What it does
FastSpring provides checkout and subscription tools for businesses selling software and other digital products. The company operates as a merchant of record, with seller onboarding, product delivery and payout administration around the transaction. Choose a hosted checkout, an on-page popup or an embedded form, then agree commercial terms before activating live sales.
FastSpring combines digital-product sales with the administration around them. The company says its merchant-of-record service places it in the sale to the buyer and includes transaction-tax handling. Its dashboard, APIs and webhooks connect checkout, subscription events and product delivery.
Choose the checkout format according to how it should sit on your site:
| Format | Customer experience | Integration |
|---|---|---|
| Web checkout | Opens a FastSpring-hosted purchase page | Share a link without adding checkout code |
| Popup checkout | Shows an overlay on the current site | Add the checkout script and controls |
| Embedded checkout | Places the purchase form within your page | Add the embedded integration |
A hosted checkout does not preserve a shopping cart between visits. The on-site options offer cart handling through FastSpring's Store Builder Library.
You can prepare a free test store, but live selling requires activation. Configure products and fulfillment, make sure the website's product names and prices match, and provide the relevant website policies. From the store-name menu, open Account Summary to complete the user agreement, tax profile and requested business information. FastSpring reviews onboarding and may request identity or ownership documents.
For subscriptions, the manual-renewal option lets a customer pay for another period through the account-management portal instead of automatically charging a saved method. The documented manual-renewal flow does not support prorations or managed subscriptions. Check the checkout's renewal and saved-payment settings before presenting the choice to customers.
Fees and settlement
Pricing is quoted for the business and charged through a share of sales. The public price page does not impose a minimum transaction volume, but that does not mean every low-volume account is free of other costs. Vendor terms allow an annual $150 risk-verification fee after the first year for accounts generating under $5,000 in annual gross transaction value. Ask for the applicable commercial schedule before activation.
The default payout minimum is USD 100 or its equivalent; a smaller balance carries forward. The payout guide supports USD, EUR, GBP, AUD and CAD and states a 2.5% conversion charge when store and payout currencies differ. Review Account Summary > Payout Details > Edit and make sure the payout portal uses the same selected currency. Payment frequency and any account hold should be checked against the approved arrangement.
Strengths
- Hosted, popup and embedded checkout options support different website setups.
- A test store can be configured before business verification and live activation.
- Payout controls distinguish store currency from settlement currency.
Watch out for
- Live selling requires business review and agreed commercial terms.
- The documented manual-renewal flow excludes prorations and managed subscriptions.
- Currency conversion and a conditional low-volume verification fee can add to the sales commission.
Best for
- Software and digital-product businesses combining checkout with subscriptions
- Teams integrating checkout into an existing website
- Businesses comparing merchant-of-record settlement arrangements
Sources
- FastSpring pricing and quote request (Oct 27, 2026)
- Welcome to FastSpring (Oct 27, 2026)
- Activate a FastSpring store (Oct 27, 2026)
- Choose a checkout experience (Oct 27, 2026)
- Set up manual renewal (Oct 27, 2026)
- Receive payouts and choose currencies (Oct 27, 2026)
- FastSpring vendor terms of service (Oct 27, 2026)