10 Best eCommerce Subcription Platforms Review | 2024 Update

If you are wondering, “Which is the best eCommerce subscription platforms?” you’ve come to the right place!

After over a year of analyzing several platforms (starting from January 2022), LitExtension – #1 Shopping Cart Migration Expert has come up with our own selection.

In this article, let’s walk through an analysis of the most popular subscription eCommerce platform. Currently, here are the best ones that you should consider, based on our testing:

• WooCommerce
• Wix
• Shopify
• Subbly
• Sellfy
• Podia
• Recurly
• Squarespace
• Weebly
• Magento

Let’s dive in!

---

1. WooCommerce

We have no doubt that WordPress is the number one website builder with over 1.3 billion active websites, accounting for 35% of the total number of websites on the Internet. As a result, WooCommerce Subscriptions is the most popular platform to quickly bring subscription capabilities to your eCommerce website.

In our analysis, WooCommerce Subscriptions is not a standalone system but a WordPress plugin. That means you need to have a WordPress website first in order to install WooCommerce and WooCommerce Subscription. Luckily, WordPress is a free CMS, you just need to pay for hosting and domain to quickly own a website or a WooCommerce WordPress theme.

However, WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin is not free at all. You will have to pay $199 per year to buy the plugin and access its full features.

Some of the WooCommerce features that make it one of the best eCommerce subscription platforms:

• Support both simple and variable subscription products: each variation in a Variable Subscription can have a different sign-up fee, trial period, Recurring price, Billing period, Subscription length.

  

• Integration with over 34 gateways: By using WooCommerce Subscriptions, you can offer your subscribers a variety of payment methods, including all the popular ones such as PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, Amazon Pay,… You can have a look at the list of payment gateways below:

  

• Support automatic payment: With this feature, a recurring payment is charged without any involvement from the store owners or customers. This is not only convenient for subscribers but also beneficial to suppliers. Suppliers do not have to put effort into persuading customers to stay with them. If your payment gateway does not support automatic renewal, you still have a manual renewal option, which means a subscription is suspended until the customer logs into your store and pays to renew the subscription.
• Built-in renewal notifications and automatic emails: this feature lets you and your subscribers know when subscription fees have been processed and when the next one occurs.
• Detailed reports: This allows you to keep track of your upcoming revenue, the number of active subscribers, cancellations, retention rate,…

If you are using other subscription eCommerce platform, such as ReCharge to sell subscriptions on Shopify but now you want to sell on WooCommerce, we’re here to help. LitExtension supports not only Shopify to WooCommerce migration but also migrating subscription data to WooCommerce Subscriptions Plugin.

2. Wix

Wix has released a new feature that enables merchants to sell subscriptions on the Wix platform. As it is a built-in feature, you do not have to pay any extra fee to sell subscription items and services.

In order to sell subscriptions in Wix, you need to create a new physical item first (Product subscriptions are not for digital products) or come to edit an existing one. There would be a button “Create a Subscription” for you to click and start selling subscriptions.

There is some information that you need to fill in before turning a normal product into a subscription with this platform:

• Title and tagline: they appear on the Product Page as in the picture below

  

• Frequency: the period of time that your customer is charged and a new order is created
• Duration: the period of time that the subscription plan lasts
• Discount (optional): It can be a price discount or percentage discount.

Besides, if each product has different subscription plans (such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually), you can easily arrange them just by dragging and dropping.

The feature that is most concerned about is the ability to collect recurring payments from subscribers. Currently, there are 4 payment providers integrated with WIX supporting recurring payments:

• Wix Payments
• Isracard
• Stripe
• PayPal

You may want to note down that some gateways place restrictions on product types(e.g. restriction on CBD products). For more detailed information, you have to check with the provider that you chose.

If you are using another subscription eCommerce platform, but now you want to sell on Wix, we’re here to help. LitExtension supports a seamless migration to Wix with utmost security.

3. Shopify

I must say that Shopify is not a subscription eCommerce platform, as it has no built-in features for subscriptions. However, there are still dozens of apps on the Shopify App Store where you browse for this function.

To sell subscriptions on this platform, you need to create a Shopify store first. You will have 3 days free trial, and enjoy the first month with $1 only. After that, you have to choose a premium plan to pay.

My impression is that this platform empowers users with superb eCommerce features and appealing, easy-to-use, mobile-responsive themes. This platform comes with 100+ website templates on its Shopify Theme Store, allowing e-merchants to freely customize their storefront.

Regarding the monthly cost, there are 3 tiers in the Shopify pricing plan, which are Basic, Standard, and Advanced.

