# Crater vs Paddle

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Paddle

| Attribute | Crater | Paddle |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 49.5 (74% (medium)) | 55.4 (61% (medium)) |
| adoption.github_stars | 8,340 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Open-source web and mobile app that helps track expenses, payments, and create professional invoices and estimates. | An all-in-one payment processing and billing platform for digital product companies that manages subscriptions, invoicing, tax compliance, and payment recovery across 300+ global markets. |
| features.capabilities | `{"api_first":true,"invoicing":true,"self_hostable":true}` | `{"dunning":"smart","analytics":true,"api_first":true,"invoicing":true,"tax_handling":"native","self_hostable":false,"pricing_models":"Subscriptions, per-user, usage-based, and tiered billing","merchant_of_record":true,"subscription_billing":true}` |
| integrations.count | 3 | 3 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Plaid"},{"name":"QuickBooks"},{"name":"Xero"}]` | `[{"name":"Drift"},{"name":"HubSpot"},{"name":"Intercom"}]` |
| language.primary | PHP | - |
| license.spdx | AGPL-3.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"hqCountry":"GB","primaryMarkets":["US","GB","EU","CA"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":["US","CA","GB","EU"],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","features":["Expense tracking","Payment tracking","Invoice creation","Estimate creation"],"description":"Self-hosted open-source invoicing solution","contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free, open-source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://craterapp.com/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T20:46:46.690Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Pay-as-you-go","summary":"5% + 50¢ per Checkout transaction","features":["Global compliance","24/7 customer support","Revenue recovery","Cross-border sales tax compliance","Fraud and chargeback protection"],"components":[{"of":"transaction","kind":"percentage","plus":{"amount":0.5,"currency":"USD"},"rate":5}],"description":"Global payments and billing seamlessly unified","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Custom pricing","summary":"Custom pricing for enterprise","features":["Premium services","Success management","Custom migration services","Implementation support"],"description":"Tailored pricing for rapidly scaling and established large-scale businesses","contactSales":true}],"summary":"5% + 50¢ per transaction. No hidden fees or migration costs.","currency":"USD","freeTier":false,"sourceUrl":"https://www.paddle.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T14:12:23.793Z","billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | no |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | unknown |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 2 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/6.0.6","date":"2022-03-06T07:25:43Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/6.0.5","date":"2022-03-03T14:47:32Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/6.0.4","date":"2022-02-17T08:37:19Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/6.0.3","date":"2022-02-16T07:25:57Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/6.0.2","date":"2022-01-13T14:18:05Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/6.0.1","date":"2022-01-12T15:41:21Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/6.0.0","date":"2022-01-11T11:22:27Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/5.0.6","date":"2021-12-10T12:33:51Z","type":"stable","version":"5.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/5.0.5","date":"2021-12-09T08:16:43Z","type":"stable","version":"5.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/5.0.4","date":"2021-12-06T14:46:19Z","type":"stable","version":"5.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/5.0.3","date":"2021-12-03T15:58:23Z","type":"stable","version":"5.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/5.0.2","date":"2021-12-02T14:06:52Z","type":"stable","version":"5.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/5.0.1","date":"2021-12-01T15:44:53Z","type":"stable","version":"5.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/5.0.0","date":"2021-11-30T13:33:23Z","type":"stable","version":"5.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/4.2.0","date":"2021-06-24T08:57:19Z","type":"stable","version":"4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/4.1.0","date":"2021-05-06T09:01:16Z","type":"stable","version":"4.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/4.0.4","date":"2021-01-22T09:21:03Z","type":"stable","version":"4.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/4.0.3","date":"2020-12-31T10:26:25Z","type":"stable","version":"4.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/4.0.2","date":"2020-12-23T06:51:39Z","type":"stable","version":"4.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/crater-invoice-inc/crater/releases/tag/4.0.1","date":"2020-12-09T09:21:39Z","type":"stable","version":"4.0.1"}]` | - |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |

## Capabilities (Billing & Invoicing Software)

| Capability | Crater | Paddle |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Subscription billing | - | ✓ |
| Usage metering | - | - |
| Pricing models | - | Subscriptions, per-user, usage-based, and tiered billing |
| Invoicing & AR | ✓ | ✓ |
| Catalog management | - | - |
| **Commerce** |  |  |
| Merchant of record | - | ✓ |
| **Finance** |  |  |
| Revenue recognition | - | - |
| Tax handling | - | Native |
| **Collections** |  |  |
| Dunning | - | Smart |
| **Integrations** |  |  |
| GL / ERP sync | - | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| API-first / developer-first | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Self-hostable | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Revenue analytics | - | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:17:21.552Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*