Recurly vs Stripe
Recurly and Stripe are both payments & billing tools. Recurly is aimed at enterprise, while Stripe is aimed at developers and small businesses.
| Pricing | Paid · $249 | Paid |
| Starting price | $249/mo | Not published |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | 90 days | — |
| Built for | Enterprise | Developers, Small businesses, Enterprise |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | US · 2009 | US · 2010 |
| Rating | — | — |
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).
Choose Stripe if
Developers and companies in supported countries who want full control over payments and billing.
- Best-in-class API and documentation
- Covers payments, billing, tax, fraud and marketplaces
- Reliable at scale with strong uptime
Look elsewhere if: Founders in unsupported countries or small sellers who prefer a merchant of record to avoid tax administration.
Recurly vs Stripe pricing
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
Stripe
- Payments (standard)2.9% + 30¢/per card transactionUS domestic cards; +1.5% international, +1% currency conversion
- Billing0.7%/of billing volumePay-as-you-go; excludes one-off invoices
- Tax0.5%/per transactionTax Basic no-code; $0.50/txn via API; Tax Complete from $90/mo
- Custom pricingCustomLarge payment volume or unique business models
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
Stripe · Key features
- Checkout, Payment Links and Elements for custom forms
- Billing: subscriptions, usage-based pricing, invoicing, dunning
- Connect for marketplaces and platforms with payouts
- Radar fraud prevention and 3DS
- Tax calculation and Terminal for in-person
- Webhooks, test mode, Sigma analytics and extensive SDKs
Cons
- Not available to sellers in all countries
- You own tax compliance unless you add Stripe Tax and filings
- Fees add up: Billing, Tax, Radar are each priced
Recurly vs Stripe: FAQ
Do Recurly and Stripe have a free plan?
Recurly has no free plan, a 90-day free trial. Stripe has no free plan.
Which is better for small businesses, Recurly or Stripe?
Stripe lists small businesses as a core audience, while Recurly is aimed more at enterprise.