Digital River Alternatives for 2024 -

Sep 24, 2024

There's a wide array of Digital River alternatives on the market. You may not know what makes any among them distinct.

It's especially important to note that Digital River is a merchant of record (MoR), which means that some payment service providers may not include the kind of comprehensive service you're used to from an MoR.

In this article We discuss:

What makes HTML0 the best Digital River Alternative is a Merchant of Record

If you're already familiar with Digital River but aren't familiar about the phrase "merchant of record" you might not be aware of the many advantages are associated with one.

Let's review the MoR concept and why it's important to know if your company is currently using one to earn money for your SaaS software, program, or another digital product- you probably want to make sure you remain employing one.

 What Is a Merchant of Record?

A merchant of record (MoR) can be described as the company which sells the products and services to customers. The company can function as its own MoR However, many prefer to outsource that responsibility to a firm like Digital River or to sell goods and services on their behalf.

The MoR takes on the liability of SaaS transactions for you which means they take care of everything from payment processing, and chargeback management to tax collection and the remittance and the compliance of local laws and regulations. Since the MoR is responsible for problems in those areas and can resolve these issues, so that there is no need to.

Digital-commerce-reliant businesses that utilize an MoR can focus less on ecommerce and more on making great software, SaaS, video games, mobile games, or other digital goods.

What is it that makes an Merchant of Record Different From the Payment Service providers ?

Payment service providers (PSPs) as well as MoRs, serve as an intermediary between companies that wish to sell their product and the specific networks and services that are necessary on the back end for the transaction to take place. These specialized networks and products can include payment gateways processors for payment and merchant accounts to accept credit and debit card transactions, as well as other services.

PSPs typically also come with some sort of ecommerce system and/or integration capability (such such as APIs plug-ins and special integrations.) to integrate their payments platform or check-out with your online store or your website, though the choices will differ.

But, payment service companies usually stop in the middle of managing risk, handling taxes as well as assisting in chargebacks. If regulations or rules are changed within any of the areas or nations in which you market your products, you'll be accountable for keeping up with the changes and making changes to your PSP procedures and your checkout to reflect those changes.

A few PSPs might provide upgradeable payment options in order to bring their offerings closer to the features that MoR includes automatically, but they are often bolt-on features, and they will be accompanied by upgrade costs. As an example, Stripe comes with a fraud protection upgrade known as Radar however it is bundled with cost-per-transaction costs.

 Grow With, an experienced merchant of Record

is the leading merchant of record for global software companies, facilitating more than one billion dollars of global transactions per year.

Here are just a few of the ways the reputation we've built for ourselves.

 We have Decades of Expertise

In 2005, the company was founded and has over two decades of expertise in the ability to facilitate global payments and have been a component of the SaaS landscape as it has expanded.

Because of this, our team deeply understands the complexity of selling digital goods and software, including the management of subscriptions and the specific requirements that go with it.

 We're Backed By Great Investors

It's not necessary to fret about being profitable or reliable. Along with our experience, we also offer the peace of mind by being protected by a top-performing, highly respected investment company.

Thanks to Accel-KKR, has the resources and proceeds needed for you to expand your business using online payments as well as providing superior corporate, privacy, and security oversight.

 We Change When We Grow

The many years we have spent in the global payments platform industry has also enabled to grow over time However, that increase has occurred due to our loyal clients.

That's for two reasons that we operate on a revenue-sharing model, and also because we're a business Partner who is eager to help grow your business.

 1. Earns money when you make money

Thanks to 's revenue sharing structure, we make money when you complete. In the event that your client completes a purchase and we take a commission on the transaction.

If you're not doing any business, we're not charging that commission.

Our team will work together with you to establish the most affordable flat-rate price dependent on the volume of business and transaction time. The pricing includes the features of our platform and tools.

2. Wants to Be Your Business Partner. Not Your Payments Solution

Stardock was able to complete the transition into SaaS subscriptions because of's pre-built subscription infrastructure but they saw the mutual investments that we were putting in our own platform, to keep developing new features and products.

This made Brad Sams of Stardock feel confident in his partnership with Stardock  Brad Sams of Stardock, since he was able to see we were in it for the long haul. "Because the more we improve then the better it will be to do. It's important to ensure that everybody's winning, and that everything is to be aligned."

" was going down that route that was a continuous investment, not just collecting the paycheck every month, and not doing anything."

