Quick verdict
Recharge is worth investigating for the use cases below, but this is not a scored or final recommendation. BestStorefront has researched its public documentation; hands-on workflow, support, billing, and reliability testing are still pending.
Fit
Best for
- Shopify brands where subscriptions are a large share of revenue and retention tooling justifies a usage fee.
- Teams that want migration, implementation help, bundles and loyalty from one vendor (Plus plan).
- Brands building headless or custom storefronts that need an API and JavaScript SDK.
Limits
Who should skip it or consider alternatives
- Stores with simple subscribe-and-save needs, where free or flat-fee apps cover the basics.
- Merchants whose margins can't absorb a percentage fee that also applies to shipping, tax and refunded orders.
Product role
What it does
Recharge is a subscription platform for Shopify stores, with support for BigCommerce and custom builds. It adds subscribe options to product pages, a self-serve customer portal, cancellation and failed-payment tools, and on its Plus plan bundles, loyalty, referrals and hands-on migration. It charges a monthly fee plus a percentage and a flat fee on every transaction it processes.
Customer portal
A no-code portal where subscribers skip, swap products, reschedule deliveries and manage their subscription, with passwordless login listed in Recharge's plan comparison.
Churn and failed-payment tools
Cancellation flows with targeted offers, automatic retries for failed payments, and win-back pages for lapsed subscribers are included from the Starter plan.
Bundles
Preset and customer-built bundles are listed, with customizable bundles and tiered discounts placed on the Plus plan.
Prepaid and gift subscriptions
Recharge's plan comparison lists prepaid subscriptions and gift subscriptions alongside bulk subscription editing.
Loyalty, referrals and SMS
Plus adds rewards, referrals and Concierge SMS, which lets customers manage subscriptions by text at $0.03 per message segment in the US and Canada and $0.06 elsewhere.
Jobs to be done
Ecommerce use cases
- Replenishment products such as supplements, coffee and pet food.
- Moving an existing subscription program from another app with Recharge's migration team (Plus).
- Headless storefronts using Recharge's Storefront API and JavaScript SDK.
Implementation
Setup complexity
Moderate. Recharge runs inside Shopify's checkout, so discounts, tax and shipping use Shopify's settings. The work is in subscription plans, the product-page widget, portal settings and cancellation flows. Plus includes hands-on implementation and end-to-end migration support.
Connections
Integrations and ecosystem
Shopify (via Shopify's checkout), BigCommerce and custom builds. The Shopify listing names Shopify POS, Shopify Flow, customer accounts, Klaviyo, Gorgias, Attentive, Avalara, Stripe and Triple Whale.
Commercial terms
Pricing: verify the current offer
Recharge's pricing page lists Starter at $99/month plus 1.49% + 19¢ per transaction, Plus at $499/month plus 1.34% + 19¢ per transaction, and a Custom plan with volume-based rates by quote. Fees are in USD and billed monthly. The Shopify App Store listing also shows a $25/month plan with no transaction fees: Recharge's help center says it applies to stores that installed on or after Feb 9, 2026 and have 50 or fewer lifetime subscription customers, and stores move to Starter automatically after that. Starter includes a 60-day free trial with no transaction fees during the trial. Plus and Custom run on 12-month terms. The help center says transaction fees apply to one-time and subscription orders Recharge processes and are calculated on the total amount, including shipping, taxes and refunded orders. One help-center section still quotes Starter at 1.25% + 19¢; the pricing page and Shopify listing both show 1.49%. Payment processing is charged separately by your gateway (checked Oct 7, 2026).
| App and plan | $10,000/mo (250 orders) | $50,000/mo (1,250 orders) |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Subscriptions (free) | $0 | $0 |
| Appstle Business ($30, to $15k) / Business Premium ($100, to $100k) | $30 | $100 |
| Seal Rising Star ($9.95, 250 subs) / Leader ($89.95, 2,000 subs) | $9.95 | $89.95 |
| Bold Grow ($49.99 + 1%) / Scale ($74.99 + 0.9%) | $49.99 + $100 = $149.99 | $74.99 + $450 = $524.99 |
| Loop Starter ($99 + 1.0%) | $99 + $100 = $199 | $99 + $500 = $599 |
| Recharge Starter ($99 + 1.49% + 19¢) | $99 + $149 + $47.50 = $295.50 | $99 + $745 + $237.50 = $1,081.50 |
| Recharge Plus ($499 + 1.34% + 19¢) | $499 + $134 + $47.50 = $680.50 | $499 + $670 + $237.50 = $1,406.50 |
| Skio Scale, monthly ($599 + 1% + 20¢) | $599 + $100 + $50 = $749 | $599 + $500 + $250 = $1,349 |
Last verified: Oct 7, 2026 against first-party pages.
