Best Subscription Management Software

What Is Chargebee?

Chargebee is a cloud-based subscription service software that helps you create custom plans and add-ons, manage customers through an information-rich directory, and generate branded invoices. 

You’ll see all the subscription changes, upgrades, and even customer service communications in a single, easy-to-navigate platform. The smart, real-time SaaS metrics help you understand your clients and optimize revenue. 

In the Subscription Management subsection, you can set up smart lifecycle emails for subscription activation, trial management, onboarding, renewal reminders, and change-of-plan notifications. 

When it’s time to pay, Chargebee integrates with all major payment gateways (e.g., Stripe or PayPal). The app doesn’t store payment data, but it does save the gateway token to simplify the checkout process. 

To apply the right taxes, start by picking the right regions and set up taxation rules. You can do that either manually, or integrate with taxation automation software like Avalara and Taxjar. 

Chargebee also helps you with cash flow and automatic reconciliation. It also integrates with all major accounting software like Quickbooks and Xero. 

Pricing 

Chargebee’s pricing changes, depending on your monthly or yearly revenue. 

Rise

This plan will set you back $249/month, billed annually if you have up to $600,000/year in revenue plus 0.6% of overage revenue (charged monthly.)

You can also pay $299/month, billed monthly with a monthly revenue limit of $50,000 and 0.6% of overage revenue.

Scale 

The Scale plan is $549/month, billed annually or $599/month, billed monthly with revenue limits of $900,000/year for the annual plan or $75,000/month for monthly billing. You also get 0.9% of overage revenue. 

Enterprise

For large companies with complex billing operations, Chargebee can customize practically everything, adding the exact features you need. Contact the sales team for custom pricing. 

Chargebee Best Features 

• Comprehensive subscription management 
• Easy-to-navigate, glanceable customer database
• Simple plan creation, modification, and add-ons
• Client communication management 
• 30+ payment gateway integrations
• Tax automation and accounting software integrations
• Automatic reconciliation plugin
• Built-in reporting system

What We Disliked 

Chargebee doesn’t offer a one-time charge functionality, nor does it deal with offline payments very well. The email automation is handy, but there’s definitely room for improvement. 

Chargebee User Reviews 

Chargebee is a popular subscriptions manager and generally gets positive reviews. Clients love the one-stop-shop solution Chargebee offers. 

From signup, through billing, plan changes, and add-ons, it’s a comprehensive recurring billing app that saves time and works without a hitch. 

But, Chargebee isn’t ideal. 

Some users say it took them time to get used to the interface - the dashboard could be more user-friendly, or they could use an API to integrate with other dashboard apps. The pricing isn’t for everyone, either - though most users agree it’s worth it. 

We Recommend Chargebee For…

Chargebee is among the best subscription management software for SaaS companies that need an agile, feature-rich solution.

What Is Zuora?

Zuora is an order-to-revenue subscription management app - an enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship manager (CRM) in one. It helps you establish and run recurring revenue streams with easy customer lifecycle management. 

The service includes several products:

• Zuora CPQ, the world’s only subscription-focused CPQ to configure deals, quote changes, and maximize profits
• Zuora Billing to automate invoicing and make taxation a breeze
• Zuora Collect  for easy recurrent billing 
• Zuora Revenue to automate revenue management and hit goals faster than ever
• Zuora Analytics for in-depth insight into your subscription business

Pricing 

Zuora pricing is quote-only, depending on the features you’ll need. You can scale your membership as your subscription-related revenue grows. 

Zuora Best Features 

• Excellent recurring billing system
• Highly customizable
• Secure payments
• Scalable and robust
• Excellent reporting and analytics

What We Disliked 

• The somewhat complicated learning curve
• Occasional bugs and glitches

Zuora User Reviews 

Zuora users love the easy-to-navigate user interface and centralized subscription management. Reviewers also praise the handy reports and analytics, as well as the solid, scalable billing system, fit for companies of all sizes. 

The most common complaint people raise is the sheer range of functions and options. While Zuora is feature-rich and robust, there is a learning curve, which can throw off new users. Take your time with implementation - it might not happen as quickly as you expect. 

We Recommend Zuora For…

Zuora is a start-to-finish subscriptions manager - it’s a great option if you’re looking to launch, scale, and monetize your service on the same platform.

What Is Zoho Subscriptions?

