Recurly Pricing (2026): Starter at $249/mo + 0.9%, All-Access and Add-ons
Recurly Starter costs $249 a month, with the first $40K of monthly billing included and 0.9% charged on everything above that. Higher tiers (All-Access) are quote-only, from "under 1%" of billing volume with a $1M minimum. The flat fee makes Recurly the most expensive of the main billing tools at pre-seed ($249 is 2.49% of $10K MRR) and the cheapest, on platform fee alone, in a narrow band from about $35,600 to $55,500 of monthly billing. It suits a subscription business near $40K MRR that wants a 90-day trial and month-to-month terms; above roughly $84K a month the 0.9% makes it dearer than Chargebee.
Recurly pricing (2026)
| Plan | Price (monthly / billed yearly) | For / limits |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $249/mo + 0.9% of billing volume above $40K/mo | Subscription businesses just getting started; First $40K of billings included at no charge each month; 1 dunning campaign; 20+ payment gateways |
| All-Access | As low as <1% of billing volume, billed annually | Businesses ready for scale: multiple dunning campaigns, multi-gateway orchestration, multicurrency, SSO; $1M billing volume minimum |
| All-Access for Shopify | As low as <1% of billing volume, billed annually | Recurly Commerce on Shopify (consumer subscriptions) |
| Add-on: Recurly RevRec | As low as $850/mo, billed annually | "Based on your billing volume." Request pricing details. |
| Add-on: Recurly Engage (retention, cancel-save, upsell prompts) | As low as $1,600/mo, billed annually | "Based on your prompt volume and capability needs." Formerly Redfast (acquired May 2025). |
Prices verified on recurly.com/pricing on October 11, 2026.
Starter is month-to-month with no setup fee, and starts with a 90-day free trial; All-Access and the add-ons are billed annually. Gateway fees come on top. Source: recurly.com/pricing.
How the $40K allowance works
The fee is $249 + 0.9% × (monthly billing volume minus $40,000), and the percentage part never goes below zero. An archived July 2025 version of Recurly's pricing terms spells it out: no fee on total payment volume unless it exceeds $40,000 in a given month, then 0.9% "on all TPV beyond $40,000 USD per month". So the allowance resets each month; it is not cumulative. At $60K a month you pay $249 + $180 = $429; at $250K you pay $2,139.
What it costs at pre-seed, seed and Series A
| All-in billing cost | Pre-seed $10,000 MRR, 500 charges | Seed $50,000 MRR, 2,000 charges | Series A $250,000 MRR, 8,000 charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recurly | $689/mo 6.89 pts | $2,389/mo 4.78 pts | $11,789/mo 4.72 pts |
| Chargebee | $520/mo 5.20 pts | $2,450/mo 4.90 pts | $11,374/mo 4.55 pts |
| Stripe Billing | $510/mo 5.10 pts | $2,400/mo 4.80 pts | $11,150/mo 4.46 pts |
Platform fee plus card processing at Stripe's US rate (2.9% + 30¢) wherever the tool's own fee does not include it. A merchant of record also collects and files sales tax and VAT. "pts" = share of revenue, which comes straight off gross margin. Cheapest plan per tool at each volume. Fees verified on the vendors' pricing pages, latest on October 11, 2026. Run your own numbers.
In gross-margin points, Recurly's platform fee is 2.49 at $10K MRR, 0.68 at $50K and 0.86 at $250K. Chargebee Flow is 0.80, 0.80 and 0.69; Stripe Billing is 0.70, 0.70 and 0.60 (its $1,500 annual plan at $250K). Recurly beats Chargebee between about $31,150 and $84,000 of monthly billing and beats Stripe Billing's 0.7% between about $35,600 and $55,500, so it is the cheapest of the three only in that second band. Card processing (here Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢) is several times larger than any of these fees in every scenario. Run your own numbers.
What each plan includes (the parts that change cost)
- Starter: subscription billing, flexible plans and pricing, static churn-prevention tools, one dunning campaign, 10+ payment methods, 20+ payment gateways.
- All-Access: AI agents, multiple dunning campaigns, payment orchestration across several gateways, multicurrency and single sign-on. If you bill in more than one currency, this is the plan you need, and it is quote-only.
- All-Access for Shopify: the same "under 1%" pricing for consumer subscriptions on Shopify (Recurly Commerce).
The "$1M billing volume minimum" on All-Access has no period on the pricing page. A January 2026 capture said "$1M TPV min." also without a period; one competitor reads it as $1M a year. We could not confirm which, so ask Recurly before you plan around it.
Add-ons and hidden costs
- Recurly RevRec: as low as $850/month, billed annually, "based on your billing volume". For what revenue recognition involves, see our SaaS revenue recognition guide.
- Recurly Engage (retention prompts, cancel-save; formerly Redfast, acquired May 2025): as low as $1,600/month, billed annually.
- Gateway fees: Recurly is not your processor. You pay Stripe, Braintree, Adyen or another gateway separately. The 2025 terms also mention possible merchant bank account and customer/card import fees.
- Implementation: Recurly charges no setup fee, but its FAQ says implementation services are billed separately.
- Gateway count conflict: the pricing page and FAQ say "20+" gateways; the card-payments docs list 14 supported card gateways. Check yours is on the list.
No first-hand third-party price data exists for Recurly: Vendr has no Recurly page, and the secondhand figures we found could not be checked, so we do not quote them.
Not hands-on tested yet: we have not run a live account on Recurly. Prices and terms come from Recurly's published pricing page and help docs, read on October 11, 2026.
Alternatives at a glance
- Chargebee: Flow at $0 + 0.80% or $99 + 0.65% from the first dollar; cheaper than Recurly below about $31K and above $84K a month. See Chargebee pricing.
- Stripe Billing: 0.7% pay as you go or $620/month and up on a 1-year contract. See Stripe Billing pricing.
- Paddle: 5% + 50¢ per transaction as merchant of record, with sales tax and processing included. See Paddle pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Recurly cost per month?
Starter is $249 a month for up to $40K of monthly billing, plus 0.9% of anything above $40K. At $50K that is $339; at $100K, $789. All-Access is quote-only.
Does Recurly charge per transaction?
Not on Starter. Recurly charges a percentage of billing volume above $40K, not a per-transaction fee. Your payment gateway charges per transaction separately.
Does Recurly work with Stripe or PayPal?
Yes. Its docs list Stripe and PayPal Complete among the supported card gateways, alongside Braintree, Adyen, Authorize.Net, CyberSource and Worldpay.
Is there a free version of Recurly?
No free plan. Starter has a 90-day free trial, and All-Access offers a free sandbox. An older Recurly FAQ still mentions Professional and Elite plans with 12-month terms; the current pricing page lists only Starter and All-Access.
Is Recurly legit?
Yes. Recurly is an established subscription billing company; in 2025 it bought Redfast and Prive, now sold as Recurly Engage and Recurly Commerce.
Related: billing software compared, Chargebee vs Stripe Billing, and what fees do to SaaS gross margin.