While Recurly bills itself as the best subscription management and recurring billing platform, not everyone will agree.
For one, I’ve heard of businesses:
- encountering software bugs,
- needing to wait a long time to create subscriptions in the software,
- having to foot hefty bills for their pricing plan,
- receiving poor customer support, and more.
If you’re a Recurly user, you may know these issues all too well.
So, whether you’re new to subscription management software or looking to switch from Recurly, I’m glad you’re considering Stax Bill.
We pride ourselves on providing a high-performing—yet easy-to-use—subscription management platform that helps businesses get paid, cut involuntary churn, and grow their revenue.
So, what makes Stax Bill one of the best Recurly alternatives? Let’s take a look.
TL;DR:
- Many Recurly users are experiencing issues with the platform. If you’re considering switching from Recurly or are new to the field, Stax Bill is a great subscription management solution to consider.
- Stax Bill has more advanced features, billing and payment collection capabilities, revenue recognition, pricing plans, and merchant ratings.
- In considering Recurly vs. Stax Bill, it’s important to keep in mind that it should be able to ease into your chosen subscription management and billing platform as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Features
As a best-in-class billing automation and subscription management tool, Stax Bill contains all the features that businesses need to streamline their subscription billing processes.
Key features include:
- A flexible product catalog that can accommodate unlimited products, unlimited plans—and unlimited possibilities for creating bespoke customer subscriptions.
- Automated dunning management to rescue failed payments through credit card retries and automated notifications to customers.
- Comprehensive reports and analytics for tracking vital subscription metrics such as monthly recurring revenue (MRR), churn rate, and customer lifetime value (LTV).
- Seamless integration with Salesforce, Avalara, Digital River, and other tools you use to run your subscription business.
While Recurly largely shares the same main feature set, its general ledger foundation isn’t as sophisticated as Stax Bill’s. As a result, it might not be able to handle more advanced billing needs such as automated price uplifts—which Stax Bill can execute with no trouble at all.
Apart from this, there are also other differences between Stax Bill and Recurly’s features. I’ll share these in more detail below, so keep reading!
Billing and Payment Collection
Unlike Stax Bill, Recurly supports B2C-friendly payment options such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and Venmo. You can set these up by integrating a suitable third-party payment gateway—Recurly doesn’t offer a native solution.
If you’re a B2C business, such e-wallet support might be useful. But if you sell to businesses—and especially if you sell software subscriptions—you’ll find Stax Bill to be the more attractive of the two billing solutions.
We want to make it easy for B2B businesses to take online payments, so we’ve integrated a payment gateway directly into our subscription billing software.
Not only will you skip the hassle of setting up a separate payment gateway, but you can also look forward to:
- money-saving transaction options like ACH,
- automatic updating of customer credit card data to prevent expired cards from thwarting subscription renewals, and
- competitive payment processing rates to help you minimize transaction fees and maximize profit.
Apart from that, Stax Bill’s more advanced general ledger foundation lets businesses effortlessly set up complex billing arrangements commonly seen in the B2B space.
For example, do you need to schedule regular price uplifts for customers? As mentioned above, Stax Bill makes doing so a breeze. And likewise for…
Revenue Recognition
Stax Bill offers 100% compliance with ASC 606 revenue recognition principles, where you simply need to specify whether you’d like to recognize revenue for a customer’s subscription immediately, over time, by milestone, or manually.
Our subscription billing software then takes care of the rest, without you needing to get bogged down in identifying performance obligations, allocating transaction prices, and other technical ASC 606 rules.
In particular, Stax Bill offers milestone revenue recognition—which is one of the more complicated ASC 606 methods—out of the box. If you need to recognize revenue by milestone, such as for the provision of professional B2B services, you’ll find this feature especially valuable.
On the other hand, Recurly can’t handle milestone revenue recognition on its own.
You’d need to integrate a third-party platform to get the job done—which potentially adds to the cost and complexity of your revenue management setup.
Integrations
Add-ons improve your billing platform’s capabilities. Both providers offer a wide range of integrations to improve the functionality of your system. Recurly offers more, but they’re not as diverse.