Zoho Subscriptions is an online subscription billing service that helps you handle the entire billing lifecycle. The app helps businesses in several key areas, including: 

• Automated subscription billing with worldwide tax compliance
• Payment processing including online and offline payment options
• Subscription management with add-ons, coupons, multi-subscription management, as well as a self-service portal for your clients
• Reporting on key information with 30+ analytic reports
• Customizable billing APIs to automate mundane tasks and eliminate busywork

Pricing 

Zoho’s plans come in four tiers, available for monthly and yearly subscriptions. Paying annually saves money and (great news!) there is a free version. 

Free

The forever free version lets you try out the service with 20 subscriptions, one user from your team, and the essential features like billing and payments (with Stripe or offline), subscription metrics, and email support. 

Basic 

The Basic plan will set you back $49/organization/month billed annually or $59 billed monthly. 

It includes everything in the free plan, plus: 

• 500 customers (multiple subscriptions allowed)
• Three users 
• Three automated workflows
• Payment gateway integration
• Dunning management
• Phone support

Standard

This membership tier costs $99/organization/month billed annually or $119 billed monthly. It ups your functionality to:

• 2,000 customers
• Five users
• 10 automated workflows
• Single sign-on portal
• Branding for customer portals and payment pages
• Custom buttons within the portal

Professional

The top-level tier will set you back  $249/organization/month billed annually or $299 billed monthly and includes:

• 5,000 customers
• 10 users
• 10 automated workflows
• Custom scheduling for frequent task automation
• Twilio integration
• Live chat support

Zoho Subscriptions Best Features 

• Online and offline payments
• Secure, compliant payment pages
• Customizable client self-service portal
• Multi-currency support
• Affordable pricing
• Functional free version
• Phone and live chat support 

What We Disliked 

• Occasional performance issues
• UI could be better

Zoho Subscriptions User Reviews 

Most Zoho users are happy with the subscription app, praising the feature-rich service, power-packed integrations, and friendly customer support. 

Some clients do report bugs and glitches, but overall, the software gets consistently high ratings. 

We Recommend Zoho Subscriptions For…

Zoho Subscriptions is an excellent subscription management software for a small business - it’s cost-effective and powerful, packing a lot of features in a tiny price tag.

What Is Wild Apricot? 

Wild Apricot helps you manage all key aspects of your membership-based business. It has a larger scope than other subscriptions management software on our list. Associations, clubs, non-profits, different societies - a wide range of organization can benefit from their services, which include: 

• Member database building and management 
• Email & contact database to communicate with members 
• Website builder with professionally designed themes
• Recurring billing and secure payments
• Event management to make organization a breeze - from announcement to attendee management
• Online store builder to generate extra revenue for your organization

Wild Apricot is a cloud-based program but they also have handy mobile applications for iOS and Android. 

Pricing

Wild Apricot’s packages are: 

• Free plan - up to 50 contacts
• Personal - 100 contacts for $48 per month
• Group - 500 contacts for $60 per month
• Community - 250 contacts for $110 per month
• Professional - 2,000 contacts for $190 per month
• Network - 5,000 contacts for $350 per month
• Enterprise - 15,000 contacts for $4200 per month
• Global - 50,000 contacts for $720 per month

You can get a free trial for all plans. If you decide to subscribe for longer, there’s a discount - 10% off if you pre-pay for one year, 15% off for two-year subscriptions. 

Wild Apricot Best Features 

• Sleek and easy to use 
• Comprehensive members management
• Website builder and basic ecommerce functionality
• Web and mobile apps
• Event management functions

What We Disliked 

• Lacks business analytics functionality
• Slow customer support
• Clunky payment gateway 

Wild Apricot User Reviews 

Wild Apricot is one of the best-rated membership management tools on consumer review sites. Users love the intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface and rich member management functionality. 

That said, Wild Apricot is clearly targeted at non-profits, clubs, societies, and similar organizations because it lacks more robust business-minded features. 

It works for small to midsize operations, but if you’re looking to scale your subscription business further, most users agree Wild Apricot isn’t the best choice. 

We Recommend Wild Apricot For…

Wild Apricot is a solid personal subscription management software - it could work for all types and sizes of organizations. Whether you need help with the local chess club or you’re running a large charity, it’s a reliable tool that will make your life easier.

What Is Chargify?

Chargify is a billing and data management tool for B2B SaaS companies. It offers extensive subscription management services but works for a variety of billing scenarios:

• One-time billing
• Recurring subscriptions
• Quantity-based billing
• Prepaid services
• Usage and events-based billing

Chargify also helps with subscriptions accounting. It automates reporting and guarantees ASC 606 & IFRS 15 compliance - your accounting department will thank you for this one!

