Top 10 Online Payment and Billing Solutions for Software and SaaS Companies

Software and SaaS companies occupy a unique position in the business world. For many of these B2B companies, subscription-based services are the norm, meaning a specialized payment and billing solution is required. 

What you should look for

One area to pay attention to is the subscription management functionality of the platform. If you have a lot of recurring billing, it’s important to make sure the platform handles this well. Cost is of course a factor. Most of the platforms on this list have a variety of plan tiers, and you want to find one that offers the functionality you need at the lowest price. You also need to consider whether or not you need any additional functionality such as tax management, customer analytics, or integration with your accounting software.

The versatility of a payment and billing solution is very important for software or SaaS businesses. You may have a wide variety of subscription models for customers to choose from. Recurring billing is usually offered, and you need the ability to set custom time frames. You may also have a number of one-time purchases that need to be handled as well. A good solution will automate many of these processes for you. The ability to automatically send customers receipts and notify them when it’s almost time for renewal can be a great time-saver. You also want to consider whether or not the platform offers tools to help reduce customer churn or features like auto-retries on payments that don’t go through. There are even some solutions that have their own integrated payment gateways, which can make the payment collection process much easier. 

Another method to consider

At its heart, the purpose of a good payment and billing solution is to streamline the process, helping you save time to focus on developing your service itself. When choosing a payment and billing solution provider, you may also want to take a look at other areas of your business that can be optimized. The virtual receptionists at Smith.ai are an excellent way to minimize the workload of your workforce. Reducing the amount of time your employees need to spend on the phone can help them be more productive in other areas. 

1. Chargify 

Chargify is one of the biggest providers on this list and offers a wide variety of features especially suited to software and SaaS companies. 

Subscription management, event-based billing, payment gateway integration, and analytics are all offered here, making Chargify a one-stop billing solution for software and SaaS companies. Chargify’s automation functionality is very strong, a must for software and SaaS companies who have recurring subscriptions. 

Chargify integrates with many useful platforms to ensure a smooth workflow, including Quickbooks, Authorize.net, and Zendesk.

Standout Feature: Events-based billing takes advantage of the data you collect to optimize your billing procedures. This data integrates with the Chargify platform, allowing you to bill based on any aspect or metrics of the event. This all occurs in real-time, helping you keep an eye on how your services are being purchased, consumed, and billed.

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: $599 per month
• Event-based billing
• Analytics
• Quickbooks integration
• Subscription management
  

2. Chargebee

Chargebee is designed from the ground up to be an all-in-one solution for B2B software and SaaS companies. A number of features are available to help scale with a software or Saas company as you grow.

The payment module within Chargebee allows for a lot of flexibility. Pricing negotiation, hierarchical accounts, quote approvals, and custom pricing plans are all supported, making Chargebee a good option for businesses who need this level of flexibility. Subscription management is also handled very well, with multiple pricing models available to help you meet the needs of a variety of customers. 

Chargebee integrates with a number of payment gateways and other solutions. Stripe, Paypal, and 25 other payment gateways are all supported, while Xero, Quickbooks, Zendesk, Salesforce, and other integrations ensure that Chargebee works well within your current sales system.

Standout Feature: Over 480 pre-made recurring billing solutions work as an excellent template to help with the setup of almost any billing structure required.

• Free trial? Free plan for up to $100K in revenue
• Basic plan: $249 per month
• CRM integration
• Subscription management
• Tax management
• Analytics

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3. Recurly

Recurly provides everything needed for a software or SaaS company to promote growth and reduce customer churn. Thousands of businesses around the world use Recurly for subscription management and billing.

Recurly allows you to create an unlimited amount of subscription plans, which is helpful for businesses that have multiple pricing models. It is easy to combine one or more subscription plans with one-time purchases, making billing less complicated. Billing and analytic tools are also offered, making Recurly a platform that can handle almost any task required by a software or SaaS company.

Recurly integrates with a number of popular platforms including Salesforce, Netsuite, Quickbooks, Xero, and more. The ability to integrate easily with CRM, accounting, and business management tools helps ensure a seamless workflow.

Standout Feature: Recurly offers an item catalog that helps give a more clear picture of your services. Most platforms allow you to manage your subscriptions, but the item catalog lets you see just what products you offer separate from your subscriptions, which can be a useful tool for tracking how and where items are sold.

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: $149 per month + 0.9% of revenue
• Subscription management
• Analytics
• Subscriber retention tools
• International support
  
  
  

4. Invoiced

Invoiced may be a bit more limited in overall functionality than some of the other solutions on this list, but it is a very streamlined platform that is quick and easy to use. 

Invoiced is divided into three main modules: Billing, collections, and payments. Billing options include automated billing and recurring billing, making it easy for companies who require subscription-based payment models. While many of the solutions on this list integrate with payment gateways, Invoiced integrates this functionality right into the platform, making it easy to accept debit, credit, ACH, Paypal, and other payments.

Invoiced integrates with a number of other payment gateways, as well as popular accounting tools like Quickbooks, Xero, and Netsuite.

