Comparison hub

Every Shopify subscription app,
compared honestly

Picking a subscription app is a decision you live with for years. We laid out Recharge, Loop, Skio, Appstle, Bold, and SimpleSubscription side by side — pricing, transaction fees, features, and migration help. No fluff, no hidden tiers.

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Monthly Revenue

$24,580

+12.5%

Active Subs

847

+23

Churn Rate

3.2%

-0.8%

New subscription - Premium Box2m ago

Billing success - $49.005m ago

Churn risk detected - Sarah M.12m ago

+30%

Revenue growth
in the first 90 days.

2.4x

More repeat customers
with flexible subscription pricing.

5 min

From install to live.
No developer needed.

Zero advertisement budget.
Subscriptions sell themselves.

How It Works

Why SimpleSubscription wins on price

We charge $79/mo on the annual plan and take zero transaction fees. Recharge takes 1.49% + 19c per transaction. Skio is enterprise-priced. Loop sits in the middle. The math compounds quickly when you scale.

From $79/mo annual — no per-transaction cut
Same core feature set as Recharge and Loop
Free white-glove migration from any competitor

What actually matters

The features every comparison should cover

Most blog posts compare the marketing copy. We compare what merchants actually pay and what they actually get — including the transaction fees buried in the fine print.

Subscribe & Save

Let customers subscribe on any product page. Flexible discounts, multiple frequencies, and annual billing — all from a clean widget that matches your theme.

Customer Portal

Branded self-service portal where subscribers edit their subscription, earn rewards, share referral codes, and handle everything themselves — no support tickets needed.

Smart Cancellation Flows

When a subscriber tries to cancel, show personalized offers — a discount, a pause, a free gift. Multi-step flows with survey, retention offers, and save rate tracking.

Payment Recovery

Automatically retry failed payments with smart dunning sequences. Recover revenue that would otherwise be lost to expired cards and billing failures.

Real-Time Analytics

Track MRR, churn rate, LTV, subscriber growth, and billing success in one dashboard. Cohort retention, product performance, and revenue forecasts.

Bundles & Boxes

Curated subscription boxes, mystery boxes, and mix-and-match bundles. Let customers build their own recurring orders — or surprise them with a new selection every cycle.

Email & SMS Notifications

Automated emails for order confirmations, upcoming renewals, payment failures, and winback. SMS via Twilio, Nexmo, or AWS SNS.

Loyalty & Rewards

Reward repeat subscribers with points, tiers, and referral codes. Longer subscription = bigger discounts. Built-in retention tool that Recharge and Loop charge extra for.

Easy Migration

Switch from Loop, Recharge, Skio, or Bold in minutes. Import via API, CSV, or migrate automatically. Zero downtime.

See it in action

Every tool you need to launch, grow, and retain subscribers — built into one app. Go ahead, click around — everything below is interactive.

Analytics

Real-time subscription analytics

MRR, churn rate, subscriber growth, LTV, and billing success — all in one dashboard. No spreadsheets, no guesswork.

Revenue trends and forecasts
Churn breakdown: active, passive, expired
Product performance and cohort retention

Analytics Overview

7d30d90d

MRR

$12,480

+8.3%

Churn

2.1%

-0.4%

LTV

$186

+12%

Active

847

+23

ProductSubscribersRevenue

Premium Coffee312$12,168

Vitamin Bundle286$6,864

Snack Box249$7,470

Customer Portal

A customer portal your subscribers will love

Branded self-service portal where customers manage their subscriptions. Skip deliveries, pause, swap products, update payment methods, and change delivery frequency - all without contacting support.

Reduces support tickets by 60%
Smart cancel flow retains 35% of cancellations
Fully customizable to match your brand

My Subscriptions

Manage your subscription orders

2 active

$63.00/month

Premium Coffee Box

Every month · $39.00

Next delivery: Apr 15

Active

SkipPauseSwapManage

Vitamin Bundle

Every 2 weeks · $24.00

Active

Retention

Smart cancel flows that save subscribers

When a customer tries to cancel, show them personalized offers — a discount, a pause, a free gift. Convert cancellations into retained revenue.

Multi-step cancel flow with survey
Offer pause, skip, discount, or free gift
Track save rate and revenue saved

Step 1 of 4

We're sorry to see you go

Help us improve — why are you cancelling?

