A paddle.net charge on your bank or credit card statement is a payment processed by Paddle, a billing company that handles transactions for thousands of software apps and digital subscriptions. Paddle appears on your statement instead of the app you actually bought because it acts as the legal seller for the software company. The charge is almost always tied to a purchase or subscription you signed up for, though occasionally it is unauthorized.
Why Paddle’s Name Appears Instead of the App
Paddle operates as a “merchant of record.” The software developer hands off billing, tax collection, and payment processing to Paddle so they don’t have to manage sales tax rules across dozens of countries themselves. Because Paddle is the entity actually charging your card, its name shows up on the statement rather than the name of the app you downloaded or subscribed to.
You buy an app called “Alfred” or “GoodNotes,” and your credit card bill reads “PADDLE.NET.” Nothing about the charge tells you what you paid for unless you check the descriptor closely or dig up the email receipt.
What the Charge Looks Like
Paddle charges don’t always appear the same way. The format depends on how the vendor configured their account and how you paid:
- PADDLE.NET* followed by a short name. This is the default for card payments when the vendor has set a custom descriptor. The name after the asterisk is usually the first ten characters of the software company’s name, so it may be truncated.
- PAYPAL *PADDLE.NET. If you paid through PayPal at checkout, this is what shows, and the vendor’s name won’t appear at all.
- Just the vendor’s abbreviated name, with no “PADDLE.NET” prefix. Some vendors use the default setting, which shows only the first ten characters of their company name.
A truncated company name like “COMPANYNAM” doesn’t mean much if you don’t remember the corporate name behind your favorite note-taking app, which is why these charges catch people off guard.
How to Identify Your Specific Purchase
Start by searching your email inbox for “Paddle,” “paddle.net,” or “order confirmed.” Paddle sends a receipt to the address used at checkout, and that receipt names the actual product you bought and the amount charged. Check spam and promotions folders too.
If no receipt turns up, go to paddle.net and use the support chat to look up the transaction. You will need the last four digits of the card that was charged, the transaction amount and currency, the date of the charge, and the email you may have used at checkout. For PayPal payments, the PayPal transaction ID or a copy of your PayPal receipt works instead.1Paddle. How to Find an Order
A common snag: if you mistyped your email during checkout, you never received a receipt in the first place. The paddle.net lookup can still match the charge using your card details, so a missing receipt alone isn’t evidence of fraud.
Recognizable apps that bill through Paddle include GoodNotes, AdGuard, CrashPlan, Leonardo AI, Letterboxd, Alfred, and MacPaw’s CleanMyMac, along with developer tools like Tailwind CSS and Laravel. That is a small slice of Paddle’s merchant base, so the charge on your statement could relate to almost any digital product.
Free Trials and Annual Renewals
The most common reason a paddle.net charge looks unfamiliar is a free trial that converted to a paid subscription. When the free period ends, Paddle automatically charges the payment method you entered at signup. Weeks or months later, the charge can look like it came out of nowhere.
Annual subscriptions produce the same surprise. A yearly license you bought twelve months ago renews on its own, and the amount may differ from the original if the vendor raised prices. The paddle.net lookup will show whether the charge is a first-time billing or a renewal.
How to Cancel or Request a Refund
Once you have identified the charge, you can cancel future billing or request a refund through paddle.net’s support chat using the same details needed for the lookup. After you select cancellation, refund, or both, the system processes the request and sends a confirmation email.
Paddle’s baseline policy is that transactions are non-refundable unless the law requires otherwise. Consumer protection laws in many countries give you an automatic refund window:
- EU, EEA, Switzerland, and the UK: a 14-day statutory right to withdraw from one-time purchases, the first payment of a new subscription, and auto-renewals of annual plans.
- Turkey and Israel: 14 days from the transaction date.
- South Korea, Brazil, China, and Canada: 7 days from delivery.
- Singapore: 5 days from delivery or first access.
In the United States, there is no equivalent federal statutory refund window for digital purchases, so refunds are at Paddle’s discretion unless the charge was unauthorized. These windows run from the date of the transaction, not the date you noticed the charge, so acting quickly matters.2Paddle. Refund Policy
If your refund is approved, Paddle processes it to the original payment method within 14 days of approval.2Paddle. Refund Policy Your bank or card issuer may take additional time to post the credit, so the total wait is usually two to three weeks.
If You Don’t Recognize the Charge at All
If the paddle.net lookup turns up a transaction you never authorized, start with Paddle rather than your bank. Paddle can trace the transaction to the specific vendor and product, which often clears up the mystery, and if the charge really is unauthorized, Paddle can reverse it faster than a formal bank dispute.
If Paddle cannot resolve it or you cannot reach them, you have the right to dispute the charge with your card issuer. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you must notify your card issuer in writing within 60 days of the statement date showing the disputed charge.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors Your maximum liability for unauthorized charges is $50, and most major card issuers waive that amount.
While the dispute is pending, your card issuer cannot report the amount as delinquent or send it to collections. The issuer has two billing cycles, up to a maximum of 90 days, to investigate and either correct the charge or explain why it stands.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors
Your Rights If You Never Agreed to a Subscription
In 2025, the Federal Trade Commission reached a $5 million settlement with Paddle over allegations that the company facilitated deceptive billing practices. The FTC said Paddle’s merchant-of-record model allowed some third-party vendors, including tech support scams using fake virus alerts, to charge consumers for auto-renewing subscriptions without proper disclosure.4FTC. Paddle Will Pay $5 Million to Settle FTC Allegations of Unfair Payment Processing Practices
Under the settlement, Paddle is permanently banned from processing payments for tech support merchants that use telemarketing or pop-up security warnings. The company is also required to screen and monitor its merchant clients, clearly disclose subscription terms, obtain express consent before charging recurring fees, and provide a simple way to cancel.4FTC. Paddle Will Pay $5 Million to Settle FTC Allegations of Unfair Payment Processing Practices
Separately, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act requires that any subscription sold online clearly disclose all material terms before collecting payment information, obtain your informed consent before charging, and provide a straightforward cancellation method.5Congress.gov. Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act If any of those steps were skipped before you were charged, the transaction likely violated federal law regardless of what Paddle’s own refund policy says, and you have strong grounds for a refund or a dispute.