Payment and Subscription Control: Comprehensive Comparison of 5 Options -

Most billing and subscription management solutions let you:

• Create a variety of model of trial or subscription (e.g. either a free or paid trial and usage-based or fixed price subscriptions).
• Manage active subscriptions (e.g., upgrades or downgrades as well as adding or removing products).
• Invoices or payment notification notifications can be sent.
• Give your customers a self-serve portal where they are able to manage their accounts.
• View reports on the key metrics that affect the revenue.

In reality, the majority of businesses realize they need additional software for different aspects of the payment cycle, including:

• Payment processing
• The collection of VAT and sales tax
• Checkout Translations
• Currency conversions
• Chargebacks
• And more...

If you require some of these functions then you'll have to make certain that they're provided by the your billing software (or easily connect to other software applications).

In this article, we compare five solutions by looking at the billing and subscription management features they provide along with the extra features they offer -- starting with a deep dive into our solution to SaaS firms, .

 Table of Contents

1.   Chargebee
2.   Recurly
3.   Chargify
4.   Zoho Subscriptions

1.  The Subscription Management Process, Payment Processing and More to SaaS Companies

offers several options for the management of subscriptions (which we'll go over below), however, it's more than just a subscription management platform -We're also the Merchant of Record (MoR) for software firms.

 We, as MoR accept transaction responsibility on behalf of us, which means that we:

• Make sure you collect and pay the appropriate amount of sales tax, VAT as well as GST on behalf of you.
• Be sure that the appropriate procedures and documentation are in place to stay in compliance with transaction law for each location where that you offer to sell.
• We are the first to lead audits.

 Plus offers complete solutions that cover the whole payment lifecycle including:

• The localized checkout (i.e. Currency conversions, language translations design customization and much other features)
• International payment processing (for many payment methods)
• Fraud detection
• Chargebacks
• Reporting and analytics
• and many and more...

In the next sections in the next sections, we will look at a few of these options and services in greater detail.

Custom Subscriptions and Recurring Billing Modells for B2C and B2B

makes it easy to create nearly every subscription by just clicking. The majority of subscriptions without writing programming, however you could develop more complicated subscription logic via our API and webhooks library.

This is a brief overview of your options:

 Trials

Some subscription management tools are able to collect the payment information at the time potential customers sign-up for trial periods, or even trials. Some potential clients may be enticed to become cold and may not complete the registration procedure. You can decide which of your prospects to be contacted for data on payment in every trial.

It is also possible to:

• Make trials of any length.
• Create free, paid or use-based trial.
• You can choose to bill the user after the trial is over or allow them to initiate a payment manually.
• Let subscribers reactivate their account that have been cancelled.
• Select the time when you send reminders about the trial's end (e.g. three days prior to the time when trial is scheduled to end).
• Automatically detect when one user attempts to sign up for several trials. You can only let only one trial account.

 Subscriptions

Each product within a business may see more success from various subscription plans. As an example, lower-end products could be better off if sold as a monthly subscription, whereas top-tier products may benefit more if they are sold in an annual contract.

Also, what was successful in the past could not be the ideal option in the near future.

We'll let you know:

• Choose the subscription frequency and payment date (or let your customers choose).
• Set subscriptions to auto-renew and need an manual renewal (i.e., customers have to re-enter payment information each time they're billed), or have your team begin the charge through an API (this is a good choice for billing on the basis of usage).
• Coupons and discounts are available.
• Provide prorated billing when the customer wishes to upgrade, reduce, or stop the service halfway during the billing process.
• Add one-time purchases to the initial bill but not regular billings.
• Create cross-sell or upsell options during checkout.
• Customers have the choice of the storage of details about their payment (or let them decide on behalf of all customers).
• Auto-renew certain subscriptions to different subscriptions (e.g., when retiring a service or product).

 Recurring Billing and Invoicing

can allow you to manage B2B orders in conjunction with B2C purchases with Digital Invoicing.

Digital Invoicing allows you to:

• Manage and create custom quotes in real-time (including customized tags, coupons, discounts, and much more).
• Set expiration dates for quotes.
• Add notes for your customer or prospect.

Fully Branded Self-serve Features for Your Customers

offers a self-service portal through which your customers can:

• Renewal of subscriptions
• Monitor billing period durations
• Change payment information
• View payment history
• and much More ...

We manage all of the backend maintenance on this website so your team doesn't have to.

As your MoR We take care of your customer's questions regarding billing, such as reimbursement requests, billing questions as well as questions related to their subscriptions, and more. The platform comes with a customer portal that makes it easy for your customers to manage their subscriptions.

The picture below illustrates an example of a self-service portal, however, to provide a seamless user experience, the whole portal can be customized to reflect your brand.

Also, you can enable buyers-generated quotes. This feature allows customers to create a quote based on the contents in their shopping carts without having to call the sales department. This feature is very helpful for attracting potential customers that need approval before making a purchase.

