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Subscription business models for web-based service are gaining popularity. But building an own recurring payment service is complex and costly. Fortunately there are some innovative companies that provide full service recurring billing solutions. One of our favorite solutions is Recurly. Other popular services are: Aria, Chargify, CheddarGetter, Sassy, Spreedly and Zuora.

Recurly’s features

Software as a Service) solution for the management of recurring payments so that the merchant can focus on their business. The core features include automated recurring billing, handling of expired or declined credit cards, customer upgrades and downgrades, and all customer communication. On top of the basic functionality, Recurly provides some advanced features such as: multiple subscriptions, trial periods, coupons, discounts and one-time payments. Recurly can connect to Salesforce, MailChimp, and QuickBooks and integrate into the customer’s workflow. Recurly stores and transmits credit card data PCI-DSS compliant, so merchants only have to complete a simplified process to ensure PCI compliance. Last but not least Recurly’s backend interface is really nice designed and lets users easily set up new subscription plans, update customer information and monitor transactions.

Pricing and availability

Recurly charges a monthly fee of $68 plus 1.25% +$0.1 for each successful transaction. The merchant also has to pay for a dedicated merchant account and the payment gateway or payment service provider. Depending on the type of business and country this roughly adds another $50 per month plus 2%-4% per transaction. Recurly supports most of the popular gateways in the U.S. (e.g. Authorize.net Braintree, Beanstream, Chase Paymentech, Cybersource, Litle&Co., PayPal PayFlow and WebSite Payments) and throughout Europe (e.g. Ogone, PayPal, SagePay, and Wirecard). Unfortunately Recurly charges $200 per month for the multi-currency add-on that enables merchants to accept multiple currencies within one account. It’s worth mentioning that Recurly natively supports V.A.T. for European companies.

Wrap-up

Recurly provides a convenient and easy to set up service to accept subscription based payments. What makes Recurly stand out from its competitors is it comfortable interface and support for international payment gateways and currencies.