SaaS and subscription companies like yours need to collect and manage recurring payments at scale. Regular payment gateways like SagePay and WorldPay won’t cut it. You require a payment service provider that lets you:

• Automate recurring payments
• Facilitate multiple pricing tiers/plans
• Manage monthly, quarterly, and annual subscription payments 
• Set up variable payments
• Collect payments for upsells, cross-sells, and add-ons

The five payment providers on this list handle subscription-related transactions in the background, so you can sit back and concentrate on other areas of your enterprise.

Square

Fees: 3.5 percent and $0.15 per transaction

Square is a payment gateway and billing system that collects recurring charges from customers, with various invoicing features that process subscription-related payments and manage cash flow. However, you’ll need a merchant account (a bank account for subscriber payments) alongside Square. 

Features include email marketing and the ability to send subscribers receipts via email or text message. This billing software also provides real-time sales data and history. However, you might find these analytics limited and want to invest in a more dynamic solution. 

Recommended Reading: Learn how to recover failed payments with this useful guide

Stripe

Fees: 2.9 percent and $0.30 per transaction

Stripe provides PCI-compliant payment gateway and merchant account services for SaaS companies wanting to automate subscription management. The platform’s usage-based pricing (no monthly fees!) makes it a wise choice if you’re on a budget, but costs skyrocket as you scale. Stripe accepts all major credit and debit cards, multiple currencies, bank debits, and transfers. 

As one of the most popular subscription payment providers, Stripe offers a comprehensive solution for companies integrating payment automation into their business model. 

Another useful Stripe feature is built-in analytics, but these limited metrics make Baremetrics a better option for subscription insights. 

Learn more: Stripe Analytics and Metrics on Baremetrics

Recurly 

Fees: From $149 per month and 0.9 percent of revenue

Recurly is a subscription management platform that manages recurring billing, supporting custom catalogues, one-time purchases, and checkout analytics. Unlike Stripe, there’s a fee of $149 to use the platform, and you must invest in a payment gateway and merchant account to collect payments, which increases costs.

That said, Recurly provides SaaS companies with a broad range of features, including enhanced data security and integration with PIM systems. Users can also upsell and cross-sell services, automate subscription communications, and easily convert free trial customers into subscribers. 

Chargify

Fees: From $149 per month 

Like Recurly, Chargify is a subscription management platform that costs $149 per month (for SaaS companies with up to $10,000 in monthly recurring revenue). You must invest in a payment gateway and merchant account to collect payments from subscribers, but the abundance of features make Chargify a worthwhile purchase. These features include multi-gateway support, customization, business intelligence tools, invoicing, ACH, and an easy-to-use API that enhances the subscriber lifecycle.

Chargify is one of the most significant players in subscription management right now. The platform handles over 5 million subscriptions and has processed over 25 million transactions. 

Learn more about integrating Chargify with Baremetrics for real-time subscriber insights

Braintree

Fees: 2.9 percent and $0.30 per transaction

Braintree is an online payment solution from PayPal that provides payment gateway and merchant account services, making it an all-in-one solution for SaaS companies that want to manage subscriptions. Features include enhanced data security and a customizable interface. Like Stripe, Braintree has a usage-based pricing model. 

Braintree accepts various payment options, including credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. You can also use one of many third-party integrations to enhance subscription management. However, there’s no analytics tool, so use a platform like Baremetrics for data insights. 

Bottom Line

The payment system tools on this list differ in price, features, and capabilities, so choose a platform based on your business budget and subscription billing requirements. Using a SaaS metrics platform like Baremetrics alongside your payment service tool provides unparalleled insights into your subscription model, helping you grow your business.