Billing and Subscription Management: A Comprehensive Comparison of 5 Options -

The majority of subscription and billing management solutions let you:

• Create a variety of model of trial or subscription (e.g. either a free or paid trial , or use-based or fixed-price subscriptions).
• Manage active subscriptions (e.g. upgrade or downgrades, as well as adding or removing products).
• Make payment or invoice notifications.
• Offer your clients an online self-service portal through which they can control their accounts.
• Read reports about the most important metrics that affect revenues.

In reality, the majority of businesses realize that they need to use additional software for different aspects of the payment cycle, including:

• Payment processing
• Tax collection for VAT and sales tax
• Checkout Translations
• Currency conversions
• Chargebacks
• and more...

If you're in need of some of these functions it is important to be sure they are offered by your billing software (or seamlessly connect to other software applications).

In this guide, we compare five options by examining the subscription management and billing features they provide and the additional capabilities they have -- starting with an in-depth look into our software to SaaS companies, .

 Table of Contents

1.   Chargebee
2.   Recurly
3.   Chargify
4.   Zoho Subscriptions

1.  1. Subscription Management Payment Processing And Much More SaaS Companies

There are a variety of options available for managing subscriptions (which we'll discuss in the following), however, it's more than just the platform to manage subscriptions- we're an Merchant of Record (MoR) for software businesses.

 In our capacity as MoR, we accept transaction responsibility on behalf of us, which means that we:

• Take and remit the appropriate amount of VAT, sales tax and GST to us.
• Make sure the necessary procedures and paperwork are in place so that you remain compliant with the transaction laws for each location where you are selling.
• We take the lead on audits.

 Plus, has extensive solutions covering the whole cycle of payment, including:

• Localized checkout (i.e. currency exchanges, translations of languages Custom designs, currency conversions and much other features)
• International payment processing (for hundreds of payment options)
• Fraud detection
• Chargebacks
• Reporting and analytics
• Plus there's more...

In the following sections in the next sections, we will look at the various options and services in greater detail.

Custom Subscriptions and Recurring Billing Models for B2C or B2B

makes it easy to setup nearly any subscription type with just a few clicks. It is possible to set up the majority of subscriptions without writing codes, but you may make more sophisticated subscription logic using our API and webhooks library.

Here's a summary of the options available to you:

 Trials

Some subscription management tools are able to collect the payment information when potential customers sign up for trials, even free trials. This can cause some prospects to get cold feet and fail to complete the sign-up process. You can decide whether or not you want to gather data on payment at the end of each trial.

Also:

• Create trials of any length.
• Create free, paid or trial-based, usage-based ones.
• Select to invoice the user after the trial has ended or let them manually start a paid subscription.
• Reactivate subscribers' expired trial accounts.
• Select the time when you send reminders about the trial's end (e.g. three days before trial end).
• Automatically detect when one user attempts to sign up to multiple trial accounts and permit just one trial account.

 Subscriptions

Each product in a given business could get more success from various subscription options. As an example, lower-end products might be more effective if they are sold as a monthly subscription while top-end products could be more effective if offered through an annual subscription.

Also, what was successful at the time may not be the best solution in the future.

This is why we allow you to:

• Pick the duration of the subscription as well as the payment date (or let your customers choose).
• Make subscriptions auto-renewable and need the renewal to be done manually (i.e. clients have to re-enter payment information each time they're charged) Or, you can have your team initiate the charge via the API (this is a good option for usage-based billing).
• Discounts and coupons are offered.
• Provide prorated billing when a customer wants to downgrade or upgrade or stop the service halfway through the billing cycle.
• Add one-time purchases to the first bill, but do not include recurring billings.
• Manage upsell and cross-sell products at checkout.
• Customers have the choice of the storage of details about their payment (or make the decision for all customers).
• Automate the renewal of certain subscriptions and other subscriptions (e.g., when retiring the service or product).

 Recurring billing and invoicing

can allow you to manage B2B orders alongside B2C purchases with Digital Invoicing.

Digital Invoicing allows you to:

• Manage and create custom quotes at any time (including custom tags, coupons, discounts, and much more).
• Set expiration dates for quotes.
• Notes for your client or prospective customer.

Fully Branded Self-Service Features to Your Customers

provides a self-serve portal where your clients can:

• Subscription renewals
• Manage billing periods
• Update payment information
• View payment history
• And there's more ...

We handle all the backend maintenance on this website to ensure that your team does not have to.

As your MoR, we handle your customer's billing inquiries, including cancellation requests, billing problems as well as questions related to their subscriptions, and more. Our platform includes a customer portal that allows your customers to handle their subscriptions.

The image below shows an example of a self-service portal, however, to ensure a smoother customer experience, the entire site can be personalized to reflect your brand.

It is also possible to enable customer-generated quotes. This allows buyers to create a quote based on the contents in the cart, without having to contact your sales team. This is extremely helpful to attract potential buyers who need approval before making purchases.

