Failed payments are costing you growth.
Trying to scale your SaaS or e-commerce business brings its own bundle of headaches. You might be spending hours dealing with billing errors, frustrated customers, and a patchwork of spreadsheets just to stay on top of renewals. It is stressful, and it really drags focus away from what matters most—innovation and customer experience.
Every manual step in your billing process opens the door to mistakes and missed revenue. Even worse, failed payment recoveries turn into customer churn faster than you think.
According to Recurly, a staggering 38% of subscribers canceled their subscription at least once in 2024, shining a light on just how churn continues to threaten subscription businesses. That is a significant revenue loss that could be curbed with smarter systems in place.
So it pays to use technology that automates revenue, reduces churn, and puts billing on autopilot.
That is where this article steps in. I am going to show you top options that will help you overcome the hassles of recurring billing and keep more customers paying month after month.
In this article, I will walk you through the best recurring billing software available now, comparing their strengths, integrations, user experiences, and the unique features you will want as you scale.
By the end, you will know which tool can help automate your processes, reduce churn, and give you back your team’s focus for growth.
Let’s get started.
Quick Summary:
| # | Software | Target Users |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recurly → | Subscription business owners reducing churn |
| 2 | Chargebee → | Subscription businesses automating growth and compliance |
| 3 | Maxio → | SaaS founders simplifying complex billing |
| 4 | Zuora → | Businesses with complex subscription and usage models |
| 5 | Zoho Billing → | Solo entrepreneurs and small business owners |
1. Recurly
Struggling to keep your subscribers coming back?
Recurly offers powerful subscription management and recurring billing tools designed to help you reduce churn and grow revenue efficiently.
It tackles subscriber retention head-on by automating billing, managing promotions, and delivering personalized communications to keep customers engaged through every stage. The platform supports multiple pricing models and complex plans so you can tailor subscriptions to your business needs.
Managing payments can be a headache.
Recurly simplifies this by integrating with multiple payment gateways and offering alternative payment methods to ensure smooth transactions for your customers worldwide.
It also helps you recover failed payments using intelligent retries and dunning campaigns to reduce revenue loss from expired or declined cards.
One of the standout features is Recurly’s AI-powered insights. This helps you analyze subscriber behaviors and forecast revenue, letting you make smarter growth decisions. Plus, its reporting tools give clear visibility into how your subscription business is performing.
From startups scaling up to enterprise brands, Recurly supports you while saving time on operational headaches.
Key features:
Automated subscription and billing management: Streamline complex pricing, trials, and discounts to reduce errors and improve customer experience across your subscriber base.
Advanced churn prevention tools: Use intelligent retries, dunning campaigns, and account updater features to recover revenue and keep customers subscribing longer.
Payment flexibility and global reach: Connect with multiple payment gateways and support alternative payment methods to maximize successful transactions worldwide.
Learn more about Recurly features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict:
Recurly stands out as the best recurring billing software for subscription business owners who want to reduce churn and scale revenue. Customers like Findmypast and Lucid have boosted retention and grown globally using its automated billing and churn management tools. Its AI insights add even more value by enabling smarter growth strategies.
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2. Chargebee
Struggling with managing complex recurring billing?
Chargebee automates your subscription billing to reduce churn and scale revenue growth with ease.
This platform lets you launch and scale subscription models quickly, automating billing and invoicing across usage-based or flat fees. You get powerful control over pricing experiments, so you can test and roll out new models without needing engineering delays. Its flexibility helps your business adapt billing strategies as you grow.
Chargebee makes revenue operations effortless.
You can customize invoices for any billing scenario and handle tax compliance globally, including EU-VAT, US Sales Tax, and Australian GST. Its AI-powered retention tools help turn cancellation points into growth opportunities by predicting churn and targeting customers with personalized offers.
The platform integrates with over 60 apps and supports 30+ payment gateways, enabling customers worldwide to pay how they want, increasing conversions and satisfaction.
One impressive feature is its revenue recognition compliance, which ensures GAAP and ASC 606 standards are met automatically, making your financial reporting audit-ready without manual effort.
Chargebee also empowers your finance and development teams with robust APIs, 480+ pre-built workflows, and real-time analytics so you can sync financial systems flawlessly and make data-driven decisions confidently.
Key features:
- Automated and flexible subscription billing: Manage flat fee, usage-based, or hybrid models with instant pricing changes, reducing conversion friction and accelerating growth.
- Smart customer retention tools: Utilize AI to predict churn, capture cancellation insights, and deliver targeted retention offers that improve customer lifetime value.
- Comprehensive tax and compliance management: Automatically handle complex global tax rules and revenue recognition, ensuring your billing meets local regulations and audit standards.
Learn more about Chargebee features, pricing, & alternatives →
For businesses looking to streamline payments further, exploring the best shopping cart software to boost your sales can complement your billing system.
Verdict:
Chargebee stands out as the best recurring billing software for subscription-based businesses aiming to automate revenue growth and slash churn. With a 94% satisfaction score and case studies showcasing 3X retention boosts and 80% reductions in unpaid invoices, it’s a reliable choice for founders and finance leaders who want scalable, compliant billing with built-in retention.
3. Maxio
Is managing your B2B recurring revenue a headache?
Maxio lets you simplify subscription billing and reduce churn by automating complex billing and revenue operations in one platform.
