Recurly
by Recurly · Billing & Subscriptions
Subscription management and recurring billing platform with revenue recognition and recovery.
- Works with
- Oracle NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Custom / homegrown ERP
- Deployment
- Cloud
- Company size
- SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise
- Pricing
- Percentage of billing volume, with tiered plans plus paid add-ons
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, USA
Overview
Recurly is a cloud subscription management and recurring billing platform that automates the full lifecycle of subscription revenue, from plan creation and checkout through invoicing, payments, dunning, and revenue recognition. It is built for companies running recurring-revenue business models and supports fixed, usage-based, and hybrid pricing, multiple currencies, and a range of payment methods. The platform is used across digital media, streaming, consumer subscription, SaaS, and box-commerce businesses.
Beyond core billing, Recurly emphasizes revenue recovery and retention. Its intelligent payment retry logic, dunning management, and cancel-save flows are designed to reduce involuntary and voluntary churn, while analytics dashboards track metrics such as monthly recurring revenue (MRR), churn, and plan performance. Add-on products extend the platform: RevRec automates ASC 606 / IFRS 15 revenue recognition, and Engage provides in-app subscriber messaging and retention campaigns. A newer AI assistant, Recurly Compass, supports configuration and anomaly detection.
For finance and operations teams, Recurly connects to ERP and accounting systems so subscription data flows into the books. It offers native integrations with Oracle NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, and Xero, alongside tax engines (Avalara, Vertex), CRM (Salesforce), and a data warehouse connector (Snowflake). A REST API and webhooks support two-way communication with homegrown or third-party ERP, CRM, and data-warehouse systems for businesses that need custom data flows.
Screenshots & demo
Demo video from the vendor's YouTube channel. Screenshots sourced from Recurly.
Features & capabilities
Subscription & Billing Management
Core recurring billing engine.
- Flexible plan creation with fixed, usage-based, and hybrid pricing
- Automated recurring invoicing
- Manual and automatic charges and credits
- Coupons, promotions, and trials
- Multiple subscriptions per account
- Customizable invoice and receipt templates per account
- Self-service subscriber account management pages
Payments & Global Commerce
Payment processing and global reach.
- Support for 140+ currencies
- Multiple payment methods including cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay
- 30+ supported payment gateways
- Recurly.js PCI-compliant hosted payment forms
- Native iOS and Android mobile SDKs
- App Management Connector for Apple App Store and Google Play subscriptions
Revenue Recovery & Retention
Tools to reduce churn and recover failed payments.
- Intelligent payment retry logic
- Dunning management for failed transactions
- Cancel-save and churn-prevention flows
- Engage in-app subscriber messaging (add-on)
- Retention and reactivation campaigns
Revenue Recognition & Compliance
Financial controls and compliance.
- RevRec automated revenue recognition (add-on)
- ASC 606 and IFRS 15 support
- Automated tax calculation across countries with VAT/GST
- Avalara AvaTax and Vertex tax integrations
- Multi-language invoicing
Analytics & Reporting
Subscription metrics and dashboards.
- MRR and recurring revenue reporting
- Churn analysis
- Plan performance reporting
- Standard dashboards for subscribers, billing, and revenue
- Real-time analytics and forecasting
Integrations & Extensibility
Connecting Recurly to the wider stack.
- REST API for two-way integration
- Webhooks for subscription event notifications
- Native ERP/accounting connectors (NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, Xero)
- Salesforce CRM integration
- Snowflake data warehouse connector
- Recurly Compass AI assistant for configuration and anomaly detection
Common use cases
- Automating recurring billing and invoicing for subscription products
- Reducing involuntary churn through intelligent payment retries and dunning
- Managing usage-based and hybrid pricing models
- Syncing subscription billing data into NetSuite or QuickBooks for accounting
- Automating ASC 606 / IFRS 15 revenue recognition
- Running global subscriptions across multiple currencies and tax jurisdictions
- Tracking MRR, churn, and plan performance for recurring-revenue businesses
Strengths & considerations
Strengths
- Strong focus on revenue recovery and churn reduction via retry and dunning logic
- Native connectors to NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, and Xero plus a REST API for custom ERP sync
- RevRec add-on automates ASC 606 / IFRS 15 revenue recognition within the platform
- Used at scale by large media and consumer subscription brands
- Supports fixed, usage-based, and hybrid pricing in one engine across 140+ currencies
Considerations
- Pricing is largely percentage-of-billing-volume based, which can scale costs with revenue
- Revenue recognition (RevRec) and Engage are paid add-ons rather than included
- The native NetSuite integration is a one-way (Recurly to NetSuite) hourly sync rather than bi-directional
- Deeper or custom ERP integrations may require building against the REST API
ERP integrations
One-way hourly synchronization of customer accounts and transaction data from Recurly to NetSuite; iPaaS template also available via Celigo.
Transfers customer accounts, items, invoices, payments, and refunds into QuickBooks Online.
Cloud accounting integration for invoicing and financial reporting.
REST API and webhooks support two-way communication with ERP, CRM, and data-warehouse systems.
Pricing
Starter plan includes a 90-day free trial. All-Access is billed annually as low as <1% of billing volume with a $1M billing-volume minimum; a free sandbox is available. Add-ons: Engage from $1,600/month and RevRec from $850/month, both billed annually. Enterprise pricing is custom. Get an independent shortlist with pricing guidance below.
Technical & security
- Hosting
- Vendor-hosted SaaS
- Compliance
- PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 2 Type 2, PSD2, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA
- Mobile app
- No
- Languages
- English
About the vendor
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Ownership
- Private
- Notable customers
- Paramount, Twitch, Sling, BARK (BarkBox), FabFitFun, Sprout Social, Lucid
Alternatives to Recurly in Billing & Subscriptions
Recurly — frequently asked questions
Does Recurly integrate with ERP and accounting systems?
Yes. Recurly offers native integrations with Oracle NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, and Xero, and exposes a REST API plus webhooks for two-way integration with ERP, CRM, and data-warehouse systems. The NetSuite connector performs a one-way hourly sync from Recurly into NetSuite.
How is Recurly priced?
Recurly pricing is primarily based on a percentage of billing volume across tiered plans. The Starter plan is $249/month plus 0.9% of billing volume with the first $40K included and a 90-day free trial; All-Access is billed annually as low as under 1% of billing volume with a $1M billing-volume minimum. RevRec and Engage are paid add-ons, and enterprise pricing is custom.
What security and compliance certifications does Recurly hold?
Recurly states it is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant, SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, and PSD2 compliant, and that it meets CCPA, GDPR, and HIPAA requirements. It is also listed on the Visa Global Registry of Service Providers.
Does Recurly handle revenue recognition?
Yes, through its RevRec add-on, which automates revenue recognition with support for ASC 606 and IFRS 15. RevRec starts at $850/month billed annually.
What pricing models does Recurly support?
Recurly supports fixed (flat-rate), usage-based, and hybrid pricing models, along with coupons, promotions, trials, and multiple currencies (140+).
Evaluating Billing & Subscriptions?
Tell us your ERP and requirements and we'll send an independent shortlist — including Recurly and the best-fit alternatives — with honest pros and cons.