Paddle vs Recurly
Paddle and Recurly are both payments & billing tools. Paddle is aimed at small businesses and developers, while Recurly is aimed at enterprise.
| Pricing | Paid | Paid · $249 |
| Starting price | Not published | $249/mo |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | — | 90 days |
| Built for | Small businesses, Developers | Enterprise |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | GB · 2012 | US · 2009 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Paddle if
SaaS and software companies that sell internationally and want to outsource tax and billing entirely.
- Eliminates global tax compliance burden
- Available to sellers worldwide including Turkey
- Subscription billing and dunning included
Look elsewhere if: Marketplaces, physical goods or businesses that need Stripe-level API customization.
Choose Recurly if
Consumer and media subscription businesses.
- Strong failed payment recovery
- Good for consumer subscriptions
- Gateway flexibility
Look elsewhere if: Early SaaS (Stripe Billing).
Paddle vs Recurly pricing
Paddle
- Pay as you go5% + 50¢/per transactionMerchant of record: tax, fraud, chargebacks included
- CustomCustomVolume pricing for larger businesses
Recurly
- Starter$249/mo+0.9% of billing volume; first $40K/mo included
- All-AccessCustom<1% of billing volume; $1M volume minimum
- All-Access for ShopifyCustomRecurly integrated into Shopify
Paddle · Key features
- Merchant of record: global tax calculation, collection and remittance
- Checkout overlay and inline with localized pricing
- Subscriptions, trials, upgrades, proration and dunning
- Payment methods: cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, local methods
- Retain for failed payment recovery and ProfitWell Metrics
- Invoicing for B2B, API and webhooks
Cons
- Higher fees than direct Stripe
- Less customization than Stripe APIs
- Onboarding review can take time
Recurly · Key features
- Subscription plans and promotions
- Revenue recovery and smart retries
- Multi-gateway support
- Subscription analytics
- Revenue recognition
- Gift and trial management
Cons
- Revenue-based fees
- Less popular with SaaS startups
- Implementation effort
Paddle vs Recurly: FAQ
Do Paddle and Recurly have a free plan?
Paddle has no free plan. Recurly has no free plan, a 90-day free trial.
Which is better for small businesses, Paddle or Recurly?
Paddle lists small businesses as a core audience, while Recurly is aimed more at enterprise.