payments
• Changing the payment plan
• Saving the payment method
• Changing the default payment method
• and many others.

Originally, Cashier provided an interface for Stripe only, but as of Laravel 7, Cashier supports three different payment providers – Stripe, Paddle, and Mollie. We will provide a quick comparison of those three to help you decide which one to use in your project.

Cashier + Stripe

Since Stripe was the first supported system and is also the most popular payment provider, it’s definitely the first point to look at.

Cashier supports literally everything that is included in Stripe API – from the simple billing to managing multiple subscriptions, taxes, tax exemptions, and more.

So, what are the drawbacks? 

Well, there are two. The first one is the Stripe commission. It’s really high compared to some other options. As of now, they will charge you 2.9% + 30c per transaction.

The second point should be considered if you’re not located in the US or other countries that Stripe works with. Here’s the list of all countries that Stripe currently works with.

Cashier + Paddle

While Stipe is a payment provider, Paddle takes care of more aspects. Most importantly, it allows you to sell worldwide while taking care of regional taxes. It will automatically calculate the taxes and show the price based on the client’s location. This includes state taxes in the US, VAT in European countries and other countries such as Russia, and other taxes – Paddle currently works with 170+ countries.

Technically, Cashier Paddle’s implementation is still in beta, so it’s not recommended to use it in production. However, it might be already live when you read this article.

Paddle should be your choice if you can’t work with Stripe because on the country’s limitations. Paddle works with more countries than Stripe does.

Cashier + Mollie

Mollie is only available for EU-based companies and provides similar service to Stipe having some pros and cons.

Most important advantages are phone support and Paypal integration while Stripe doesn’t have these.

What to choose between Stripe, Paddle and Mollie?

Short answer – it depends on your business location and needs. Consider Stripe if you’re based in the US, Mollie if you’re based in the EU and Paddle if you’re located in one of the countries that is not supported by any of the first two.

We’ll be glad to develop your Laravel-based app using any of the above or another payment solution.