[wptb id=49659]

As a merchant on Shopify, you need to choose and install a subscription app (just in a few clicks), and then your eCommerce store can sell any subscription products or services that you want. Based on our testing, we highly recommend Subscriptions by ReCharge and Bold Subscriptions to turn your store into a platform for subscription.

Bold Subscriptions

Bold Subscriptions is an official solution for merchants selling recurring orders & subscription boxes. By using this app, you can create your own unique subscription that renews payment at whatever interval you want. Similar to other Shopify Apps, you can integrate Bold Subscriptions with your eCommerce platform within a few clicks.

Moreover, Bold offers a bunch of features to help you manage your subscriptions and business performance, including:

• Forecast revenue and inventory with automated projections
• Access robust analytics tools and powerful reports
• Automatically send emails to notify you when you have low inventory for upcoming orders.
• Get full control over language and styling from product pages to checkout.
• Connect with major payment gateways for auto-payment renewal.
• Reduce unsubscribes with custom cancellation flows those offer incentives or alternatives when people go to cancel.
• Integrate with other apps in Bold’s ecosystem to enhance your subscription.

Bold Subscriptions has a Core and Enterprise pricing plan. You can consider choosing between those two based on the features offered:

Subscriptions by ReCharge

Similar to Bold Subscriptions, Subscriptions by ReCharge is also exceedingly popular with Shopify store owners due to its comprehensive subscription solution. However, in the Standard plan, Recharge is free to use through the first $100,000 in processed orders. Once that threshold is crossed, Recharge has a base cost of $39.99 per month plus 1% + 5¢ on all transactions. The 1% fee for Recharge is only based on what was charged during checkout, without shipping or taxes.

By default, ReCharge applies a subscription rule to an entire product, including the variants. In case you want to offer your customers the subscription option on a specific variant, you may need support from a developer.

Using ReCharge, merchants can get access to the following features:

• ReCharge enables customers to manage their own subscriptions
• Merchants can control every aspect of their subscription product offering
• Fully customize your subscription experience via advanced features such as enhanced analytics, theme engine, upsells.
• Moreover, ReCharge allows you to get access to ReCharge API, webhooks and custom workflows to solve complex subscription needs. The ReCharge API allows your developers (or a ReCharge certified partner) to create essentially anything you would like.

In case you are running a subscription-based business on another eCommerce platform, you can switch to Shopify and use ReCharge to sell and manage your subscription data. LitExtension can help you migrate to Shopify automatically and transfer your subscription data to ReCharge app at the same time.

4. Subbly

In our experience, Subbly is fundamentally an all-in-one subscription eCommerce platform. It is equipped with a full suite of features that is tailor-made to sell subscription and one-time products. With Subbly, store owner can set up their online presence and start their business quickly with no technical background needed.

Based on what Subbly offers, merchants have 4 pricing plans to choose from:

Subbly also provides a bunch of powerful features:

• Flexible subscription billing: Subbly can help you collect payment from subscribers automatically, let your customers customize their subscriptions, customize billing and shipping cycles (weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually), recover failed payments.
• Basic eCommerce features: Besides subscriptions, you can still sell normal eCommerce products on Subbly with integrated gateways (Stripe and PayPal), cart functionality, and tax calculation.
• Smooth checkout experience: You can also control every aspect of the customer’s journey and experience by customizing the Subbly website to match their branding, embedding the entire checkout experience directly onto your non-Subbly website, and collecting customer data via surveys, onboarding flows, and quizzes.
• Simplified shipping system: This platform streamlines fulfillment and logistics to make your life easier and to make sure your customers reliably receive their shipments and have an enjoyable experience over and over again.
• Good marketing features: This platform allows you to offer discounts and coupon codes to your customers, send SMS to old and new customers, and set up automated campaigns for maximum efficiency.
• All-in-one customer management dashboard: Subbly also offers you a full CRM (Customer relationship management) to manage your customer, order or subscription information — including both self-service, secure customer areas and a merchant admin panel.

5. Sellfy

To put it simply, Sellfy is an eCommerce platform focusing on selling digital products. Whether you are a writer, designer, music producer, or filmmaker, you can use this platform to earn money from your work.

In terms of pricing, Sellfy has 4 different pricing options for you to choose from, which are Free, Starter, Business, and Premium. My impression is that this platform does not charge you a translation fee, which can help you save a lot of money.

