Recurly Vs Stripe: What’s the Difference?

When running a small business, choosing the right payment processor is important.

There is a huge range of options when it comes to choosing a payment provider, but there are a lot of things you have to consider. Which is best for your business and your customers?

The main thing you want from a processor is for it to make purchasing from you easy and seamless. No customer will want to put any extra effort into the purchasing process. So picking a payment processor that gives your customer a good experience is key.

An easy experience for your customer means they will be much more likely to leave with a positive outlook on your business. It may even convince them to return to your store.

If you’re running an e-commerce business, then the chances are that you will have heard of Recurly and Stripe.

But how does Stripe compare to Recurly? We’ll take a closer look at the main differences between the providers. We’ll provide the information so you can decide which service may be right for you and your business.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is Recurly?

What Is Stripe?

What Are the Key Similarities?

What’s the Difference?

The Pros and Cons

Key Takeaways

What Is Recurly?

Launched in 2009, Recurly provides recurring billing solutions for subscription-based businesses. It’s a popular platform for payment processing and gives you access to a number of features, including great security features.

What Is Stripe?

Launched a year later than Recurly in 2010, Stripe is a payment processor that provides a variety of payment methods for businesses. These include credit cards and debit cards, bank debits, transfers and online wallets.

What Are the Key Similarities?

Both of these services are very popular among eCommerce merchants and businesses. Whilst they offer different things, there are some key similarities. These include:

• Analytics: Both Recurly and Stripe have good analytics.
• Multiple Payments: They both offer a number of different ways for customers to pay.
• Security: Online safety is a key part of both Recurly and Stripe. They both have excellent security.
• Easy Setup: One of the reasons they are both so popular is because there are minimal barriers to go through. They both give you a fast and easy experience when you sign up.

What’s the Difference?

The two payment services may seem similar, but there are some big differences between Recurly and Stripe. These differences include:

• Payment Types: Stripe can accommodate all kinds of businesses. These include subscription, in-person payments and eCommerce. Whereas Recurly is purely aimed at subscription-based businesses.
• Ease of Use: Stripe is quite a complex tool and may require training to use, or require developer expertise. Recurly has a much lower learning curve and is easier to use.
• Analytics: Strip has a separate platform for its analytics. Whereas Recurly doesn’t.
• Charges: When you use Recurly, you have monthly charges. Stripe, however, doesn’t charge any monthly fee.
• Upselling: One of Recurly’s features is that it makes upselling easy and accessible, but Stripe’s process isn’t as easy.
• Multi-Platform: Stripe has a basic app that you can use on your mobile device, whereas Recurly doesn’t.

The Pros and Cons

Here’s a list of the pros and cons for both Recurly and Stripe.

Recurly Pros

• Easy to navigate platform
• Offers flexible payment methods for customers
• Perfect for subscription-based businesses

Recurly Cons

• They have a high pricing model
• There is a delay in new activity when looking at your analytics

Stripe Pros

• Highly customizable
• Flexible options for payments
• The reporting is very in-depth and works in real-time
• Gives you access to a mobile app

Stripe Cons

• A high learning curve
• The charges are quite unclear

Key Takeaways

Both Recurly and Stripe are fantastic eCommerce tools for accepting online payments.

If you have a subscription-based business, then you might find Recurly is the choice for you. It’s a bit easier to use and it works specifically for subscriptions.

Stripe has great flexibility and potential for growth, so if you’re looking to expand your business then Stripe may be the right fit for you.

Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices?

Then check out the FreshBooks Resource Hub.

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