Local Transaction and Indirect Tax Compliance made Simple

There are two main aspects of conformity when it comes to transactions that are repeated:

1. Transaction compliance (i.e. the system you use for collecting payment).
2. Sales tax, VAT, and GST compliance (i.e. the method you use to collect and remit taxes that are indirect).

In order to stay clear of penalties and fines You must be aware of taxes and transactional law for all jurisdiction you do business within. In this section, we will cover:

• A few examples of the laws on transactions that affect subscription-based companies.
• If software firms must be able to collect VAT, sales tax, and GST.
• What is the best way to handle all this for you.

Transaction Compliance

Each country, state, and province has its specific laws and regulations regarding the ways businesses collect and keep customer details. Many companies have a good understanding of privacy rules such as GDPR, however there are other transaction regulations that aren't as widely known.

In certain countries, such as Canada and Korea consumers are entitled under the law to get a prorated refund in the event that they end their subscription prior to the close of the payment period. It's just one illustration for one part of the lifecycle of subscriptions- and these laws and regulations are constantly altering.

In the case of most subscription management software will leave you on yourself to research the laws and regulations governing transactions and follow the appropriate procedure. In addition, certain subscription platforms don't provide the required alternatives to meet the requirements of rules and laws (e.g. Certain services don't allow rebates that are prorated).

However, our team we take care of all this for you. Our team of legal experts is up-to-date on all relevant transaction laws and regulations , and assists you to establish the proper procedures needed to ensure that you are in compliance. We also support all the necessary subscription model for compliance.

GST, Sales Tax, and GST Compliance

Software companies weren't required to pay the sales tax or VAT, as well as GST. In several jurisdictions, it's the situation. However, tax laws for digital goods and services are changing fast in many jurisdictions.

More and more countries are mandating software companies to pay some kind in indirect taxes. Additionally, certain nations are now requiring companies that use digital technology to fill out tax forms even if they have the right to tax exemption.

Finally, remitting sales taxes is usually more complex than filling out a tax form and then wire the money. More and more countries have imposed further rules to stay compliant.

For example:

• Some countries like Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Serbia, and others require local representation, meaning you have an employee with physically present in that country in order to pay your tax liability. It can range from $5k-$15k annually.
• States like Serbia, United Kingdom, Taiwan and many others demand electronic invoicing from all companies that are selling within their countries. The EU will be introducing universal electronic invoicing requirements by 2028.
• States like Taiwan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, and others are requiring you to declare the tax on your income as well as to indirect taxes.

takes care of the entire procedure for collecting and processing sales tax, VAT as well as GST to you .

We ensure the correct amount (and the correct type) in indirect taxes is paid at the time of checkout (including transactions that are tax-exempt in the US as well as 0% reverse charge when permitted abroad).

Then, our team remits the tax for you, and will ensure that the proper procedures are in place for total tax compliance.

If a nation or state asks you questions about tax compliance, our team will guide you on how to respond -- even by providing copies and paste responses.

International Pay Processing with Dozens of Payment Methods

Most payment processors focus on a certain location, while all payment processors are limited in their list of payment methods that they can accept. For example, some payment processors aim to support transactions that are accepted in the U.S. So, they'll only support the payment methods that are well-known across the U.S. (e.g., Mastercard or Apple Pay) and they aren't going to support something like UnionPay as it is often employed in China.

Furthermore, many payment processors will only process payments for certain currencies or countries. For example, they might support Amazon Pay but will not process payments coming from Turkey.

SaaS companies that want to take payments from around the globe must connect to and control multiple payment processors. This could be quite a daunting undertaking.

In HTML0 , SaaS firms automatically have access to a variety of payment processors that are specialized in international transactions. maintains relationships with numerous payment processors as well as dozens of card networks , so it is not necessary to. Simply turn on our localized payments feature and you can begin accepting international payment as soon as possible.

also offers multiple features to assist in ensuring successful payment and reduce involuntary churn, which include:

• Payment gateways that are local: Transactions are more likely to be authorized in the event that the payment gateway is in the same location as the buyer (e.g., a transaction originated in Germany goes through a payment gateway that is located in Germany). automatically routes payments through the payment gateway that has best authorization rates in that area.
• Rerouting payments from the gateway When a payment is unsuccessful at the first try, the system automatically retries the payment by using a second gateway- all without either you or any other member of your support team having to intervene. It is often able to fix payment problems due to connection issues or other system problems.
• Reminders for payments that are proactive. If a customer's credit card is due to expire, you should notify the customer beforethe due date so they are able to change the information on their payment. It is possible to use our already-designed templates for notification or create your own notification.
• Multiple follow-up notifications. If a recurring payment is declined, you can schedule multiple failure notices to be sent out two seven, five, 14, and 21 days following the first failure. Before sending out each reminder, will retry the payment.

