You’ll need the best recurring payments system to fit your budget, whether you’re setting up customer payment plans or launching a subscription-based service.
You don’t have to be a skeptic if you feel the same way. We’ll be examining the top recurring payment platforms on the market in this round-up. We hope you will be able to make an informed decision about which of these platforms best suits your business’s billing needs.
As you can see, there is a lot to cover. Let’s get started!
Square
Square offers two options for managing your recurring billing process:
Recurring invoices using a card on File (CoF). This allows you to automate your recurring billing for fixed amounts for any given billing cycle. It is a great option for managing subscription services.
Invoices that are stand-alone and include CoF payments. This allows you to invoice your customers for fluctuating dollar amounts quickly.
Pricing
Sending invoices is free
It is possible to make automated payments using your credit card.
Take debit or credit cards payments at 2.9% plus 30C per invoice
You will be charged 3.5% + 15C per transaction to secure your card file.
The pros
You can create recurring online payments in minutes and have them sent out when you want.
Square automatically notifies subscribers by email if they have an outstanding invoice
Square has a competitive processing rate.
Securely process all online payments.
You can print invoices
Automated billing is activated immediately after customers have authorized you to keep their debit or credit card file.
The Cons
Square is not the right tool for large enterprises that process massive transactions.
Some users are unhappy about account stability.
Square isn’t suitable for high-risk industries.
The ideal solution for startups, small and medium-sized businesses is Square. Square Recurring Payments is a great solution to manage your recurring billing, split payments and subscription-based services.
MoonClerk
MoonClerk allows business owners to receive one-off and recurring payments, subscriptions or donations.
Customers can fill out payment forms. You have the option to either generate direct links or embed them on your site. These forms can be modified to give customers an authentic experience. You can modify colors, themes and logos as well as images.
When creating your payment form you have the option to either set a fixed or suggested amount or allow customers to pay whatever they want. You have the option to choose!
Pricing
MoonClerk’s pricing depends on the volume of your monthly transactions.
$0-$2000: $15 per month
$2000-$4000: $30 per month
$4000-$7500: $50 per month
$7500-$12500: $75 per month
$12500-$20000: $110 per month
The pros
MoonClerk’s setup is quick and easy. In theory, you could have your business up and running in minutes.
MoonClerk handles all security matters for you and hosts everything.
MoonClerk is accessible on desktop and mobile devices.
This software is easy to use, even if you don’t have any programming or technical knowledge.
It is not necessary to have a merchant account.
The Cons
There aren’t many payment options. It connects only with Stripe. MoonClerk cannot be used alongside any other payment method.
As mentioned above, MoonClerk is only available in countries that have Stripe.
There is no way to allow donors to select the amount that they will give to a non-profit if you are a charity director. Donors can’t specify how often they give, therefore you cannot allow them to do so.
MoonClerk is the ideal solution for anyone who needs an intuitive solution. MoonClerk doesn’t require you to code any code. This is why MoonClerk works well for both small and large businesses. You can use this software within minutes and start receiving payments. MoonClerk is a great option for small businesses or those who have just started a business. It hosts all your information.
Braintree Recurring billing
Braintree Recurring Billing, which was founded in 2007, was created with the mission of providing exceptional customer service. PayPal purchased the company for $800 million in 2013. Braintree has processed over a billion transactions per month since then and is used by companies like Uber, Casper, Casper, Marketplacer.
Braintree offers dedicated merchant accounts. If you are a PayPal user, you will quickly get used to its interface, which is very similar to PayPal’s. Braintree also accepts PayPal, Venmo and Apple Play credit cards.
Pricing
Braintree generally charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
The pros
Braintree’s flat rate pricing makes it easy to predict your expenses.
It is easy to monitor critical metrics and the reporting tools are great.
There are many add-ons.
Braintree does not charge fees for the first $1,000,000.
Multicurrency options are plentiful, which makes it great for international businesses.
There are no long-term contracts. You can actually leave Braintree at any time and take all of your data with you… without paying a dime!
The Cons
Braintree does not work in high-risk sectors.
Braintree doesn’t support custom SQL queries.
Some users complain about the time it takes to set up an account.
Braintree customers have reported having their accounts closed and money withheld without warning.
Braintree is a great choice for any business, especially enterprises. It’s not as easy to use as PayPal’s “plug and play” approach. Despite that, it’s easy to use and offers a lot of flexibility. Braintree may be the right choice for you if you are looking for customization.
International businesses will also love it. Braintree supports 130 currencies at 45 merchant locations including the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. There’s a good chance that the currencies and countries you do businesses with will be on the list.
Chargebee
Chargebee was specifically designed for subscription-based businesses. With its subscription billing software and recurring billing system, Chargebee provides everything you need in order to capitalize on money-making potentials.
Pricing
Chargebee offers three plans that customers can choose from. The costs below are based upon annual billing.
Rise: $249 per month
Scale: $549 per month (allegedly Chargebee’s most popular program!)
Enterprise: This package is for companies with “sophisticated revenue operations” and high compliance requirements. Chargebee can provide a custom quote.
As you probably guessed, Chargebee features are more accessible the higher the pricing tier.
The pros
Chargebee’s automation for dunning is great – if the customer does not make payment, Chargebee will intelligently try to collect the funds at another date.
Chargebee’s customer support is first-rate, according to reports.
Chargebee is easy to use. It requires very little training, if any, to get you and your team up and running.
