In July 2024, Stripe acquired LemonSqueezy. By May 2024, Stripe had already moved to invite-only access for new Indian merchant accounts. By early 2025, Indian founders on LemonSqueezy were receiving notices of account restrictions, payout limitations, and migration requirements toward Stripe Managed Payments, a service that supports merchants in 35+ countries, with India not listed among supported merchant locations. Indian founders who had built their entire billing stack on LemonSqueezy's Merchant of Record model found themselves with live MRR, no clear migration path, and a compliance structure that had been creating unreported risks from day one. This guide is for Indian AI SaaS founders in exactly that position: evaluating what comes after LemonSqueezy, understanding why the MoR model creates specific compliance problems for Indian-incorporated businesses, and choosing the right platform for a global billing stack built from an Indian entity. Stripe acquired LemonSqueezy in July 2024. Indian merchant accounts have faced progressive restrictions since Stripe's invite-only shift in May 2024. Stripe Managed Payments, the successor product, does not currently list India among its 35+ supported merchant countries. The Merchant of Record model creates compliance problems specific to Indian-incorporated businesses: it breaks the FIRC documentation chain required for GST zero-rating on exported services, conflicts with FEMA inward remittance documentation requirements, and routes foreign exchange through a foreign entity not authorised by the RBI. Razorpay International is the lowest-cost alternative at 3% plus GST with auto-eFIRC per transaction and full RBI PA-CB licence. It is not a Merchant of Record, but for most Indian AI SaaS founders, this is an advantage, not a limitation. Dodo Payments is the most direct MoR replacement for Indian AI SaaS founders who need MoR specifically for global tax compliance. It is India-first, supports usage-based billing and credits models, and charges 4% plus $0.40 base (higher for international subscriptions). Paddle remains the most mature MoR platform at 5% plus $0.50. Creem offers the lowest MoR headline rate at 3.9% plus $0.40 but narrower country and tax coverage. A foreign entity (US LLC or Singapore Pvt Ltd) plus Stripe US is the most powerful technical option but requires FEMA Overseas Direct Investment compliance: Form FC before investment, Annual Performance Report, and FLA return to RBI annually. LemonSqueezy built its reputation on a simple premise: one platform, one fee, global tax handled. For Indian indie hackers launching AI tools, writing assistants, and API products in 2021-2023, it was the path of least resistance to global revenue. Stripe's July 2024 acquisition changed the product trajectory. LemonSqueezy is being migrated to Stripe Managed Payments. The feature velocity slowed. Some merchants reported account freezes and payout delays in 2025. And critically, Stripe's India policy, invite-