Too expensive

Don't need it anymore

Switching to another product

Quality not as expected

Continue

Guided Growth

A structured path to subscription success

Most apps dump every feature on you at once. SimpleSubscription guides you through 6 stages — complete milestones, unlock the next level, grow at your own pace.

Launch

Install the widget, create plans, enable the customer portal, and import existing subscribers.

Retain

Automatic subscriber discounts, product swap, smart cancel flow, dunning, and frequency optimizer.

Upsell

Bundles, checkout and cart upsells, cross-sell carousel, and one-time add-ons to boost AOV.

Engage

Free trials, gift subscriptions, loyalty ladder, rewards points, referrals, and winback campaigns.

Customize

White-label portal, custom email and SMS providers, translations, auto-tagging, and Shopify Flow triggers.

Scale

Memberships, churn predictions, A/B testing, and advanced subscription analytics.

Progress is tracked automatically as you set up features — no manual input needed

Compare

The honest 6-app comparison

A real feature matrix: subscriptions, build-a-box, bundles, churn tools, portal, API access, and total monthly cost at $10k MRR.

Feature

Recharge

Loop

Skio

Monthly price

From $79

From $99

From $499

Transaction fees

1.49% + 19¢

1% + 20¢

Paid add-ons

None

Multiple

None

Free trial

30 days

14 days

30 days

Subscribe & Save

✓

Annual subscriptions

✓

Limited

✓

Subscription bundles

✓

Gift subscriptions

✓

Checkout upsell

✓

Membership plans

✓

✗

Customer portal

✓

Skip, pause, swap

✓

Self-service payment updates

✓

Multi-language portal

✓

Limited

✗

Smart cancel flow

✓

Failed payment recovery

✓

Loyalty ladder

✓

✗

Rewards points

✓

✗

Winback campaigns

✓

✗

Refer-a-friend program

✓

✗

Churn predictions

✓

✗

Frequency optimizer

✓

✗

MRR & churn dashboards

✓

Built-in A/B testing

✓

✗

Advanced forecasts

✓

✗

REST API

✓

Webhooks & Shopify Flow

✓

Cross-sell recommendations

✓

✗

Customer auto-tagging

✓

✗

Guided growth journey

✓

✗

Setup without developer

✓

Limited

✓

Free migration

✓

$500+

—

Zero downtime migration

✓

✗

Savings Calculator

See how much you save vs other apps

Based on $50 average order value. Most subscription apps charge 1%+ per transaction on top of monthly fees.

Subscribers

Other apps cost /mo

SR cost /mo

You save /mo

500

$99 + ~$300 fees

$79

$320

1,000

$99 + ~$600 fees

$79

$620

5,000

$299 + ~$3,000 fees

$239

$3,060

10,000

$499 + ~$6,000 fees

$399

$6,100

Even with just 1,000 subscribers you save $620/mo — that's $7,440/year back into your ad budget.

Pricing

Simple pricing. No transaction fees.

Three plans, 30-day free trial on all. Pick the one that fits your business.

MonthlyAnnual Save 20%

Starter

$79/month

$950 billed annually · save $238/yr

Unlimited subscribers

Everything to launch subscriptions

Subscribe & Save widget
Annual subscription billing
Self-service customer portal
14 languages supported
Passwordless login (magic link)
Automatic transactional emails
Portal branding (colors & logo)
Bulk subscription actions
Smart cancellation flow
Failed payment recovery
Frequency optimizer
Free migration & API/CSV import
MRR & revenue analytics

Start 30-Day Free Trial

No credit card required · Cancel anytime

Already using another app? Switch in 4 steps.

Free migration from Recharge, Loop, Skio, or Bold. Zero downtime.

Step 1

Connect

Upload a CSV export or connect via API. We fetch all your subscription data automatically.

Step 2

Review

Preview every subscription in a staging area. Verify billing dates, pricing, and product mappings before anything goes live.

Step 3

Activate

Happy with what you see? One click to go live. Not happy? Cancel and nothing ever changed.

Step 4

Done

Subscriptions are live. Customers get portal access. Billing continues seamlessly — zero downtime.

Migrating from Recharge?

We transfer all subscriber data, payment methods, subscription contracts, and billing dates. Recharge charges $500+ for migration — we do it free. Learn more about switching from Recharge →

Migrating from Loop?

Full migration from Loop Subscriptions including subscriber data, contracts, and payment methods. Learn more about switching from Loop →

Migrating from Skio?

