Best Subscription Ecommerce Platforms in 2026
Bold starts at $24.99 a month. Stay AI and Skio start at $499. Ordergroove will not list a price. Three of these only run on Shopify.
Recharge Starter is $99 a month plus 1.49% and 19 cents per transaction; Plus is $499 plus 1.34% and 19 cents. New stores can sit on a $25 plan with no transaction fees for the first 50 lifetime subscribers. Skio Scale is $499 a month billed yearly or $599 monthly, plus 1% and 20 cents. Stay AI Pro is $499 a month plus 1% and 19 cents. Bold Subscriptions Launch is $24.99 plus 2%; Grow $49.99 plus 1%; Scale $74.99 plus 0.9%; Ultimate Retention $399.99 plus 0.9%. Ordergroove has no public price. Skio, Stay AI and Bold are Shopify-only. Recharge is Shopify plus BigCommerce. Ordergroove is the multi-platform one.
Key facts5 tools compared: Recharge, Skio, Stay AI, Bold Subscriptions, Ordergroove
- 5 tools compared: Recharge, Skio, Stay AI, Bold Subscriptions, Ordergroove
- Skio (best for: Shopify brands that want portal and cancel flows included on one $499 plan): From $499/mo (Scale, billed yearly) or $599/mo monthly
- Stay AI (best for: Shopify brands with real subscription volume that will pay $499 for retention tools): From $499/mo (Pro) + 1% and 19 cents per order; no free trial listed
- Bold Subscriptions (best for: Shopify stores that want the lowest published monthly price and a percent of orders): From $24.99/mo (Launch); 30-day free trial
Subscription apps look like a monthly fee. They bill like a tax. The $99 or $499 line is the part you can screenshot. The part that actually moves the P&L is 0.9% to 2% of every order the app touches, sometimes plus 19 or 20 cents a charge, stacked on top of Shopify Payments.
Four names on this list live in the Shopify App Store.
Three of those will not install on Salesforce, Magento or a homegrown stack. Recharge also talks to BigCommerce. Ordergroove is the one built for stores that are not Shopify. Skio still sells as its own product. Recharge bought it in April 2026, so picking Skio to get away from Recharge is a different decision than it was a year ago.
Top Picks
Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.
The volume leader on Shopify: $99 plus 1.49% and 19 cents, or $25 with no cut until 50 lifetime subscribers.
From $25/mo (25-50 plan); 60-day free trial on Starter
Shopify (or BigCommerce) brands that want the default subscription stack and a published starter price
Shopify-only, $499 a month yearly plus 1% and 20 cents, now a Recharge company that still has its own price page.
From $499/mo (Scale, billed yearly) or $599/mo monthly
Shopify brands that want portal and cancel flows included on one $499 plan
Shopify-only, $499 plus 1% and 19 cents, independent of Recharge, no cheaper public plan.
From $499/mo (Pro) + 1% and 19 cents per order; no free trial listed
Shopify brands with real subscription volume that will pay $499 for retention tools
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Recharge | From $25/mo (25-50 plan); 60-day free trial on Starter | Shopify (or BigCommerce) brands that want the default subscription stack and a published starter price |
| Skio | From $499/mo (Scale, billed yearly) or $599/mo monthly | Shopify brands that want portal and cancel flows included on one $499 plan |
| Stay AI | From $499/mo (Pro) + 1% and 19 cents per order; no free trial listed | Shopify brands with real subscription volume that will pay $499 for retention tools |
| Bold Subscriptions | From $24.99/mo (Launch); 30-day free trial | Shopify stores that want the lowest published monthly price and a percent of orders |
| Ordergroove | Custom quote; no public list price | Mid-market and enterprise programs, especially off Shopify, that can sit through a sales cycle |
Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Sep 2026. 1 of 5 sells by quote only and publishes no price; that entry says so rather than estimating.
