Chargebee vs Recurly: Comparison for UK Businesses

If your business runs on a subscription model, the changes are that you’ve heard of both Recurly and Chargebee as popular ways to manage end to end subscription management, reduce churn and improve customer retention. But which is best between Recurly vs Chargebee?

This Chargebee vs Recurly guide covers a head to head comparison - and both Recurly reviews and Chargebee reviews to give you an overview of what each provider offers.

We'll also introduce Wise Business as an alternative which gives ways to get paid in multiple currencies using local or SWIFT account details, with no ongoing fees, and mid-market rate currency conversion. More on that later.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

Chargebee vs Recurly - Comparison overview

Recurly plans and Chargebee plans have a somewhat similar model. There are starter packages which waive the platform fee for a while, with percentage based billing depending on volume. There are also custom made packages for higher volume businesses.

This gives ample chance to test out the provider and decide if it’ll work for you, before you start to pay an ongoing monthly charge. However, do bear in mind that fees structures vary for each service, and the total amount you pay will also depend on the payment processing provider you select. More on that later.

Here’s a quick Chargebee vs Recurly feature comparison to start us off.

What is the difference between Recurly and Chargebee?

Chargebee and Recurly are 2 of the most popular subscription management service providers on the market. Both offer very similar options, with relatively minor differences in service between Recurly plans and Chargebee plans. It’s worth looking carefully at the payment processing services each provider can work with. You’ll need a payment gateway and merchant account to use either service - and while both work with many major options, the list isn’t exactly the same. If you have a strong preference for a particular payment gateway check it’s supported by both Recurly and Chargebee before you get too deep into your research.

After that, the key difference is probably around Recurly vs Chargebee pricing. Compare the Chargebee fees against what you’ll pay with Recurly - particularly if you’re interested in a tailor made package. In this case you can get specific quotes from each provider which gives you a very solid basis to decide which is best for you.

Chargebee review

Chargebee targets its services at SaaS, education, ecommerce, media and publishing, and OTT/video customers looking for subscription and billing management services. This is quite a wide niche already - but when you take into account the fact that Chargebee also offers extremely diverse pricing models you can see that it's an option with very broad appeal.

Chargebee pricing can run from a free trial or a £499 month package for businesses with smaller turnovers, right through to custom packages for large and established businesses. You’ll be able to effectively build out the package you need using your preferred payment gateway, too, to make sure your setup is optimal for your unique business needs.

Here’s a summary of the key Chargebee products available for businesses of all sizes:

• Subscription management - to retain customers and provide different payment methods
• Billing and invoicing - ideal for clients needing ongoing invoicing
• RevRec - GAAP compliant revenue recognition
• Payments and accounting - including integration with other tools where needed
• Reporting and analysis - delivered through interactive dashboards

Is Chargebee a payment gateway?

Chargebee is not a payment gateway. To use Chargebee you’ll also need a merchant account and payment gateway (which could be all offered in one service from select providers).

Chargebee works with payment processors including Stripe, Braintree and PayPal, so you can pick the one which works best for your business.

Is Chargebee safe?

Chargebee is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant, which means that your financial data is always safe. It also has 99.9% uptime so you and your customers do not need to worry about service disruption - and is fully compliant with all required law covering security, privacy, tax and so on.

Chargebee pricing

Let’s move on to Chargebee pricing:

• Starter: No fee for first £200,000 billing cumulative, then 0.75%
• Performance: £499 per month for up to £80,000 billing, then 0.75%
• Enterprise: Custom pricing and packages

Other costs will also apply, including fees you pay to your payment processor or the provider you use for a merchant account. Depending on the way your Chargebee account functions, there may also be costs for things like chargebacks and refunds being processed - you’ll need to check these out in detail before you sign up, as they may be tailored to your business situation.

Recurly reviews

Recurly offers subscription and adjacent services for startups, SMEs, mid-size businesses and enterprise level companies. Pretty much wherever your business is at right now, Recurly can help - with different package levels targeting businesses with varying turnover values.

As with Chargebee you’ll need to pick a payment gateway to use in conjunction with Recurly. Supported options include Adyen, Braintree, Cybersource, First Data, and Stripe - which means many businesses can integrate their pre-existing payment processor seamlessly when they sign up with Recurly.

Here’s a quick summary of Recurly features which may suit your subscription business:

• Subscription management and recurring billing
• Automated and manual invoicing including custom invoicing
• Receive payments in multiple currencies (140+) from 20+ payment gateways
• Offer customers 10+ payment methods including cards, PayPal, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Venmo
• Gift cards
• Back up payment method options and dunning services if customers fail to pay
• Revenue recognition - standard or advanced, depending on the package you select

Recurly plans

Recurly plans are offered on a tiered basis - Starter, Professional and Elite. Starter plans are intended for startups and SMEs, Professional is for mid-level companies, while Elite plans focus on enterprise level companies. Only the Starter plans have a fixed pricing structure - all other packages can be custom made to suit an individual business needs.

Is Recurly safe?

Yes. Like Chargebee, Recurly is PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant. It’s also recognised on the Visa Global Registry of Service Providers.

You can use Recurly safely, knowing that the company has been built to meet or exceed industry-standard payment security practices to protect you and your customers.

Recurly pricing

Recurly only publicly releases pricing for its lowest tier of account - all other plans are agreed with custom features and pricing. Here’s a look at the Recurly pricing options you might consider when you start out:

• Starter: No platform fee for first 3 months, up to £40,000 billing per month, then volume fee of 0.9% applies. After 3 months - £249 per month + volume fees
• Profession and Elite pricing available on request

Recurly vs Chargebee fees -Which is cheaper?

Finding the most cost effective model to manage your subscription business is important. However, when it comes to Recurly vs Chargebee on fees, the decision will depend on your specific needs and turnover volume.

Both providers offer some sort of initial promotion for new customers which cuts out the monthly platform fee - this can be a good way to check if the services available suit your needs before you need to start paying ongoing charges. Outside of the most basic subscription plans, all services are offered on a tailor made basis, so you can build out the package that suits you and compare the quotes from each provider to get the very best deal on the table.

Manage your international business with Wise

UK businesses may be better off when taking foreign currency payments with Wise Business.

Use your Wise Business account to receive foreign currency payments from customers directly or through PSPs and marketplace sites like Stripe or Amazon, with local and SWIFT account details for select countries and currencies. This means you could get paid to Wise for low or no Wise fees, by customers globally.

Hold and exchange 40+ currencies in your Wise business account, with no monthly fees - you’ll just pay a one time account opening charge to get full feature access. Hold your balance in the currencies of your choice, withdraw with a Wise business card, or to send money to others - always with the mid-market rate with low fees from 0.33%.

Other smart Wise features could let you cut out admin, with multi-user access, batch payments, accounting integrations, and access to the Wise API as a standard feature. See if you can save time and money for your business, with Wise.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

Use this guide to weigh up both Chargebee and Recurly and see which may suit your needs - and don’t forget to check out Wise Business as a handy alternative for comparison.

Sources used in this article:

Sources last checked 24-Sep-2024