- Deployment: Web-based, cloud, SaaS and iOS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
Based in Austin, Texas, and one of the few subscription management software companies that offers a free version, Zoho Subscriptions is part of the Zoho family of software tools designed to improve companies’ financial management. It handles important tasks like automated recurring billing and payments, subscription branding and the generation of subscription reports and metrics.
While its subscription billing software helps companies arrange the billing lifecycle from end to end and is very usable for large companies, its reasonable pricing structure makes it an especially suitable choice for SMEs. The free Starter version is great for small startups that have a limited number of subscribers or that want to try out the software before moving on to one of the other payment plans. The Basic package can be used for up to 500 subscribers, while the Standard package is good for up to 2000 subscribers.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Reliable customer service
- Friendly pricing structure for small business
Cons
- Has difficulty with one-time transactions
- Does not support enrollment management
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $49/mo for Basic
- $99/mo for Standard
- $249/mo for Professional
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud, SaaS and iOS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Mac, Windows, Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
Based in the American state of Georgia, SaaSOptics is a subscription management tool that automates important financial functions for SaaS B2B businesses. One of the goals of using this software is to help companies eliminate the use of spreadsheets and move to a more automated model that presents real-time data on which they can base important decisions.
SaaSOptics offers robust reporting tools, which can seem a little overwhelming at first, but once the customer learns how to use them properly, they can present any client with a cornucopia of useful data. SaaSOptics subscription software is not intuitive or necessarily easy to learn, but the company has assigned designated customer sales representatives to work with each of its clients. This has helped improve initial set-up operations immensely.
In 2018, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) Codie awards named SaaSOptics the Best Billing and Subscription Management Solution Software.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent customer service
- Very good reporting tools
- Software can be difficult to set up
Cons
- Does not offer enrollment management
- Software can be difficult to set up
Summary
-
Starting Price
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
No
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Mac, Windows, Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), online
- Enrollment management: No
Founded in 2013 and based in the Los Angeles area, Subbly is an e-commerce platform for subscription-based businesses that helps clients create websites to sell subscriptions of both digital and physical products anywhere in the world.
Subbly creates a variety of billing scheduling options, including weekly, biweekly, monthly, four or six weeks, quarterly, biannually or yearly. Subbly also allows clients to set up trial subscriptions, as well as setting different prices for subscriptions. It also has a “Build a Box” function that allows clients to offer their customers the customizable subscription experience.
Subbly can also allow for one-time purchases if the customer wants to try the product before deciding on a subscription. Its automatic checkout function allows customers to add the appropriate sales tax for the region or state.
This is a very economical model for any subscription-based business. For $29 a month, Subbly offers checker functions and website construction. A 1% transaction fee is added for every subscription sale.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Software is easy to set up and use
- Economical choice for startups or businesses on a budget
Cons
- Subbly does not include enrollment management
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $14/ month for Checkout only
- $29/mo for Website + Checkout
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
No
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), online
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
Fusebill is a cloud-based subscription management platform that handles all the essential elements of a subscription program, such as billing, payment, and customer and pricing management. Its software is best suited to businesses in the software-as-a-service (SaaS), digital media, and Internet of Things (IoT) markets.
Fusebill’s automation tools enable clients to customize their communications with subscribers, including notices about late payments, if a credit card is nearing expiration or has expired, and if invoices are past due. Fusebill also offers a self-service portal where subscribers can make all necessary changes like updating their payment method, seeing their billing history or moving from one subscription plan to another.
Fusebill has created easy-to-use dashboards that enable clients to view important data immediately like monthly recurring revenue (MRR), churn rates, and new acquisitions. One nice feature of Fusebill is that it allows you to customize the billing schedule so that if a subscriber wants to be billed every week, every month, or every two months, the Fusebill subscription management software can create and automate this billing cycle.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Intuitive and easy to use
- Integrates smoothly with other apps and in-house systems
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- Expensive
- Difficult to create customized reports
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $295/Month for Startup
- $895/Month for Rapid-growth
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
No
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
Founded in 2009 and based in San Francisco, Recurly offers enterprise-level recurring billing management for subscription-based businesses that specialize in content and publishing. Recurly allows businesses to create an unlimited number of subscription plans that can be tailored to either individuals or groups.