Local Transactions and Indirect Tax Compliance Made Easy

There are two major aspects of compliance when it comes to recurring transactions:

1. Transaction compliance (i.e. the system you have in place for collecting payment).
2. Sales tax, VAT, and GST conformity (i.e., how you collect and remit indirect taxes).

In order to avoid penalties and fines, you have to consider taxes and transactional laws applicable to each place you operate in. In the following sections, we cover:

• Some examples of laws governing transactions that apply to subscription-based companies.
• The question is whether or not software companies have to pay sales tax, VAT, and GST.
• How handles all of this for you.

Transaction Compliance

Each state, nation, and province has its specific laws and regulations regarding the ways businesses collect and store customer information. The majority of businesses are aware of privacy regulations like GDPR. However there are a lot of transaction regulations that aren't as widely recognized.

In certain nations, including Canada and Korea consumers are entitled to receive the prorated amount of their refunds in the event that they end their subscription before the end of the payment period. It's just one illustration to illustrate one aspect of the lifecycle of subscriptions- and these law and regulations are continuously changing.

In the case of most subscription management software it's your own to find out about transaction laws and regulations and implement the necessary procedures. Additionally, some subscription platforms do not provide options to comply with law and regulations (e.g. Certain platforms do not support prorated refunds).

However, our team handles all of the above for you. Our team of legal experts keeps up-to-date with any relevant law and regulations , and assists you to implement the necessary procedures to ensure compliance. We also support all the necessary subscription models for the compliance of your business.

Sales Tax, VAT, and GST Compliance

Software companies weren't required to collect sales tax, VAT as well as GST. In some jurisdictions, this is in place. But, tax laws for digital services and goods are rapidly changing in numerous jurisdictions.

A growing number of countries are requiring software companies to pay some kind in indirect taxes. Plus, some nations are now requiring companies that use digital technology to file tax forms even if they are eligible for tax exemption.

In the end, paying sales tax can be more complicated than the process of filling out tax forms and wiring the funds. In the last few years, more and more nations are imposing further requirements to stay compliant.

Examples:

• Countries such as Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Serbia, and others are governed by representation locally, meaning you have an employee with a physical presence in that nation to take care of your tax obligations. This can cost anywhere from $5k-$15k per year.
• Some countries like Serbia, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and others require electronic invoicing from all companies that are selling within their countries. The EU is rolling out all-encompassing electronic invoice requirements before 2028.
• Countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, and others have you file the tax on your income in addition to indirect tax.

handles the entire process for collecting and processing sales tax, VAT, along with GST for you. .

We will ensure that the correct amount (and kind) of tax indirect is being collected at the time of checkout (including transactions that are tax-exempt in the US and no reverse charges when allowed internationally).

Then, our team remits the tax for you, and ensures all the necessary steps are taken to ensure full compliance.

In the event that a foreign country or state asks you questions about tax compliance, we will guide you on how to respond -- even by providing copies and paste replies.

Worldwide Payment Processing with Dozens of payment methods

A majority of the payment processors focus on a certain region and all payment processors have a finite number of payment methods they support. For example, some payment processors aim to support transactions within the U.S. They'll therefore only accept the payment methods popular across the U.S. (e.g., Mastercard or Apple Pay) and they aren't going to support something such as UnionPay as it is often utilized in China.

In addition, many payment processors can only accept payment for certain currencies or countries. For example, they could be able to support Amazon Pay however they will not take payments coming from Turkey.

SaaS companies that want to take payments from around the globe must connect to and control multiple payment processors, which can be a huge task.

In HTML0 , SaaS companies automatically have access to a variety of payment processors that specialize in international transactions. maintains relationships with numerous payment processors as well as dozens of credit card companies so it is not necessary to. Simply turn on our localized payments feature and start accepting international payments immediately.

also offers multiple features to assist in ensuring successful payment and reduce involuntary churn, for example:

• Local payment gateways: Transactions are more likely to be approved when the gateway used for payment is located at the same place that the purchaser (e.g., a transaction originated in Germany is processed through a payment gateway in Germany). Automatically routes transactions through the payment gateway that has most favorable authorization rates for the location.
• Payment gateway rerouting: If a transaction fails on the first attempt, immediately retries to make the payment again using a secondary gateway -- all without either you or any other member of your support team being required to get involved. This often solves payment failures because of connectivity or system issues.
• Reminders for payments that are proactive. If a customer's card is scheduled to expire, you should notify the cardholder beforethe due date so they are able to change the information on their payment. It is possible to use our already-designed notice template, or design your own message.
• Multiple follow-up notification. If a recurring payment fails You can set up multiple payment failure notifications to be sent two, five, seven, 14, and 21 days following the initial failure. Prior to sending each reminder, try a new payment.

