--- title: "WooCommerce payment gateway vs Merchant of Record · Fungies" description: "A gateway plugin leaves your store as the seller of record. Compare that with handing WooCommerce checkout to a Merchant of Record, and when each one is right." image: "https://fungies.io/og-image.jpg" canonical: "https://fungies.io/woocommerce-stripe-payment-gateway/" --- Features · WooCommerce # A gateway plugin processes the payment and leaves you everything else Installing the Stripe gateway on WooCommerce solves one problem well: cards get charged. It does not change who the seller is. Your store stays the merchant, which means the VAT registrations, the sales-tax nexus, the disputes and the plugin stack are all still yours. Whether that is the right trade depends on what you sell. [Start free](https://app.fungies.io/register) [Book a demo](https://calendly.com/duke-vuh/fungies-io-demo-clone) No upfront costs. No credit card required. Already selling with Fungies [![Leadsin.io](/logos/clients/leadsin.png)](/customer-story/hosted-checkout-solution-for-leadsin-io-a-saas-business "Leadsin.io — read the story")[![RenderAI](/logos/clients/renderai.png) ](/customer-story/helping-renderai-reduce-their-ai-saas-payment-integration-from-days-to-just-a-couple-of-minutes "RenderAI — read the story")[![SuperScale](/logos/clients/superscale.png) ](/customer-story/nimblebits-revenue-boost-with-a-web-store-solution "SuperScale — read the story")[![FreeVocals](/logos/clients/freevocals.png) ](/customer-story/freevocals-com-and-fungies-io-a-seamless-solution-for-digital-e-commerce "FreeVocals — read the story")![STATSCORE](/logos/clients/statscore.png)![SimFabric](/logos/clients/simfabric.png)![BotRix](/logos/clients/botrix.png)![Enhance AI](/logos/clients/enhance-ai.png)![The Humanize AI](/logos/clients/humanize-ai.png)![Kenerate AI](/logos/clients/kenerate.png) ![The Fungies store builder editing a storefront for digital products, with sections, styling and product listings.](/_astro/store-builder.DgzZIR39_Z2oLvWw.webp?dpl=dpl_8EZJmbvb3ugYq7WK1KgC21BX19Zp) The other route: a hosted store for the digital half of the catalogue. ## Two ways to take money on WooCommerce Gateway plugin: you are the merchant Stripe, PayPal or another provider authorises and settles. The sale is made by your business, so the tax on it is your obligation to calculate, remit and file. Gateway plugin: full control of the flow The cart, the checkout page and the order lifecycle stay inside WooCommerce, themed and extended however you like. Nothing about the buying experience is handed over. Gateway plugin: the stack is yours to run WordPress, WooCommerce, the gateway plugin, a tax extension and a subscriptions extension, each with its own release cycle and its own way of breaking. Fungies plugin: checkout handed over Our WooCommerce plugin syncs your products, sends buyers to Fungies checkout, and syncs the resulting orders back into WooCommerce. Fungies plugin: we become the seller As Merchant of Record we are the legal seller on those transactions, so VAT, GST and US sales tax are calculated, remitted and filed under our registrations. Fungies plugin: one fee, no extensions 5% + 50¢ per transaction covers processing, tax, fraud screening, refunds and chargebacks. There is no separate tax extension or subscriptions licence to buy. Negotiable once you are selling at volume. ## Deciding which one your store needs 1. 01 ### Look at what is in the catalogue Physical goods ship from somewhere and are taxed on that basis. Digital goods are taxed where the buyer is, from the first sale, in every country you sell into. 2. 02 ### Look at where your buyers are A domestic store with domestic customers has a manageable tax position. A digital product on the open internet has customers in thirty countries by the end of the first month. 3. 03 ### Decide who you want holding the liability Keeping the gateway means keeping the registrations, the returns, the audits and the disputes. Handing checkout to a Merchant of Record moves all four, at the cost of us appearing as the seller on the paperwork. 4. 04 ### Split the catalogue if that is the honest answer Many stores are mixed. Keep the gateway for the physical side, and put the downloads, licences or subscriptions through a route where the tax is somebody else's problem. ## When each answer is the right one 01 ### Keep the gateway plugin for physical goods If you ship things, a conventional gateway is the correct tool and a Merchant of Record is not. We sell digital products only — no shipping, no inventory, no fulfilment. Nothing on this page suggests replacing a working physical-goods setup. 02 ### Keep the gateway if you want to own compliance Some businesses have an accountant, existing registrations and a deliberate reason to remain the seller of record. That is a legitimate position, and a gateway plus a tax extension serves it better than we would. 