Subscription management is no easy process, isn’t it? Right from gathering customer details, generating invoices, collecting payments, and a lot more…the list is nearly endless. It is tedious and almost impossible to handle – especially if you have a large clientele. Now, you can’t keep updating your spreadsheet with the details of hundreds of your customers manually. That would be disastrous!

Well, here’s the good news. You don’t have to do anything regarding subscriptions manually. You can automate all these processes. What you need is a robust subscription management software.

What is a Subscription Management Software?

A subscription management software helps businesses power up the sales and billing of services and products on a recurring basis.

This helps the organizations manage revenue and provide better services to customers.

10 Best Subscription Management Software

The market offers numerous tools. You have to literally scavenge the market to find a decent subscription management tool. Well, we have made your job easier.

Here are 10 of the best subscription management tools that were found after some thorough research. Dive in.

1. Stripe
2. Chargebee
3. Recurly
4. Maxio
5. Paddle
6. WooCommerce Subscription
7. Sage Intacct
8. Zuora
9. Verifone
10. Zoho Billing

Let’s discuss each in detail.

1. Stripe

G2 Rating: 4.2 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.6 (5)

Starting Price: Available upon contact

Now, Stripe needs no particular introduction. It is arguably the most popular subscription management software, which is used by thousands of businesses of all sizes.

Stripe has made collecting credit cards and other manners of payment an effortless task with its powerful suite of integrations. So, they rightfully claim ‘we build everything that’s required to build websites that accept payments and send payouts globally’.

And what’s the best part? All this is done by giving maximum preference to data security. So, companies can easily beat any attempts at fraud, send invoices, and manage the subscription activities of their business.

Features of Stripe enable mobile payments, ACH payment processing, and management of recurring bills effortlessly. By pairing Stripe with SurveySparrow, it’s insanely easy to automate payments and collect customer feedback at checkout.

Create a free account below to try it out. It’s free forever.

Related: How to integrate SurveySparrow with Stripe

2. Chargebee

G2 Rating: 4.4 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.4 (5)

Starting Price: $599 per month

Streamline your billing operations via the very popular subscription management and recurring billing platform of Chargebee. This subscription management software is best for SaaS, PaaS, eCommerce, and other subscription-based businesses.

You can automate your invoicing, payment collection, and notifications with the help of powerful integrations of Chargebee with leading payment gateways.

The reliable integrations with third-party apps like Xero, QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, MailChimp, Zendesk, Slack, Salesforce, etc. just guarantee you a painless subscription billing process.

Some of the best features of Chargebee include dunning management, product catalog, cancellation management, m-revenue recognition, tax management, a self-service portal, usage tracking, revenue recovery tools, trial management, etc.

Moreover, Chargebee also has a very responsive customer support system which makes it even more favorable among clients.

3. Recurly

G2 Rating: 3.9 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.6 (5)

Starting Price: Available upon request

Apt for all kinds of enterprises, ranging from SMEs to global enterprises, Recurly is a subscription management software that lets you delve deep into the power of the subscription model.

It can procure expected revenue, find crucial customer insights, and automate subscription billing with Recurly. The software leverages a revenue optimization engine powered by machine learning to reduce subscriber churn and increase monthly revenue.

Other features of Recurly include cancellation management, dunning management, a self-service portal, revenue recovery tools, recurring invoices, multi-period recurring billing, and deferred billing.

Recurly is indeed a great tool but do watch out for its steep learning curve. For those who are using SurveySparrow, integrate Recurly through the tool and bypass this learning curve. Interested candidates use the following form to sign up and try out this integration.

4. Maxio

G2 Rating: 4.3 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.4 (5)

Starting Price: $5000 per annum

In 2022, two leading subscription management software with the same aim decided to come together – Chargify and SaasOptics – paving the way to the inception of Maxio. It helps with billing and financial operations, specifically for B2B SaaS businesses.

The brainchild Maxio allows you (B2B SaaS businesses) to create complex pricing packages without making the product catalog complex. Like every other software we discussed, Maxio also allows for automation of the entire billing workflow. This includes everything from invoices to deposits.

Implement a subscription model of your choosing or create a unique subscription plan – Maxio has got it all. Moreover, you can use the usage billing to create value-based pricing plans.

Another key feature to look into is centralize subscription information. All the data that reflects your customers’ subscription will available in Maxio. Therefore, your team can make the changes as needed at moment’s notice.

5. Paddle (Formerly ProfitWell)

G2 Rating: 4.5 (5)

Capterra Rating: 3.6 (5)

Starting Price: 5% + $0.50 per checkout transactions

With a common aim to help businesses overcome their operational and financial hurdles – ProfitWell joined Paddle in 2022. This subscription management platform simplifies and automates your billing process.

