Recurly vs Stripe: Pricing Comparison 2026
Side-by-side pricing comparison of Recurly and Stripe. See all plans, features, and costs at a glance.
Bottom line: Recurly starts at Custom pricing and Stripe starts at $13/mo. Compare all 14 pricing tiers side by side.
Last updated: June 15, 2026
Recurly vs Stripe: Quick Pricing Facts
| Feature | Recurly | Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Custom pricing | $13/mo |
| Number of Plans | 5 | 9 |
| Free Tier | No | Yes |
| Pricing Model | usage-based | usage-based |
| Annual Discount | N/A | N/A |
Recurly and Stripe are both priced at Custom pricing, making them equally accessible Payment & Billing tools. Together they offer 14 pricing plans with 26 features compared, so the best choice comes down to which features match your needs.
Stripe stands out with a free plan for getting started.
Review the detailed tier-by-tier comparison above to see exactly which features are included at each price point and find the best fit for your Payment & Billing needs.
| Pricing Plans |  Recurly Try free |  Stripe Try free |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Products & Pricing Custom pricing | |
| Tier 2 | Resources & Support Custom pricing | Standard Pricing Custom pricing Includes
|
| Tier 3 | Intergrations & Partners Custom pricing | Managed Payments Custom pricing Includes
|
| Tier 4 | Developers Custom pricing | Billing $500/monthCheapest $42 / year Includes
|
| Tier 5 | Company Custom pricing | Tax Complete $80/monthCheapest $7 / year Includes
|
| Tier 6 | - | Stripe Sigma $13/monthCheapest $1 / year Includes
|
| Tier 7 | - | Data Pipeline $57/monthCheapest $5 / year Includes
|
| Tier 8 | - | Revenue Recognition $20/monthCheapest $2 / year Includes
|
| Tier 9 | - | Custom Pricing Custom pricing Includes
|
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Ready to get started? Try either tool free — no credit card required.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Recurly if:
- •You need specialized subscription management with advanced dunning and revenue recovery
- •Recurly's decline management and Account Updater automatically recover failed subscription payments
- •Revenue recognition, subscriber analytics, and churn management are dedicated features
- •Your subscription business loses significant revenue to involuntary churn from payment failures
Choose Stripe if:
- •You want payments and subscriptions in one platform without adding a separate billing vendor
- •Stripe Billing handles subscription management alongside one-time payments, invoicing, and tax
- •Stripe's developer experience and API quality provide the best integration experience
- •Your subscription model is straightforward and does not require specialized churn management
Recurly and Stripe Billing both handle subscription management, but with different specializations. Recurly is dedicated subscription billing: intelligent retry logic, Account Updater, dunning management, and revenue recovery. Pricing is revenue-based with Starter, Professional, and Elite tiers. Stripe Billing charges 0.5% of recurring revenue on top of payment processing fees. Integrated with Stripe's payment, tax, and reporting infrastructure. Handles subscriptions, invoicing, and metered billing. Recurly's advantage: revenue recovery. Failed payment retries use machine learning to optimize retry timing and routing. Account Updater automatically refreshes expired card details. Recurly claims to recover over $1B in revenue annually for its customers. For subscription businesses with significant involuntary churn, this directly impacts revenue. Stripe Billing's advantage: ecosystem integration. Subscriptions, one-time payments, invoicing, tax calculation, and revenue reporting in one platform with one API. No additional vendor, no additional integration, no additional dashboard. For businesses already on Stripe, adding Billing is frictionless. For subscription businesses where payment failure recovery has material revenue impact, Recurly's specialized tools justify the additional platform. For businesses with manageable churn that want simplicity, Stripe Billing within the Stripe ecosystem is the pragmatic choice.
Frequently Asked Questions: Recurly vs Stripe
How many pricing plans does Recurly have vs Stripe?
Does Recurly or Stripe offer a free plan?
Can I save money by paying annually for Recurly or Stripe?
Does Recurly or Stripe offer custom enterprise pricing?
How do Recurly and Stripe compare for Payment & Billing?
Sources
- Recurly Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page
- Stripe Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page
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