It handles usage-based and recurring invoicing, plus flexible pricing models that scale alongside your SaaS or subscription business. You won’t get bogged down building or maintaining billing infrastructure, which means you can focus on growth instead of tedious billing details. Maxio also streamlines subscription management by helping you avoid contract sprawl and tailor invoices, driving down your Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and keeping your product catalog neat.
This boosts your confidence in pricing strategies by letting you test and adjust plans based on customer feedback right inside the platform.
Maxio automates revenue recognition to keep you GAAP and IFRS-15 compliant, reducing risk and making audits less stressful.
On top of that, it integrates easily with popular CRMs like Salesforce and Hubspot, as well as financial tools like NetSuite and QuickBooks, so everyone on your team stays aligned and your order-to-cash process flows smoothly.
Key features:
- Flexible billing for complex pricing models: Supports usage-based, recurring, and term contracts, so your billing evolves with your business without manual hassle.
- Subscription management with contract and invoice control: Prevent contract sprawl, customize billing, and speed up cash flow by reducing DSO.
- Automated, compliant revenue recognition: Ensures accurate schedules per GAAP/IFRS standards, minimizing audit risk and manual errors.
Learn more about Maxio features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict:
Maxio shines as the best recurring billing software for SaaS founders and finance teams looking to simplify complex billing and subscription management. With real success from Jasper and Sendspark, Maxio helps you test pricing strategies, automate revenue recognition, and speed up cash flow—all critical for reducing churn and scaling confidently.
4. Zuora
Struggling to manage complex recurring revenue?
Zuora offers a flexible billing solution that supports subscriptions, usage-based pricing, and one-time charges seamlessly.
With Zuora, you can handle even the most complex billing scenarios involving intricate charge calculations, amendments, and eligibility logic. This means you won’t worry about billing inaccuracies or delays that can frustrate your customers.
Zuora’s AI-powered Collections help you accelerate cash flow and strengthen customer relationships by automating payment processes intelligently.
They also provide dynamic paywalls that let you create personalized offers and trials based on customer behavior, helping you boost conversion rates.
Zuora integrates beautifully with your existing tools through low-code SDKs and APIs, allowing you to adapt quickly without costly overhauls. Learn how to manage clients and boost efficiency with integrated software solutions.
The platform fully automates revenue recognition, helping you close books faster, simplify audits, and meet accounting standards effortlessly.
Key features:
Flexible billing for recurring, usage, and one-time charges ensures accurate, customized invoicing that supports your evolving pricing strategies without manual headaches.
AI-driven collections automation accelerates cash flow and reduces churn by streamlining payment recovery with minimal effort.
Dynamic paywalls and personalized offers help you increase customer acquisition and engagement through tailored subscription experiences.
Learn more about Zuora features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict:
Zuora stands out as one of the best recurring billing software options if you need a powerful platform for managing complex subscription and usage models. Its automated billing and revenue recognition helped PagerDuty save over 100 IT billing hours monthly while increasing paywall conversions by 20%. This combination of flexibility and automation makes it a reliable choice for revenue growth.
5. Zoho Billing
Want to simplify your recurring revenue management?
Zoho Billing helps you automate subscription billing and payments with ease. It reduces manual effort and errors while improving cash flow.
With automated invoicing and payment reminders, it tackles the headache of chasing late payments, so you get paid on time. Zoho Billing also supports multiple currencies and payment gateways, making global subscriptions manageable without headaches.
Your billing process just got easier.
You can quickly create and manage flexible subscription plans, such as trials, add-ons, and usage-based billing. This adaptability helps you tailor offerings to your customers’ changing needs, which can lower churn.
Zoho Billing also gives you detailed analytics and revenue reports, helping you spot trends and improve your business strategy over time.
All this comes with easy integration to your existing systems like Zoho CRM, accounting, and payment gateways, ensuring your data stays synchronized — no manual entry needed.
Key features:
- Automated subscription billing and payment collection that reduces manual work, preventing billing mistakes and speeding up revenue collection.
- Flexible billing models support including trials, add-ons, usage-based charges, so you can customize plans to improve customer retention.
- In-depth revenue analytics and reporting that helps you understand your business health and identify opportunities to grow recurring revenue efficiently.
Learn more about Zoho Billing features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict:
Zoho Billing is a strong choice for solo entrepreneurs and small business owners looking for the best recurring billing software that makes subscription management painless. Its automation of invoicing and payment collection can help you get paid reliably on time, while the flexible plan options promote customer loyalty. Plus, detailed analytics give you insight to grow smarter.
Conclusion
Managing subscriptions can feel overwhelming, can’t it?
With so many moving parts in billing, errors can happen, leading to lost revenue and unhappy customers. It’s a frustrating situation for anyone trying to scale their business efficiently.
In fact, a recent report showed that about 38% of subscribers canceled their subscription at least once in 2024. This churn is a significant concern that impacts revenue growth for your business.
So, what’s the best answer? Look no further than Recurly. This platform automates billing processes, reduces errors, and ultimately enhances subscriber retention.
With proven success stories, such as Findmypast and Lucid, Recurly has helped businesses boost retention and expand globally. If you’re ready to take action, I highly recommend you start a free trial of Recurly.
By doing so, you’ll gain the tools you need to streamline your billing, keep customers happy, and focus on driving growth.