The retention feature automatically recovers failed card payments, reducing customer frustration and leading to better retention. The best part – you only have to set it once.

The platform offers crystal clear view of major KPIs your business should focus on. This includes everything from MRR and churn to active customers and revenue per customer.

The platform also provides robust integrations with platforms like Quickbooks, Salesforce, etc. Not only that but also allows integration with you current payment stack – in one click. Thereby, it helps you gather your historical and current (payment) data in real-time.

Finally, get accurate insight into your customers through health scores. Paddle offers customer health scores and insights to help you understand where and how you can increase customer spend.

6. WooCommerce Subscriptions

G2 Rating: 4.3 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 (5)

Starting Price: $23.25 per month

WooCommerce Subscription is an extension of WooCommerce that helps manage subscriptions. This tool is specifically useful for those websites developed with WooCommerce. The website handlers can create and manage products with recurring payments.

This is yet another worthy subscription management tool to consider, as it can manage multiple billing schedules (suitable to your needs). Also, it integrates with more than 20 payment gateways and allows for automated recurring payments.

Store owners will have full authority and control over the subscription. If you (store owners) find anyone misusing the subscription, you can suspend or even cancel their subscription.

Now, for those who are running an eCommerce business with WooCommerce, hear this out. While it’s important to manage subscriptions to your site, what’s more important is to understand your customers. You have to know what kind of subscription plans they are interested in, the most preferred payment gateways, and so on.

So, how can you do this? Well, SurveySparrow can be the best bridge here. It not only allows you to understand your customers but also provides robust integration with WooCommerce.

7. Sage Intacct

G2 Rating: 4.3 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.2 (5)

Starting Price: Available upon request

Sage Intacct is a financial management solution that lets you monitor and track subscriptions with the least effort.

Primarily focusing on midsize organizations, Sage Intacct serves around 11,000 businesses across the globe. The cloud-based subscription management software helps you procure real-time financial visibility throughout every stage of your business, powered by a robust security system.

The popular features offered by SageIntacct include dunning management, payment processing, recurring billing, deferred billing, multi-currency, recurring invoicing, a self-service portal, multi-period recurring billing, online invoicing and customizable invoicing, etc.

With so many features and more, SageIntaact remains one of the toughest competitors to its counterparts.

8. Zuora

G2 Rating: 3.9 (5)

Capterra Rating: 3.9 (5)

Starting Price: Available upon contact

Zuora is a leading subscription management software that helps synchronize your subscription order-to-cash procedures in real-time. Being a central hub to manage subscriptions and keep up with the ever-changing marketing trends, Zuora offers a series of reliable features.

Track and monitor your subscription lifecycle and automate payment and billing calculations for each customer. Calculate the key metrics of subscription and gather powerful insights into subscriber engagement and revenue operations.

Some of the popular features of Zuora are dunning management, revenue recognition, tax management, usage tracking, coupon management, recurring billing, trial management, etc.

9. Verifone (2Checkout)

G2 Rating: 4.6 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.2 (5)

Starting Price: 3.5% + $0.35 per checkout transaction

Optimize and manage subscription billing with the help of Verifone, a comprehensive subscription management software. This intuitive tool lets you manage every revenue process of your customer’s lifecycle, be it first order, upgrading, invoices, or renewal.

Verifone offers you robust payment support for recurring billing. You can also make the most out of the reporting of this subscription management tool by using the insights to control churn rates and increase active customers and subscriptions.

Some of the features of Verifone include dunning management, online invoicing, a billing portal, a contact database, hourly billing, customizable invoices, and mobile payments.

10. Zoho Billing

G2 Rating: 4.4 (5)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 (5)

Starting Price: $15 per month

Zoho Billing is an end-to-end subscription management software that aids you in monitoring subscription billing and invoices throughout the customer journey. The platform also has an eminent clientele to its credit and that includes some of the popular names like EuroBox, HeadApp, Opiniion, etc.

With such a subscription management tool in place, you can easily orchestrate billing frequencies, automate proration, remain tax-compliant, and store credit card information backed up by strong data security.

The platform also offers features like deferred billing, usage tracking, a self-service portal, tax management, cancellation management, and trial management.

And what’s more: the software is integrated with the entire Zoho ecosystem, be it Zoho CRM or projects. So, if you are a dedicated user of Zoho’s products, then Zoho Billing can be the ideal tool for you.

Why Do You Need Subscription Management Tools?

We know it’s redundant since you are here looking for subscription management software. But for those who still have doubts about whether to move forward with this or not, this is for you.

1. Tailor the Plans and Promotions for Your Customers

There are several subscription billing models you can choose from. Therefore, choosing the right one that fits best for your customers can be a tricky one. There are various factors come into play, from your target audience to your monetization strategy.

More importantly, you need to have flexibility in your plan. And subscription management tools can be helpful here.

