In a market dominated by software as a service, managing subscriptions and ensuring that customers are billed appropriately is a crucial factor to get right.
That’s where subscription management software comes in: it automates a significant portion of the subscription cycle and makes it more efficient for everyone involved — both company and customer. These software programs make sure that sensitive customer data is protected, that billing is accurate and on time, and that customers are kept up to date on their subscriptions.
There are hundreds of subscription management software programs on the market, so it can be difficult to determine which one is right for your business. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best programs available and outline their key features. Read on for the best subscription management software platforms in 2022.
Our Pick for Best Subscription Management Software in 2022: Stripe
Most businesses have heard of Stripe: it has built an impressive reputation based on its intuitive and user-friendly interface, reliability, and comprehensive feature list. It is built to seamlessly handle payments to-and-from customers all over the world.
The company is always up-to-date on the latest security features and fraud prevention techniques, so you can rest assured that your data is safe. Stripe also offers ACH direct deposits, automated revenue recognition, data-safe hosted payment pages, and unified payouts. Not only that, but it also gives recommendations for how you can optimize revenue.
Where some subscription billing management software programs lack attention in certain departments, such as design, user-friendliness, or fraud prevention, Stripe has managed to excel in all of these categories. As such, it is our top pick for the best subscription management software in 2022.
Best Subscription Management Software: Top 10 List
There are a number of subscription management programs available, but our experts have narrowed the pool down to a tidy list of 10 best software. Here are our picks:
- Recharge — Best easy to set-up subscription management software
- ProfitWell — Best for metrics and monitoring
- Chargebee — Best for invoicing and billing
- SaaSOptics — Best for B2B enterprises
- Zuora — Best subscription management for easy dunning management
- Stripe — Best overall subscription management platform
- 2Checkout — Best for sales tracking
- Sage Intacct — Best for small to mid-size enterprises
- Chargify — Best for recurring billing
- Recurly — Best for income forecasting
Each platform has its pros & cons, and we’ll get into the specifics below.
Best Subscription Management Software: Compared
Subscription management platforms have dozens of features and various pricing options. We’ll keep our review to the most essential components so you can get back to doing what you love.
1. Recharge — Best easy to set-up subscription management software
Recharge is a must-have tool for anybody looking to boost revenue, attract new consumers, and improve relationships with current customers. It’s the perfect platform for online stores of any size, and it’s simple to use.
One of the best things about Recharge is that it makes it easy to set up subscription services. This means that you can quickly and easily offer products and services on a recurring basis, which can be a great way to boost revenue and attract new customers.
In addition, by using Recharge, you can improve relationships with current customers by making it easy for them to manage their subscriptions.
Special Features:
1. End-to-end automation: Recharge completely automates the subscription management process, from sign-up to renewal to cancellation. This means that you can focus on your business and not on administrative tasks.
2. International Payments Platform: Recharge accepts payments from customers all over the world, in more than 150 currencies.
3. Robust tracking and reporting: With Recharge, you can track subscriber activity and performance down to the individual product level. This information is invaluable for understanding what products are selling well and which ones need improvement.
Pros:
- Easy to set up and use
- Robust features that can boost revenue and improve customer relationships
- Affordable pricing plans that fit any budget
Cons:
- Minimal checkout customization
Price:
- Standard — No monthly fees and 1% + 10¢ per transaction
- Pro — $300/mo and 1% + 19¢ per transaction
2. ProfitWell — Best for metrics and monitoring
ProfitWell is a platform that provides outcome-driven products to simplify pricing and subscription management. With Pricing Audit, you can track the progress of your pricing plan, and with Retention Audit, you can assess and pinpoint income loss. ProfitWell’s subscription reporting and analytics may also provide you with crystal clear information.
The simple-to-use subscription management software has a gentle learning curve and is simple to set up. If issues come up regardless, ProfitWell’s rapid customer support team is available to assist you with fast troubleshooting.
Special Features:
1. Retention & Engagement Tracking: ProfitWell offers powerful retention and engagement tracking features that can help you keep tabs on your most valuable subscribers. This can help you to better understand which subscribers are most likely to cancel or downgrade their subscriptions, and take action to keep them engaged.