A Custom-Made Checkout that reflects your Visual Corporate

The majority of payment platforms provide a checkout feature that offers a variety of possibilities for customizing it, like adding your logo and choosing the color scheme. But these options for customization do not always reflect your visual brand and create a seamless user experience for customers and make your checkout more efficient for the highest conversion rates.

 allows you to customize branding tools as well as CSS-overrides to ensure that you can make extensive changes options to control the look and feel of your online checkout.

Also, you'll be able to access the Store Builder Library -- a JavaScript library which allows customers to modify the journey leading up to checkout.For example, you can make a cross-sell and upsell funnel. This lets you optimize your customer experience to increase conversions.

checkout comes in three versions that include popups, embedded or as a storefront on the web. The web storefront redirects your customers to a different page hosted by .

With any of these options (including the online storefront) it is possible modify the checkout experience using branding tools and CSS overlays to fit your visual brand.

There are many other options which can help you maximize your shopping experience:

• localized checkout:Let customers choose their preferred language and currency or let choose the appropriate language and currency based on the country of purchase. Supports 19+ languages as well as more than 23 currencies.
  
• Support for developers that is personalized:Our team is always eager to assist you in creating the most efficient checkout experience possible for your company. Some companies only provide personal support for their biggest customers, and neglect small firms. At , we believe every firm deserves the same amount of consideration and care.

Complete Reporting and Analytics

• Where are the majority of my highest paying clients located?
• What products generate the highest amount of revenue?
• Which discounts are generating revenues in comparison to. taking revenue away?
• and numerous others...

Reports are split into two main dashboards: Revenue Overview and Subscription Overview.

If you don't find the report you require then you are able to customize every report, and save it to your dashboard. Our team is always available to help you design custom reports that will provide your answers.

Our webhooks and API for data make it easy to pull in revenue and subscription data into any tools for business or CRM that you employ. The report may also be downloaded in CSV, PNG, or XLSX format.

All-in-One Pricing (No Hidden Fees)

Many payment system providers will charge a base price for processing payments and some of the core features such as embeddable checkout. However, you'll typically be charged extra to get additional services like the conversion of currencies or the detection of fraud. There are a few payment systems that offer a complete solution, so the majority of businesses need to put an additional piece of software. It's difficult to grow globally as your company grows, as the cost will continue to grow as you add more features and software.

is a comprehensive payment system for SaaS firms that comes with everything as a one-time fee dependent on the number of transactions . In addition, you'll only be paid when transactions occur.

Next, we cover four more payment platforms for subscription-based businesses.

2. Chargebee

Here are some highlights of Chargebee attributes:

• Utilization-based billing, automatic invoicing, proration and many more
• Automated processes for accounts receivable
• Subscription and revenue recognition models that are compliant with the law. model
• Support for in-app purchases
• Self-service portal available to customers
• Smart dunning

You can use the Chargebee platform at no cost for the first $100k in income earned. Following that, they provide a variety of pricing plans for different ranges of monthly earnings.

3. Recurly

Recurly is a recurring bill system designed to optimize the growth plan you have in place. Recurly is a simple integration with a variety of payment gateways and merchant accounts but you'll must manage and be responsible for these services in addition to your Recurly subscription.

Below are some more highlights of Recurly's features.

• Customizable subscription models
• Automated recurring invoicing
• Tools for revenue recovery
• Intelligent retention
• Customer subscription analytics

Recurly provides three pricing options However, you need contact their support team for more details.

4. Chargify

Chargify is a subscription-based billing software that's on the verge of integrating with SaaSOptics, a Revenue management system. The merger will allow you to automate subscription management, revenue and expense recognition as well as SaaS measurement tracking in one revenue management platform.

Here are a few highlights of the functionalities Chargify provides:

• Usage-based and global billing
• Tools for billing and recognition of revenue instruments
• System of billing analytics and metrics
• Integrates with different software (e.g. accounting software like QuickBooks as well as Xero)
• International payment gateways

The pricing structure of Chargify is for businesses that earn at least $75k per month in billings however, if your company are earning more or you want access to all features, it is necessary to reach their support team.

5. Zoho Subscriptions

Zoho Subscriptions is an element of Zoho's Zoho platform (a collection of applications for every aspect of your business, e.g., CRMs and ERPs). If you're already using the Zoho platform, this might be an alternative. But, those who are new to the platform usually find that there is a steep learning curve.

Some of the advantages of Zoho Subscriptions comprise:

• Multiple pricing models
• Tax-compliant, customisable invoices that can be customized
• Multi-currency conversions
• 30+ pre-built reports to track each stage of the lifecycle of a subscription
• Support for in-person cash and check transactions (in combination with payment via credit card)
• Out-of-the-box integrations with other billing solutions (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, etc.)
• Toolkits to build custom workflow rules

Every aspect of the Zoho service is priced individually and includes Zoho Subscriptions. This could make it difficult and expensive to create an end-to-end payment solution.