Best Subscription Billing Software

What to check
The tools

Subscription billing software charges customers on a schedule, such as monthly or yearly, and handles what changes along the way: plan upgrades and downgrades, partial periods, failed card payments and renewals. If you bill service retainers, recurring invoices with online payments may cover what you need. If you sell software plans with trials, usage charges or frequent plan changes, look for proration, dunning (automatic follow-up on failed payments) and plan management.

Billed publishes this page, and Billed is listed first. The other tools are listed alphabetically and aren't ranked. Each description quotes the vendor's own pages, opened on October 30, 2026, and we didn't test the products. Prices change and vary by country, so check each vendor's pricing page before you choose.

What to check

Billing schedule: the intervals you need, such as weekly, monthly or yearly.
How customers pay: a saved card for automatic charges, or an invoice they pay each time.
Plan changes: upgrades, downgrades and how partial periods are charged (proration).
Failed payments: retries and reminders when a card is declined or expires.
Trials and usage charges, if your pricing has them.
Tax for the places you sell to. Ask your accountant what applies.

The tools

Billed

From Billed's recurring invoices page:

"With Billed recurring billing you don't have to create invoices manually every day, week, month or year. Invoices are created automatically and sent to your customers according to your settings."
"Choose whether to send invoices daily, weekly, monthly or yearly."
"Choose between manual and automatic subscription method for your customers."
"Your clients can also link their credit cards which makes it easier for them to pay."
"Billed creates a recurring profile for your customer and keeps all the payments and invoices related to that profile in one place."

From Billed's accept payments page:

"Billed integrates with Stripe to enable online payments on invoices."
"Add your Paypal account to Billed to start accepting payments via Paypal on your invoices."

For plans, see Billed's pricing page.

Chargebee

From Chargebee's subscription management page:

"Upgrades, downgrades, proration, and renewals calculated and invoiced without manual intervention."
"Configurable dunning, smart retry logic, and automated AR workflows"
"Roll out plans, test packaging, and iterate from the dashboard without touching your codebase."

Paddle

From Paddle's billing page:

"Easily handle proration, credits, multiple user seats and one time purchases with our flexible billing solution."
"Flexible subscription management platform with built-in customer portal - no need to build one yourself"
"Paddle combines payment and subscription management, invoicing, billing support, tax compliance, fraud protection and churn prevention in one platform."

Recurly

From Recurly's home page:

"Any pricing tier, trial, bundle, or offer goes live in minutes with no-code tools."
"Subscribers self-serve plan changes and payment updates, which cuts your support load."
"Smart dunning and credit card updater technology recover the revenue automatically, refreshing expiring cards before they fail."

Stripe Billing

From Stripe's Billing page:

"Unify subscriptions and usage-based billing into one automated flow that supports any way you monetize."
"Create and send one-off or recurring invoices in minutes, with no code."
"Built-in global tax tools are available without code or via API with Stripe Tax."
"Stripe Billing can be purchased as an annual subscription paid monthly, or on a pay-as-you-go plan."

Worked example: an upgrade in the middle of a month

The business, prices and method here are a sample, invented for this example. Tools calculate proration in different ways, so check how yours does it.

A customer pays $90 a month for a basic plan, billed on the 1st for 30-day months. On day 11 they upgrade to a $150 plan, so 20 days of the month are left.

Credit for the unused basic plan: 20 ÷ 30 × $90 = $60
Charge for the rest of the month on the new plan: 20 ÷ 30 × $150 = $100
Proration charged on the upgrade: $100 − $60 = $40
From the next 1st: $150 a month.

Explain any proration on the invoice or receipt in plain words, so the customer can see how the $40 was worked out.

Before you choose

Match the tool to your billing. Recurring invoices may cover fixed monthly retainers. Plan changes, trials and usage charges call for the features quoted above.
Check failed-payment handling against how your customers pay.
Check tax for the places you sell to, and ask your accountant.
Price it for your volume on each vendor's own pricing page.

For cash planning, see how to manage cash flow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is subscription billing software?

Software that charges customers on a schedule, such as monthly or yearly, and handles changes such as upgrades, downgrades, partial periods, failed payments and renewals.

What is proration?

Charging for part of a billing period when a plan changes mid-period. In the sample, a mid-month upgrade from a $90 plan to a $150 plan with 20 of 30 days left costs $40 for the rest of that month.

What is dunning?

Automatic follow-up when a recurring payment fails, such as retrying the card and emailing the customer. On the pages quoted here, Chargebee and Recurly describe dunning.

Do I need subscription billing software for monthly retainers?

It depends on your billing. For a fixed monthly amount, recurring invoices may be enough. If you have plan changes, trials or usage charges, compare the features each vendor describes on its own pages.

Which of these tools should I choose?

This page doesn't rank them. Compare how you charge customers, the features you need, tax for the places you sell to and each vendor's current pricing, then try the tools with a real plan.

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Best Subscription Billing Software in 2026