Fee comparison
Mercado Pago vs Polar fees in Colombia
Mercado Pago lists 3.29% + COP 800 + IVA with instant release, 2.99% + COP 800 at 7 days and 2.79% + COP 800 at 14 days in Colombia: COP 4,090 instant on a COP 100,000 sale. Polar charges 5% + USD 0.50, or 6.5% + USD 0.50 on non-US cards, in dollars, and pays out to sellers in Colombia: USD 5.50 or USD 7.00 on a USD 100 sale. Compare the percentages and fixed fees rather than the totals, since the currencies differ.
Read this before you rely on a number
Rates as of 2026-11-05; verify them at the source, which every row links. The figures do not include local taxes (IVA, IIBB and similar) unless a row says so, and the tool does not compute taxes. We only list a provider and country when its official page gives a clear rate.
Fee and net by provider
Polar charges in US dollars, so its rows use their own amount in USD. Nothing is converted from the local currency.
COP
| Provider | Method and money release | Published rate | Fee | You receive | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercado Pago | Checkout · released in 14 daysPlus IVA, as the source states.Pricing page · Verified 2026-11-05 | 2.79% + COP 800 | COP 3,590Lowest fee | COP 96,410 | 3.59% |
| Mercado Pago | Checkout · released in 7 daysPlus IVA, as the source states.Pricing page · Verified 2026-11-05 | 2.99% + COP 800 | COP 3,790 | COP 96,210 | 3.79% |
| Mercado Pago | Checkout · instant releasePlus IVA, as the source states.Pricing page · Verified 2026-11-05 | 3.29% + COP 800 | COP 4,090 | COP 95,910 | 4.09% |
USDPriced in USD
| Provider | Method and money release | Published rate | Fee | You receive | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polar | Starter plan · US cardPolar is the merchant of record: its fee is charged on the tax-inclusive total (its own example) and it takes on the liability for international sales taxes. Payouts add Stripe’s fees: USD 2 per month of active payouts, 0.25% + USD 0.25 per payout, and 1% currency conversion outside the EU.Pricing page · Verified 2026-11-05 | 5% + USD 0.50 | USD 5.50Lowest fee | USD 94.50 | 5.5% |
| Polar | Starter plan · non-US card (5% + 1.5%)Polar is the merchant of record: its fee is charged on the tax-inclusive total (its own example) and it takes on the liability for international sales taxes. Payouts add Stripe’s fees: USD 2 per month of active payouts, 0.25% + USD 0.25 per payout, and 1% currency conversion outside the EU.Pricing page · Verified 2026-11-05 | 6.5% + USD 0.50 | USD 7.00 | USD 93.00 | 7% |
When Mercado Pago fits better
- You can wait for the money. Its percentage falls as the release term gets longer, so a longer term costs less than instant release; the table shows each term it publishes in this country.
- You sell in the local currency and want each rate published per country in that currency, with the release term spelled out.
When Polar fits better
- You sell software or digital products to buyers abroad and want a merchant of record that takes on the liability for international sales taxes.
- Your country is one where Stripe and PayPal publish no rate you can use: Polar pays out to sellers in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
Disclosure
useDeploy is our product, and it integrates some of the providers on this page. We wrote the comparison from the providers’ published rates only; the fees above do not depend on useDeploy.
- Mercado Pago: useDeploy ships Checkout Pro one-time payments with signed webhooks.
- Polar: useDeploy ships the full billing flow (checkout, customer portal, webhooks, plan sync).
About these fees
Which is cheaper in Colombia, Mercado Pago or Polar?+
On a COP 100,000 sale: Mercado Pago · Checkout · instant release: COP 4,090; Mercado Pago · Checkout · released in 7 days: COP 3,790; Mercado Pago · Checkout · released in 14 days: COP 3,590. On a USD 100.00 sale: Polar · Starter plan · US card: USD 5.50; Polar · Starter plan · non-US card (5% + 1.5%): USD 7.00. The cheaper one depends on the money-release term and on the payment method, and the figures are before taxes.
Do these rates include taxes?+
No. They are the percentages and fixed fees the providers publish, without local taxes such as IVA. A row says when its source states a tax on top.
Where do these rates come from?+
From the providers’ own pricing pages, read on 2026-11-05: https://www.mercadopago.com.co/herramientas-para-vender/check-out, https://polar.sh/docs/merchant-of-record/fees, https://polar.sh/docs/merchant-of-record/supported-countries.
Can I compare these two directly?+
Not by total: Polar charges in US dollars and the other provider in local currency, so the calculator keeps a separate amount for each and converts nothing. Compare the percentages and fixed fees, and remember that Polar is a merchant of record that takes on the liability for international sales taxes.
| Price | Founder $99 or Lifetime $199, one-time payment (no subscription) |
|---|---|
| License | Full source, commercial use, unlimited projects. Founder is a frozen snapshot; Lifetime includes every future release. |
| Stack | Next.js frontend, Express API, Bun runtime, Prisma, BetterAuth |
| Auth | BetterAuth: sessions, 2FA, magic links, password reset |
| Multi-tenancy and RBAC | Organizations with members, invitations, roles and permissions |
| Payments | Polar: full billing (checkout, customer portal, webhooks, plan sync). MercadoPago: Checkout Pro one-time payments with signed webhooks; subscriptions are not supported yet. Stripe: adapter scaffold, not charging yet. |
| Guardrails for AI agents | ESLint-enforced architecture layers, Claude Code hooks and an AGENTS.md |
| Refund | 14 days |
| Try it: free account | Sign up free and explore the dashboard: organizations, roles, billing, audit log. You buy the license from inside. https://usedeploy.dev/register |
| Docs | Documentation in English, with Spanish and Portuguese translations of the main guides |