Chargebee provides a solid foundation to help you prompt customers to renew their expired cards. Chargebee offers an easy-to use email template you can modify. This allows recipients to quickly access their login. You can personalize the bulk of the copy and hit Send!
The Cons
Some users complain that Chargebee isn’t mobile-optimized in its user interface
One customer stated that they would like to customize their invoices directly to reflect the terms of their vendor and client contracts.
Chargebee’s prices are causing some consumer grumbling, which is not surprising considering they’re one the most expensive options in our best recurring payments systems roundup.
Who is Chargebee’s Best for?
Chargebee is best for businesses and non-profits that sell SaaS, PaaS or service subscriptions.
Recurly
Recurly is proud of its enterprise-class subscription management platform. They offer business owners an infrastructure to simplify subscription management, allowing them to optimize and automate the subscription-based company for growth.
Pricing
Recurly has three pricing options to choose from:
Core: $149 per month plus 0.9% of your income
Professional: This plan works best for companies that generate up to $10,000,000 in annual subscription billing. To receive a personalized quote, however, you will need to contact Recurly’s Sales team.
Elite: This package helps merchants who handle over $10 million annually in subscription billing. Recurly’s sales team will provide a customized quote.
The pros
Recurly is easy to set up and use. It’s also very simple to keep track of all your subscriptions, and how it affects your bottom line.
Recurly can be used to “automated, scalable billing workflows.”
Customers can easily update billing information and view their invoices.
Recurly’s customer support is unmatched. Customers report that Recurly’s customer service agents respond quickly and efficiently to their queries.
You can access Recurly’s API to customize the billing solution for your needs if you have coding skills.
Recurly is a versatile software. You can create customized discounts, manage subscription dates, manage manual payment processing, send invoicing, set up alerts and customize invoices. Credit is also available.
The Cons
One user complained that Recurly can get confusing when there are so many logs and movements.
You can’t rescind transactions older than six month.
Recurly’s permissions system could have been more restrictive; some customers want to limit the access of their team members to a greater extent.
Recurly is ideal for US merchants with large-sized businesses. They need enterprise-class billing software. Recurly does not have a Salesforce integration at the time of this writing. This CRM is not recommended. You will need to either write the code yourself or hire someone to do it.
Chargify
Chargify’s recurring billing tools and subscription management tools are used around the globe. This software allows subscription-based businesses the ability to optimize, modify, and design their offers in order to generate the best possible income over time.
Chargify is headquartered in San Antonio and has been a catalyst for thousands of businesses. It manages millions of offers each year that generate billions of dollars in revenue.
Pricing
Chargify offers three paid-for plans, just like the others in our best recurring payments system review.
Scaling: $299 per month (This includes 50k revenue per month and 1% revenue on overages).
Success: $499 per month (This includes 50k revenue per month and 0.9% revenue on overages).
Chargify can provide a custom quote for you to find out what they can do for your company.
The pros
Chargify is simple to use and integrates with your website. It’s payment tracking functionality and reporting capabilities are exceptional.
Real-time analytics and insight into your business are available. Chargify’s dashboard gives you an instant overview of the day’s events.
Chargify assigns customer ID client numbers. These numbers are useful if you need to locate a particular transaction.
Chargify’s PCI-compliant
The Cons
One customer complained about Chargify’s bulk tools and sandbox, which are difficult to use in some cases.
Chargify takes a portion of your revenue, which some users feel is a problem for SaaS subscriptions with high-value. Chargify should be able to limit the amount it takes per transaction, as some users have complained.
One customer stated that they would like Chargify to offer more controls to help them “slice data the way I want.”
Recurring PayPal Payments
PayPal is the most used payment method for Western Europe and North America shoppers. This has been the case for decades. It is therefore not surprising that PayPal’s recurring payments system made it into our top recurring payment systems round-up. PayPal boasts a staggering 137 million active accounts, which are sourced from 193 countries.
Pricing
PayPal Recurring payments don’t have a monthly or setup fee. Instead, you’ll pay a transaction fee of 2.9% + $0.30 for each US transaction.
The pros
It is easy to set it up
PayPal is well-known and widely used by people around the world. This instills confidence. PayPal’s brand recognition is 72% higher than other payment gateways that only received 50%.
Merchants only pay when they sell.
To use PayPal Recurring payments, you don’t have to open a merchant account.
Accepting payments in 24 currencies is possible
It’s easy to keep track of all your transactions. You can easily view all of your outgoings or incomings, and download your transaction history in just one click.
The Cons
PayPal merchants must follow strict guidelines since September 2011 to prevent fraudulent activity. If you notice a rise in your average transaction value, PayPal will freeze your funds and close your account with very little explanation. Sellers cannot appeal this decision.
PayPal’s customer service reputation is not good.
While setting up an account is easy, verifying it can sometimes be difficult. You may need to give your bank account information and credit card details as well as copies of utility bills and government-issued ID.
PayPal’s chargeback protection seems pretty poor.
PayPal Recurring payments is the best option for PayPal merchants who love and trust PayPal and want to offer international customers a familiar brand when charging for subscription-based services.
Are you ready to use the best recurring payment system for your subscription business?
We hope that you now have a better understanding of the best recurring billing systems for your business.
Simply put, while some billing management systems are better than others, it’s impossible to go wrong with any of the above – they all seem reliable.
The best choice for you will depend on your budget, your company size, your product/service offerings (and their prices), your business model and the amount of annual revenue that you generate. Before you make your final purchase decision, keep these things in mind.
What billing platform do YOU think is the best for recurring payments? We’d love to know what you think in the comments box below.
