8 Top Chargebee Alternatives as well as Competitors (And How They're Different) -

Dec 10, 2022

Chargebee is an effective payment management system that is incredibly robust. There are however certain aspects of collecting recurring payments that you would still be responsible for when making use of Chargebee like:

  • Connection to payments gateways by hand. While Chargebee supports multiple payment gateways you have to set up and set up each of them.
  • Remitting taxes at the end of the calendar year. They collect taxes for you, but you are the one who is accountable to file taxes in a timely manner with every state, province and country.
  • Reconciling payments, fulfillment, refunds, etc. Although Chargebee lets you automate many routine accounting processes and connect accounts software, you'll still need to record and track every transaction, refund or other transaction.
  • Responding to and processing chargebacks and processing. They will notify you when a chargeback occurs however, you must determine the next steps to take.

In this article in this guide, we provide eight alternative solutions to Chargebee which can ease the burden on users. We begin with a comprehensive review of our service .

 Chargebee alternatives in this listing:

Responsible for Processing Payments, Paying Taxes and More for SaaS Businesses

The majority of Chargebee alternatives are either subscription billing software , or payment gateways. They may assist you to connect with international payment processors, alert you to charges, as well as help collect consumption tax. You'll remain in charge of the payment of fees, processing chargebacks as well as for other things such as legal compliance, dunning, and much more.

On the other hand, handles everything including optimizing the flow of your checkout and remitting consumption tax for the end of the year through acting as the Merchant of Record (MoR). Next, we describe how a MoR unlike other payment service companies.

What Does it Mean to Have as Your Merchant of Record

An Merchant of Record (MoR) is a business entity who sells services or goods to buyers. You could act as your own MoR or you can outsource the entire process to . Companies that haven't thought about their MoR's identity can effectively act as their own MoR.

If you contract your transaction to  third party companies, customers continue to visit your website to choose their program and their subscription, however it takes over when the customer goes to checkout. They'll receive a receipt from , and is listed on their bank statement or credit card statement. All revenue is yours to keep, however it is the liable party for the sales.

That's why can do more than other service payment providers and also...

  • Gather and remit consumption tax
  • Be sure to comply with local laws and regulations
  • Chargebacks for processing
  • Reconcile transactions, payments, refunds, etc.
  • And more...

... we're here for you.

When something is not right in the area of taxes such as local compliance, chargebacks, accounts not balancing, and so on. Then, the company takes charge to solve the issue on behalf of you.

Instead of trying to coordinate different providers and platforms for a complete payment solution it is possible to use just one provider -- .

In the coming sections, we'll dive deep into the ways that it can help you:

In addition, we'll discuss how offers all of the functions for the price of one single price that is designed to meet your budget.

Make Flexible Free Trials with Recurring Payment logic Without Code

Each business is not able to use the same free trial method. A few businesses may see greater success if they let customers sign up with no specific payment information. Others are more successful if they need a method of payment for signing up, however they they don't automatically charge the customer at the end of the trial. Additionally, what worked initially for your company may not be the right solution for you long term. That's why most SaaS firms require payment systems which can handle a variety of types of subscriptions, trial models and more.

But, many payment processors offer only very limited recurring and trial options. It is therefore difficult to improve your trials and subscription plans for high conversion rates. It also makes it difficult to adapt as a business for the long-term.

However, it also provides a broad range of options for how you can setup trials, subscriptions and much more. Here's an overview of 's software for managing subscriptions.

 Subscriptions for trials:

  • Set any length of trials
  • Create trial options that are free, cost-free, or usage-based trials
  • Choose whether or not to request a payment method when signing up for a trial
  • Select to invoice the user after the trial ends or let them manually start an active subscription
  • Allow subscribers to reactivate expired trial accounts
  • Decide when to notify you regarding the trial's end (e.g. 3 days prior to when the trial will end)
  • You can avail a trial trial for a discount
  • Automatically detect when a single user tries to join multiple trials and only allow one trial account
Edit Subscription Pricing within

 Recurring billing options:

  • You can choose the subscription frequency, as well as the billing day (or let your customers choose)
  • Make subscriptions auto-renewal manual renewal (i.e. clients have to enter payment details each time they're charged) as well as controlled renewal (i.e. your staff is the one who initiates the charge through the API which is great to bill based on the usage)
  • Coupons and discounts are available.
  • Allow prorated billing if customers wish to downgrade or upgrade or pause the service part-way throughout the billing cycle
  • You can add one-time purchases to the initial bill but not the recurring bill
  • Manage upsell and cross-sell products at checkout
  • Give customers the option of whether or not to save payment details (or decide for every customer)
  • Auto-renew to a different subscription
  • Provide subscription-related add-ons

 Fulfillment options:

  • You can choose to share the products or resources with a license key, downloaded PDF, signed or by send an email
  • Set up multiple fulfillment steps for one subscription (e.g., send a license key and Product manual in PDF format via email)

can also provide your customers with a self-serve portal where they can upgrade, lower, or cancel the subscription they have. This self-serve portal is entirely managed by however it reflects your brand's visual identity of your checkout to create a cohesive customer experience.

