Fastspring Technology Intelligence

What is FastSpring?

FastSpring is a full-service ecommerce platform and merchant of record for software companies. Founded in 2005, FastSpring handles global payments, subscriptions, taxes, and compliance for digital products.

Trusted by thousands of software companies, FastSpring enables selling in 200+ countries with localized checkout experiences and complete tax compliance.

Key Features

Full-Service Commerce

• Checkout: Localized experience
• Payments: Global processing
• Taxes: Complete compliance
• Invoicing: B2B ready

Subscriptions

• Recurring: Flexible billing
• Trials: Free period management
• Dunning: Payment recovery

Software Tools

• Licenses: Key generation
• Fulfillment: Automatic delivery
• Updates: Version management

Use Cases

Desktop Software

Software vendors sell Mac and Windows applications. License key generation and version upgrade handling.

SaaS Subscriptions

Cloud software companies manage recurring billing. Global tax compliance without local entities.

B2B Software

Enterprise software needs proper invoicing. FastSpring handles purchase orders and business invoices.

Multi-Product Companies

Publishers with multiple products centralize sales. Unified dashboard for all product lines.

Code Examples

Popup Storefront

<!-- FastSpring Popup -->
<script id="fsc-api"
        src="https://d1f8f9xcsvx3ha.cloudfront.net/sbl/0.8.5/fastspring-builder.min.js"
        data-storefront="yourstore.onfastspring.com">
</script>
<a href="#" data-fsc-action="Add,Checkout"
   data-fsc-item-path-value="product-path">Buy Now</a>

License Verification

curl "https://api.fastspring.com/accounts/YOUR_ACCOUNT/orders/ORDER_ID" \
  -u "username:password" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

Webhook Handler

app.post('/fastspring/webhook', (req, res) => {
    const { events } = req.body;
    events.forEach(event => {
        if (event.type === 'order.completed') {
            fulfillOrder(event.data);
        }
    });
    res.sendStatus(200);
});

Comparison

vs Paddle

• History: FastSpring longer track record
• Modern: Paddle better DX
• Features: Both comprehensive

vs Stripe

• MoR: FastSpring handles taxes
• Stripe: You handle compliance
• B2B: FastSpring stronger

Strengths

• Established MoR provider
• Strong B2B invoicing
• Software license management
• Multi-product support