Typically, a subscription management platform supports all kinds of commonly used models. This could be handy in impressing your target audience and acquiring some of them. Others could take some more time. That’s where promotions come into play.

With a platform that offers easily configurable free trials, gift card functionality, and coupon code functionality, give the last push those prospects on the fence need.

2. Streamline the Recurring Billing Process

With a subscription model in place, you will be billing customers monthly (or yearly). Without a proper subscription management platform, you will find your finance team scratching through their scalp into the skull. You certainly don’t want that.

A subscription billing software has in-built integrations with accounting and tax solutions. This could minimize the manual tasks to a bare minimum.

3. Provide Multiple Payment Gateways

While choosing the right subscription model is important, it’s equally important to provide the essential gateways to make the payment. This is so, especially with customers ditching conventional methods like credit cards and opting for PayPal and GPay.

What’s the point of offering a service, if your customers can’t pay you, right?

Here also a subscription management system can be helpful. Tools like Stripe and Recurly, offers multiple payment gateways from which offer the ones that most convenient to them.

PRO TIP 💡

The best way to understand what your customers’ preferences are is to ask them. Duh, right? But ask them through the right channel.

Share surveys with your existing subscribers and ask them questions like –

“Which among the following is your preferred gateway for payment? “

By doing so, you can strike off guesswork and implement changes that actually resonate with your customers. Meaning? More customer satisfaction.

5 Features a Subscription Management Software Must Have

Before choosing a subscription management tool, consider checking the tool for the following features. These are essential features that can help with the subscription model billing.

Feature 1 – Automated Recurring Billing

As we discussed earlier, it is essential to maintain a seamless billing workflow, and the automated billing feature can help here. The feature can significantly minimize manual labor and even spot and resolve potential revenue leaks.

Typically, this feature should be able to handle the following.

Prorations

It’s possible that customers might upgrade or downgrade from a subscription plan. This implies the billing should change, and prorations do this. It will adjust the amount with respect to the change in plan.

Calendar Billing

We talked about providing flexibility to subscribers. This includes providing a billing date best suitable for their financial cycles. With calendar billing, your customers can change the billing date to a convenient date. And it’s not just that, the change will be aligned for all the upcoming (or new) subscriptions to the new billing date.

Discounts and Coupons

Providing incentives is one way to let your loyal customers know that you value them. In this case, the incentive could be discounts or coupons. But imagine including these in your billing without a proper system to support you. Chaos!

The automated recurring billing feature will add these to the subscription without hampering the existing process. The discount (or coupon) will be automatically reflected in the invoice.

Feature 2 – Automated Invoicing

Don’t confuse invoicing with billing. Though both are related, they serve different purposes. Some could say that they both go hand in hand.

The tool you choose should be able to –

• Customize invoices with your brand identity (and other changes based on your needs).
• Consolidate invoices for customers who purchased more than one product.
• Advance invoicing for those customers who prefer to pay for your product or service in advance.

Feature 3 – Flexible Payment Options

You might be thinking it is becoming a habit of us to repeat the same thing again and again. Well, we wouldn’t if it wasn’t that crucial a feature.

The options should include everything from cards and bank-based payments to direct debits and digital wallet payments. The subscription-based billing software you choose must support payment gateways such as PayPal and Stripe. Why? To enable international transactions if you have (or want) a global presence.

Feature 4 – Accounting

You might be familiar with this: the countless manual hours and spreadsheets spent for accounting and bookkeeping. The subscription-based software you choose should either provide this feature (in-build) or provide native integration with ERP accounting software.

As your business grows, so does the complexity of accounting. Meaning – the need for an ERP system will be inevitable. With accounting software by your side, you can easily map plans, add-ons, payments, and so on into your accounting solution. Not to mention the tax rules and compliance you have to tackle.

Feature 5 – Handle Revenue Leakage

If you don’t know – revenue leakage refers to the customer churn happening due to failed payments and neglectfulness. Your subscription management tool should be able to patch up these revenue leaks and manage your accounts.

How? Through dunning mechanism.

The tool should automate the right time to retry failed payments and payment reminders to alert the customers about payables.

Winding Up

Hope you have gone through our list of the best subscription management software. Well, isn’t it a lot better than surfing the net?! You would have to rummage through thousands of subscription management tools. Now, you just have to put in half the effort.

Here’s what you can do next. Jot down the list of requirements that your organization has, compare it with the tools given, and choose the ideal subscription management software for your business.

For example, CRM software captures and organizes information from current and prospective customers in an integrated system. All employees gain a single view of prospects and customers, allowing them to better cooperate and coordinate activities. Is that something that your organization needs?

Good luck! We’re rooting for you.

Athira Unnikrishnan

Content Marketer at SurveySparrow

Just a plain soul enthralled by the power of words and the aroma of food!