However, here are some of the most useful integrations associated with these subscription services. (Not included here are integrated payment methods):
| Platforms | Recurly | Stax Bill |
| Salesforce | ✔ | ✔ |
| Hubspot | ✔ | ✔ |
| Pipe | X | X |
| Netsuite | ✔ | ✔ |
| Quickbooks | ✔ | ✔ |
| Digital River | X | ✔ |
| Avalara | ✔ | ✔ |
| GeoTab | X | ✔ |
| Zapier | ✔ | X |
| Zendesk | ✔ | ✔ |
| Xero | ✔ | X |
When it comes to integrations, think quality over quantity. Evaluate your requirements and integration needs before signing up for a platform.
Pricing Models
Stax Bill pricing plans are hard to beat.
We don’t believe in locking advanced features behind more expensive plans, so we don’t do so. Instead, all of our pricing plans grant access to our full range of subscription management and recurring billing software features.
The only difference between our plans is the monthly fee you’ll pay. We calculate your flat fee using your annual net invoiced revenue. It’s absolutely free of hidden charges.
Starter: US $199+/Month when billed annually. This includes US $500k/year net invoiced revenue
Growth: US $499+/Month when billed annually. This includes USD $1.25m/year net invoiced revenue
PRO: You’ll have to request a custom quote from Stax Bill.
Another good thing about Stax is that even if you go over your plan’s revenue band, you’ll stay on it until your annual contract expires. At that point, we can move you to a higher plan.
Recurly, on the other hand, offers 12 months free for their customers. It sounds like a great deal. But once you’ve committed, you’ll realize that their plans are ultimately more expensive. Their lowest tier costs US $249/month.
Furthermore, the platform also imposes a 0.9% overage fee for exceeding its plans’ revenue caps ($40,000). A 0.9% fee may not sound like very much, but let’s run the numbers. Here’s how much you can expect to pay in overage fees for various amounts of overage revenue:
Here’s how much you can expect to pay in overage fees for various amounts of overage revenue:
| Overage revenue | Overage fee |
| $50,000 | $450 |
| $100,000 | $900 |
| $200,000 | $1,800 |
These are surprisingly large amounts that you’ll lose to overage fees, which effectively act as a deterrent against making more money!
So if you want to be able to generate unlimited revenue without worrying about overage fees, Stax Bill is the investment that makes more financial sense.
Regulatory Compliance
With Stax Bill being designed with U.S.-based businesses in mind, we’ve built and rigorously stress-tested it to adhere to North American security regulations. Stax Bill is PCI Level 1-certified and audited annually to ensure compliance with strict and ever-changing requirements.
While Recurly is also PCI-compliant, it additionally complies with SEPA. This may make it suitable for businesses that have many customer relationships in the E.U.
But beware if you do business in the U.K. Recurly deletes invoice data after six years, causing it to fall short of U.K. data retention regulations.
For complete assurance that your business complies with the relevant international regulations, use Stax Bill with an integration to merchant of record Digital River.
Our friends at Digital River do an incredible job of helping businesses achieve compliance no matter which country they’re expanding to. The platform can also handle domestic taxes on your behalf to make tax calculation, collection, and remittance painless.
Digital River doesn’t integrate with Recurly, however. As a result, you may end up forgoing such international expertise if you opt for Recurly over Stax Bill.
Merchant Reviews
Both Recurly and Stax Bill have a large user base, but what do they say about these platforms? On G2, Recurly has a rating of 3.9 out of 155 reviews. Stax Bill is rated 4.2 out of 95 reviews. Capterra scored Recurly 4.6 based on 58 reviews and Stax Bill 4.4 based on 33 reviews.
User-Friendliness
Payment software tools have wide application among merchants, consumers, and financial professionals.
Therefore, having a user-friendly interface is a must. It’s necessary to prevent errors and inconveniences for users as they navigate, perform transactions, or access relevant information.
Recurly’s platform tends to be complex to use. One user explains, “The administrative interface is limited with no user auditing ability.”
Meanwhile, Stax Bill’s user interface is simple. Coupled with excellent customer service (which I’ll get into more later), this user commends the easy-to-use platform: “Moving our monthly billing over to [Stax Bill] was a game-changer and time saver for our business. We have also been able to incorporate it with our own CRM – their API’s documentation is very helpful.”
Customizability
Payment processing isn’t a cookie-cutter approach. Your business’s payment needs are unique, which is why a custom payment solution can serve them better. It allows you to customize your setup based on your specific operations and customer preferences.
Recurly is straightforward. However, a user complains that it’s not very customizable, especially “for more complex billing situations. If someone is dealing with many custom billing situations, Recurly might not be the best tool.”