Finally, Chargify helps you understand and improve your business through detailed analytics. Since it’s built for B2B SaaS companies, Chargify is your best source of industry-specific, data-driven insight. 

Pricing 

Essential

The low-tier plan costs $599/month and includes $75k/month of revenue, plus 0.9% overage revenue.

It includes events-based billing (with 250K events), analytics and intelligent dunning, Quickbooks, Hubspot, and Xero integrations, and more.

Standard

This $1,499/month plan includes a customized revenue threshold, and 0.7% overage revenue.  It includes: 

• Events-based billing (3.5 million events)
• Netsuite and SFDC integrations
• Advanced analytics
• Business intelligence (enriched data)

Specialized

This package costs $3,499/mo and includes $75k/month of revenue, plus 0.5% overage revenue.

On top of the previous features, with it, you get:

• Custom events-based billing
• All integrations
• Dedicated technical architect
• Quarterly pricing consultations
• Billing health checks

Custom

Finally, if you’re running a larger company or have several products, the custom-built plan sets you with a success manager and can include all the services you need. 

Contact sales to learn more. 

Chargify Best Features 

• Specifically built for B2B SaaS
• Multiple billing scenarios
• Advanced analytics
• Automated revenue reporting and compliance
• Stellar integrations

What We Disliked 

• Pricy
• No free trial 

Chargify User Reviews 

Most Chargify clients are happy with their subscription billing platform. 

Since this is a very specific, SaaS-tailored product, users are especially happy with how well Chargify fits their business. Other common points of praise are the friendly customer support team, detailed data-driven insight, proactive updates and improvements to the platform. 

As far as dislikes go, some reviewers mention specific functionality gaps - for example, no bulk actions and advanced filter options, which could be a problem if you rely on automation for subscription management. 

We Recommend Chargify For…

Chargify is one of the best B2B SaaS subscription management platforms. Created for IT companies specifically, it solves 99% of the industry-specific problems related to billing, revenue reporting, and data analytics.

What Is Paddle?

Paddle is a revenue delivery program for B2B SaaS businesses. It’s a growth and scaling-minded tool for optimizing acquisition, retention, and expansion. 

Their service offer includes: 

• Paddle Checkout - a complete toolkit to build the best buying experience
• Paddle Subscribe - a subscription platform for every step of the customer journey. from currencies to dunning
• Paddle Managed Payments to optimize payments across currencies
• Paddle Comply to sell globally, ensuring sales tax, payment, and data compliance
• Billing & Invoicing, out-of-the-box integrated with payments, subscriptions, taxes & CRM software 
• Paddle Data Core to reconcile and unify revenue data
• Paddle Managed Support, a subscription support team to manage customers and take the pressure off your in-house agents
• Revenue Delivery Advisory to adopt the best revenue delivery strategies for your SaaS business
• Revenue Delivery Architects to help with implementation or migration to Paddle

Pricing 

Paddle doesn’t charge a monthly subscription, just a percent-based transaction fee. After you pass the risk assessment (it’s free), they’ll give you full access to their services - the entire revenue delivery platform. 

Paddle Best Features 

• Strategy and optimization-minded platform
• All-in-one revenue delivery platform
• Guaranteed worldwide compliance
• Handle 25-40% of support tickets
• No monthly subscription
• All-inclusive access for all customers

What We Disliked 

• Doesn’t support local payment methods
• Scarce reporting features

Paddle User Reviews 

Generally, Paddle gets raving reviews from users. The platform simply works very well to solve real-life business problems. Unlike other subscriptions management software, Paddle doesn’t charge a monthly fee, but still covers the functionality SaaS companies need. Billing, invoicing, and compliance are a breeze, and Paddle even handles some of your support tickets. 

Are there any complaints? 

Sure, nobody’s saying that Paddle is perfect. 

Common points of criticism include the slow customer support response time, the lack of local payment methods, and the somewhat clunky, hard-to-get-used-to interface. While users would love to see these downsides improve, they’re not a dealbreaker by any stretch of imagination. 

We Recommend Paddle For…

Paddle is one of the best subscription billing platforms for SaaS businesses that want to optimize revenue and ensure compliance. Plus, this subscription management software is practically free - you just pay for a transaction fee, no set monthly or yearly investment needed.

What Is Freshbooks?  

