Merchants of record · November 2026 Edition
Paddle vs Digital River
Thirteen of fourteen models named Paddle first on the direct prompt; zero named Digital River. Paddle was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Digital River by eight and Paddle carries 62 labels and Digital River 10, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in seven categories this edition.
Digital River
criticized challengerNamed in one category this edition.
First-choice share44%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate16%40%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#8A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels6210A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Paddle reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.FastSpring was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Paddle vs Creem · Paddle vs FastSpring · Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the merchants of record page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
PaddleFirst choices, of fourteen modelsDigital RiverDirect130
Paraphrase50
Comparative1201 against Digital River
Budget-constrained204 against Paddle
Scale-constrained21
Negative106 against Paddle · 3 against Digital River
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Paddle and Digital River stood in it.
| Model | DirectDR | ParaphraseDR | ComparativeDR | Budget-constrainedDR | Scale-constrainedDR | NegativeDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | ||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | DR | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | DR | | DR | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | DR | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | |||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | DR | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | | |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | DR | DR |
PaddleDR Digital River first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Paddle on the left and Digital River on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Paddle and Digital River stood in it.
Paddle first, Digital River not the choice
13 of 14 modelsDigital River was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Paddle alternatives: 2Checkout, Cleverbridge, FastSpring, PayPro Global
GPT-5.4 miniPaddle alternatives: FastSpring
Gemini 3.5 FlashFastSpring, Paddle alternatives: Adyen, Anrok, Avalara, Cleverbridge, PayPro Global, Stripe
Perplexity SonarPaddle alternatives: Cleverbridge, FastSpring
Grok 4.20Paddle alternatives: 2Checkout, Cleverbridge, FastSpring
Mistral SmallPaddle alternatives: Cleverbridge, FastSpring
DeepSeek V4 FlashPaddle alternatives: Cleverbridge, FastSpring, Nexway, PayPro Global
Llama 4 MaverickPaddle alternatives: Cleverbridge, EBizCharge, FastSpring
Qwen 3.7 FlashPaddle alternatives: Cleverbridge, FastSpring
Kimi K2Paddle alternatives: FastSpring, Nexway, PayPro Global
MiniMax M2.52Checkout, Paddle alternatives: DualEntry
GPT-6 LunaPaddle alternatives: Cleverbridge, FastSpring
Muse Glimmer 30BPaddle alternatives: Cleverbridge, DualEntry, FastSpring, Nexway
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.GLM 4.7 FlashXno first choice
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Paddle leads by forty-four points.
Paddle44%#1 of 12Digital River0%#– of 12
The full small business standing →Mid-marketThe figures above
Paddle leads by forty-two points.
Paddle44%#1 of 12Digital River2%#8 of 12
The full mid-market standing →Enterprise
Paddle leads by twenty-nine points.
Paddle31%#2 of 9Digital River2%#6 of 9
The full enterprise standing →What the models said about Paddle
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Paddle ⚠️ PROCEED WITH CAUTION ... June 2025 FTC Settlement: Paddle paid $5 million and was permanently banned from processing payments” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · hard negative
“FTC settlement in 2025 for $5 million over unfair payment practices... avoid if selling high-risk or subscription-heavy products.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · hard negative
“the FTC has targeted a merchant of record, Paddle, for unlawful payment processing and other violations” Llama 4 Maverick · negative prompt · hard negative
“Best default for scaling SaaS: Paddle, because it combines subscriptions, tax handling, invoicing, and global checkout in one system.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
“Paddle is my top recommendation for a mid-sized B2B company looking for a reseller that handles both global sales tax and payments.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Paddle is the market leader for scaling B2B SaaS companies that want transparent pricing and a comprehensive all-in-one platform.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about Digital River
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Treat as high risk until its financial and payout situation is independently clarified. A recent report alleges prolonged revenue withholding and insolvency concerns.” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · hard negative
“Digital River wound down its ecommerce and Merchant of Record business in January 2025, suspending services” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · hard negative
“The MoR has been described as falling apart with insolvency concerns.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“a MoR like Paddle or Digital River might be a good fit due to their tax and compliance expertise” Mistral Small · scale prompt · first choice
“Typically oversized for startups; implementation and commercial terms are enterprise-oriented” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · alternative
“For Enterprise/B2B Heavy Needs: Consider Nexway (Digital River) or Verifone” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Also compared
Paddle vs CreemPaddle vs FastSpringPaddle vs Lemon SqueezyPaddle vs PayPro GlobalPaddle vs CleverbridgePaddle vs 2CheckoutCreem vs Digital RiverFastSpring vs Digital RiverLemon Squeezy vs Digital RiverPayPro Global vs Digital RiverCleverbridge vs Digital River2Checkout vs Digital RiverAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full merchants of record standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.