We connect directly to Skio's GraphQL API to import all your subscriptions, customers, and payment methods. Save up to 90% vs Skio's enterprise pricing. Learn more about switching from Skio →

Migrating from Bold or another platform?

We support migration from any subscription platform via API or CSV import. Upload your subscriber data, review everything in staging, and go live with one click.

FAQ

Comparison questions, answered

Is there really no transaction fee?

Zero. We never charge a percentage of your revenue. You pay a flat monthly price based on your plan.

How long does migration take?

Most migrations from Loop, Recharge, or Bold complete in under 30 minutes. We support CSV import and API migration with zero downtime.

Can I try before I buy?

Yes — every plan comes with a 30-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

What happens if I exceed my subscriber limit?

We'll notify you and help you upgrade to the right plan. No surprise charges.

Do you support Shopify's native subscription APIs?

Yes. We use Shopify's Subscription Contract API, selling plans, and checkout extensions. Fully native integration.

Can customers manage their own subscriptions?

Yes. The branded customer portal lets subscribers edit their subscription, earn rewards, share referral codes, and handle everything themselves — no support tickets needed.

Does the widget work with my theme?

Yes. The Subscribe & Save widget automatically adapts to your store's design. You can also customize colors, text, and layout from the app settings.

What payment gateways do you support?

We work with Shopify Payments and any gateway that supports Shopify's subscription APIs. Your customers check out through Shopify's native checkout — no third-party payment pages.

Do you offer dunning / failed payment recovery?

Yes. Our smart dunning system automatically retries failed payments on an optimized schedule, sends reminder emails to customers, and recovers revenue that would otherwise be lost.

Can I sell subscription bundles or build-a-box?

Yes. Create curated boxes, mix-and-match bundles, or let customers build their own recurring orders from your product catalog. Available on the Premium plan.

How does the free trial work?

You get full access to all features in your chosen plan for 30 days. Cancel anytime upfront. After the trial, billing starts automatically.

What's the difference between plans?

Starter covers the essentials — subscriptions, portal, widget, and basic analytics. Pro adds bundles, upsells, loyalty, and winback campaigns. Premium unlocks memberships, churn predictions, A/B testing, forecasts, and referral program.

Do you charge transaction fees?

No. SimpleSubscription never charges transaction fees on any plan. You only pay Shopify's standard payment processing.

Can I upgrade or downgrade anytime?

Yes! Switch between plans at any time. When upgrading, you'll be billed the prorated difference. Downgrades take effect at the next billing cycle.

Can I migrate from another app?

Yes! We support migration from Recharge, Bold, Loop, Skio, and CSV imports. Most migrations complete in under 30 minutes.

Is there a subscriber limit?

No. All plans include unlimited subscribers. Whether you have 10 or 100,000 subscribers, the price is the same.

The complete guide to comparing Shopify subscription apps in 2026

There are more than a dozen Shopify subscription apps in the App Store. Most comparisons stop at feature lists. This guide goes further — covering pricing models, checkout architecture, retention tool depth, and the practical experience of running a subscription business on each platform.

Understanding the Shopify subscription app market

The subscription app market split into two eras when Shopify launched its Subscription Contracts API. Apps built before the API — Bold, early Recharge — used custom checkout flows. Apps built after — Loop, Skio, SimpleSubscription — use the native API and integrate with standard Shopify checkout. This architectural divide is the most important factor in evaluating checkout compatibility, accelerated payment support, and long-term maintenance overhead.

Pre-API apps: Bold, early Recharge — custom checkout, limited Shop Pay support
Native API apps: Loop, Skio, SimpleSubscription — standard checkout, Shop Pay works
Recharge has migrated portions of its stack to native but retains legacy elements
Native API means selling plans are Shopify-first objects, visible in admin and analytics
Legacy checkout apps require ongoing maintenance as Shopify updates checkout

How to read subscription app pricing honestly

The listed monthly price is the floor, not the ceiling. Transaction fees are the primary hidden cost. Recharge charges 1.49% + 19c per recurring transaction. At $10k MRR with an average order value of $40, that is roughly 250 transactions per month — adding approximately $380 in transaction fees on top of the base plan. SimpleSubscription charges zero transaction fees on every plan. When comparing pricing, always calculate the all-in monthly cost at your actual MRR.

