GoCardless vs Recurly
billing & subscriptions head-to-head for ERP teams: evidenced capabilities, published pricing, and which ERPs each actually integrates with.
| Starting price | Per-transaction fees with tiered plans (Standard, Advanced, Pro, Custom); no setup or monthly fees on standard plans | Percentage of billing volume, with tiered plans plus paid add-ons |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Company size | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Stated ERP integrations | Xero, QuickBooks, Acumatica | NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero |
| Vendor | GoCardless | Recurly |
Our take
Where GoCardless leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 4 of the 26 capabilities where they differ (led by contract amendments and modifications and renewal management and auto-renewal).
- Stated Acumatica integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where Recurly leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 22 of the 26 capabilities where they differ (led by discounts, coupons, and promotional pricing and free trials and freemium conversion).
- Stated NetSuite integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where they differ
The 26 capabilities (of 58 in the billing & subscriptions taxonomy) where the evidence separates them, biggest gaps first. “Not evidenced” means our research found no public documentation of this capability — the vendor may still offer it. Confirm on a demo.
| Capability | ||
|---|---|---|
| Discounts, coupons, and promotional pricingPricing & Product Catalog | Not evidenced | Core strength Coupons and promotions |
| Free trials and freemium conversionSubscription & Contract Lifecycle Management | Not evidenced | Core strength |
| Automated recurring invoice generationInvoicing & Billing Operations | Not evidenced | Core strength |
| Customizable invoice templatesInvoicing & Billing Operations | Not evidenced | Core strength Customizable invoice/receipt templates per account |
| Self-service customer billing portalInvoicing & Billing Operations | Not evidenced | Core strength Self-service subscriber account management pages |
| Multi-gateway payment orchestrationPayments & Collections | Not evidenced | Core strength 30+ supported payment gateways |
| Automated dunning workflowsPayments & Collections | Not evidenced | Core strength |
| Automated tax calculation (VAT/GST/sales tax)Tax & Global Compliance | Not evidenced | Core strength VAT/GST calculation |
| PCI-compliant payment handlingTax & Global Compliance | Not evidenced | Core strength Recurly.js PCI-compliant hosted payment forms |
| MRR/ARR and recurring-revenue trackingAnalytics & SaaS Metrics | Not evidenced | Core strength |
| Churn and retention analyticsAnalytics & SaaS Metrics | Not evidenced | Core strength |
| Flat-rate, tiered, and volume pricingPricing & Product Catalog | Not evidenced | Supported Flexible plan creation |
| Usage-based and consumption pricingPricing & Product Catalog | Not evidenced | Supported |
| Hybrid pricing (recurring + usage + one-time)Pricing & Product Catalog | Not evidenced | Supported |
| Contract amendments and modificationsSubscription & Contract Lifecycle Management | Supported Amend payment plans | Not evidenced |
| Renewal management and auto-renewalSubscription & Contract Lifecycle Management | Supported Renew payment plans | Not evidenced |
| Multi-product / bundled subscriptionsSubscription & Contract Lifecycle Management | Not evidenced | Supported Multiple subscriptions per account |
| Credit and debit note issuanceInvoicing & Billing Operations | Not evidenced | Supported Manual/automatic charges and credits |
| ASC 606 / IFRS 15 revenue recognitionRevenue Recognition & Financial Compliance | Not evidenced | Supported RevRec add-on |
| Deferred revenue schedulingRevenue Recognition & Financial Compliance | Not evidenced | Supported Via RevRec add-on |
| Third-party tax engine integrationTax & Global Compliance | Not evidenced | Supported Avalara AvaTax and Vertex |
| Revenue forecastingAnalytics & SaaS Metrics | Not evidenced | Supported Real-time analytics and forecasting |
| iPaaS / marketplace connector ecosystemPlatform, APIs & Integrations | Supported 350+ pre-built integrations | Not evidenced |
| Subscription/contract creation and activationSubscription & Contract Lifecycle Management | Supported Subscription and instalment payment plans | Core strength |
| Broad payment method coveragePayments & Collections | Core strength Recurring Direct Debit / ACH across 30+ countries; Instant Bank Pay | Supported Cards, PayPal, Apple Pay |
| Native / prebuilt ERP and accounting connectorsPlatform, APIs & Integrations | Supported Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, Acumatica (via AcuPower) prebuilt | Core strength NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, Xero native connectors |
Both grade identically on the other 32 capabilities — see each product's full profile: GoCardless, Recurly.
GoCardless vs Recurly — FAQs
Is GoCardless or Recurly better for ERP integration?
Both state integrations with Xero, QuickBooks. GoCardless additionally lists Acumatica. Recurly additionally lists NetSuite. Always verify the connector against your ERP version with a reference customer.
Which is cheaper, GoCardless or Recurly?
Neither publishes a list price — both quote. Ask each for the all-in first-year cost at your seat count, as one number, and compare those.
Get pricing for both
Tell us your ERP, seat count and must-haves and we'll come back with an independent view of what GoCardless and Recurly should each cost you — and whether a third option belongs on your shortlist.