# Paydude for SaaS

URL: https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-for-saas
Type: Guide
Published: 2026-09-05 · Updated: 2026-09-05
Summary: Subscriptions and invoices carry no additional Paydude fee. What that saves on recurring revenue, and how it compounds against LTV.

**On recurring revenue, the fee you pay every month for the life of every customer compounds in a way one-off payments do not.** Subscriptions and invoices carry no additional Paydude percentage, which on a subscription business is frequently a larger difference than the headline rate.

## Summary

Recurring billing carries no extra percentage — it is not a separate product. Payment fees are 3–4% of revenue on a typical SaaS price point. They sit in cost of goods sold, so they reduce gross margin and LTV directly. The 25¢ fixed fee matters most on lower-priced plans.

## Where the fee actually lands

Payment processing is a cost of goods sold: it scales with revenue and it recurs every month a customer stays. That means it reduces gross margin, and gross margin is what determines lifetime value.

**Monthly fee on a recurring plan**

| Plan price | At 2.9% + 30¢ | At 2.6% + 25¢ | Saved per customer per year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $19 | $0.85 (4.5%) | $0.74 (3.9%) | $1.32 |
| $29 | $1.14 (3.9%) | $1.00 (3.4%) | $1.68 |
| $49 | $1.72 (3.5%) | $1.52 (3.1%) | $2.40 |
| $99 | $3.17 (3.2%) | $2.82 (2.8%) | $4.20 |

Per customer these are small numbers. Across 2,000 customers on a $29 plan, the last column is roughly $3,400 a year — and it recurs, with no acquisition work behind it.

## Why the fixed fee matters more on cheap plans

At $19 a month, a 30¢ fixed fee is 1.6% on its own. At $99 it is 0.3%. If your entry tier is low-priced — and most SaaS ladders start low — the fixed fee is where the difference between providers actually shows up.

> **It flows into LTV:** Lifetime value is built on gross margin, not revenue. A percentage point of margin recovered from payment fees raises LTV proportionally, which improves your LTV:CAC ratio and shortens CAC payback without touching pricing or acquisition.

## The other subscription cost

Failed payments are usually a larger number than the fee difference. Between 5% and 12% of subscription charges fail in a given month, mostly because cards expire or are reissued rather than because anyone decided to leave.

That is [involuntary churn](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-involuntary-churn), it is typically 20–40% of total churn, and 60–80% of it is recoverable. Worth sizing with the [failed payment revenue calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/failed-payment-revenue-calculator) before optimising anything else.

**See it on your own numbers** Enter your volume and average plan price. — [Open the calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/payment-processing-fee-calculator)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Paydude charge extra for subscriptions?

No. Subscriptions and invoices carry no additional Paydude percentage — recurring billing sits in the same API as processing rather than being a separate priced product. On a recurring-revenue business that difference is often larger than the headline rate gap.

### How much do payment fees cost a SaaS business?

Typically 3–4% of revenue on a $29–$50 monthly plan once the fixed fee is included. It sits in cost of goods sold, so it comes straight out of gross margin and therefore out of LTV.

### Does Paydude handle failed subscription payments?

The API covers subscriptions, payments and webhooks, so retry logic and dunning are things you build on top with the events the platform emits. Involuntary churn is worth measuring separately — it is usually 20–40% of total churn and far more recoverable than voluntary churn.

### Is Paydude suitable for a small SaaS?

There is no volume floor and no monthly platform fee, so rates apply from the first transaction. The one thing to know is the $5 monthly difference charge, which applies only if the account generates under $5 of processing revenue in a month.