13 Best Subscription Management Software of 2023

In the last few years, subscription-based businesses have taken the world by storm.

According to a report, the subscription e-commerce market size is expected to grow to $1482.11 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 65.8%.

This rise has resulted in a hard-pressed need for efficient subscription management software for businesses to streamline their subscription management process and maximize their revenue potential.

From identifying customer trends to customizing subscription plans, subscription management software can help businesses stay ahead of the competition.

In this article, we have rounded up the top ten subscription management software to help you make the right choice for your subscription business needs.

How We Choose the Best Subscription Management Software

• Subscription Management: The software should have robust features for managing subscriptions, including the ability to create and manage different subscription plans, handle upgrades and downgrades, prorate billing, and manage customer accounts.

• Recurring Billing: We have looked at subscription management software that have robust functionality to handle recurring billing—the most important feature for subscription-based businesses. The best software should be capable of sending invoices on a regular basis and collecting payments seamlessly.

• Dunning Management: The software should offer automated dunning management to ensure a seamless process of handling failed payments and reducing churn. In addition to automated dunning management, the tool should send notifications on retrying failed payments to minimize customer attrition.

• Flexibility and Customization: We have looked at software that provides flexibility to tailor the subscription management process to specific business needs. This includes customizable billing cycles, invoices, emails, pricing tiers, trial periods, coupon codes, and discount options.

• Price: From free and affordable ones, to premium subscription management software, you can find tools that cater to the needs of businesses of all sizes.

• Integrations: Another factor we have looked at is whether the software offers useful integrations with other essential tools and services. The best tools are those that integrate with payment gateways, CRM systems, email marketing platforms, and accounting software.

• Analytics and Reports: Our preference is for tools that offer in-depth insights and customizable reports on key metrics, such as churn rate, customer lifetime value (CLV), and revenue forecasts.

Best Subscription Management Software for 2023

Let’s look at the top subscription management software for your subscription business to grow rapidly in 2023.

1. Chargebee

Image via Chargebee

Chargebee is one of the top subscription management software that can make your life easier, especially if you are a SaaS company. It gives you complete control over your business and also offers invaluable customer insights to help it grow.

Key Features

• Plan and pricing management
• Discounts, coupons, and gift subscriptions
• Trial management suite
• Recurring billing and payments
• Dunning management
• Checkout and self-service portal
• Subscription lifecycle management

Pros 

• Integrations with other systems like QuickBooks and HubSpot
• Multiple payment gateways for easier payment processing
• Flexible and feature-rich billing system

Cons

• Substandard customer support
• Complex and time-consuming onboarding process
• Confusing User Interface (UI)

Pricing 

• Starter – $0
• Performance – $599/month
• Enterprise – Custom

Image via Chargebee

Difficulty Level

It is slightly difficult to adapt to Chargebee’s setup.

2. Stripe

Image via Stripe

Stripe is an established subscription management software and payment processing solution ideal for every business, from startups to public companies. Whether it’s recurring billing or handling tax documents, this subscription management tool has a wide range of functionalities.

Key Features

• End-to-end billing
• Global payments built-in
• Dunning management to reduce involuntary churn
• Customer lifecycle optimization
• Custom reporting
• Business Analytics

Pros 

• Highly-customizable checkout flow
• Supports multiple currencies
• Prompt customer service

Cons

• Limited functionality for in-person retail businesses
• Some advanced features require knowledge of coding that will require hiring a Stripe expert
• Reporting can be a bit clunky

Pricing

• Integrated – 2.9% + $0.30
• Customized – Custom pricing

Image via Stripe

Difficulty Level

It is fairly easy to set up and use Stripe.

3. Zuora

Image via Zuora

Zuora is a leading subscription management software offering a wide range of reliable features that make it a popular choice.

The best part about this subscription management platform is that it offers both cloud-based and on-premise subscription management.

Key Features

• Automated revenue management
• Dunning management
• Product catalog
• Billing and AR settlement
• Managing subscriptions and amendments

Pros 

• Easy to pull out standard reports
• Great integration with third-party software like Salesforce
• Issuing credits and refunds are easy

Cons

• Hard to run recurring reports due to rigid data manipulation
• The business interface is too bulky
• Subpar reporting options for measuring churn

Pricing

The official website does not display the pricing plans. You can submit a ‘Request a Call’ form or call the company to know the right plans for you.

Difficulty Level

Zuora is user-friendly and convenient due to its interactive training guides.

4. Younium

Image via Younium

Younium is a comprehensive subscription management software that’s a cut above the rest if you’re a B2B business. That’s because it’s solely meant for B2B companies and, as a result, all its features are designed to suit your needs.