Customers can make a one-time purchase or purchase a subscription for a recurring item. It also offers an item catalog where customers can look at articles available for purchase and then use the subscription-based software.
Recurly then provides detailed analytics based on the data such as net subscriber change, new subscriptions, one-time purchases, new subscriptions, churn rate, etc. This allows a company to make necessary day-by-day decisions to improve its business.
Recurly has three plan options: Core, which charges $149 a month and 0.9% of all revenue generated (a good choice for businesses that offer credit card-only subscriptions), Professional and Elite, which are both quote-based.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent for subscription only businesses
- Well-constructed dashboards allow companies to see important information about subscriptions
Cons
- Can be difficult to set up
- Does not do enrollment management
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $149/mo + 0.9% of revenue for Core
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
Chargebee is a plug-and-play platform that enables companies to create a monthly billing plan for consumers of its products, to charge a one-time fee or to set up a usage-based model (you only charge when the customer actually uses the product). It has a very intuitive dashboard and reporting tools that are easily understood and used.
It integrates with over 30 payment systems, including PayPal, Amazon Payments and Stripe. These easy payment systems allow a subscription-based company to hunt for customers around the world.
It offers four pricing models: a Free version, available to start-up companies currently making under $50,000 in revenue: Rise, for companies moving from spreadsheets to automation and expecting a quick turnaround; Scale, for businesses that want to improve the automation of subscription tasks and have better reporting on those subscriptions; and the Enterprise model, made for businesses with sophisticated revenue models and whose pricing is determined by conversations with the company.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Easy-to-use reporting tools and interface
- Customizable email notifications
- Robust free version
Cons
- Expensive for those trying to be budget-conscious
- Currently no parent-child billing functions
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $249/mo for Rise
- $549/mo for Scale
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
- Deployment: Windows, Web-based, cloud, SaaS and iOS
- Support: Online
- Enrollment management: No
Launched in 2012 in London, England, Deloitte Fast 50 named this company the fastest-growing software company in the United Kingdom.
While pricing on Paddle subscription software is quote-based, actual pricing is on a per-transaction basis. For that transaction fee, a company receives software that will enable it to create a subscription billing service that best suits its business model, provides billing support for any problems that arise, determines all the taxes and VATs required in the over 200 different countries and territories where Paddle can be found, and offers all its payment methods together in one place.
Paddle also offers a do-it-yourself alternative pricing plan where a company can purchase certain modules. For instance, a company can purchase a module used for payment processing (which will cost you 2-3% of revenue) or for subscription billing (0.5-1.5% of revenue). Several other modules are also available.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Quick, smooth integration with the company’s products
- Support can take a bit of time to respond, but once they do, they are very good
Cons
- Paddle does not handle enrollment management
Summary
-
Starting Price
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Windows, Web-based, cloud, SaaS and iOS
- Support: Online
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
In 2017, Sage purchased Intacct, which had been producing high-quality accounting software since 1999. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), an organization that sets the standard for accountants in 143 countries, officially endorsed Sage Intacct for its General Ledger (GL) software.
Although Sage Intacct, which is based in San Francisco, is primarily a well-known cloud-based accounting software, it also provides subscription billing services. These functions allow a client to create billing schedules and tailor pricing for subscriptions and other items that suit their business model. The goal is for a company to enjoy better payment management.
Sage Intacct software provides your finance and sales departments with real-time data. This allows the two departments to work together to create better customer service and more accurate billing. Staff spends less time poring over spreadsheets, which not only saves time but eliminates possible human errors. The result is more accurate billing, which means customers will be happier.