Standout Feature: The direct no-frills approach of Invoiced will appeal to companies that don’t need more complex functionality, and prefer a solution that is straightforward and easy to set up.

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: $500 per month
• Integrated payment gateway
• Quickbooks integration
• Invoicin

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5. Chargeover

Chargeover works with businesses in over 24 countries around the world, providing a billing and subscription management solution.

Chargeover does an excellent job of providing automation, making it easy to manage your billing and subscription services. One-time payments and custom subscription-based models are both supported, making Chargeover a great option for software and SaaS companies. Automated re-tries of failed payments, as well as automated customer receipts, make sure that you don’t have to worry about follow-up on every purchase. 

Chargeover easily integrates with Quickbooks and other accounting software, as well as a number of major payment gateways.

Standout Feature: The automation features of Chargeover are particularly strong. Nearly every aspect of the billing and payment process can be automated to minimize your workload.

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: $115 per month
• Subscription management
• Automatic payments
• Tax management
• Quickbooks integration
• Analytics
  

6. Fusebill

Fusebill provides an all-in-one solution for software and SaaS companies, with subscription management, recurring billing, analytics, and a payment gateway all provided.

Every aspect of the subscription management module is customizable, including the type of billing, frequency, upgrades, promos, and expiration. Self-service portals and check-out pages are offered, making things easier for your customers. 

Standout Feature: The recurring billing is managed very well in Fusebill. Self-service portals, dunning management, email communication, and more are all automated, making recurring billing a “set it and forget it” experience. 

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: $295 per month
• Subscription management
• Recurring billing
• Analytics
• Quickbooks integration
• Integrated payment gateway
  
  
  

7. BluLogix

BluLogix provides an excellent recurring, consumption, and subscription billing platform for software and Saas businesses. E-commerce and payment portal functionality makes it easy to upsell and manage collections.

BluLogix features a number of additional tools that can’t be found elsewhere on this list. Channel management, mediation, inventory management, license reconciliation, and multi-tenant enablement all give help give BLUIQ unparalleled flexibility. Basic tools such as subscriber management and billing are also handled well.

BluLogix integrates with a number of payment gateways and accounting programs such as Quickbooks. Seamless integration with a number of storefront and E-commerce platforms is also provided to help you work within your existing business structure.

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: Pricing not available
• Subscription management
• Quickbooks integration
• Analytics
• Channel management
• Inventory management
  

8. Billsby

Billsby is a bit different from other platforms on this list. Rather than a monthly subscription fee, they charge a small percentage of every transaction. This can make Billsby more suitable for smaller businesses who don’t process very many transactions in a single month. 

Billsby provides all the features a software or SaaS business needs, including subscription management, billing, analytics, and more. Billsby integrates well with many major payment gateways, and you have the ability to easily switch gateways at any time.

Standout Feature: Billsby does a good job of helping you navigate complex business and tax rules and regulations. If payment industry rules undergo any changes, your billing solution is automatically updated to ensure compliance. This can help businesses stay out of trouble. 

• Free trial? Free signup
• Basic plan: No monthly fee, 0.4% per transaction fee
• Subscription management
• Churn reduction tools
• Analytics
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9. SaasOptics

SaasOptics provides subscription management, billing, and analytics specially designed with software and SaaS businesses in mind. 

Automated A/R management, versatile subscription models, and revenue recognition features all help SaaSOptics stand out from the crowd. You have the option to manually or automatically contact customers for renewals, making it easy to stay on top of subscription management.

SaaSOptics integrates with accounting software such as Quickbooks, and also works with many major payment gateways. 

Standout Feature: Integration with your existing CRM software makes it a lot easier to track subscriptions and renewals. 

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: Pricing not available
• Subscription management
• CRM integration
• Payment gateway integration
• Support for international currencies
  
  
  

10. FastSpring

FastSpring provides a number of services for software and SaaS companies, including subscription management, recurring payments, and an integrated payment gateway.

The integrated payment gateway ensures that you don’t need to integrate a third-party payment processing solution, making payment collection seamless. The subscription management module from FastSpring is very easy to use, and flexible enough to handle complex subscription models. 

• Free trial? Yes
• Basic plan: Pricing not available
• Integrated payment gateway
• Subscription management
• Recurring billing
• Tax management
• Analytics
  

Find the solution that fits

Every one of the solutions on this list is used by many companies around the world. They all aim to do the same thing but go about it in different ways. Each is good at what they do, but certain providers may be more suitable for your business, depending on how well they integrate with your current system. Do you need your solution to integrate with Quickbooks? Maybe you already have a payment gateway that you’re very happy with. If so, you’ll want to find a solution that supports integration with that gateway.

Don’t stop there

‍Take this opportunity to evaluate all aspects of your business. Are there any other areas where your workflow or processes could be streamlined to save time and manpower? The receptionists at Smith.ai are a great way to help your business save time. Not only can we handle all your incoming calls, schedule appointments, and manage lead intake, we can also handle all of your website form responses and chat messaging. Taking the daily grind of phone answering out of the hands of employees can help them focus on other tasks, truly helping optimize the day-to-day operations of your software or SaaS business.