Recurly vs Stripe Billing Pricing (2026)
Compare / Recurly vs Stripe Billing
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Team size
25 seats

Recurly vs Stripe Billing

Subscription Billing pricing comparison · 2026

Recurly pricing ranges from $0–$5000/month, while Stripe Billing ranges from $0–$3000/month. Stripe Billing is typically 67% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Recurly pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Stripe pricing
Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Subscription Billing
Side-by-side · live
Recurly
Recurly is a subscription management and recurring billing platform known for its advanced
verified 27d ago
$564 $600
View pricing →
Stripe Billing
Stripe Billing is a usage-based subscription and recurring billing solution built directly
verified 27d ago
$564 $600
View pricing →
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
Stripe saves $36 vs Recurly · 25 seats
Cheapest $564
Spread 6%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Recurly Commerce (Shopify)
$120K/yr
year 1 license · $399/seat
Pricing model unknown
Pricing model unknown
no public list price found
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$600/yr
Vendr · n=28
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$564/yr
Vendr · n=115
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 18 sourced facts
12 hidden-cost · 4 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence High confidence
Sources 10 sourced facts
6 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 2 review platforms
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence High confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Payment Gateway Required (Not Included)
    2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for Stripe, or $49 setup + $25/month + 0.75% for Authorize.net
    3 sources
  • Multi-Currency Support Enterprise-Only
    Requires enterprise plan upgrade - contact for pricing
    1 source
  • Triple Revenue Dip Structure
    $249/month + 0.9-1.25% of revenue + $0.10 per transaction
    3 sources
  • ACH/Bank Transfer Limited to Professional Plan
    Requires professional plan upgrade vs starter plan
    1 source
  • Tax Calculation Premium Feature
    5-15% of license costs for tax software integration or manual tax handling
    2 sources
4 documented
  • High Transaction Processing Fees
    3-5% of license costs
    2 sources
  • Chargeback Fees
    $15-$25 per chargeback
    1 source
  • International Invoicing Limitations
    $500-$2,000
    1 source
  • Account Holds and Fund Delays
    10-100% of monthly revenue
    2 sources
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Recurly
Stripe
Auto-renewal
—
—
Cancellation
—
—
Commitment
—
1 year
Price escalation
Historical evidence shows pricing has increased from $69/month (2012) to $99/month (2015) to $249/month (2024) without published grandfathering policies
—
Can downgrade
—
—
Based on 5 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
TrustRadius
8.7/5 (43)
Best for
New businesses testing Recurly's platform during the 3-month trial period
Watch out
Pricing too expensive compared to alternatives
TrustRadius
9.2/5 (6)
Trustpilot
2.4/5 (25)
Best for
Businesses getting started with subscriptions and recurring billing
Watch out
Account suspensions and fund holds without clear explanation
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Recurly pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Stripe pricing
Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Subscription Billing

Recurly

$0–$5000
/month
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Subscription Billing

Stripe Billing

$0–$3000
/month
3 plans
Full pricing breakdown →

Recurly and Stripe Billing both operate in the subscription billing category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Recurly Stripe Billing
Starter (Trial) Free /month Custom
Scaling Custom Custom
Enterprise Custom Custom
Recurly Commerce (Shopify) $399 /month —

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Recurly

4 scenarios
$0/month (trial)
Early Trial Period
+ payment gateway fees
$1,200
Growing SaaS
2,000/month (estimated) + payment gateway fees
$3,000
Mid-Market Company
4,500/month (estimated) + gateway fees
See all 4 scenarios →

Stripe Billing

5 scenarios
$50/month (0.5% billing)
Small SaaS Startup
+ $340/month (3.4% payment processing) = $390/month total
$800/month (0.8% billing)
Growing SaaS
+ $3,400/month (3.4% payment processing) = $4,200/month total
$4,000/month (0.8% billing)
Scale-up Company
+ $17,000/month (3.4% payment processing) = $21,000/month total
See all 5 scenarios →

Market Intelligence

Recurly

Median annual cost
$600
Based on
28 deals

Stripe Billing

Median annual cost
$564
Based on
115 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Recurly 6 hidden costs

critical
Payment Gateway Required (Not Included) 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for Stripe, or $49 setup + $25/month + 0.75% for Authorize.net
high
Multi-Currency Support Enterprise-Only Requires enterprise plan upgrade - contact for pricing
high
Triple Revenue Dip Structure $249/month + 0.9-1.25% of revenue + $0.10 per transaction
medium
ACH/Bank Transfer Limited to Professional Plan Requires professional plan upgrade vs starter plan
medium
Tax Calculation Premium Feature 5-15% of license costs for tax software integration or manual tax handling
See all Recurly hidden costs →

Stripe Billing 4 hidden costs

medium
High Transaction Processing Fees 3-5% of license costs
high
Chargeback Fees $15-$25 per chargeback
medium
International Invoicing Limitations $500-$2,000
critical
Account Holds and Fund Delays 10-100% of monthly revenue
See all Stripe Billing hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term Recurly Stripe Billing
Auto-renewal — —
Cancellation — —
Minimum commitment — 1 year
Price escalation Historical evidence shows pricing has increased from $69/month (2012) to $99/month (2015) to $249/month (2024) without published grandfathering policies —

Continue researching

Recurly

Stripe Billing

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