Freshbooks is a small business invoicing and accounting software that covers a wide range of services:

• Automated invoicing
• Expense logging and organization
• Time tracking (to automatically add tracked hours to invoice)
• Projects collaboration
• Automatic deposits
• Powerful reporting
• Double-entry accounting

And, yes, they also have extensive functions for managing subscriptions. You can set up recurring billing and client retainers - and, the top-tier plan combines billing and automation for a full subscription billing feature. 

Pricing

Freshbooks comes in four pricing tiers, each of them coming with a 30-day free trial. At the time of writing, they were running a 70% off discount for the first three months of subscription - we’ll give you the prices pre and post-discount in case the promo runs out. 

Lite

The Lite plan will set you back: 

• $4.50/month for the first three months of a monthly subscription ($15 after) 
• $130.50 for a yearly subscription

It includes up to five billable clients, but no recurring billing service, so it’s not for subscription-based revenue. 

Plus

The Plus plan costs: 

• $7.50/month for the first three months of a monthly subscription ($25 after)
• $217.50 for a yearly subscription

You get up to 50 billable clients and you can set up recurring billing and client retainers. You can also expand the functionality with add-ons:

• Advanced payments ($20/month) to save payment data, use a virtual terminal, and set up proper subscription billing
• Extra team members ($10/person/month) 
• Gusto payroll through the Gusto integration (check Gusto for pricing) 

Premium

The Premium plan costs: 

• $15/month for the first three months of a monthly subscription ($50 after)

• $435 for a yearly subscription

You can send unlimited invoices to up to 500 clients and use recurring payments and client retainers. The plan includes additional functions like late payment reminders and late bill fees, financial and accounting reports, as well as bills tracking and accounts payable. 

If you want proper subscription billing, though, you’ll have to get the $20/month advanced payments add-on. 

Select

Finally, the custom pricing plan is for companies with over 500 clients and gets you: 

• Lower credit card transaction rates 
• Two team member accounts (other plans come with just one)
• Dedicated account manager
• Help with migration
• Custom onboarding services for your team 

And, you get the subscription billing service for no extra cost. 

Freshbooks Best Features 

• Oriented on small business
• Simple and professional invoicing and billing
• Comprehensive tool
• 30-day free trial 
• Easy to set up and use

What We Disliked 

• Not all plans work for subscription billing
• Pricier than expected

Freshbooks User Reviews 

Freshbooks was made for small businesses, so it’s no surprise reviews come from small business owners or employees. And, running a tiny company usually means you need an all-in-one product, or at least that you’re trying to cover as much functionality, with as little investment as possible. 

Why am I telling you this?

Because for most Freshbooks reviewers, the online subscription management functionality is a nice perk, but not the only reason they chose the service. The most common point of praise is precisely the wealth of functions you can choose from, as well as the ease-of-use.

What about complaints? 

Pricing is one of them - small businesses are budget-conscious and Freshbooks isn’t always the cheapest option. Some users also mention performance issues like bugs and glitches, and some difficulties they had getting started and orienting themselves in the program. 

Overall, though, Freshbooks still gets overwhelmingly positive reviews and it’s a go-to platform for small businesses around the world.   

We Recommend Freshbooks For…

Freshbooks is an excellent option for small businesses that need an all-in-one solution. They’re not specifically a subscription management system, though, so factor in the add-on price before you make your choice.

What Is 2Checkout?  

2Checkout is a monetization platform that simplifies global commerce, both buying and subscribing to services. It lets you sell in 200 countries and territories and integrates with 120+ shopping carts. 

2Checkout a module-based program - you pick the functions you need and only pay for them. 2Checkout works as a subscription tracker, but it’s full range of functions includes: 

• Global payments through a secure, localized payment processor
• Digital commerce with hosted and inline carts
• Subscription billing for simplified invoices and recurring billing
• Global tax & financial services to handle sales tax, VAT management, and remittance around the world and stay compliant with local regulations
• Risk management with advanced fraud management tools
• Partner sales functionality including affiliate marketing and channel sales

Pricing 

2Checkout has three pricing plans but there’s really just one tailored for subscription businesses. 

2Sell

This low-tier plan is just the basic functionality and costs 3.5% + $0.35 per successful sale. You get the essential global commerce features, plus the recurring billing function.