Recharge
The volume leader on Shopify: $99 plus 1.49% and 19 cents, or $25 with no cut until 50 lifetime subscribers.
- Pricing
- From $25/mo (25-50 plan); 60-day free trial on Starter
Best for: Shopify (or BigCommerce) brands that want the default subscription stack and a published starter price
Pros
- Published Starter and Plus dollars, plus a $25 on-ramp for new stores under 50 lifetime subscribers
- Works on Shopify and BigCommerce, which is more than Skio, Stay AI or Bold will give you
- Portal, dunning, upsells and a 60-day Starter trial you can actually run orders through
Cons
- 1.49% + 19¢ on Starter is the expensive part, and it hits one-time lines Recharge processes too
- Plus and Custom are 12-month terms; Starter is the one you can leave monthly
Skio
Shopify-only, $499 a month yearly plus 1% and 20 cents, now a Recharge company that still has its own price page.
- Pricing
- From $499/mo (Scale, billed yearly) or $599/mo monthly
Best for: Shopify brands that want portal and cancel flows included on one $499 plan
Pros
- One Scale plan: portal, journeys, cancel flows and analytics are not sitting behind a higher SKU
- 1% + 20¢ is a lower published cut than Recharge Starter's 1.49% + 19¢
- Still a separate product and merchant team as of 1 September 2026
Cons
- $499 yearly ($599 monthly) is the floor. There is no $99 tier on the live page
- Shopify only. No Salesforce, no Magento, no BigCommerce
Stay AI
Shopify-only, $499 plus 1% and 19 cents, independent of Recharge, no cheaper public plan.
- Pricing
- From $499/mo (Pro) + 1% and 19 cents per order; no free trial listed
Best for: Shopify brands with real subscription volume that will pay $499 for retention tools
Pros
- Still independent after the Recharge-Skio deal, if vendor concentration is a real concern
- Pro includes the retention and A/B tools on the public page instead of gating them
- Published $499 + 1% + 19¢, so you can model it without a sales call
Cons
- $499 is the start. A store testing subscribe-and-save has no $25 or $24.99 rung
- Shopify only
Bold Subscriptions
The cheap Shopify door: $24.99 plus 2%, or $74.99 plus 0.9%, no 19-cent add-on.
- Pricing
- From $24.99/mo (Launch); 30-day free trial
Best for: Shopify stores that want the lowest published monthly price and a percent of orders
Pros
- Lowest published monthly fee on this list, and no 19¢/20¢ per-order extra
- Launch, Grow and Scale share the feature set; you are mostly buying a better rate
- White-glove migration is on the marketing site as included, which matters if you are leaving Recharge
Cons
- 2% on Launch is a worse cut than Recharge or Skio once GMV is real; run the number before celebrating $24.99
- Shopify Checkout only. This is not Bold-for-WooCommerce or a multi-platform suite
Ordergroove
The multi-platform option. It will not tell you the price until a salesperson does.
- Pricing
- Custom quote; no public list price
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise programs, especially off Shopify, that can sit through a sales cycle
Pros
- The only name here that is built for Salesforce, Magento, BigCommerce and custom stacks, not only Shopify
- Enterprise workflow, testing and a long customer list if you already run that kind of program
- You are not installing a $24.99 Shopify app on a $40M catalog
Cons
- No published dollars. You cannot compare it to Bold or Recharge without a quote
- Implementation is a project, not an App Store install
What it is
A subscription ecommerce platform sits between your storefront and the payment processor. It creates the selling plan, charges the card on a cadence, lets the shopper skip or swap in a portal, retries failed payments, and tries to keep the person who hit Cancel.
On Shopify that is an app wired into Checkout. On Salesforce or a custom stack it is a platform you implement, not a one-click install.
The invoice is almost always a platform fee plus a cut of subscription GMV. That cut does not replace Shopify Payments or Stripe. It stacks.