Besides digital products, Sellfy also gives you the opportunity to sell physical items and subscriptions as well. Similar to selling other product types, selling subscriptions on Sellfy is extremely easy thanks to its features:

• Store builder: You can quickly create a beautiful subscription eCommerce website within minutes. Your online store would be customizable, multilingual and optimized for mobile devices.
• Payment: After connecting your store to a payment solution (Sellfy only allows you to choose between PayPal & Stripe), you would be able to collect subscription fees from customers periodically. You just need to set up your billing interval
• Embed anywhere: If you already have a website or you want to sell your subscription items on social media channels, you can still use Sellfy. Buy Now buttons, products or even the whole store are all embeddable.
• Built-in marketing features: You can send product updates to existing customers and collect newsletter subscribers by email marketing, use discount codes and product upsells to engage with customers and increase your sales or add tracking pixel from Facebook or Twitter to run ads and track their performance.
• Powerful analytics: besides the best-performing products, you can also have a better understanding of the traffic channel and locations of your subscribers.

6. Podia

No matter if you’re an aspiring course creator, a seasoned coach, or a budding artist, Podia offers an all-inclusive solution to bring your vision to life. It is a versatile platform designed for digital creators and equips them with the tools they need to succeed. With an intuitive interface and robust features, Podia streamlines the process of building and selling digital products, allowing you to focus on what you do best: creating content.

Podia provides a straightforward pricing plan with no hidden cost. Its premium tiers range from $4 to $59 per month (if billed annually), and each comes with a different set of powerful features. On top of that, as we observe, this subscription platform also allows users to set up and run a functional website for free with no cost required. It would be a perfect option for those who just want to test out the water before committing to a higher pricing plan.

Podia features that we are in love with:

• Customizable storefronts: Creators can tailor their digital storefronts to reflect their brand identity with no limitations. From personalized branding to flexible layout options, they will have the freedom to create a unique and immersive shopping experience for their audience.
• User-friendly interface: Podia is among the simplest-to-use subscription platforms. It focuses on minimizing the technical effort involved in setting up an online store. Therefore, Podia offers an interface that is easy and intuitive for creators to navigate and utilize its features. Whether uploading content or managing customer interactions, Podia’s interface ensures a seamless experience.
• Embedded community chat: This feature allows all creators on Podia to foster meaningful connections with their audience. They can engage directly with their audience, answer questions, and build a sense of community around their digital products, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

• Hassle-free checkout process: Podia’s streamlined checkout process ensures a hassle-free experience for customers, minimizing friction and maximizing conversions. With secure payment processing and customizable checkout pages, creators can optimize their sales funnel and drive revenue growth.

7. Recurly

We can confidently say that thousands of companies worldwide are using Recurly to manage and optimize their rapidly growing subscription platforms. Recurly is among the top eCommerce subscription platforms, providing a set of excellent features to maximize revenue for subscription businesses.

If you choose the Core plan, you will have to pay Recurly $199/month (billed annually). If you want to add more users, more payment gateways, and customize your subscription store, you have to contact their sales team for their Professional plan and Elite plan.

No matter which plans you choose, you can still have access to the following subscription features:

• Subscription management: With Recurly, you can create as many plans as you want, offer a free trial, and convert trial users to subscribers as well.
• Upsell Products and Services: you can also upsell one-time products and services with your subscription plans. Your subscribers purchase complementary one-offs when subscribing to your product or service.
• Payment Optimization: In the US, Recurly supports 16 payment gateways as you can see in the picture below. If you are selling in other countries, you can choose that country and see which payment gateways are available there.

  

• Billing: You have 5 different billing models in Recurly, which are fixed recurring, quantity-based, usage-based, one-time charge, and hybrid.
• Accounting: Recurly automatically creates an invoice for all billing scenarios, including charges, refunds, credits, shipping fees, and taxes. Automating billing features can ensure invoices are accurate and processes are scalable. Besides, Recurly also calculates and collect sales, VAT, or GST tax for any charge managed within Recurly
• Analytics & Insights: In Recurly analytics dashboard, you can see an actionable insight about your subscriber, plan, and revenue data, along with KPIs and trend analysis, surface the insights you need to monitor and even actions you have to take to improve your business every day.

  

• Subscriber Retention: Recurly has developed a technology named Recurly’s Revenue Optimization Engine using advanced statistical models and machine learning. Therefore, it can recover an average of 70% of failed subscription renewals.

  

8. Squarespace

Now, let’s move on to Squarespace, another solution on our list of the best eCommerce subscription platforms today. It offers a full suite of eCommerce tools tailored to meet the diverse needs of individuals and businesses alike. From sleek templates to selling functions, Squarespace allows users to build stunning websites without the need for technical expertise.