03 ### Hand over checkout when the catalogue is digital Software, licences, courses, memberships and downloads generate obligations that scale with reach rather than revenue. Handing checkout to the seller of record is the point at which international sales stop adding to your compliance work. 04 ### Consider leaving WooCommerce for the digital part If the WordPress stack exists only to sell downloads, a hosted store on your own domain removes the plugins, the updates and the hosting bill along with the tax. The store builder runs before you sign up, so it is a short thing to evaluate. ## What sellers say once they have switched [★★★★★ 4.8/5 from 10 reviews on G2 →](https://www.g2.com/products/fungies-io/reviews) [Vadim Finayev Head of Growth, Leadsin.io “We work with quite a few merchants of record, but none comes close to the support and speed of implementation of Fungies. If you want a payment partner that actually gives you the feeling they want to work with you — rather than leaving you on read for three days or randomly restricting your account — you are in the right place.” Read the story →](/customer-story/hosted-checkout-solution-for-leadsin-io-a-saas-business) [David Elliott Creative Director, Freevocals.com “I researched the options and Fungies was the best fit for functionality and customisation within a store builder you can connect to your own domain. Taking a small percentage of sales, instead of charging a subscription for every environment and plugin, is refreshing.” Read the story →](/customer-story/freevocals-com-and-fungies-io-a-seamless-solution-for-digital-e-commerce) [Elnura Abdimanap Kyzy Founder, TextToVideo.bot “The platform is user-friendly, integrates easily with APIs and webhooks, and simplifies managing digital products and subscriptions. We were up and running quickly and support has been responsive throughout. Fungies is clearly tailored to the needs of SaaS businesses.” Read the story →](/customer-story/how-fungies-enabled-texttovideo-bot-to-integrate-payments-in-minutes) [Francisco Magnone Rienzi Founder, Renderai.app “Fungies has been a great partner — fast setup, competitive pricing, and real humans providing quick answers. They are constantly rolling out new features, and I am excited to see what is next.” Read the story →](/customer-story/helping-renderai-reduce-their-ai-saas-payment-integration-from-days-to-just-a-couple-of-minutes) ## WooCommerce and gateway questions ### Is there a Fungies plugin for WooCommerce? ### Can I run the Stripe gateway and Fungies at the same time? ### What actually changes for the buyer? ### Does this handle VAT better than a tax extension? ### How do the costs compare? Checkout ## The three ways to put a payment surface in front of a buyer. - [Hosted Checkout →](/hosted-checkout) - [Best Checkout Integration →](/best-checkout-integration) ## Work out which half of your catalogue this applies to Install the plugin to keep WooCommerce and move the tax, or open the store builder and see what the digital side looks like without WordPress underneath it. [Start free](https://app.fungies.io/register) [Book a demo](https://calendly.com/duke-vuh/fungies-io-demo-clone) No upfront costs. No credit card required. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://fungies.io/#organization","name":"Fungies","legalName":"Fungies Inc.","url":"https://fungies.io/","description":"Merchant of Record for SaaS, games, and digital products. Fungies handles global payments, VAT and sales tax, and checkout. 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Fungies handles global payments, VAT and sales tax, and checkout. Free to start, commission only.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://fungies.io/#organization"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://fungies.io/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WooCommerce payment gateway vs Merchant of Record","item":"https://fungies.io/woocommerce-stripe-payment-gateway"}]},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Is there a Fungies plugin for WooCommerce?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, published on the WordPress plugin directory. It syncs your products to Fungies, hands checkout to us, and syncs orders back so WooCommerce stays the place you look at your store."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can I run the Stripe gateway and Fungies at the same time?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"That is a reasonable setup for a mixed catalogue: the gateway for physical products where you remain the merchant, and Fungies for the digital products where you would rather not be. They are answering different questions."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What actually changes for the buyer?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"They complete payment on our checkout rather than the native WooCommerce one. The descriptor on their statement is one you set, and the invoice names us as the seller of record because that is what makes the tax ours."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does this handle VAT better than a tax extension?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It is a different thing rather than a better version of the same thing. A tax extension calculates a rate for you to remit. As Merchant of Record we hold the registrations, remit the money and file the returns, including the audits."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do the costs compare?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A gateway rate looks lower because it buys less. Ours is 5% + 50¢ covering processing, tax filing, fraud screening and chargebacks with no monthly fee. The comparison pages set the published numbers side by side, including the add-ons a gateway needs before it does the same job."}}]}]} ```