2. Revenue Tracking: ProfitWell also offers powerful revenue tracking features that can help you to better understand your subscription-based income. This can help you to make more informed business decisions and optimize your subscriptions for maximum profitability.
3. Price Intelligently: ProfitWell’s price intelligence features make it easy to find the right price for your subscriptions, so you can maximize your profits while still providing great value to your subscribers.
Pros:
- Free metrics and reporting
- Ease of use
- Multiple integrations
Cons:
Pricing:
- Retain — Varies per month
- Recognized — $1000.00 per month
- Price Intelligently — $15,000.00 per month
3. Chargebee — Best for invoicing and billing
Chargebee is a comprehensive subscription billing and revenue management tool that provides you with complete control over your company. This software for subscription management not only allows you to manage every part of your client subscriptions but also gives you valuable information to help you develop.
You can simply enhance conversions by upselling new items, generate churn-driven sales growth by cross-selling your product to new customers, and develop bespoke subscription plans for each client by using Chargebee’s sophisticated capabilities.
Special Features:
1. Personalized Product Selection: Makes it simple to upsell, cross-sell, and bundle things at checkout. You can produce proposals with product options specific to each client, so they know what to expect before they place an order.
2. Automated Invoicing and Billing: Eliminates late payments, missed invoices, and the need for billing staff with automated invoicing and billing.
3. Easy Upgrades and Downgrades: Makes it easy for customers to upgrade or downgrade their subscriptions without hassle, and automates the process so that they only have to make the change once.
Pros:
- Invoice design flexibility
- Great UI
- Excellent API documentation
Cons:
Pricing:
- Rise: $249.00 per month includes USD 600K/yr revenue or 0.6% of overage revenue
- Scale: $549 per month includes USD 1.2M/yr revenue or 0.75% of overage revenue
4. SaaSOptics — Best for B2B enterprises
This low-cost subscription management software allows you to take advantage of integrations with platforms like Quickbooks, Salesforce, and others.
In a matter of seconds, create and share error-free invoice and revenue schedules, and seamlessly sync orders between your CRM and GL. In addition, SaaSOptics’ analytics and reports provide correct insights on subscription strategy.
Special Features:
1. Automated A/R Management: Keep track of your subscription payments and A/R aging with automated dunning and collections.
2. Automated Renewal Process: Eliminate the hassle of renewal notifications and processes with automated renewal management.
3. Metrics & Analytics: Understand your subscription business with in-depth metrics and analytics.
4. Order Syncing: Sync your orders between your CRM and GL for a streamlined order management process.
Pros:
- Invoice automation
- Data integrations
- Customer service
Cons:
Pricing:
- Contact SaaSOptics for pricing
5. Zuora — Best subscription management for easy dunning management
Zuora is a popular subscription management tool that allows you to sync your subscription order-to-cash processes in real-time. Zuora offers a number of trustworthy services as a central point for managing subscriptions and keeping up with ever-changing marketing trends.
With Zoura, you can check and manage your customer’s subscription lifespan, as well as payment and billing calculations. Easily calculate essential subscription metrics to gain valuable information regarding profit operation and customer engagement.
Special Features:
1. Dunning Management: Zuora can automatically send out dunning emails to customers who have lapsed on their subscription payments. This helps to ensure that you’re not losing revenue due to forgotten payments.
2. Subscription Billing: Zuora allows you to create and manage invoices, as well as process payments for your subscriptions, making it easy to keep track of your subscription income and expenses.
3. Tax Management: Zuora can help you to automate the calculation and submission of taxes related to your subscription payments, so it saves you time and hassle in the long run.
Pros:
- Interactive training guides
- Subscription and amendments
- Multiple currency billings
Cons:
- Limited churn measurement
Pricing:
- Contact Zoura for pricing
6. Stripe — Best overall subscription management platform
Stripe is likely the most widely used subscription management software, with thousands of companies of all sizes using its powerful features and intuitive design.
Stripe’s robust range of integrations has made collecting credit cards and other forms of payment a breeze. As a result, they can legitimately claim that “we construct everything necessary to build websites that accept payments and transmit rewards internationally.”
Special Features:
1. ACH Payment Processing: ACH payments are direct deposits, so they’re a great way to get paid. Stripe can help you accept them from customers around the world
2. Revenue Recognition: Most subscription businesses have to deal with bookkeeping and revenue recognition. Stripe can help automate this process for you, making it simpler and more accurate.