Base plan price is rarely the full cost — add transaction fees at your order volume
1.49% transaction fee at $10k MRR ≈ $149 extra per month
Feature tier gates add cost when you need advanced features like build-a-box or API
SimpleSubscription: $79/mo annual, all features included, $0 transaction fees
Calculate total cost as: (base plan) + (transaction fee × monthly order count)

The six apps compared: strengths and weaknesses

Each app has a genuine use case where it is the right choice. Recharge is strongest for enterprise stores with developer resources needing deep customisation. Loop is the best mid-market UX option for stores that want a polished out-of-box experience. Skio targets high-revenue DTC brands with an enterprise pricing model. Appstle and Bold offer broad feature sets with varying levels of interface polish. SimpleSubscription targets value-conscious merchants who want every feature at the lowest total cost.

Recharge: enterprise power, enterprise price — best for $1M+ ARR subscription revenue
Loop Subscriptions: polished UX, mid-market price — best for growth-stage DTC
Skio: premium portal, enterprise pricing — best for 8-figure brands
Appstle: broad features, tier-gated — best for budget-limited stores with patience
Bold Subscriptions: large install base, legacy architecture — best for existing customers with working flows
SimpleSubscription: full feature parity, flat pricing — best for value-conscious merchants at any scale

Customer portal quality: what to look for

The customer portal is the interface subscribers use to manage their own subscriptions. A weak portal drives support tickets; a strong portal keeps subscribers engaged and reduces churn. Key features to evaluate: self-serve skip/swap/pause, address update, frequency change, magic-link access (no password required), and mobile responsiveness. All six major apps offer a portal, but depth and UX quality vary significantly.

Magic-link access eliminates password friction and reduces 'I forgot my account' tickets
Self-serve skip/swap/pause is the single biggest driver of support ticket reduction
Mobile responsiveness matters because most customers manage via phone
Custom domain support lets the portal live on your brand's URL
Upsell opportunities in the portal (upgrade frequency, add products) increase ARPU

Retention and dunning: the revenue you're leaving on the table

Industry data suggests 15–30% of subscription churn is involuntary — driven by failed payments, not customer intent. Apps with strong dunning and payment recovery engines recover a meaningful portion of that revenue automatically. Basic dunning sends one email after failure. Advanced dunning uses pre-dunning notifications before expiry, intelligent retry scheduling (different days, different times), multi-step sequences, and per-sequence analytics.

15–30% of subscription churn is involuntary — recoverable with good dunning
Pre-dunning email before card expiry catches failed payments before they happen
Smart retry scheduling improves recovery by testing different billing times
Multi-step sequences escalate from email to SMS to account pause
30–40% payment recovery is achievable with advanced dunning vs 10–15% with basic

How to evaluate apps without a long sales process

Most subscription apps offer free trials. The fastest way to evaluate is to install, configure a selling plan, complete a test subscription purchase, and then test the customer portal. This 30-minute walkthrough reveals interface quality, checkout integration, and portal capability more reliably than any feature matrix. SimpleSubscription's 30-day free trial is long enough to run a real evaluation on a live store.

Install → configure selling plan → test purchase → test portal: 30 minutes total
Check Shop Pay works correctly in the subscription checkout
Navigate the customer portal as a subscriber and test skip, swap, pause
Trigger a test failed payment and verify the dunning email fires
Evaluate the merchant dashboard analytics on your real subscriber data

Skip the spreadsheet. Try it free for 30 days.

Install in 5 minutes. Migrate later. Cancel anytime.

Start Free Trial on Shopify

30-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime · Save 20% with annual billing

Every Shopify subscription app,compared honestly

Why SimpleSubscription wins on price

The features every comparison should cover

Subscribe & Save

Customer Portal

Smart Cancellation Flows

Payment Recovery

Real-Time Analytics

Bundles & Boxes

Email & SMS Notifications

Loyalty & Rewards

Easy Migration

See it in action

Real-time subscription analytics

A customer portal your subscribers will love

Smart cancel flows that save subscribers

A structured path to subscription success

The honest 6-app comparison

See how much you save vs other apps

Simple pricing. No transaction fees.

Already using another app? Switch in 4 steps.

Connect

Review

Activate

Done

Comparison questions, answered

The complete guide to comparing Shopify subscription apps in 2026

Understanding the Shopify subscription app market

How to read subscription app pricing honestly

The six apps compared: strengths and weaknesses

Customer portal quality: what to look for

Retention and dunning: the revenue you're leaving on the table

How to evaluate apps without a long sales process

Skip the spreadsheet. Try it free for 30 days.

Every Shopify subscription app,
compared honestly