And the best part about this platform is that its features aren’t just restricted to managing your subscriptions. Instead, you get a whole lot of features related to tax compliance, reporting, billing, and finances.

Key Features

• Multi-legal entity and multi-currency support
• Multiple payment options
• Tax compliance
• Insights and reports focused on SaaS metrics
• Integrations and API

Pros

• Detailed analytics give you greater insights into your client base and business health
• Features are very relevant to what B2B SaaS businesses would need
• Offers great flexibility with booking classifications

Cons

• The sheer variety of features can make it slightly difficult for beginners

Pricing

Request a demo of Younium and connect with the team for pricing.

Difficulty Level

Younium is moderately easy to use.

5. Recurly

Image via Recurly

If you want to automate recurring billing and gain access to useful customer insights, this subscription management software is apt for you.

Touted as a growth-focused subscription management platform, Recurly can help you minimize failed payments and customer churn. This is because it is built on an “Intelligent Revenue Optimization Engine.”

Key Features

• Flexible subscription plan configuration
• Visibility into the subscription lifecycle
• Multi-subscription management
• Advanced subscription analytics
• Pre-built integrations with third-party software like Salesforce

Pros 

• Good billing customization options
• Recurring revenue recognition feature that includes revenue accrual and usage tracking
• Backend APIs are easy to use

Cons

• Data export analytics requires improvement
• Expensive subscription trials
• Difficulty in solving technical errors as online resources leave out important information

Pricing

• Core – $0 for up to $40K revenue for 12 months
• Professional – Custom quotes
• Elite – Custom quotes

Image via Recurly

Difficulty Level

Recurly is simple to use and configure.

6. Zoho Subscriptions

Image via Zoho Subscriptions

Zoho Subscriptions is an end-to-end subscription management software that helps you with trial, cancellation, and tax management.

It offers great features to help with tracking subscription billing and invoices throughout the customer journey. Plus, it takes into account the need for businesses to grow exponentially, and so, it can be scaled seamlessly as your business grows.

Key Features

• Automated subscription billing
• Accept payments in multiple currencies
• Customer subscription management
• Customized customer experience
• Customize your billing APIs
• Handling of subscription billing lifecycle
• Integrated subscription billing suite

Pros 

• Automated recurring billing
• Reports are easy to pull
• Easy and convenient management of customer database

Cons

• Lacks some customization features to manage subscriptions
• Difficult to view the details of multiple subscriptions for a single client
• Forums answer basic questions but more challenging ones are not addressed

Pricing

• Monthly:
  • Free – $0
  • Basic – $59
  • Standard – $119
  • Professional – $299
  • Enterprise – Custom plans

• Annually:
  • Free – $0
  • Basic – $49
  • Standard – $99
  • Professional – $249
  • Enterprise – Custom plans

Image via Zoho Subscriptions

Difficulty Level

It has a simple interface to set up and use.

7. Maxio

Image via Maxio

Chargify and SaaSOptics have joined forces to become Maxio, a powerful subscription management software for SaaS brands and other subscription-based businesses.

It offers a full spectrum of the subscription lifecycle including SaaS metrics and analytics, GAAP/IFRS-compliant financials, billing and payments, and customer management.

Key Features

• Consolidate product catalog
• Customer lifecycle management
• Tailor invoicing
• Easy subscription cancellations and changes
• CRM integrations
• Handle monitoring of billing activities

Pros 

• Reporting by product is great
• Visibility into annual recurring revenue via the Subscription Momentum Report
• Easy to draw trends with the help of demographic data

Cons

• Occasional issues with syncing with third-party software like QuickBooks
• Search functionality is not intuitive for generating templates or changing invoice data
• Customer support can sometimes slack

Pricing

• Essential – $599 per month (paid annually)
• Growth – Custom quotes
• Scale – Custom quotes

Image via Maxio

Difficulty Level

It is easy to use for beginners.

8. Paddle

Image via Paddle

Paddle is one of the best-in-class subscription management software helping SaaS brands run and grow their businesses. Apart from its real-time subscription analytics, this trustworthy subscription management tool allows you to analyze revenue and handle tax compliances with ease.

Key Features

• Automatic calculation of prorated payments
• Ability to pause and reactivate customers
• Flexible billing options
• Easy management through APIs and UI
• Prevents subscription failure with subscription recovery and dunning schedules
• Revenue recovery tools

Pros 

• Fast onboarding and easy to deploy
• Convenient checkout process
• Excellent customer support

Cons

• Editing some features and changing templates can be a little rigid
• No option to manage multiple projects from the same account
• Admin panel requires additional functionality

Pricing

Pay-as-you-go pricing model – 5% + $0.50 per transaction.

Custom pricing plans are available too.