3. Hosted Payment Page: When you need to take payments on your website, Stripe’s hosted payment pages are a great solution. They’re simple to use and help keep your customers’ data safe.
4. Unified payouts: Collecting payments from customers all over the world can be a hassle. But with Stripe’s unified payouts, you can easily send payments to any bank account in 190 countries.
5. Revenue optimization: Stripe’s Revenue Optimization product can help you increase your subscription revenue by identifying and recommending changes to your pricing, packaging, and promotion strategy.
Pros:
- Transparent pricing
- Supports multiple currencies
- Highly customizable
Cons:
- Requires software development knowledge for Open API
Pricing:
- Integrated: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge
7. 2Checkout — Best for sales tracking
2Checkout is an all-in-one monetization tool that assists businesses in expanding their global sales. To help you optimize your income, 2Checkout offers a suite of tools to manage subscriptions, track sales, and process payments.
The 2Checkout dashboard is easy to use, with all the features neatly organized into tabs. After you’ve created an account and added your products, you can start processing payments immediately. You can also set up recurring payments and automatic billing to make life easier for your customers.
Special Features:
1. Billing Portal: The billing portal allows customers to manage their own subscriptions, change their payment method, and update their contact information. This is a great feature for businesses that want to give their customers more control over their accounts.
2. Subscription Management: Subscriptions can be a hassle to manage, but 2Checkout makes it easy. You can set up automatic billing, change subscription levels, and cancel subscriptions with just a few clicks.
3. Sales Tracking: 2Checkout keeps track of all your sales data, so you can see how your products are performing. You can track product performance by SKU, country, and payment method. This data can help you make informed decisions about which products to promote and where to focus your marketing efforts.
4. PCI Compliance: 2Checkout is fully PCI compliant, so you can be confident that your payments are being processed securely.
Pros:
- Outstanding payment gateway
- Robust API
- Excellent support
Cons:
- Not for card present merchants
Pricing:
- 2Sell: 3.5% plus 35c for every successful sale
- 2Subscribe: 4.5% plus 45c for every successful sale
- 2Monetize: 6.0% plus 60c for every successful sale
8. Sage Intacct — Best for small to mid-size enterprises
Sage Intacct is cloud-based accounting software that caters mostly to mid-size enterprises. It now serves over 11,000 companies across the world. The cloud-based subscription management software gives you real-time financial information at every stage of your business, all while maintaining a high level of security.
Special Features:
1. General Ledger: Sage Intacct’s General Ledger is extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate. It offers a wide range of features, including the ability to post transactions, manage accounts, and generate financial statements.
2. Dynamic Allocations: Sage Intacct’s Dynamic Allocations feature is perfect for businesses that need to allocate expenses or revenue across multiple departments or entities. This feature makes it easy to track and manage costs and profits by department.
3. Accounts Receivable: The Accounts Receivable module in Sage Intacct is designed to help you manage your customer relationships and track outstanding invoices. It also offers a number of features that can help you reduce the amount of time it takes to get paid.
4. Vendor Management: The Vendor Management module in Sage Intacct helps you keep track of your suppliers and manage your payments to them. It also offers features that can help you reduce the amount of time it takes to pay your suppliers.
Pros:
- Real-time updates and insights
- Seamless integrations with other software
- High-security standards
Cons:
Pricing:
- Contact Sage Intacct for pricing
9. Chargify — Best for recurring billing
Chargify is a software-as-a-service startup that specializes in event-based charging. The company’s mission is to make managing recurring revenue streams easier and more efficient for organizations by providing automated invoicing and credit card payment processing, among other features.
Because of the reduction in man-hours required to charge clients, clearer accounting on its SaaS income, and more accurate current client lists, Chargify has had previous success with its customers.
Special Features:
1. Offer Management: Define and manage your products, pricing, trial periods, and more.
2. Billing Cycles: Automatically charge customers on a recurring basis.
3. Recurring Revenue Reports: Get insights into your subscription business with detailed reports on revenue, churn, and more.