Before officially getting on board with Squarespace, you can try out its 14-day free trial first. We believe this will be an exclusive chance to decide whether to go with this solution or seek other subscription platforms. Then, if you decide to get up and running on Squarespace, its monthly fees range from $16 to $49, based on the pricing tier of your choice.

Squarespace highlight features:

• Great selections of themes: Squarespace offers a diverse selection of professionally designed themes, ensuring your website looks polished and modern right from the start. On top of that, unlike other subscription platforms, Squarespace doesn’t charge a single penny for website templates. Therefore, feel free to choose the best option for your online presence and customize it to align with your brand identity.
• Custom-made website templates: Want to create a one-of-a-kind storefront with a touch of your personal taste? Squarespace opens the door to building a unique storefront on your own using its customization tools.
• Built-in analytics: Squarespace’s built-in analytics tools give you valuable insights into your website’s performance. You can track metrics like site traffic, popular content, and conversion rates to make informed decisions and optimize your online presence.

• 24/7 customer support: Whether you have a question about setting up your website or need technical assistance, Squarespace’s dedicated support team is here to help. Get answers to your questions quickly via live chat or email, so you can focus on growing your online presence with confidence.

9. Weebly

Weebly is a versatile contender among subscription platforms. It offers an intuitive website-building experience tailored to both beginners and seasoned creators. With a user-friendly interface and a large number of customizable templates, Weebly empowers individuals and businesses alike to craft stunning websites without the need for extensive coding knowledge.

With Weebly, you can freely create a storefront and start selling in minutes with no cost required. Nonetheless, if you want to power your online presence further, we believe that opting for a paid plan would bring more benefits. Starting from $10 to $26 per month (if billed annually), you will get access to a wealth of features to operate and manage your online store.

Reasons that make us believe Weebly is among the best subscription platforms:

• User-friendly interface: Weebly introduces an intuitive drag-and-drop editor that simplifies the website-building process for users of all skill levels. With its straightforward interface, you can effortlessly create and customize your site to meet your specific needs.
• Mobile responsiveness: Thanks to this built-in feature, you can ensure your website looks great on any device. Your site will automatically adjust to different screen sizes, providing a seamless browsing experience for visitors on smartphones and tablets.
• Decent SEO suite: This option allows you to optimize your website for search engines. From customizable meta tags to automatic sitemap generation, Weebly equips you with everything you need to improve your site’s visibility and attract more organic traffic.
• Integrated blogging function: Weebly’s integrated blogging platform allows you to share your thoughts and engage with your audience. With features like customizable layouts, social sharing buttons, and scheduling options, you can create compelling content that keeps visitors coming back for more.

10. Magento

Similar to Shopify, Magento stores do not support selling subscription products and services natively, as we understand it. Therefore, you have to install an extension from Magento MarketPlace to make it a subscription eCommerce platform.

Magento Open Source is completely free, but you still have to pay for website hosting and domain just like WooCommerce. Since Magento is a platform that requires technical knowledge, you may have to pay development costs if you are not a tech person.

Amongst tons of subscription extensions, we would love to recommend you Subscriptions & Recurring Payments by Magenest. In order to download and install this Magento extension, you have to pay $249 and an additional installation fee of $50 if you want Magenest team to install it for you.

Subscriptions & Recurring Payments is a Magento 2 extension that allows customers to subscribe to products – they will be able to automatically reorder the products between each interval, and an amount of money will automatically be deducted from their account.

More details about Magento Subscriptions & Recurring Payments:

• Fully compatible with Magento 2 Open Source and Magento 2 Commerce
• Integrate with PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net
• Create different subscription plans and apply those plans to existing products
• Set up whether customers can choose a start date for their subscription or not
• Manage and edit all the customers and subscription information
• Allow subscribers to suspend, cancel, and renew their subscription from the user dashboard
• Offer a free trial period for customers to try your products or services for free
• Use initial fee for subscriptions (only available in PayPal)
• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance

---

What are eCommerce Subscription Platforms?

A subscription eCommerce platform is a system that empowers merchants to sell products or services online and let you bill and invoice customers periodically. These platforms can help you to collect subscription fees from customers on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis effortlessly.

A subscription eCommerce platform must have some basic features as follows:

• Create and manage subscriptions
• Automatically collect payment from subscribers on a recurring basis
• Allow subscribers to suspend, cancel, and renew their subscription.

---

Benefits of Subscription Platforms

Subscription platforms revolutionize the traditional eCommerce model by offering customers recurring access to products or services for a fixed fee. This model not only fosters customer loyalty but also provides a predictable revenue stream for businesses.