The cost of Sage Intacct is based on the size of the client’s accounting team and which module the company chooses. On average. a company spends between $15,000 and $35,000 for a subscription.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Folds subscription billing in with excellent accounting software
- Self-service portal
- Works with multiple currencies
Cons
- Not primarily a subscription billing software
- Does not do enrollment management
Summary
-
Starting Price
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
Founded in 2009 as a part of Grasshopper, the virtual phone system, over the years Chargify has focused more on the billing issues of Software as a Service (SaaS) companies. This is a good tool for a small company with a relatively limited number of subscribers or a large company with thousands of subscribers. It does not charge transaction fees or setup fees. It uses a monthly billing structure and does not take a cut of revenue from any of its clients.
Since the Chargify subscription software integrates with Zapier, which allows the integration of many other software programs, it means companies can integrate marketing programs, e-commerce platforms and other essential items.
Its pricing structure is based on a monthly fee for a specific model: Starter, Scaling, Success or Specialized. It also charges a small percentage of a company’s revenue over a specified amount — $10,000 a month for the Starter plan and $50,000 a month for the others.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Does not charge transaction fees
- There are no setup fees
- Works with various payment gateways
Cons
- Difficult to set up filters to generate proper reports
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $149/mo for Starter
- $299/mo for Scaling
- $499/mo for Success
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud, SaaS, iOS and Android
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
PaySimple is what its name says it is: a simple way for people to pay for services purchased from a variety of merchants or providers. The software allows a customer to set up a billing cycle, using either a credit card or bank account, to pay for recurring service.
Its subscription invoicing tools are excellent for businesses that are based in the service industry, such as legal or medical offices. It’s not an ideal program if your business is primarily card-present, where customers will dip or swipe their credit cards in person. It’s ideal if you need recurring billing and invoicing for customers.
Pricing breaks down into two distinct categories: the Starter plan, primarily used for automated clearing house (ACH) transactions (which cost $1 per transaction for basic charge) and the Standard plan, which is used primarily for credit cards (with a starting rate of 2.49% + $0.29 per transaction). Both models have monthly maintenance fees.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No contract or cancellation fees
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- Not a good choice for businesses where customers use credit cards in person a great deal
Summary
-
Starting Price
- 2.49% Per transaction + monthly fees for Credit card processing
- 0.20% + $0.60 for ACH/eCheck processing
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud, SaaS, iOS and Android
- Support: Business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep)
- Enrollment management: No
Founded in 2007 and based in San Mateo, California, Zuora develops SaaS subscription applications for companies that want to move to a subscription-based model for their businesses. Zuora’s main enterprise platform, Zuora Central, is designed to help companies that want to establish long-term relationships with their customers and see using subscriptions is the best way to do that. It’s built on the idea that people no longer wish to own things but only to use things when they need them.
Zuora helps companies customize their billing cycles and build best practices so they can generate the most possible revenue. It easily integrates with the company’s other important financial software.
SIIA awarded Zuora the 2020 Codie Award for Best Subscription Billing Solutions Software. It’s also been named one of the Best Places to Work in San Francisco for several years.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent customer support
- Easy to use
Cons
- Difficult to set up
- Does not support enrollment management
Summary
-
Starting Price
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep)
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), online
- Enrollment management: No
Founded in 2010 and located in San Francisco, California, Stripe Connect is primarily a third-party payment platform that allows clients’ customers to use credit cards to pay for their purchases or transactions. It also offers a set of sophisticated developer tools that allow its clients to build robust, customized payment processing applications, such as a way to bill for subscriptions.
Stripe Connect tools allow its customers to create flexible billing structures, such as pricing sections of seats in a theater, auditorium or sports stadium. Subscriptions can be billed in a variety of ways: weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. Its tools help reduce churn, send reminders that invoices are due or overdue and send reminders that a customer needs to update their credit card if it’s on file.