 - Brad Sams, Stardock

TestDome has been satisfied with its support and has noted that it ranges all the way from helping with issues for buyers and chargebacks through to the highest levels of our company, and even the CEO.

 Award-Winning Customer Support and Customer Retention

Our high-quality support and service has not only been recognized by our customers -- it's also being recognized in our business.

We don't say just that we want to be a partner -- we've set out to show that.

 Our Hands-On Migration Team strives for your success

Our support doesn't stop with you after you've onboarded and we're here to help you get started on our payment platform as swiftly and as easily as is possible.

Our implementation team of hands-on high-performing sales engineers are experts on  the pre-built storefront for web as well as the flexible and comprehensive API, webhook features, and more. They're there to help to make the transition seamless through migration and integration.

 Other Fantastic Features

Below are other great benefits to using :

  • You'll automatically be compliant to sales tax, VAT and privacy rules all over the world.
  • The company accepts the best ninety-eight percent of the payment methods which are accepted in more than 185 countries around the world, and in more than 21 different languages.
  • You are able to create seamless, modal or embedded pop-up checkout pages on your website.
  • It is easy for us to provide discounts, coupons, or prices that are dynamic for promotions.
  • The process of checking out can be simplified to a single click with 1ClickPay.
  • Plus much and more!

3 More Digital River Alternatives

The following options are common options to consider in the case of evaluating Digital River competitors. Be aware that none of the choices are merchants of record therefore you might need to supplement their services, either internally or with additional vendors and products.

 Stripe

Screenshot of Digital River alternative Stripe's homepage, with a colorful red, purple, and yellow background, large black text on the left, and photos of a smartphone screen and an analytics dashboard on the right.

Stripe is a well-known and trusted payment processor that lets businesses accept debit cards, credit cards, as well as mobile payments, with features such as:

  • Payment processing.
  • An UI that can be customized and built checkout processes.
  • Simple management of subscriptions.
  • Online invoicing.

It's possible that you're wondering whether this is a viable alternative to your business because it's widely used, and it may appear at first to have lower pricing than the merchant of record you're currently using. However, that's due to the fact that Stripe isn't a merchant of record.

If you're looking to lower the cost of transactions and you've got the capacity and expertise, as well as the time and teams to support all the services you'll end up losing by switching from an MoR to Stripe, this could be the right choice for your company. You'll still need to cover the cost in services lost, including taxes compliance, fraud prevention, and more. Stripe has products available to cover some of those needs however, they're an add-on that can increase your overall cost -- so any initial cost savings might quickly disappear.

If you're looking to change to Digital River to a business in the same category with the features and comfort that MoR gives, Stripe probably isn't the most suitable Digital River competitor for you.

 Adyen

Screenshot of Digital River alternative Adyen's homepage, white background with black or green text and a close-up image of a small digital device and stylus.

Adyen describes itself as "end-to-end payment, data and financial management, all within one solution." The solutions it offers for payments as well as financial services come with the following features and products:

  • In-person and online payments in the same system.
  • Optimizing revenue with smart payment routing to improve conversion rates.
  • Subscription management features like dunning automation.
  • Management of risk through fraud prevention and detection.

Even though Adyen has certain features that the merchant of record has, you will still need to manage your own company accounts and merchant accounts.

PayPal for Business

Screenshot of Digital River alternative PayPal for Business' homepage, white background with black and blue text and photos of people and digital devices.

PayPal is an incredibly well-known electronic wallet for personal online payments however, they also provide a payment processing option for small-sized businesses. PayPal for Business is both an in-person and electronic commerce solution.

(SaaS businesses that use it can process payments using PayPal.)

Other benefits of PayPal for Business include but are not limited to:

  • Built-in integrations with major online shopping carts (such as Shopify).
  • QR codes as well as POS system.
  • Invoicing.
  • Chargeback protection (only offered to business accounts with Advanced Credit and Debit Card checkout).

In addition to PayPal for Business, PayPal also has an exclusive payment processor for SaaS named Braintree.

 How Can Help

Are you looking for a reliable merchant that can help grow your business internationally? It is a complete, integrated payment system to SaaS software, video games and various many other companies that offer digital products.

Our services include the calculation of sales tax and VAT, collection, and remittance Localization of payments; Regulation compliance; award winning customer support, and lots more!

Katie Stephan

Katie Stephan   Katie Stephan is the Senior Content Strategist of . In addition to her vast experience in marketing and expertise, she also holds earned an MFA in non-fiction creative writing and has worked in the local community by teaching writing at the college level.