Best Billing & Subscription Tools for SaaS

Stripe Billing has established itself as the default choice for SaaS billing, and for good reason. Its combination of developer experience, feature breadth, and ecosystem integration is unmatched. Unless you have specific needs that Stripe cannot address, it should be your starting point.

Developer Experience

Stripe's API is legendary in the industry. Clean documentation, intuitive design, and excellent SDKs make integration straightforward. Your engineering team will thank you for choosing Stripe over alternatives that require significantly more development time.

Comprehensive Feature Set

Subscription management, usage-based billing, invoicing, tax calculation, revenue recognition, dunning, and more. Stripe has built out every feature a SaaS company needs, reducing the need for additional tools.

Global Payments

Accept payments from customers worldwide with support for 135+ currencies and dozens of local payment methods. Stripe handles the complexity of international payments so you can sell globally from day one.

Ecosystem Integration

Every SaaS tool integrates with Stripe. Your email marketing platform, customer success software, analytics tools, and accounting systems all connect seamlessly. This includes Sequenzy, which uses Stripe events to trigger billing-related email sequences automatically.

Payment Processor vs Merchant of Record

The biggest architectural decision in SaaS billing is whether to use a payment processor like Stripe or a merchant of record like Paddle. Payment processors handle transactions while you remain the seller. Merchants of record become the seller, handling tax compliance and liability. The trade-off is control versus simplicity.

Pricing Complexity

Simple flat-rate pricing works fine with any billing tool. Complex pricing models with multiple tiers, usage components, add-ons, and custom enterprise deals require more sophisticated solutions. Evaluate how well each tool handles your current and anticipated pricing complexity.

Dunning and Recovery

Failed payments are a significant source of involuntary churn. The best billing tools include smart retry logic, card update prompts, and dunning sequences to recover failed payments. Some tools recover 5-10% more revenue than others through better dunning alone.

Revenue Recognition

As your company grows, proper revenue recognition becomes important for accounting and compliance. Some billing tools include revenue recognition features. Others require separate solutions. Consider your current and future needs.

Your billing system generates events that should trigger customer communication. Payment failures, subscription changes, upgrade opportunities, and renewal reminders all require timely, relevant emails. Sequenzy integrates directly with billing platforms to automate these critical touchpoints.

Payment Failure Recovery

When a payment fails, Sequenzy automatically triggers a recovery sequence. Friendly reminders to update payment methods, warnings about service interruption, and win-back messages if the account lapses. Automated recovery sequences can reduce involuntary churn by 20-30%.

Upgrade and Expansion

Billing data reveals upgrade opportunities. Users hitting plan limits, accounts with growing usage, or customers on legacy pricing can receive targeted upgrade communications. Sequenzy analyzes billing patterns to identify and message these opportunities automatically.

Lifecycle Transitions

When users upgrade, downgrade, or cancel, they should receive appropriate communication. Upgrade confirmations that reinforce the decision. Downgrade acknowledgments that keep the door open. Cancellation flows that attempt to save the account or gather feedback.