Why it matters
At $80,000 a month in subscription GMV, Recharge Starter's 1.49% plus 19 cents is already larger than the $99 fee. Stay AI and Skio start at $499 before that cut. Bold's $24.99 Launch plan looks cheap until the 2% line is doing the real billing.
Ordergroove will not let you run that math from a public page.
The other decision is the store you already have. Install Stay AI on a Magento catalog and you have wasted a week. Install Ordergroove on a $4,000-a-month subscribe-and-save program and you are in an enterprise sales cycle for a problem Bold would have covered.
Key features to look for
Pricing
These platforms charge a monthly fee plus a percentage of orders, and some add 19 or 20 cents per charge on top of the payment processor. Recharge, Skio, Stay AI and Bold publish rates. Ordergroove does not and is a custom quote.
The cheapest published entry is Bold Launch at $24.99 a month plus 2%, with a 30-day trial where transaction fees still apply, and no per-order cent fee. Costs jump to $499 a month at Recharge Plus, Skio Scale billed yearly and Stay AI Pro, before that percentage, and to $399.99 on Bold Ultimate Retention.
Recharge also has a $25 a month plan with no transaction fees for the first 50 lifetime subscribers on new installs, plus a 60-day trial on Starter.
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Recharge 25-50 | $25/mo, no transaction fees | New installs from 9 February 2026, 50 lifetime subscribers, then Starter |
| Recharge Starter | $99/mo + 1.49% + 19¢ | Per transaction; mixed carts and refunds still billed, 60-day trial |
| Recharge Plus | $499/mo + 1.34% + 19¢ | 12-month term, 19¢ per transaction |
| Recharge Custom | Custom quote | Volume-based; Shopify Plus stores may qualify |
| Recharge Plus SMS | $0.03 US and Canada, $0.06 intl | Per SMS segment on Plus |
| Skio Scale (yearly) | $499/mo billed yearly + 1% + 20¢ | On orders that involve a subscription |
| Skio Scale (monthly) | $599/mo + 1% + 20¢ | Same Scale plan, billed month to month |
| Skio Enterprise | Custom quote | Volume pricing, dedicated success manager, custom development |
| Stay AI Pro | $499/mo + 1% + 19¢ | 1:1 migration and onboarding included; no trial listed |
| Stay AI Enterprise | Custom quote | Flat-rate tiers, dedicated strategist, custom development |
| Bold Subscriptions Launch | $24.99/mo + 2%, no per-order cent | 30-day trial; transaction fees still apply |
| Bold Subscriptions Grow | $49.99/mo + 1%, no per-order cent | 30-day trial; same features, lower percent |
| Bold Subscriptions Scale | $74.99/mo + 0.9%, no per-order cent | 30-day trial; same features as Launch |
| Bold Subscriptions Ultimate Retention | $399.99/mo + 0.9%, no per-order cent | ProsperStack cancel flows and priority onboarding |
| Bold Subscriptions Enterprise | Custom quote | Quotes above about $1M yearly subscription revenue |
| Ordergroove | Custom quote | Separate platform, usage, implementation and migration |
The bottom line
On Shopify, start with the fee math. Bold Subscriptions at $24.99 plus 2% is the cheap door; move to Grow or Scale when 2% hurts. Recharge Starter at $99 plus 1.49% and 19 cents is the default if you want the large install base and a 60-day trial, or $25 with no cut if you are new and under 50 lifetime subscribers.
Stay AI and Skio both start near $499 plus about 1% and a per-order cent fee. Pick between them on portal and retention, not on the invoice. Skio is a Recharge company as of April 2026.
Off Shopify, Ordergroove is the real platform list.
It will not publish a price. Recharge can cover BigCommerce. Stay AI, Skio and Bold will not.
Frequently asked questions
Which subscription platforms work outside Shopify?
How much does Recharge cost?
How much do Skio, Stay AI and Bold cost?
Did Recharge buy Skio?
Sources
Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.
- Recharge pricingchecked Sep 2026
Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.
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