About PayPath

What this is

PayPath helps independent developers outside the US (and other restricted regions) answer one question: “With my country and identity, which payment tools can legally get me paid in US dollars?”

Instead of scrolling through outdated Reddit threads and blog posts, you answer 3 questions and get a shortlist of viable paths — with the real total fees, whether the platform acts as Merchant of Record, and how you can actually withdraw the money to your local bank.

Where the data comes from

Each platform entry is compiled from its official pricing/legal pages and cross-checked against multiple public sources. Data lives in a single JSON file so it's easy to update.

• Data last verified: 2026-10
• Platforms tracked: 50 (22 verified, 28 need re-check)
• Fields per platform: name, accepts non-US residents, Merchant of Record, total fee, payout methods, withdrawal to China, minimum payout, local entity requirement, last verified date, official URL, one-line review.

⚠ Fields you should double-check before launch

The following platforms have at least one field marked unverified. Confirm these directly on the official site before publishing:

• Lemon Squeezy
  Mainland China is NOT on its bank payout list — route through Payoneer/Wise/WorldFirst.
  Check official site ↗
• Paddle
  Dormancy clause: account may be suspended after 6 months with no sales.
  Check official site ↗
• Whop
  Fee structure needs official verification.
  Check official site ↗
• FastSpring
  Confirmed on fastspring.com/pricing that no rates are published — you build a custom quote. Third-party sources commonly cite a baseline around 5.9% + $0.95 or an all-in around 8.9%, plus a 3.5%-5.5% FX markup, but FastSpring does not confirm any of these. Because FastSpring is the merchant of record it collects and remits VAT and sales tax, so no local entity is needed. Payout rails are bank/wire plus PayPal, so a mainland-China developer normally routes through Payoneer, WorldFirst or Wise. Payout frequency and the $100 minimum are from third-party sources only.
  Check official site ↗
• Verifone (2Checkout)
  2Checkout was rebranded under Verifone. Only the 2Monetize plan makes Verifone the merchant of record; 2Sell and 2Subscribe leave sales tax and liability with you, so check which plan you are quoted for. Sells into 200+ markets; third-party sources list roughly 50 self-serve merchant countries. Payout is bank wire or PayPal, so a mainland-China developer normally uses Payoneer, WorldFirst or Wise as the intermediate.
  Check official site ↗
• BlueSnap
  BlueSnap is a gateway and acquirer, not a merchant of record — you remain the seller and keep the sales tax obligation; its Tax Management Service (with Avalara) only calculates and files. Its official payout documentation names ACH, wire, SEPA, UK Faster Payments and Payoneer. ACH, Faster Payments and SEPA are available to merchants domiciled in Australia, Canada, the EU, Israel, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. Payoneer is offered for merchants domiciled outside the US, which is the practical route to a mainland-China bank card. Sole-proprietor onboarding is not confirmed.
  Check official site ↗
• Adyen
  Adyen's own developer docs list the countries where it supports the managed model and the essentials model, and note that sole proprietorships are only allowed in a subset of markets. Mainland China is not among them. Adyen is enterprise-oriented: sales-led onboarding, minimum volume expectations, and a signed contract. Not a practical answer for an individual indie developer in a restricted country, and there is no direct CN payout path.
  Check official site ↗
• Braintree (PayPal)
  Braintree publishes per-market fee tables, which is unusual and useful. Onboarding requires a business in a supported market; mainland China is not on the list. Secondary sources say Chinese sellers typically open via a Hong Kong or US entity, but I could not confirm this on braintreepayments.com. Not a merchant of record — you keep the tax obligation. Payout is a bank transfer to your business account, so there is no direct route to a mainland-China bank card.
  Check official site ↗
• Checkout.com
  Checkout.com's own pricing page states costs depend on the merchant's business profile and risk category, and that payment processing is free for registered charities. It is enterprise and scaling-merchant oriented with sales-led onboarding, so it is not a realistic first option for an individual indie developer. The supportedCountries array is a representative subset — third-party coverage lists 128 markets, and Checkout.com has local acquiring in 50+. One Chinese-language trade source claims Checkout.com onboards China-registered companies, which is why canWithdrawToChina is set to Needs intermediate, but I could not confirm this on checkout.com; treat it with caution.
  Check official site ↗
• Mercado Pago
  Mercado Pago is Mercado Libre's fintech arm, with 88 million monthly active users and US$101bn of quarterly payment volume as of Q2 2026. In Mexico you can start without an RFC or a bank account, which is why individuals are listed. Rates vary by market and by how long you wait for settlement — the longer you wait, the lower the rate. Not a merchant of record. Terms allow indefinite holds on suspicion of fraud and 10-day-notice changes. Only useful if you have a legal presence in one of the seven LATAM countries.
  Check official site ↗
• SendOwl
