Digital River Alternatives for 2024 Digital River Alternatives for 2024

Sep 24, 2024

There are a lot of Digital River alternatives on the market, and you may not understand what makes one particular one distinct.

It's especially important to note that Digital River is a merchant of record (MoR) that means that many payment providers might not provide the same comprehensive service you're used to from an MoR.

In this blog this post, we will cover:

The Reasons to Choose HTML0 as the Most Effective Digital River Alternative Is a Merchant of Record

If you're a fan of Digital River but aren't familiar with the term "merchant of record," you may not be aware of the many advantages are associated with one.

Let's review what an MoR is and the reasons why it's important -- if your business has one in place to make money from your SaaS software or another digital product- you probably want to make sure you continue making use of it.

 What Is a Merchant of Record?

A merchant of record (MoR) is the entity which sells the products and services that the client purchases. The company can function as its own MoR, but many opt to delegate this responsibility to a company such as Digital River or to sell products or services on behalf of their company.

The MoR is responsible for the risk of SaaS transactions on your behalf and handles everything from payment processing, to chargeback management, to the collection and payment of taxes, and even compliance with local laws and regulations. Since the MoR is accountable for any issues that arise in these 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 payment Service Service Providers ?

Payment service providers (PSPs) similar to MoRs are an intermediary between companies that wish to sell their product, and the specialized 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 payments processing, a merchant account to accept debit and credit card transactions, as well as other services.

PSPs generally also have some sort of ecommerce platform or integration capabilities (such as APIs, plugins, special integrations, etc.) to integrate their payments platform or payment gateway with your shop or site, however the options will vary.

But, payment service companies typically fall from managing risk, handling taxes, and assisting with chargebacks. If rules and regulations alter in the country or region one of the regions or countries where you sell your products, you'll have to keep up with the changes and updating your PSP procedures and your checkout to reflect those changes.

Certain PSPs could offer upgradeable payment solutions to get their services closer to the features that MoR automatically provides, however these are typically bolt-on functions which include upgrade charges. For example, Stripe comes with a fraud protection upgrade known as Radar which comes with extra costs per transaction fees.

 Grow With, an Experienced Merchant of Record

is the most prominent merchant of record for worldwide software companies, powering over a billion dollars in worldwide transactions each year.

Here's a selection of the ways we've earned that reputation.

 We've Got Decades of Experience

In 2005, the company was founded and has two decades of experience with the ability to facilitate global payments and have been a component of the SaaS scene as it's grown.

This is why our team has a deep understanding of the intricacies of selling digital goods and software, including subscription management and all of the nuances that go with it.

 We're backed by Great Investors

It's not necessary to fret about being profitable or reliable. With our years of experience as a firm, we offer security which comes from being supported by an extremely successful, top-performing and reliable investment company.

Thanks to Accel-KKR, has the funds and resources for you to expand your company's operations with online payment, while providing excellent security, privacy and corporate security governance.

 We Get Growing When You Get

Our long-standing presence in the global payment platform business has helped us grow in the past -- but that increase has occurred due to our loyal customers.

This is due to two factors that we operate on a revenue sharing model and because we're a Partner who is eager to help grow your business.

 1. Makes Money When You Make Cash

With's revenue sharing structure that we use, we earn money whenever you do. In the event that your client makes a purchase and we take a commission on the transaction.

That means that if you're not doing any business or transferring money, we're not charging you the commission.

Our team will work together with you to establish an affordable, flat-rate cost dependent on the volume of transactions as well as the time. The price includes all of our platform's features and tools.

2. Would Like to Be your Partner and Not Just Your Payments Solutions

Stardock was able to make the switch into SaaS subscriptions because of's pre-built subscription infrastructure but they were also aware of the commitments we put back into our own platform to continue developing innovative products and features.

It made Brad Sams of Stardock feel at ease in the partnership between Stardock and  the company, as he knew that we were there for the long haul. "Because the better we do, the better is going to be. It's important to ensure that everybody's winning, and that everything is aligned."

" was on that path that was a continuous investment, not just collecting the paycheck every month and doing nothing."

 -- Brad Sams, Stardock

TestDome is also pleased with the support they provide, noting that it goes from assistance with buyer issues as well as chargebacks right all the way to the top of the organization and our CEO.

 Highly-Commercialized Customer Support and Customer Succeed

The high level of support and customer service has not only been recognized by our clients, it has also been acknowledged in the business.

We don't say just that we're looking to become a partner -- we set out to prove it.

 Our Hands-On Migration Team strives for your success

Support isn't just for the first time after you've joined We want to ensure you get up and running on our payment platform as swiftly and easily as possible.

Our implementation team of hands-on extremely efficient sales engineers are experts in  the pre-built storefront for web as well as the flexible and comprehensive API, webhook functions including webhooks. They're there to help you make a seamless transition through migration and integration.

 Other Amazing Features

Here are a few more great reasons to use :

  • It will be automatically compliant with sales tax, VAT as well as privacy laws all over the world.
  • Accepts the highest most popular payment options which are accepted in more than 185 countries around the globe. It also accepts 21+ language.
  • It is possible to customize seamless pop-ups that are embedded in your website or checkout experience on your site.
  • We make it easy to give coupons, discounts, and dynamic price points for promotions.
  • It is possible to make checkout as simple as a single click with 1ClickPay.
  • There's more!

3 Other Digital River Options

These are the most common choices to look into if you're assessing Digital River competitors. Remember that none of the below options are merchants of record Therefore, you'll have to add additional services by utilizing internal resources or other vendors or 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, which allows companies to accept credit cards, debit cards, as well as mobile payments that include features such as:

  • Payment processing.
  • A customizable UI and pre-built checkout processes.
  • Simple and simple management of your subscription.
  • Invoicing online.

You may be wondering if it's an alternative for your company because it's widely used, and it may initially appear to offer less expensive prices than the retailer of record you're currently using. But that's because Stripe isn't a merchant of record.

If you're seeking to cut your transaction costs and you have the scale, expertise, time, and teams to support all the services you'll end up losing by switching from an MoR account to Stripe, it could be the best option for your business. But you'll need to cover the cost in the services you'll lose, such as tax compliance, fraud management as well as other. Stripe offers products that cover some of those needs, but they are an add-on that can increase your overall cost -therefore any initial savings may quickly vanish.

But, if you're planning to move to Digital River to a business that is in the same class with the features and security that MoR offers, Stripe probably isn't the right 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 bills itself as an "end-to-end payments, data, and financial management all in a single solution." The solutions it offers for payments as well as financial services come with options and services like:

  • In-person and online payments in one system.
  • Revenue optimization with intelligent payment routing that improves conversion rates.
  • Subscription management features like dunning automation.
  • The management of risk includes fraud detection and prevention.

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

PayPal is a great option 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 a well-known online account for making personal online transactions However, they also offer an option to process payments for small business. PayPal for Business is both an in-person as well as electronic commerce solution.

(SaaS businesses that use it can accept payments through PayPal.)

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

  • Integrations built-in to major online shopping carts (such like Shopify).
  • QR code and POS devices and QR code.
  • 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 Do I Help?

Do you require a registered merchant that can help expand your international business? It is a complete, integrated payments solution that works to SaaS, software, video gaming, as well as other businesses that sell digital products.

Our services include the calculation of sales tax and VAT collections, remittance, and VAT calculation Localization of payments; Regulation compliance; award winning consumer support; and so many more!

Katie Stephan

Katie Stephan   Katie Stephan is the Senior Content Strategist for . Alongside her years of experience in the field as well, she holds acquired an MFA in non-fiction creative writing and has been a part of her local communities as a writing professor at a local college.