Lemon Squeezy Fees Explained: The 5% + 50¢ and Every Extra (2026)
Lemon Squeezy charges 5% + 50¢ per sale with no monthly fee, then adds 1.5% for buyers outside the US, 1.5% for PayPal, 0.5% on subscription payments and 5% on carts recovered by email. A $25 sale costs $1.75 to a US card and up to $2.50 to a buyer abroad paying with PayPal. Pocketsflow charges 4.7% + $0.30 on every sale: $1.48.
Every Lemon Squeezy fee in one table
These are Lemon Squeezy's own numbers from its pricing page and its fees, refunds and chargebacks docs, read November 6, 2026.
| Lemon Squeezy fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | 5% + 50¢ | Every sale |
| International | +1.5% | Buyer outside the US |
| PayPal | +1.5% | Buyer pays with PayPal |
| Subscriptions | +0.5% | Every subscription payment |
| Abandoned cart | +5% | Sale recovered by a cart email |
| Affiliate sale | +3% | Sale referred by an affiliate |
| Dispute | $15 | Each chargeback |
| Payout | 1% or 3% | Bank outside the US, or PayPal outside the US (capped at $30) |
The pricing page shows only the 5% + 50¢ and says some payments may be subject to additional fees. The extras are on Lemon Squeezy's fees page, and they stack: one payment can carry several.
What one Lemon Squeezy sale really costs
The chart prices one $25 payment on Lemon Squeezy in five common cases, next to Pocketsflow. It uses the same math as the Pocketsflow fee calculator.
| Point | Pocketsflow | Lemon Squeezy |
|---|---|---|
| US card | $1.48 | $1.75 |
| US subscription | $1.48 | $1.88 |
| Non-US card | $1.48 | $2.13 |
| Non-US subscription | $1.48 | $2.25 |
| Non-US PayPal | $1.48 | $2.50 |
Source: Lemon Squeezy pricing (lemonsqueezy.com/pricing) and fees docs (docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/fees), read November 6, 2026: 5% + 50¢, +1.5% international, +1.5% PayPal, +0.5% subscriptions. Pocketsflow pricing (www.pocketsflow.com/pricing), 4.7% + $0.30.
- US card: Lemon Squeezy $1.75 (7.0%), Pocketsflow $1.48 (5.9%).
- US subscription: Lemon Squeezy $1.88 (7.5%), Pocketsflow $1.48 (5.9%).
- Non-US card: Lemon Squeezy $2.13 (8.5%), Pocketsflow $1.48 (5.9%).
- Non-US subscription: Lemon Squeezy $2.25 (9.0%), Pocketsflow $1.48 (5.9%).
- Non-US PayPal: Lemon Squeezy $2.50 (10.0%), Pocketsflow $1.48 (5.9%).
Pocketsflow's 4.7% + $0.30 is the same for a buyer in Ohio or in Berlin, for a one-time sale or a renewal, so there is no case where the fee climbs.
Lemon Squeezy fees on subscriptions
Subscriptions pay the extra 0.5% on every renewal, and the international 1.5% applies again each month. Take 200 renewals of a $25 plan in one month, half from buyers outside the US: Lemon Squeezy takes $412.50 and Pocketsflow $295. Over a year that gap is $1,410.
Lemon Squeezy marketing, payout and dispute fees
Lemon Squeezy's abandoned cart emails take 5% more on each sale they recover, and an affiliate sale takes 3% more from you. Payouts go out twice a month: free to a US bank, 1% to a bank outside the US, and 3% (capped at $30) to a PayPal account outside the US. A chargeback costs $15 on top of the refunded amount. Email marketing is free up to 500 subscribers, then priced by subscriber count.
Taxes: Lemon Squeezy and Pocketsflow both handle them
Lemon Squeezy is a merchant of record: it calculates, collects and pays sales tax and VAT for you, and its fee is worked out on the total order, tax included. Pocketsflow is also the merchant of record and handles tax inside the 4.7% + $0.30, so tax is not a reason to pick one over the other.
What the Stripe news means for Lemon Squeezy sellers
Stripe bought Lemon Squeezy in 2024. In a January 28, 2026 post, Lemon Squeezy's CEO said Stripe is building Stripe Managed Payments, its own merchant of record product, and that the goal is to give Lemon Squeezy users an easy way to migrate to it. The post gives no date and changes no fees, and the post itself admits slower support and fewer product updates. If you would rather move once and know where you stand, Pocketsflow imports products, customers, orders and subscribers from Lemon Squeezy with an API key or CSV exports.
When Lemon Squeezy is still a good fit
Lemon Squeezy fits sellers with mostly US buyers paying by card for one-time products, where 5% + 50¢ is close to Pocketsflow, and sellers selling under $10 or at high volume who can ask Lemon Squeezy for custom pricing. Pocketsflow costs less for international buyers, PayPal and subscriptions. If you switch, our team will move your Lemon Squeezy store for you, free, on any plan. Read Pocketsflow vs Lemon Squeezy or the Lemon Squeezy alternatives.