  SendOwl's own site confirms flat pricing and no per-sale percentage; tier names and exact prices come from a secondary source, so verify on sendowl.com before publishing. You connect your own Stripe or PayPal, so the real constraint is processor availability in your country. Not a merchant of record — VAT and sales tax remain yours. Funds land in your own processor, so a China-based developer still needs Payoneer or WorldFirst as the intermediate.
  Check official site ↗
• ThriveCart
  ThriveCart is a cart and funnel layer, not a payment gateway — you must connect Stripe or PayPal, so availability is a Stripe/PayPal question, not a ThriveCart question. It advertises checkout in 100+ countries and 0% fees on sales. Pricing is genuinely unclear right now: three independent 2026 sources disagree on whether the $495 lifetime deal is still listed, and thrivecart.com/pricing returned only a login page to me. Treat the price as unverified. Not a merchant of record, though Pro+ includes sales tax and VAT automation.
  Check official site ↗
• Buy Me a Coffee
  The 5% fee and the Stripe processing stack came from Buy Me a Coffee's own help centre; the 44-country Stripe payout list came from its FAQ. Historically BMC also offered a Standard Payout via Payoneer to reach 150+ countries where Stripe is unavailable, which would matter a lot for Pakistani, Vietnamese and Nigerian users, but I could only find this on an older FAQ mirror and could not confirm it is still live — verify before publishing. Not a merchant of record. No China in the Stripe payout list, so a mainland-China creator needs the Payoneer route or an intermediate.
  Check official site ↗
• Substack
  Anyone can publish on Substack for free, but turning on paid subscriptions requires Stripe support in your country. That excludes China, Pakistan, Nigeria and Vietnam. The 10% cut is reported consistently across secondary sources but I could not open Substack's own pricing page to confirm it, so it is marked unverified. Substack handles VAT on your behalf in many cases but is not a merchant of record. Payouts go to your Stripe bank account, so there is no direct China route.
  Check official site ↗
• E-junkie
  E-junkie is one of the oldest digital-delivery carts and takes no percentage of sales. Its processor list is unusually broad for a Western-hosted tool and explicitly includes Razorpay, Instamojo and Paytm, which makes it one of the few non-Indian platforms that an Indian seller can wire straight into. Plan prices are consistent across e-junkie.com and secondary sources but the site is dated, so verify. No native subscription billing, file size limits are small, and it is not a merchant of record — VAT stays with you.
  Check official site ↗
• Memberful
  Memberful's own docs confirm the flat 4.9% transaction fee and, importantly, an explicit exclusion list: because Stripe cannot collect application fees there, Memberful cannot support businesses in Brazil, India, Malaysia, Mexico or Thailand. That directly rules it out for Indian and Mexican readers. Memberful is a Patreon company but behaves differently — you connect your own Stripe account and run on your own domain. The $49/mo plan price is from a secondary source. Payout is Stripe only, so no China route.
  Check official site ↗
• Airwallex
  Fees read from Airwallex's own published Hong Kong fee schedule. Airwallex is business-only — there is no individual or freelancer account, so you need a registered company. Its differentiator for this site is that, unlike Wise or Mercury, it supports mainland-China-registered entities and can settle to domestic corporate bank accounts, which is why canWithdrawToChina is Yes; that specific China-entity claim comes from a Chinese trade source rather than airwallex.com, so verify it. Individual Chinese developers would normally open a Hong Kong entity instead.
  Check official site ↗
• Revolut
  Revolut Business requires a registered business in a country where it operates; Revolut Pro is aimed at sole traders and freelancers in supported markets and is the only route for individuals. It is not open to mainland-China-registered entities and is not a substitute for Payoneer or WorldFirst for a China-based seller. Useful for Hong Kong, Singapore and UK entities. Fee pages are per-country and change often, so confirm for your own entity. Not a merchant of record.
  Check official site ↗
• Mercury
  Mercury does not accept sole proprietorships — a US-registered LLC or corporation plus an EIN is mandatory, and the account application is submitted in the entity's name, not the founder's. Non-resident founders are welcome (there is no in-person or US-address requirement), but Mercury maintains a prohibited-countries list that secondary sources report as including Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ukraine, Croatia, Russia and Iran. Entity jurisdictions beyond the US (BVI, Cayman, UAE, Bahamas, Bermuda, Singapore, Jersey) are from secondary sources and should be confirmed. Fees are consistently reported as $0 across secondary sources but I could not verify on mercury.com.
  Check official site ↗
• Relay
  Relay's own FAQ says it serves US corporations, LLCs, general partnerships and sole proprietors, and supports business owners who are citizens and residents of over 200 countries as long as the business has a US operating presence — but it also maintains a list of excluded citizenship countries that I could not open. It is a fintech platform (banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC), not a bank. Integrates with Stripe, Square, Shopify, PayPal and Venmo for receiving. Wire fees differ between sources, so verify. A US entity is mandatory, so this is a step-two tool after incorporating.
