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The Best Recurring Billing Software

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedApr 20222 min read

Recurring billing software allows companies to manage their subscription or membership billing services. It can facilitate the scheduling and automation of recurring billing, as well as assist in creating invoices, reports and initiate refunds.

What is recurring billing software?

Recurring billing is a payment model that allows businesses to charge their customers at predetermined intervals, for example, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, in exchange for the use of services or products.

Recurring billing is most frequently used in subscription or membership based businesses, such as gyms or streaming platforms.

Subscription billing vs recurring billing

The terms subscription billing and recurring billing are often used interchangeably due to their similarities. Indeed, both subscription and recurring billing initiate automated payments, store customer payment details, and withdraw funds from customer accounts at predetermined intervals.

The difference between the two pertains to their pricing plans. Subscription businesses offer several different pricing plans and customers can upgrade and downgrade as they please. With recurring billing however, there is only one pricing plan available and billing is therefore consistent.

What kinds of businesses is recurring billing suitable for?

Recurring billing is suitable for use by any business which offers its services on a recurring basis.

Examples of businesses which use recurring billing are the following:

Telecom businesses
Newspaper and magazine subscriptions
Gym memberships
Streaming Services, e.g. Netflix
SaaS (Software as a Service) applications, e.g., Google Suite.

The 8 best recurring billing software solutions

If you’re asking yourself the question “what billing software can I use for recurring billing?” then you’re in the right place. Below is a list of the best recurring billing software options on the market.

Chargebee

Chargebee is one of the best recurring billing software solutions available. It integrates with other payment gateways to allow for efficient payment collection, invoicing, customer notifications, and payment management.

ChargeOver

ChargeOver is an online recurring billing software perfect for companies which use web-based subscriptions. The software allows you to automate many manual processes and easily add one-time extra fees and charges.

Cloudmore

Cloudmore is ideal for SaaS (Software as a Service) subscription companies. It is a billing solution that can be used stand-alone or in tandem with other software services.

Zoho Subscriptions

Zoho Subscriptions is a tailor made recurring billing and subscription management solution, allowing you to schedule billing cycles, record customer data, automate invoicing and billing, as well as analyse business growth.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks online is actually an accounting software designed for small businesses. However it also provides smart tools for recurring billing, including automating invoices and scheduling payments. Additionally, it has a free trial for 30 days, meaning you can try it out before committing to the software.

Stripe Billing

With just a few clicks, Stripe Billing allows you to create subscriptions and send out invoices. What makes Stripe Billing standout is its range of pricing models which are determined according to which features you require access to. This makes it one of the cheapest recurring billing software solutions, depending on your precise needs.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is another of the best recurring billing and subscription management software solutions. FreshBooks provides auto-billing features and allows you to automate the sending out of invoices to customers.

Recurly

Recurly is an extensive recurring billing software platform that is specifically designed to manage the challenges of Enterprise business. It is optimised to increase efficiency by collecting revenue quickly and allowing businesses to recover failed transactions.

Recurring payments with GoCardless

If recurring payments are your bread and butter, it helps to invest in a recurring billing software solution that’s tailored to your exact requirements. Enter GoCardless. Giving businesses the ability to take recurring payments like subscription fees and invoices automatically, you can bid farewell to overdue invoices and receive payment whenever it’s due. Plus, GoCardless is partnered with Xero, Zoho, Chargebee, and more, enabling businesses to integrate our payments service with your existing platform.

We can help

GoCardless helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of admin your team needs to deal with when chasing invoices. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.