For a Shopify store selling replenishment products or subscription boxes, choose the app around the post-purchase journey and its fee base. Recharge offers a broad subscription and retention stack; Skio puts an extensive feature set behind a higher base subscription; Appstle uses revenue-banded plans with no app transaction fee; Loop separates entry retention tools from advanced journeys and API access; Bold offers a lower fixed entry price with a larger percentage fee. None is automatically the cheapest for every basket and order frequency.
This decision concerns recurring commerce orders, subscriber self-service and fulfillment, rather than SaaS invoicing. Our subscription billing comparison covers that adjacent purchase. Our loyalty software comparison is useful if rewards are a separate requirement; do not buy duplicate reward tooling without deciding which system owns it.
Official vendor and Shopify App Store listings checked October 24, 2026. Amounts below are USD app charges. Shopify, payment processing, taxes and other services remain separate where applicable. Monthly, annual and usage terms must be kept distinct.
Compare the production plan, not just the install price
| Product | Useful fit | Published reference | Decisive qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recharge | Subscription commerce with wider retention scope | Starter $99/month + 1.49% + $0.19/transaction | Plus $499/month adds selected bundles, migration and other features |
| Skio | Broad feature set for an established subscription brand | $599/month or $5,988/year, plus 1% + $0.20 | Annual $499/month equivalent; fee applies to orders involving a subscription |
| Appstle Subscriptions | Revenue-banded plans without app transaction fees | Starter $10/month up to $5,000 monthly subscription revenue | Higher revenue and capabilities require another tier or add-on |
| Loop Subscriptions | Retention flows and subscriber self-service | Starter $99/month + 1%; Pro $399/month + 0.75% | No fixed per-order fee does not mean no percentage fee |
| Bold Subscriptions | Lower fixed entry price and recurring-order controls | Launch $24.99/month + 2%; Grow $49.99 + 1% | Unlimited subscribers does not remove transaction charges |
Recharge
Recharge’s current pricing lists Starter at $99/month plus 1.49% and $0.19 per transaction. It includes a customer portal, cancellation prevention, payment recovery and analytics. Plus is $499/month with 1.34% and $0.19 per transaction and additional scope such as customizable bundles, implementation and migration support. Some capabilities carry separate conditions; a broad product menu should not be treated as one unlimited entitlement.
The Shopify listing also shows a $25/month entry offer with no transaction fees for the first 50 subscribers. Its card heading and subscriber wording do not fully explain every eligibility condition. Confirm that offer directly before relying on it, and do not substitute it for the established Starter configuration in a growing-store budget.
Shortlist Recharge when its wider subscription and retention functions replace work you actually need. If the decision depends on configurable bundles, an API or migration assistance, compare the eligible plan rather than the cheapest install option. Migration support still needs a cutover plan for contracts, discounts, payment methods and pending orders; a marketing promise does not define your store’s acceptance criteria.
Skio
Skio’s Scale offer is $599/month when paid monthly or a $499/month equivalent annually, plus 1% and $0.20 on orders involving a subscription. The Shopify listing specifies the annual charge as $5,988. Keep that commitment visible when comparing a $499 equivalent with another vendor’s monthly contract.
The listed feature set includes lifecycle journeys, cancellation flows, payment recovery, analytics, build-a-box, portal controls and APIs. The relevant advantage is access to a broad operating toolkit in the Scale offer, rather than a claim that those features will necessarily increase retention. An established brand that has staff to use the tooling is a better fit than a store still validating whether customers want recurring orders.
Pay particular attention to the phrase “orders involving a subscription.” Request the treatment of mixed baskets, one-time add-ons, refunds and migrated contracts. A percentage and fixed transaction charge cannot be evaluated responsibly without the same fee base across vendors. Enterprise remains a separate configured offer for larger or unusual models.
Appstle Subscriptions
Appstle’s current listing provides a different price structure: Free up to $500 in monthly subscriptions, Starter at $10/month up to $5,000 in monthly subscription revenue, Business at $30 up to $15,000, and Business Premium at $100 up to $100,000. Listed paid plans have no app transaction fee. Annual subscriptions are separate discounted commitments; Starter, for example, is $96/year.
Revenue capacity and feature access must both fit. The Business card adds build-a-box, bundling and retention controls; Business Premium adds further synchronization and portal capabilities, while the listing directs buyers to ask about Enterprise, APIs and webhooks. Higher-tier à-la-carte additions can also change the offer. The product overview describes the broader portal, automation and integration capabilities without making every feature part of every tier.
Appstle is worth evaluating for a merchant who prefers revenue bands to a recurring percentage app charge. It is not an unlimited plan at the entry price. Confirm how revenue is measured, how crossing a band is handled and whether the required integration or build-a-box workflow fits the selected package. Zero app transaction fee does not remove payment-processor fees.
Loop Subscriptions
Loop’s current Starter plan is $99/month plus 1% with no fixed per-order charge. Pro is $399 plus 0.75%. Starter includes a self-service portal, cancellation prevention, payment recovery and bundles; Pro adds more advanced journeys, prepaid/gifting scope, multilingual capability and API/webhook access. The marketing phrase “$0 per-order fees” refers to the fixed fee, not the percentage transaction charge.
The Shopify listing also retains a Free Forever offer limited to 50 active subscriptions. That is not the same threshold as Appstle’s revenue allowance or Recharge’s subscriber wording. Count the object the contract actually measures: a customer can hold more than one subscription.
Loop fits a merchant whose operating priorities include subscriber journeys and a configurable self-service experience. If a custom storefront depends on the API, price Pro or the negotiated alternative; the cheaper tier is not an equivalent configuration. A large library of retention options also needs merchandising discipline so offers do not undermine margins or confuse customers.
Bold Subscriptions
Bold’s current Shopify listing shows Launch at $24.99/month plus 2%, Grow at $49.99 plus 1%, and Scale at $74.99 plus 0.9%. Launch includes recurring-frequency controls, dunning and prepaid subscriptions, with unlimited subscribers. The higher fixed prices reduce the listed percentage rate; they are not evidence of identical total costs for every order pattern.
This is a candidate for a merchant who wants a relatively low fixed entry price while retaining defined recurring-order controls. Unlimited subscribers can be useful for a broad customer base, but it is not unlimited transaction volume at no charge. Confirm the fee base, current product version, required portal behavior and integration scope rather than transferring capabilities from an older Bold installation or a separate Bold app.
Before moving a live subscriber base, identify the contract owner, payment method portability and treatment of pending renewals. A complimentary migration offer is not permission to assume that every historical discount, prepaid balance or custom integration transfers unchanged.
Choose for the renewal journey you can support
A subscription app is part of fulfillment, not just checkout. Require a clear path for pause, skip, swap, address changes, failed payment, stock problems and cancellation. Confirm which changes a customer can make alone, which need support, and how they affect the next order already being prepared.
Then compare equivalent costs: fixed subscription, percentage base, per-order charge, revenue or subscription caps, paid capabilities, migration and external services. Frequent low-value renewals and infrequent high-value boxes stress different fee components. A store needing basic recurring orders may reasonably prefer a smaller package, while a more expensive app can make sense when its eligible workflows replace real operational work. No retention or revenue increase is assumed from a feature list.
By Toolverly Editorial, with AI-assisted research and drafting.
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