Image via Paddle

Difficulty Level

It offers an easy setup, which is great for small teams and start-ups as well.

9. 2Checkout (Now Verifone)

Image via 2Checkout

A comprehensive subscription management software, 2Checkout offers tailored subscription services to businesses to help maximize their revenues.

The single payment API along with its intuitive design makes this subscription management software stand above the rest. With support for over 50 currencies and 130 different payment methods, it can allow businesses to scale globally with ease.

Key Features

• Global payment support for recurring billing from clients all over the world
• Dunning management for revenue recovery from hard declines
• Advanced retry logic to recover up to 20% of failed transactions resulting from soft declines
• Flexible subscription management options to combat voluntary churn
• Expiration reminders to make renewals easy for customers
• Advanced reporting for tracking subscription billing and other important metrics

Pros 

• Robust API
• Excellent payment gateways
• Good customer support

Cons

• Requires improvement in fraud protection
• Not available to high-risk merchants
• The control panel is complex and not mobile-friendly

Pricing

• 2Sell – 3.5% + $0.35 per successful sale
• 2Subscribe – 4.5% + $0.45 per successful sale
• 2Monetize – 6.0% + $0.60 per successful sale
• 4Enterprise – Custom pricing

Image via 2Checkout

Difficulty Level

The platform’s setup is quite easy.

10. Skio

Image via Skio

Skio is a Shopify-friendly subscription management software that specializes in FMCG i.e. fast moving consumer goods. With its ‘build-a-box’ functionality, this subscription management platform offers best-in-class analytics.

Key Features

• Offer loyalty programs and send vouchers with postpaid invoices
• Virtually support multiple clients with easy options to scale
• Easy migrations from one payment provider to the other
• Offers SMS subscription services
• Hosted subscription portal

Pros 

• Responsive customer service
• Regular updates in functionality and features
• Excellent user experience

Cons

• The subscription management tool can become expensive due to extra charges
• Self-help resources are not very helpful
• Only offers integration with Shopify

Pricing

• Dog Plan (Standard)
  • $299 per month (billed annually) or $399 per month (billed monthly)
  • 1% + $0.20 transaction fee

• Cat Plan (Custom)

Available for businesses with unique business models or large recurring payments volume.

Image via Skio

Difficulty Level

It has an easy-to-use and intuitive interface making it convenient for businesses of all sizes.

11. Recharge

Image via Recharge

Recharge is the perfect subscription management software for businesses looking to boost their sales, draw more customers, and retain existing ones.

Its solution focuses on increasing customer lifetime value (LTV), reducing churn, and measuring your brand’s performance.

Key Features

• Dunning management
• SMS subscription services
• Automatic payment retries
• Customer subscription portal

Pros 

• Easy integration with Shopify available for e-commerce stores
• Supportive customer service team
• Subscriber’s payments and orders are easy to track

Cons

• The customer subscription portal tends to have glitches occasionally
• Delays in loading of reporting features
• Technical errors in automated checkouts

Pricing

• Standard – $99 per month – 1.25% + $0.19 per transaction
• Pro – $499 per month – 1% + $0.19 per transaction
• Custom – Custom pricing

Image via Recharge

Difficulty Level

This subscription management software is straightforward to set up and use.

FAQs

Q1. What is subscription management software?

A. Subscription management software helps businesses manage customer subscriptions right from signing for a product up to cancellation. In other words, the subscription management tool can monitor recurring billing payments, renewals, and track all customer activities to boost sales.

Q2. Is SAP subscription-based?

A. Yes, SAP offers subscription billing, a public cloud solution that supports subscription-based models. The subscription service provides simplified payment experiences and complete subscription lifecycle management.

Q3. Can Salesforce manage subscriptions? 

A. Yes, Salesforce has a subscription management feature which allows for the creation and management of customer subscriptions. It serves as a single source of truth for customer transactions, from purchase to renewal and revenue recognition.

Q4. Is subscription management software worth it?

A. Yes, subscription management software can streamline your recurring billing, reduce involuntary churn, and help you keep track of customer activities and trends. In addition, it can improve customer data accessibility and transparency.

Q5. Which subscription management software is best for my business?

A. Chargebee, Stripe, and Zoho Subscriptions are some of the best subscription management software in the market today. However, it comes down to the specific needs of your business. So, it’s best to do some research and find the best subscription management software for your company.

Final Thoughts

Finding the best subscription management software for your company requires careful consideration of your specific business needs. We hope the above list can help you make that choice.

With the right subscription management software, you can not only automate billing and payments but also manage your customer base. Additionally, it can help ensure that your business is running efficiently and you are offering the best possible personalized service to your customers.

Regardless of whichever subscription management software you choose, remember to check it for scalability and integrations with other software, and you are good to go.