Stax, however, prides itself on its ability to accommodate customizations. According to one customer, “Fusebill (now known as Stax Bill) has allowed us to test out various ways of structuring our purchases to ensure that they best meet the needs of our business.” Having the ability to experiment is a major advantage.
Customer Service
Payment software can be complicated, and users may run into technical issues. They’ll need a responsive customer service team for prompt resolution of issues. Any delay or error in financial transactions could have serious consequences for everyone involved.
Some Recurly users commend the platform’s customer service—one mentioned the customer service team has the “ability to answer each question my team or I have quickly and thoroughly.” However, when faced with an issue involving thousands of dollars, one user noted that their complaint “got passed around 5 different customer support people and eventually told us that they wouldn’t entertain our request.”
Stax Bill’s customer service is top-notch. One customer commented that, “Their support team is amazing! Very quick and helpful responses by phone, chat or email.” With more ways to reach us, you can easily reach us if you have any questions.
While Recurly Alternatives are Plenty, Stax Bill is Your Best Bet
Recurly may be a good option if you’re a B2C business and if you primarily serve the E.U. market. But when it comes to modern, convenient, and compliant recurring billing for U.S.-based B2B businesses, there is no better solution than Stax Bill.
When you introduce Stax Bill to your subscription management processes, you’ll unlock a range of powerful features for:
- taking recurring payments with an integrated payment gateway,
- recognizing revenue in an ASC 606-compliant fashion,
- reporting on SaaS metrics to monitor your business’s financial health, and
- adhering to your data security obligations.
Couple all these with a predictable total cost of ownership, and it’s clear why Stax Bill is the recurring billing tool of choice for over 10 million businesses.
Check out our case studies to learn how businesses like yours have automated their billing, plugged revenue leaks, and scaled their growth with Stax Bill. And when you’re ready, schedule a demo with our billing experts to explore how Stax Bill can help your business, too.
Quick FAQs about Recurly
Q: What is Recurly and what features does it offer?
Recurly is a subscription management platform designed to manage and facilitate subscription billing. It serves businesses, particularly SaaS companies, e-commerce merchants, education, and media businesses. Key features include flexible pricing models, trials and promotions, subscription management, automated invoicing, and reporting dashboards.
Q: Why do some businesses look for Recurly alternatives?
While Recurly is widely used, some businesses encounter issues such as software bugs, long waiting times to create subscriptions, hefty bills for their pricing plans, and poor customer support. These challenges have led some businesses to search for alternatives.
Q: What is Stax Bill and how does it compare to Recurly?
Stax Bill is a high-performing and user-friendly subscription management platform that is considered a viable Recurly alternative. It offers advanced features, including a flexible product catalog, automated dunning management, comprehensive reports and analytics, and seamless integration with several tools. It has a more advanced general ledger foundation than Recurly, making it capable of handling more complex billing needs.
Q: How does the pricing of Stax Bill compare to Recurly?
Stax Bill’s pricing plans start at $199 per month and all plans grant access to their full range of subscription management and recurring billing software features. Recurly’s pricing starts at $129 per month, but the ultimate cost depends on the number of subscriptions and the features required.
Q: What are the integration capabilities of Stax Bill and Recurly?
Both Stax Bill and Recurly offer a wide range of integrations to improve system functionality. However, Stax Bill stands out for its integration with merchant of record Digital River, which helps businesses achieve compliance regardless of the country they’re expanding to.
Q: How does the customer service of Stax Bill compare to Recurly?
Stax Bill’s customer service is highly praised for its responsiveness and helpfulness. On the other hand, Recurly’s customer service has received mixed reviews with some users complaining about lack of prompt resolution for significant issues.
Q: What are some standout features of Stax Bill?
Stax Bill is recognized for its ability to take recurring payments with an integrated payment gateway, recognize revenue in an ASC 606-compliant fashion, report on SaaS metrics, and adhere to data security obligations. Furthermore, it allows for a predictable total cost of ownership.
Q: Who should consider using Stax Bill over Recurly?
Stax Bill is particularly beneficial for modern, U.S.-based B2B businesses looking for convenient and compliant recurring billing. It’s also an excellent choice for businesses aiming to generate unlimited revenue without worrying about overage fees. It’s the preferred choice for over 10 million businesses because of its power-packed features and cost-effectiveness.
