payment-guard

中文

Pick a payment platform you can actually open, then check your website against that platform’s published review list before you apply.

For people who sell software, SaaS, AI tools, templates, courses or e-books online, and especially for sellers in mainland China or Hong Kong: Stripe and Polar are closed to a mainland individual, and the choice comes down to PayPal.cn or a Merchant of Record (Creem, Dodo Payments, Waffo Pancake, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad), each with its own list of what your site must show.

Quick start

pip install "git+https://github.com/zhuyansen/payment-guard"
payment-guard pick --product saas
payment-guard check yoursite.com --for creem,dodo,waffo

No registered company? Leave out --entity: the report assumes an individual in mainland China and starts with what the platforms say about opening as an individual or as a company.

No install: the same data runs a two-click payment platform picker on jasonzhu.ai (in Chinese).

Python 3.10 or newer, no dependencies, no keys, free. uvx --from git+https://github.com/zhuyansen/payment-guard payment-guard pick … runs it without installing. Add --lang zh for a report in Chinese and --json for scripts and agents. It reads public pages only: it never signs up, logs in or submits anything.

Why

A Merchant of Record reviews your website before it pays you. The rejection rarely says which page failed, each platform asks for something different, and a round of review takes days; at Creem a rejection is final for that store. Some of what they ask:

• Dodo Payments wants the terms, privacy and refund pages linked from the footer or the navigation.
• Waffo Pancake wants the pricing page itself to say whether a plan renews automatically, and lists what terms and privacy policies must cover.
• Creem wants AI image and video generators to keep model brands out of the product name, to say they are not affiliated with the model makers, and to publish an acceptable use policy that bans NSFW output.
• Paddle wants your business name in the terms.

payment-guard reads each platform’s own pages, keeps the link and the date for every line, and checks your site against each list the way a reviewer would: home page first, then the pages a reviewer opens.

1. Which platform: pick

payment-guard pick --entity cn-individual --product saas

# Where you can take payments: an individual in mainland China, selling software sold by subscription

| Platform | Can you open it | Takes this product | Merchant of Record | You keep from $20 abroad | Sellers like you use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creem | ✅ yes | ✅ allowed | ✅ | $18.82 | 1.1% |
| PayPal | ✅ yes | ✅ allowed | – | $18.82 | – |
| Waffo Pancake | ✅ yes | ✅ allowed | ✅ | $18.72 | – |