Finally, some tools for managing subscriptions require the use of a number of technical abilities in order to use and set up. You can set up a lot of these options with no code. If you have specific subscription management needs, you can also use our API and webhooks library to give you more control.

    Note:  

Minimize Payment Failures with Advanced Pay Routing and Smart Dunning

From the initial purchase to each subsequent rebill, failed payments are among the primary reasons behind the loss of revenue. Most payment services will automatically retry failed payments once or notify customers of the failure of their payments. It's a great place to start, but there are other ways to cut down on churn due failure to pay.

 assists you in preventing the chance of failures in payments and decrease the risk of losing money by:

  • Proactive notification (e.g."your credit card expires soon')
  • Multiple follow-up notifications (e.g. Two 5, 7, fourteen, and twenty-one days after the payment method has failed)
  • Multiple payments are re-submitted before each following notification is issued
  • Automatic rerouting for payment gateways (this solves many payment failures caused by system or network error)
  • A self-service portal that is intuitive (customers are able to easily modify their details about their payment through the same portal from which they control their subscription)
Notifications & Retention: Payment Notifications, Overdue Notifications, Cancellation, Pause

In addition, you have the option to select whether to stop or proceed with the service if the payment is unsuccessful. If you keep your service in operation in the event of a payment failure and give your customers an opportunity to correct their information regarding payment and you'll see less turnover.

You can also choose to suspend rather than cancel their service after all reminders have gone to them. This makes it easy for customers to re-start their subscription, without having to re-onboard.

Improve Conversions by Using Brands and Localized Checkout

A lack of focus at the point of purchase could cause customers to slip off just before they have completed a purchase. Examples:

  • If the cost at the checkout differs from what appeared on the site (e.g., different currency or different amount because the additional charges have been put in without an explicit label) Customers may choose not to purchase.
  • If the checkout appears visually quite different from the one on the website or if the checkout takes place on a completely other website, the client will be less inclined to believe the checkout is authentic and safe.

These are just two examples but there are many reasons why a customer may decide against completing a purchase in the last moment. helps you anticipate the objections of customers and ease the process at the checkout process in the following methods:

Flexible Checkout User Interface that can be customized

A majority of subscription management systems or payment processors provide templates for your checkout where you can incorporate your logo as well as select the basic color scheme. They are not always a true reflection of your visual branding and may not be optimized for increasing the number of conversions. In order to provide the best user possible experience to youcustomers and achieve the highest conversion rates, you need greater customization capabilities.

allows you to customize the appearance as well as the feel checkout by using pre-designed branding tools and CSS overrides. We also provide a store Builder Library that gives you an extensive choice of the way your checkout appears and functions. This allows you to create the checkout experience that most is in line with your branding and highlights your product.

Preferred Methods of Payment

One of the biggest reasons why people don't finish a purchase is because they don't have their preferred payment method. However, offering different payment options isn't quite as easy as simply adding their logo to your checkout screen. You have to agree to certain terms and conditions before an issuer or card network bank can approve transactions for your business. Each payment provider will have various regulations in relation to the chargeback process, fraud as well as privacy and security. It can be a huge undertaking to remain in good standing with several different payment providers on your own.

If you want to transact internationally, you'll have even more to manage. While Visa and Mastercard might be the most popular payment methods within the U.S., buyers in other countries prefer different ways of paying. To convert international customers they require various types of payment options -- this means more payment providers to maintain.

handles everything starting from keeping in good standing with credit card companies as well as handling chargebacks and fraudulent transactions -- for you. already has good relations with a variety of bank networks and card companies around the world, which implies that you are able to accept customers' preferred payment options immediately.

Conversion of Local Currency as well as Language Translations

People are more likely to believe a checkout service using the same language and currency as what's shown on your site. This is why you can convert checkout to the local language and convert prices to the local currency.

You can let each buyer choose their preferred language using an option menu. Also, you can block the language, and then automatically select the appropriate language based on the buyer's area of residence.

If you opt to let convert product prices for you, we match the format of the original price. For example, if you purchased the item at $12.99 and the conversion to Euros is EUR14.29, would change it to EUR14.99.

Embedded Checkout, Pop-up Checkout as well as Web Storefront

With , you can embed the checkout on your site directly This will ensure less interruption and reduces the chance of customers abandoning your site.

There is the option to implement a pop-up checkout which requires minimal setup (simply add a couple of lines of pre-written HTML and Javascript within your site).

DaisyDisk's Updated Checkout Process

Finally, if you want to delegate all checkout processes to , you can choose to use the web storefront option. The customers will be directed to a page that is entirely controlled by the company, where they are able to browse their carts, and then complete their purchase. The online storefront can be personalized to reflect the visual identity of your brand.