2Subscribe

This plan will set you back 4.5% + $0.45 per successful sale but it’s the actual subscription management tool. Along with everything in 2Sell, 2Subscribe includes:

• Revenue recovery tools like subscription enrollment, active churn prevention, and billing retries
• Customer retention tools like renewal discounts
• Usage or metered billing
• Dunning management 

You also get in-depth insights like log audits, subscription analysis, and financial reporting. 

2Monetize

The top-tier plan costs 6.0% + $0.60 per successful sale and adds features like:

• Global tax & regulatory compliance
• Upgrades, downgrades, and trial subscription
• Cart web analytics
• Phone support

But this plan is only for digital products - if you’re selling a physical product, consider one of the other options. 

Add-Ons

Check out these upgrades to enhance the functions of 2Checkout:

• 2Convert adds conversion rate boost features to the 2Sell and 2Subscribe plans, basically turning them into the 2Monetize plan.
• 2Bill adds subscription management to 2Sell. 
• 2Recover to improve renewal recovery
• 2Partner adds an affiliate platform and optimizes partner performance (only for 2Monetize)
• 2Service for additional customer support (even a multi-language customer call center to take work off your in-house team)

2Checkout Best Features 

• Comprehensive global commerce platform
• Multiple integrations
• Enhanced security and fraud protection
• Easy compliance
• Highly customizable plans
• No monthly fee

What We Disliked 

• Affiliate panel only as an add-on
• The top-tier plan doesn’t cover physical products

2Checkout User Reviews 

2Checkout is one of the top-rated digital commerce and subscription platforms. 

Most reviewers point out the excellent customer support and intuitive, smooth-functioning platform as the main perks. They’re also happy with the fair merchant charge rate and the overall high-value product. 

As far as complaints go, most negative comments come from isolated cases of account suspension, though some people also mention hidden fees. 2Checkout seems to have fixed the latter, as newer reviews don’t mention it at all. 

We Recommend 2Checkout For…

2Checkout is a stellar tool for anyone who wants to trade globally. Whether you’re looking for magazine subscription management software or you’re selling fully digital products, 2Chckout can help. 

Since you’re not paying a monthly subscription fee and the platform is all-inclusive, it’s a great option for small businesses and those looking to scale. However, 2Checkout is equally suitable for larger operations as it smoothes out the transition to a global market.

What Is MemberMouse?  

MemberMouse is a WordPress plugin that helps you sell any membership, product, or subscription and handle billing. If you’re building a membership site or app, it’s one of the best solutions to sell subscriptions, manage members, protect subscriber-only content, and optimize revenue with customer retention tools and an affiliate panel. 

MemberMouse commerce features include: 

• International currencies and multiple billing integrations
• Promotions and tools to manage discounts
• Payment plans and recurring subscriptions
• Upsells and downsells with save-the-sale tools

You can also create members-only pricing and customize products with SmartTags to improve conversations. 

Pricing 

All MemberMouse plans have a 14-day free trial version. Right now, they’re running a promotion, so we’re giving you pre- and post-promo prices, in case the promotion runs out. 

Builder

The Builder plan costs $29/month ($39 pre-discount) or $24.08/month billed annually. It has all the essential features: 

• 11 protected membership pages
• All payment and email marketing integrations
• 1-click purchases and upsells

Advanced

The Advanced plan will set you back $79/month ($99 pre-sale) or  $65.58/month billed annually. 

Along with the core functions, you get advanced analytics, affiliate, and employee control settings. You can use social signup and login and the billing date management functionality. 

Advanced members also get premium email support. 

Premium

The Premium plan costs $199/month (down from $299) or $165.17/month billed annually. The main perk here is the Sticky.io integration, as well as the phone support that no other users have access to. 

MemberMouse Best Features 

• Full-featured core panel 
• Rich payment and email integrations
• Smart selling tools
• Members-only content protection
• Advanced insight and reporting 
• User-friendly and easy to setup

What We Disliked 

• Possible compatibility issues
• Limited starter plan

MemberMouse User Reviews

MemberMouse is well-liked as a subscription management tool, as well as an online selling plugin. It works smoothly, does what it promises, and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. User reviews praise the simple setup and intuitive layout, as well as the wealth of functions MemberMouse provides. The chief complaint is compatibility issues - MemberMouse won’t always work with your other WordPress plugins, so double-check the integrations. And make sure to get great WordPress hosting to give your site a boost.

We Recommend MemberMouse For…

MemberMouse is hands-down our favorite subscriptions management software for WordPress. It’s highly functional, easy to set up, and very affordable, even if you’re just starting out.