Automatically generated reports help its clients understand important aspects of their subscription business. Stripe Connect uses several different pricing models for its software, and clients can purchase modules for which they pay separate fees.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent developer tools
- Flat-rate pricing
- Works with multiple currencies
Cons
- Can be difficult to learn
- No support for enrollment management
Summary
-
Starting Price
- 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card charge
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), online
- Enrollment management: No
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Online
- Enrollment management: Yes
FastSpring styles itself as more of an e-commerce platform for SaaS companies. Its product is designed to provide companies with a robust e-commerce solution but help them remain lean as they build the business.
FastSpring still offers all the important elements of a robust subscription management tool, including recurring billing, email invoicing and overdue reminders. If you want to create a coupon or offer a rebate if someone purchases a subscription, FastSpring will enable you to create these incentives.
FastSpring works with all major credit cards and PayPal and accepts up to 19 different currencies, and subscriptions can be purchased using 17 different payment methods.
While all FastSpring plans are quote-based, there are three basic plans: Pay As You Grow, a Business Plan and the Enterprise plan. The first two plans can be configured on the FastSpring website, while the Enterprise plan requires you to speak to the FastSpring sales team.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent customer service
- Good resources for developers and non-developers alike
- Payment system can be used globally
Cons
- Costs can be high for small businesses
- Users have complained about currency conversion rates
Summary
-
Starting Price
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
No
-
Cancellation Management
No
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: Online
- Enrollment management: Yes
- Deployment: Mac, Windows, Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
Although Pabbly Subscriptions didn’t see the light of day until 2018, it’s the result of an email marketing application developed back in 2014, GetMail. Pabbly, based in India, offers email marketing and subscription management software tools. Its email tool can create numerous email templates and includes a free SMTP server for clients that want to send out bulk emails. It also provides SMTP integration with many other email programs, including Gmail, Mailgun and SMTP2GO.
Its subscription management software helps customers manage subscriptions, recurring payments and how customers are billed, as well as providing sales analytics like churn rates, renewals, revenue per user and overall monthly revenue.
Pabbly Subscriptions subscription management tools also include the ability to create coupons, free trials or reduced rates for subscription products. Clients can also create their own portal where they can manage their accounts, renew their subscriptions, update credit cards and even unsubscribe if desired.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Economical option for small business
- Integrates well with payment gateways like stripe and PayPal
Cons
- Customer service is hit or miss — very good or very bad in
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $19/mo for Starter
- $37/mo for Rookie
- $57/mo for Pro
- $79/mo for Advanced
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Mac, Windows, Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
2Checkout, a payment processing company, was acquired by Avangate, a digital commerce leader on the international market for digital goods, in 2017, and the joint company rebranded as 2Checkout. In 2020, this company was acquired by Verifone and will soon be rebranded as Verifone.
2Checkout offers three main products: 2Sell, 2Subscribe and 2Monetize. Additionally, the company offers add-ons such as 2Convert and 2Bill. 2Sell enables companies to accept payments from over 200 countries around the world using 100 different cart payment systems and is available in over 100 currencies in 29 languages. 2Subscribe also offers tools to help you retain customers and reduce churn, while 2Monetize is specifically aimed at helping companies sell digital products around the world, including global tax and regulatory compliance.
2Checkout was awarded a gold medal for Hot Technology of the Year and a silver medal for Hot Company of the Year at the 2020 IT World Awards.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Good customer service
- Available in underserviced parts of the world
Cons
- Processing fees are expensive for small businesses
Summary
-
Starting Price
- 3.5% + $0.35 per successful sale for 2Sell
- 4.5% + $0.45 per successful sale for 2Suscribe
- 6.0% + $0.60 per successful sale for 2Monetize
-
Recurring Billing
Yes
-
Self-service Portal
Yes
-
Cancellation Management
Yes
-
Integrations
Yes
-
Reporting
Yes
Features
- Deployment: Web-based, cloud and SaaS
- Support: 24/7 (live rep), business hours, online
- Enrollment management: Yes