Check current official pricingPros and tradeoffs
Research observations
Strength: broad retention toolkit
Portal, cancellation flows, payment retries, win-backs, bundles, loyalty and referrals sit in one product, which reduces the number of apps a subscription brand has to connect.
Limitation: usage fees scale with revenue
In our worked example, Starter costs about $295.50/month at $10,000 in subscription revenue and about $1,081.50/month at $50,000, against $30 and $100 on Appstle. Most of that is the 1.49% + 19¢ per transaction.
Limitation: features split by plan and term
Customizable bundles, loyalty, referrals, the Storefront API and full migration support sit on Plus, which is $499/month on a 12-month term.
Evidence boundary
This overview is based on Recharge's pricing page, help center and Shopify App Store listing as published on Oct 7, 2026. Recharge's figures such as recovering "up to 88% of failed payments" are vendor claims we have not verified.
Shortlist
Alternatives to investigate
Appstle Subscriptions
Flat monthly plans tiered by subscription revenue with no transaction fee, and build-a-box from $30/month. See the Appstle Subscriptions overview.
Shopify Subscriptions
Shopify's free app for basic subscribe-and-save, without bundle support. See the Shopify Subscriptions overview.
Loop or Skio
Other usage-priced Shopify subscription platforms: Loop from $99/month + 1.0% with no per-order fee, Skio at $599/month (or $499 billed annually) + 1% + 20¢.
Evidence status
Our evidence
This page is based on first-party sources. BestStorefront has not yet created an account or run hands-on tests for this product.
| Evidence | Status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Official documentation reviewed | Verified | First-party product, pricing and help pages linked below. |
| Pricing independently verified | Source-checked | Compared with the official pricing page (Oct 7, 2026). |
| Account created | Not tested | No BestStorefront test account yet. |
| Core workflows tested | Not tested | Category protocol tasks. |
| Support contacted | Not tested | Vendor support response. |
| Billing tested | Not tested | Invoice reconciled against published pricing. |
| Cancellation / export tested | Not tested | Exit path and data portability. |
Hands-on agenda
What we still need to test
- Total monthly fees at your real order mix, including shipping, tax, refunds and one-time orders.
- Whether cancellation flows and payment retries change churn enough to cover the usage fee.
- Migration accuracy for existing subscribers, payment methods and next-charge dates.
No score or final verdict will be added until this work is complete.
Where it fits
Editorial assessment
Recharge suits Shopify brands whose subscription program is large enough for retention tools to outweigh a percentage-plus-cents fee on every order. Model the fee on your full order totals, including shipping and tax, and compare it with flat-fee apps before you commit to Plus's 12-month term.
This assessment is based on public first-party documentation, not hands-on testing, and carries no score.
Documentation
Sources and official product
This overview is based on the vendor's public documentation. Feature availability and commercial terms can change; verify details with the vendor.
Decision support
Frequently asked questions
How much does Recharge cost?
Starter is $99/month plus 1.49% + 19¢ per transaction and Plus is $499/month plus 1.34% + 19¢ (12-month term). New stores with 50 or fewer lifetime subscription customers pay $25/month with no transaction fees. Payment processing is extra (checked Oct 7, 2026).
Does Recharge charge fees on one-time orders?
Yes. Recharge's help center says transaction fees apply to one-time and subscription orders it processes, calculated on the full amount including shipping, taxes and refunded orders.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Starter has a 60-day free trial, and Recharge says no transaction or processing fees are charged during it.
Does Recharge use Shopify's checkout?
Yes. On Shopify, Recharge runs through Shopify's checkout and uses Shopify's discounts, tax and shipping settings.
Has BestStorefront tested Recharge?
No. This overview is based on first-party sources; hands-on setup, workflow, support, billing, and reliability testing are pending.