A Custom-Made Checkout that reflects your Visual Brand

The majority of payment platforms provide a checkout feature with a few options for customization such as including your logo or choosing the color scheme. But these options for customization are rarely enough to truly represent your brand's visual identity to create an effortless customer experience, and optimize your checkout for sales.

 offers custom branding tools, as well as CSS overrides so that you can have a variety of customization choices to alter the appearance and feel of your online checkout.

Also, you'll be able to access our Store Builder Library -- a JavaScript library that allows you to customize the buyer process leading to checkout.For example, you can build a cross-sell or an upsell funnel. It allows you to optimize your customer experience to increase rates of conversion.

Checkout is available in three different forms that include popups, embedded or as a website storefront. Your storefront on the web redirects clients to an additional website hosted by .

With any of these options (including the online storefront) it is possible to personalize the checkout process using branding tools and CSS overlays to fit the visual style of your brand.

There are many other options which can help you improve your checkout experience

• localized checkout:Let customers choose their preferred language and currency or let choose the appropriate currency and language based on the location of the customer. It supports 19 languages and more than 23 currencies.
  
• Support for developers that is personalized:Our team is always willing to support you to create the most efficient checkout experience possible for your company. Some companies only provide personal support for their biggest clients and practically ignore small companies. At , we believe every company deserves the same attention and care.

Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics

• The majority of my top-paying customers located?
• What are the products that generate the most revenue?
• Which discounts are generating revenue vs. taking revenue away?
• and many more...

The reports are broken down into two main dashboards: Revenue Overview and Subscription Overview.

If you can't locate the report you need You can modify any report and put it on your dashboard. Our team is always available to help you design custom reports to find the information you require.

Webhooks and data API make it easy to connect revenue and subscription data into any tools for business or CRM you are using. The report may also be downloaded in CSV, PNG, or XLSX files.

All-in-One Pricing (No Hidden Fees)

A lot of payment processors charge a base price for processing payments and a few core features, like embeddable checkout. However, you'll typically be charged extra for other features such as currency conversions or fraud detection. Few payment processors are a complete solution, so many companies have to put an additional piece of software. This makes it difficult to scale globally as your business grows because the cost will continue to rise as you require additional features and programs.

is a comprehensive payment system that is ideal for SaaS firms that comes with everything for a flat charge dependent on the number of transactions . Additionally, you'll only get paid when transactions occur.

Next, we cover four more payment platforms that cater to subscription-based companies.

2. Chargebee

Here are a few aspects of Chargebee features:

• Usage-based billing, automated invoice, proration, and more
• Automated procedures for receivables
• Subscription and revenue recognition models that are compliant with the law. models
• Support for in-app purchases
• Portal for self-service to customers
• Smart dunning

You can use the Chargebee platform free of charge starting with the initial $100k revenue earned. Following that, they provide different pricing plans for different ranges of income per month.

3. Recurly

Recurly is a recurring-billing platform built for optimizing your growth strategy. Recurly is a simple integration with a variety of payment gateways and merchant accounts However, you will need to cover these additional services in addition to your Recurly plan.

There are additional highlights from Recurly's features:

• Customizable subscription models
• Automated, recurring invoices
• Revenue recovery tools
• Intelligent retention
• Analytics on customer subscriptions

Recurly has three pricing plans, however, you have contact their team for details.

4. Chargify

Chargify is a subscription-based billing software that's on the verge of integrating with SaaSOptics, a revenue management platform. This merger will let you automate the management of subscriptions accounting for revenue and expenses as well as SaaS metric tracking from the same revenue management software.

Here are a few highlights of the features Chargify has to offer:

• Usage-based and global billing
• Billing management and revenue recognition tools
• Billing system analytics and metrics
• Built-in integrations with various different software (e.g., accounting software, such as QuickBooks and Xero)
• Payment gateways from around the world

Chargify offers a price plan for businesses that earn at least $750k or more in monthly bills, but, if you have more income or access to all features, you'll need to speak with their support team.

5. Zoho Subscriptions

Zoho Subscriptions is one piece of the Zoho platform (a suite of software to help you manage every aspect of your enterprise, e.g., CRMs and ERPs). If you're already using Zoho Subscriptions, or are already using the Zoho platform, this might be a great choice. But, those who are new to the platform typically find it has an arduous learning curve.

The benefits of Zoho Subscriptions comprise:

• Multiple pricing models
• Customizable, tax-compliant invoices
• Conversions to multiple currencies
• 30-plus pre-built reports designed to track each stage of the lifecycle of subscriptions
• Assistance for cash in-person and check payments (in addition to credit card payments)
• Out-of-the-box integrations with other billing solutions (e.g., Stripe, PayPal and so on.)
• Tools to create custom workflow rules

Each component associated with the Zoho service is priced separately -- including Zoho Subscriptions. This can make it difficult and costly to develop an all-inclusive payment system.