4. Revenue Retention: Keep more of your customers with automated dunning and subscription management tools.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Great customer service
- Great reports
Cons:
Pricing:
- Essential: $599.00/month plus 0.9% of revenue
- Standard: $1499.00/month plus 0.7% of revenue
- Specialized: $3499.00/month plus 0.5% of revenue
10. Recurly — Best for income forecasting
Recurly is a subscription management platform that enables you to explore deep into the potential of the subscription model. It is suitable for all types of businesses, from SMEs to multinational corporations.
With Recurly, you can forecast income, uncover key consumer data, and automate subscription invoicing. Use a machine learning-powered Income Optimization Engine to minimize customer attrition and improve monthly revenue by a whopping 12 percent.
Special Features:
1. Cancellation Management: You can easily manage cancellations and refunds from within your Recurly account.
2. Automated Invoicing: Recurly can automatically generate invoices and update payment statuses as subscriptions are canceled or renewed.
3. Self-service Portal: Subscribers can manage their own subscriptions and account settings through a self-service portal.
4. Reporting and Analytics: Get detailed insights into your subscription business with Recurly’s extensive reporting features.
Pros:
- Comprehensive reporting
- Easy cancellation and refund management
- Automated invoicing
Cons:
- Not suitable for small businesses
Pricing:
- Core: $199/mo billed annually — First $500k in revenue included*
- Professional and Elite: Based on enterprise size
What is subscription management software?
For websites and businesses with a subscription-based model, subscription management software is a vital component of their operation. It allows customers to manage and renew their subscriptions, as well as upgrade or downgrade their plans. In addition, subscription management software provides businesses with the ability to track and analyze their subscription data in order to improve customer retention rates and revenue.
Subscriptions are a crucial detail to get right, as you are dealing with customers’ money and, potentially, their loyalty. Without subscription management software, businesses would have to manage their subscriptions manually, which is a both time-consuming and error-prone process — especially if they have a large customer base.
How does subscription management software work?
Rather than managing subscriptions manually, businesses use subscription management software to automate the process. This software collects data about customer subscriptions and then provides tools for businesses to interact with that data.
For customers, this usually means a website or app where they can view their subscription history and manage their active subscriptions. For businesses, it means access to data about customer subscriptions, including when they last renewed, what plan they are on, and how much revenue they are generating.
With this data, businesses can make better decisions about their subscription plans and pricing, as well as improve customer retention rates. In addition, subscription management software can automate the process of renewing subscriptions, meaning less work for businesses and fewer missed opportunities for customers.
How to choose a subscription management software?
When searching for the right subscription management software, there are a few things to keep in mind. Let’s take a closer look at the top 5 criteria:
1. Ease of use
For both your sake and your customers, the subscription management software you choose should be easy to use. This means that it should be intuitive and user-friendly, with a simple interface that is easy to navigate. You shouldn’t need to be a tech expert to use it, nor should your customers.
2. Functionality
The software you choose should offer the functionality you need to manage your subscriptions effectively. This includes features such as the ability to upgrade or downgrade subscriptions, renew them automatically, and track customer data.
3. Integrations
There are software tools for every business task these days, and the best programs integrate with as many other tools as possible. This allows businesses to get more out of their subscription management software and eliminates the need to use multiple programs to manage different aspects of their business.
4. Pricing
Pricing is an important consideration when choosing subscription management software. You want a program that is affordable for your business, but you also want one that offers good value for the money. Keep in mind, however, that (most of the time) you get what you pay for — so be sure to choose software that offers good quality as well as a fair price. When handling customer information and money, it’s best to err on the side of caution.
5. Customer support
No software is perfect, and chances are you’ll run into a problem or two while using your subscription management software. That’s why it’s important to choose a company that offers good customer support. This means 24/7 helpdesk support, with knowledgeable and friendly staff who can help you solve your problems quickly.
The best subscription management software will meet all of the above criteria. So, before making your final decision, be sure to compare different software programs and see which one is the best fit for your business.
Conclusion: What is the Best Subscription Management Software?
If you are a company that handles customer subscriptions in 2022, it is crucial to have subscription management software in order to keep track of your customers and their subscriptions. Not only will this software keep your customer data and payments secure, but it can also automate and manage the renewals process, among other useful features.
We hope this article has helped you to better understand the different types of subscription management software and which one might be the best for your business. Our top pick is undoubtedly Stripe; it is a well-established and complete payment system that handles all of your subscription payment tasks with ease.
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