Subscription management tools facilitate automated billing and provide useful analytics.
Managing subscriptions manually—tracking billing cycles, updating payment methods, and following up on failed payments—can quickly become time-consuming as your subscriber base grows. Subscription management tools help simplify these processes so you can focus on growing your subscription business.
In this guide, you’ll learn how subscription management tools work and how to choose the right option for your business.
What are subscription management tools?
Subscription management tools help ecommerce brands offer and manage subscription options, supporting recurring revenue growth. They manage tasks such as setting up subscription models, collecting recurring payments, and monitoring subscription data.
With a subscription management platform, you can add subscription-based services to your ecommerce business. These tools help you set up a pricing strategy—such as flat rate, tiered, or usage-based billing—and make it easy to onboard and manage subscribers, as well as remedy failed payments.
Many subscription management tools also offer self-service portals, so customers can update their subscription without tedious back-and-forth with your staff—reducing friction and improving customer retention.
Key features of subscription management tools
- Automated billing
- Flexible subscription models
- Subscription analytics
- Global payment support
- Payment recovery
The right subscription management tool helps you grow recurring revenue by making it easier to manage subscriptions for both you and your customers.
When evaluating subscription management software, look for features like the ones below.
Automated billing
A major benefit of subscription billing software is the ability to put payments on autopilot. Once a customer inputs their payment information and starts their subscription, the software does the rest, automatically charging the subscriber at the end of the billing cycle. This eliminates time-consuming manual processes and the need to follow up with customers about invoices.
These tools also simplify monthly recurring revenue (MRR) forecasting by automating routine billing tasks, helping you estimate subscription revenue based on the number of subscribers and your pricing options.
Flexible subscription models
Subscription management tools allow you to choose the right pricing models for your business.
Some businesses use flat-rate subscriptions. For example, Citizens of Soil offers olive oil deliveries at a consistent price per shipment, making it easy for customers to understand what they’ll pay each time. Other brands may offer flexible subscription models. Meat delivery service ButcherBox, for example, lets customers choose subscription plans that fit their budget and dietary needs—an example of tiered pricing. There’s a basic plan with a limited selection and more expensive subscription offerings with premium meats.
Offering multiple options allows you to tailor your subscription services to different customer needs and create opportunities to upsell.
Subscription analytics
Subscription management tools also offer reporting features that help you track key subscription metrics and keep stakeholders informed. They typically include a dashboard that lets you track key metrics—like MRR, churn rate, customer lifetime value (CLV), and customer retention rate—without manual data entry.
Tracking these metrics helps you understand why customers subscribe or cancel and makes revenue forecasting easier.
Global payment support
Subscription billing automation software lets you accept recurring payments in a variety of ways, including credit, debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal.
Payment gateways with global payment support help you expand your reach and offer subscription-based services to more customers.
A survey of more than 6,000 consumers from around the world showed that 45% prefer to pay for subscriptions with PayPal, and 18% choose digital wallet options like Apple Pay or Google Pay. This highlights the importance of offering flexible payment options for subscription businesses.
Payment recovery
Subscription management tools make communicating with customers who have missed payments (also known as “dunning”) much simpler. Failed payments can increase involuntary churn, or the percentage of subscribers whose subscriptions lapse because a payment fails, hurting your recurring revenue.
Subscription software often can handle this process, reaching out to customers to resolve failed payments. Some subscription management platforms use AI to tailor responses when communicating with customers who have missed payments.
Payment recovery features help retain subscribers and encourage lapsed customers to return.
6 top subscription management tools
There are many tools for managing customer subscriptions, whether you’re just getting started or scaling your subscriber base. While all of the tools listed here simplify subscription management, you can choose the one that best fits your company’s size, complexity, and budget.
Shopify
Shopify offers tools for store owners looking to add a subscription model to their business. If you’re already using Shopify as your ecommerce platform, you can use the free Shopify Subscriptions app to create and manage subscription products without relying on third-party integrations. This app supports automated recurring billing with flexible billing intervals, along with a customer self-service portal and built-in analytics.
Pricing: The Shopify Subscriptions app is free for Shopify sellers; Shopify’s ecommerce plans start at $29 per month.
Recharge
Recharge is a popular subscription management option that allows you to build and customize subscription offerings. It automates routine billing tasks so you can focus on business growth. If you already have an ecommerce platform, Recharge connects to your product catalog so you can offer your existing products as subscriptions without additional setup. It also integrates with tools like Klaviyo and Gorgias, making it easier to connect subscriptions to your existing marketing and support workflows.
Pricing: Recharge starts at $99 per month, with processing fees of 1.49% plus 19¢ per transaction. Shopify sellers get an offer for up to 50 subscribers for $25 per month when they use the app.
Bold Subscriptions
Bold Subscriptions focuses on increasing lifetime customer value by helping you grow and expand existing subscriptions, including upselling subscribers into higher-tier plans. It includes in-app prompts that encourage subscribers to add products to their subscriptions and discover additional items they may find interesting. The platform also supports customizable subscription offerings and integrates with Shopify.
Pricing: Bold’s basic plan for small businesses (less than $2,500 in monthly subscription revenue) is $24.99 per month, plus a 2% transaction fee. Plans with lower transaction fees start at $49.99 per month.
Recurly
Recurly is a subscription management tool that lets you test and refine pricing models to find what works best for your customers. This makes it a useful option for businesses that haven’t yet settled on their subscription pricing or are looking to improve recurring revenue by adjusting their pricing model. Shopify sellers can use the Recurly app to manage subscriptions.
Pricing: For Shopify store owners, Recurly starts at $399 per month plus 1.5% of your gross merchandise value and 10¢ per subscription order. For all others, pricing is based on your total payment volume (minimum $1 million) and contract length.
Stripe Billing
Stripe is known primarily for its payment processing technology, but it also offers a subscription management tool. Stripe Billing offers advanced customization, though setup can require more configuration than other options. Like other subscription management tools, Stripe Billing supports a range of billing models. It also includes AI-powered dunning to automatically notify subscribers about failed payments.
Pricing: Stripe Billing offers two plans: a monthly payment starting at $620 on a one-year contract, or a pay-as-you-go option at 0.7% of your billing volume.
Chargebee
Chargebee supports a wide range of pricing models, giving businesses flexibility when setting up and managing subscriptions. Reviews note that Chargebee has a straightforward setup, though its analytics dashboard is more limited than some other subscription management tools. It includes a free starter plan, making it a practical option for businesses monetizing early transactions before scaling to more advanced features. As your business grows, Chargebee adds features like smart dunning, advanced invoicing, and migration support.
Pricing: Chargebee’s free plan for startups is free for the first $250,000 of cumulative billing, then charges 0.75% on all subsequent billing. Paid plans start at $7,188 per year.
Subscription management tools FAQ
What is a subscription management system?
A subscription management system is software that handles tasks such as setting up subscription pricing, collecting recurring payments, tracking key performance indicators, and recovering payments from lapsed customers.
What is the best subscription management tool?
The best subscription management tool is the one that fits your business’s needs. Some are tailored to small businesses and solopreneurs, offering easy setup and out-of-the-box functionality. Others offer deep customization options and AI-powered features for more established ecommerce businesses.
How do I set up a subscription service for my business?
You can set up a subscription service for your business through subscription management tools. These apps allow you to add a subscription pricing model to your ecommerce platform and automatically collect payments on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.
What are the three types of subscriptions?
The three types of subscriptions are replenishment (receiving goods like meat or books on a recurring basis), curation (where subscribers can create their own subscription bundle), and access (like paying for a membership to a gym or streaming service).