Personalized Developer Support

Most payment services will only help you with the initial setup and whenever something is wrong within the program. It's up to you to be on your own to manage your ongoing operations with payments.

will provide you with the best user experience during the duration of your engagement. Our friendly support team can assist you in finding and develop the ideal solutions for your businessno matter how large or tiny your business is.

All-in-1 Pricing, without the requirement for Additional Software

Chargebee divides its features into three plans. This means that you might end up needing the most costly plan to get the features you need. In the case of chargeback automation, for instance, it is only offered in Chargebee's top-of-the-line plan.

In addition, you'll have to pay for additional software solutions like payment gateways or tax software for a complete payment management system (and the staff to manage all of it).

, on the other hand they offer a one-time price that includes all services and features. Our team of experts work with you to find an affordable rate based on the volume of transactions that you conduct . Only when transactions take place and there won't be any fee for migration.

7 Other Chargebee Alternatives

1. Stripe

Stripe homepage: Financial infrastructure for the internet

Stripe's primary product is processing payments, but they also offer a few other services including:

  • Checkout
  • Management of risk and fraud
  • Online invoicing
  • Payments in person
  • Subscription management
  • Card issuing both physical and virtual
  • Controlling business spending

Stripe billing has fewer options than Chargebee for recurring billing, but you can easily combine the two applications. Stripe can be used by companies with all sizes, from start-ups to huge enterprises.

2. Maxio

Maxio homepage: Unlock your next stage of growth

Maxio (formerly Chargify and SaasOptics) is a finance operations platform for B2B SaaS. The company offers solutions to streamline finance systems in the back-end as well as features that help to improve the process of converting orders into revenue. They offer a variety of services, including:

  • Management of subscriptions
  • Global and usage-based billing
  • Revenue recognition and revenue management tools
  • Analytics and metrics for the billing system
  • Integrations built-in to other programs (e.g., accounting software such as QuickBooks or Xero)
  • Payment gateways from around the world

Maxio boasts of their ability to accommodate any go-to-market strategy (i.e., product-led or sales-led).

3. Zoho Subscriptions

Zoho Subscriptions: Subscription billing software, crafted for growing businesses

Zoho offers a large suite of software to run your business from a ERP and CRM to a video meeting platform. Zoho Subscriptions is their payment processing and recurring billing solution. Their most important attributes are:

  • Invoicing that is tax-compliant
  • Conversions to multiple currencies
  • Invoice templates
  • 30+ pre-built analytic reports
  • Automatic online payment retries
  • Integrations out of the box with other platforms for billing (e.g., Stripe, PayPal and so on.)

Zoho Subscriptions offers more pre-made solutions that other alternatives that are on the list. This is something some companies may find limiting. The Zoho Subscriptions might be a great choice if you're already using other Zoho tools.

4. Fusebill

Fusebill homepage: Simplify subscription management and recurring billing

Fusebill integrates with Stax Bill to provide you with subscription management software as well as a payment gateway in one place. In addition to offering the option of a payment gateway in each subscription plan, Fusebill offers many of the same services as Chargebee such as:

  • Dunning management
  • Recurring billing with flexible options
  • Software to recognize revenue recurring
  • Billing analytics
  • Tax calculation

Fusebill also provides flexible catalog pricing and inventory tracking tools.

5. Zuora

Zuora homepage: Subscriptions are just the beginning

Zuora can be described as an online platform to monetize B2C and B2B companies. Zuora's key functionalities include:

  • Customer subscription management
  • Reconciliation tools for revenue
  • Revenue analytics
  • Integrations built-in to integrate with a variety of enterprise software
  • APIs and SDKs with low-code code to build your own integrations
  • Software for quoting

Zuora offers a great deal of freedom to build your own solutions built on their platform, however for non-developers, it can be challenging to use.

6. Sticky.io

Sticky.io homepage: Supercharging Subscription Commerce

Sticky.io is a subscription management platform that integrates with popular platforms for e-commerce like Salesforce Commerce Cloud, BigCommerce as well as Shopify. The company claims to:

  • It is possible to support almost any subscription model or pricing structure
  • Make coupons, discounts and other special deals
  • Offer add-ons, upsells, etc.
  • Combat fraud and fight chargebacks
  • Manage automated dunning

Similar to Chargebee, Sticky.io doesn't provide an online payment processor, but they offer pre-built integrations with several payment gateways.

7. Braintree

Braintree homepage: Boost Revenue with a Global Payments Partner

Braintree by PayPal is a payment gateway provider that also provides merchant accounts. Braintree products include:

  • Subscription billing management
  • Optimized checkout flow
  • Flexible risk mitigation options
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Integrations from third-party companies for ongoing billing, accounting, and many more

Braintree supports payment from PayPal, Venmo (in the US), Apple Pay, and Google Pay.