  Check official site ↗
• PingPong
  PingPong takes no incoming or management fees and is aimed squarely at Chinese cross-border sellers — it supports mainland enterprises, individual industrial and commercial households (个体工商户) and Hong Kong companies, and settles to domestic corporate or personal bank accounts held in the legal representative's name. Secondary sources describe coverage of Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Shopee, TikTok Shop, SHEIN, TEMU, app-store and self-built-site revenue, alongside overseas VAT and supplier payments, which makes it relevant to Chinese indie app and game developers as well as e-commerce sellers. Withdrawal rates are promotional and change often, so confirm current pricing on pingpongx.com. This is a business-licence product, not an individual freelancer account.
  Check official site ↗
• Nium
  Nium is infrastructure for businesses, marketplaces, payroll providers and creator platforms — not a self-serve account an individual freelancer can open. Its own site states payouts to 190+ countries, 100+ currencies, 80%+ of payments settling in real time, 100+ instant payout corridors, bank account validation across 50+ countries, and locked FX rates across 30+ currencies. China appears in its public Nium Atlas country list, which is why canWithdrawToChina is Yes, but confirm the specific CN corridor and rails before relying on it. No public pricing; onboarding starts with a sales conversation.
  Check official site ↗
• Cleverbridge
  LOW CONFIDENCE ENTRY — the researcher was unable to open cleverbridge.com during this research. Cleverbridge is a well-known merchant of record and reseller for software and SaaS, meaning it becomes the legal seller, handles VAT and sales tax, and pays you by bank transfer, so no local entity is needed. Because payout is by wire, a mainland-China vendor would normally route through Payoneer, WorldFirst or Wise. Verify current pricing, onboarding requirements and payout rails on the official site before publishing.
  Check official site ↗
• Xsolla
  LOW CONFIDENCE ENTRY — the researcher could not open xsolla.com during this research. Xsolla is a games-oriented merchant of record and payment platform; its relevance here is that it is one of the few MoRs that supports payouts to Payoneer, PayPal, Skrill and WebMoney rather than wire only, which is why developers in countries Stripe does not serve often use it. As merchant of record it becomes the seller and handles VAT. Verify current rates, the payout rails and individual-seller eligibility on the official site before publishing.
  Check official site ↗
• Ghost
  Ghost charges 0% platform fee on all paid tiers, which is the main reason indie developers use it, but you must connect your own Stripe account in a Stripe-supported country — so China, Pakistan, Nigeria and Vietnam are excluded. Ghost handles the Stripe connection and VAT on membership payments but is not a merchant of record. Plan prices come from secondary sources and change often; verify on ghost.org/pricing. Self-hosting removes the plan fee but not the Stripe requirement.
  Check official site ↗
• Fourthwall
  Fourthwall's own FAQ states it operates as the Merchant of Record and handles sales tax nexus, collection and remittance, and that there are no monthly fees or contracts. Physical merch runs on a pass-through product-cost model; digital products and memberships carry 5%. Payouts are monthly in USD once the balance exceeds $25, through Stripe, so the platform is limited to Stripe-supported countries — not usable directly from China, Pakistan or Nigeria, though a secondary source reports a bill.com exception payout flow for some unsupported countries. It prohibits service-based offerings, coaching and downloadable software, so it is not a fit for SaaS.
  Check official site ↗
• Kajabi
  Plan prices and the 0% platform-fee policy come from secondary sources and change regularly — verify on kajabi.com/pricing before publishing. You connect your own Stripe or PayPal, so the real gate is processor availability in your country. Kajabi also offers Kajabi Payments, its own checkout layer that takes the merchant-of-record role, but that is limited to merchants in a small set of countries — verify which. Not a merchant of record on the standard setup. Funds land in your own processor, so a China-based creator still needs Payoneer or WorldFirst as the intermediate.
  Check official site ↗
• Stan Store
  LOW CONFIDENCE ENTRY — plan prices come from secondary sources and were not verified on stan.store. You connect your own Stripe or PayPal and Stan takes no percentage, so availability is really a Stripe/PayPal country question. Short-form digital products, courses and memberships only. Not a merchant of record. Funds land in your own processor, so a China-based creator still needs Payoneer or WorldFirst as the intermediate.
  Check official site ↗

Disclaimer

PayPath is an informational tool, not financial or legal advice. Payment platforms change their fees, supported countries, and terms frequently. The data here may be outdated or inaccurate. Always verify pricing, availability, tax obligations, and legal compliance directly on each platform's official website and, when needed, with a qualified accountant or lawyer in your jurisdiction.

Tech

Built with Next.js (App Router), TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. All data lives in src/data/platforms.json. No database, no accounts, no tracking. Static export — deploy anywhere.