But that’s not all. Let’s now examine all the great benefits of subscription platforms that we have combined.

Enhanced customer retention

One of the most significant advantages of subscription platforms lies in their capacity to nurture customer relationships. Unlike conventional eCommerce models, subscription platforms offer curated subscriptions tailored to individual preferences, fostering a sense of exclusivity and personalized experience for each subscriber.

By continually delivering value through customized offerings, businesses can keep customers engaged and incentivize them to remain loyal over the long term. This approach not only boosts retention rates but also enhances customer lifetime value, as subscribers are more likely to make recurring purchases and advocate for the brand within their social circles.

Predictable revenue stream

Subscription platforms provide businesses with a reliable and predictable revenue stream, distinct from the fluctuating nature of one-time purchases. Through recurring subscription fees, businesses can forecast their earnings more accurately, enabling better financial planning and investment in growth initiatives.

This stability empowers businesses to make informed decisions regarding resource allocation, product development, and marketing strategies, ultimately driving sustainable business growth. Additionally, the steady cash flow afforded by subscription models enhances financial resilience and mitigates the impact of market volatility, ensuring long-term viability and success.

Improved customer insights

Subscription platforms offer invaluable insights into customer behavior and preferences, leveraging data analytics to uncover actionable intelligence. By analyzing subscriber interactions, purchase patterns, and feedback, you, as a store owner, can gain a deeper understanding of your audience, enabling them to tailor marketing strategies and product offerings to meet individual needs effectively.

This data-driven approach enhances customer satisfaction and engagement, as you can predict and fulfill subscriber expectations more effectively. Moreover, by leveraging customer insights, businesses can identify rising trends, refine their offerings, and stay ahead of the competition in a dynamic marketplace.

---

What Features Should A Subscription eCommerce Platform Have?

Flexible subscription management

One key feature to consider when choosing the best eCommerce subscription platform is its flexible subscription management capabilities. Does that platform allow you to create and customize subscription plans tailored to your customers’ preferences? Does it support easily adjusting subscription frequencies, quantities, and product selections so that you can quickly adapt to your customers’ changing needs?

With intuitive tools for plan modification and seamless customer account management, you can foster long-term relationships with subscribers by providing a hassle-free and personalized subscription experience.

Various billing and payment options

eCommerce subscription platform should provide a range of billing and payment options to accommodate diverse customer preferences and global transactions. This includes support for various billing cycles, such as monthly, quarterly, or annual billing, as well as integration with multiple payment gateways for secure and convenient transactions.

Additionally, the platform should offer features like automated invoicing, subscription reminders, and support for different currencies to streamline the billing process and ensure a seamless checkout experience for subscribers worldwide.

Powerful customer engagement tools

Effective customer engagement is essential for maximizing subscriber retention and lifetime value. Therefore, an eCommerce subscription platform should offer built-in marketing tools and features designed to enhance customer engagement and loyalty. This may include personalized product recommendations based on past purchase history, targeted promotions and discounts for subscribers, and loyalty programs that reward recurring customers.

By leveraging these tools, merchants can cultivate stronger connections with their subscriber base, increase repeat purchases, and drive long-term revenue growth.

Comprehensive analytics and reporting

Informed decision-making is critical for optimizing subscription performance and maximizing profitability. Hence, an ideal eCommerce subscription platform should provide merchants with comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities to track key metrics and gain actionable insights into subscription trends and customer behavior. This includes detailed reports on subscription performance, customer demographics, and revenue metrics, allowing merchants to identify areas for improvement, refine their marketing strategies, and make data-driven decisions to drive business growth.

---

Subscription Platforms – FAQs

[sp_easyaccordion id=”71630″]

---

Which eCommerce Subscription Platform Should You Choose?

In short, all eCommerce subscription platforms have their own advantages and disadvantages. And to be honest, I believe there is no one-size-fits-all formula when selecting the ideal solution for your business. It heavily relies on your preference for eCommerce solutions, your technical knowledge, your financial background, and the scale of your business.

If that platform really focuses on providing in-depth subscription capabilities like Subbly or Rucurly, it will certainly have fewer eCommerce features than WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento or Wix. In contrast, for normal eCommerce platforms, you may have to install additional plugins, apps or extensions to equip your online store with subscription features. The most important thing is finding the most suitable subscription eCommerce platform for your current business and your future goal.

Lastly, don’t forget to check out our LitExtension blog now and join our Facebook Community to get more eCommerce tips and news.