For most Shopify stores, the best subscription app is either Shopify's own free Shopify Subscriptions app (if your needs are simple) or a low-cost app like Seal or Appstle (if you want more control without high fees).
Brands where subscriptions drive most of their revenue usually pay for Recharge, Loop, Skio or Smartrr, which add churn tools, bundles and deeper analytics.
The app matters less than the offer: our database shows how a store presents subscribe-and-save can swing results more than which app runs it.
We have not used these apps ourselves. This comparison draws on each vendor's Shopify App Store listing, pricing pages and Shopify's help docs, all checked as of November 2026.
Shopify subscription apps compared
All of these apps plug into Shopify's native subscription system, so customers check out through the normal Shopify checkout.
The differences are in price, transaction fees, retention tools and how much support you get.
| App | Starting price (as of November 2026) | Transaction fee | App Store rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Subscriptions | Free | None listed | 3.8 (882 reviews) | Testing whether subscriptions work at all |
| Seal Subscriptions | Free up to 50 subscriptions, then from $5.95/month | 0% | 4.9 (3,159 reviews) | Small stores on a tight budget |
| Appstle Subscriptions | Free up to $500/month in subscriptions, then from $10/month | 0% on paid plans | 5.0 (9,165 reviews) | Growing stores wanting many features for a flat fee |
| Loop Subscriptions | Free up to 50 active subscriptions, then $99/month | 1.0% (Starter), 0.75% (Pro) | 5.0 (803 reviews) | Subscription-first brands focused on retention |
| Recharge | $99/month (Starter) | 1.49% + $0.19 (Starter), 1.34% + $0.19 (Plus) | 4.8 (3,149 reviews) | Established brands wanting the widest ecosystem |
| Smartrr | $99/month (Launch) | 1% of subscriber GMV | 4.9 (71 reviews) | Brands that want loyalty built into subscriptions |
| Skio | $599/month | 1% + 20¢ | 5.0 (246 reviews) | High-volume brands with large subscriber bases |
Ratings and review counts come from each app's Shopify App Store listing.
Ratings drift over time, and a 5.0 from 800 reviews says something different than a 4.8 from 3,000.
Shopify Subscriptions: free, but basic
Shopify's own app is free to install and use.
It covers weekly, monthly or yearly billing with discounts, lets customers skip, pause or cancel, and works with Shopify POS.
The downside shows in its 3.8 rating, with 19% of reviews at one star.
Reviewers point to missing features, such as not being able to set the charge date or let customers change products inside a subscription without canceling and starting over.
It is not for brands that need cancellation flows, build-a-box or detailed retention reporting.
Seal Subscriptions: the cheapest paid path
Seal's free plan covers up to 50 subscriptions with 0% transaction fees, and paid plans run $5.95, $9.95 and $24.95 a month for 100, 250 and 500 subscriptions.
It supports prepaid plans, subscription boxes, product swaps and passwordless customer portal links.
Because pricing is tied to subscription count, costs rise as you grow.
It is not for brands that want a dedicated success manager or heavy retention automation.
Appstle Subscriptions: most features per dollar
Appstle has a free plan up to $500 a month in subscription revenue, then Starter at $10, Business at $30 and Business Premium at $100 a month, each with a revenue cap ($5,000, $15,000 and $100,000 a month).
Build-a-box and bundling start on the Business plan, and product swaps on Business Premium.
Its 9,165 reviews at 5.0 are the largest review base in this group.
The revenue caps mean you will move up a tier as subscriptions grow, so check which tier your current recurring revenue lands in before you install.
Loop Subscriptions: built for retention
Loop offers a free plan for up to 50 active subscriptions, then Starter at $99 a month plus a 1.0% fee and Pro at $399 a month plus 0.75%.
Starter includes bundles, checkout links, failed-payment recovery and cancellation flows.
The percentage fee adds up as subscription revenue grows, so it is not for small stores with thin margins.
It fits brands where subscriptions are the main business and churn is the number to watch.
Recharge: the long-standing default
Recharge's pricing page lists Starter at $99 a month plus 1.49% + $0.19 per transaction, Plus at $499 a month plus 1.34% + $0.19, and custom plans for high volume, with a 60-day free trial on Starter.
Its App Store listing also shows a $25 a month entry plan for the first 50 subscribers.
Recharge has the broadest set of integrations, including Klaviyo and Shopify Flow.
The fees are among the highest here, so it is not for a store just testing whether customers want subscriptions.
Smartrr: loyalty built in
Smartrr's plans run $99, $299 and $499 a month, each plus 1% of subscriber GMV.
Its pitch is native loyalty rewards and Klaviyo flows alongside subscriptions.
With only 71 reviews, there is less public feedback to judge it by than the larger apps.
Skio: high-end, now part of Recharge
Skio's listing shows a single plan at $599 a month plus 1% + 20¢ per transaction.
It is known for its customer portal and multi-step cancel flows.
Recharge bought Skio for $105 million in April 2026, so anyone picking Skio as an alternative to Recharge should know they are now the same company.
It is not for stores with a small subscriber base, since the fixed fee alone is $7,188 a year at monthly billing.
Subscribe-and-save setup
Whichever app you choose, setup follows the same steps.
Shopify stores the payment details, and your app manages the billing schedule, discounts and customer portal.
- Check your payment gateway. Shopify's subscription requirements list Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Authorize.net, Adyen and Stripe (Stripe only for select merchants). Shopify Payments adds automatic card updates, which reduce failed renewals.
- Pick the right products. Start with products people already rebuy, such as supplements, coffee or skincare.
- Set the discount and frequency. Common setups offer a percentage off and two or three delivery intervals.
- Place the option on the product page. The subscribe-and-save choice should sit inside the buy box, not on a separate page.
- Turn on the customer portal. Letting customers skip, pause or swap is a standard way to reduce cancellations.
- Track subscriptions in reports. Shopify's subscription docs say you can add a "Subscription or one-time" dimension to sales reports.
One warning before switching apps: Shopify's docs say that if you remove a third-party subscription app, its subscription data (other than contracts and payment info) is deleted after 48 hours.
Plan a migration with your new vendor before uninstalling the old one.
The setup that worked best in our database was simple.
Dave Diederen added a subscribe-and-save checkbox at 20% off to the product pages of a brand's top three products by repurchase rate (not by sales volume).
Thirty days later the brand had 7,509 active subscriptions and $346K MRR.
Dave chose 20% as enough to feel like a deal without eroding margin.
For more ways to present the option, see our subscriptions element page.
What the subscription tests show
Most app reviews stop at features. Our database holds real A/B tests on how stores present subscriptions, and they show that the design of the offer can move revenue a lot.
You can browse all of them under product page subscription tests.
@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederenCombining bundles and subscriptions can pay off
On a Shopify brand, Dave Diederen tested a new bundle builder that walked shoppers through a quantity step and then a subscribe-and-save step.
It lifted conversion rate by 85.04%, revenue per visitor by 104.06% and profit per visitor by 95.3%.
If you want this kind of flow, check that your app supports subscription bundles or build-a-box on the plan you pick.
Our Shopify bundle apps guide covers the bundle side.
Framing matters as much as the discount
On a DTC supplement product page, Dave Diederen redesigned the bundle selector to first ask who the product was for, then show supply options with per-day pricing.
Conversion rate fell 5.22%, but revenue per visitor rose 9.45%, AOV rose 15.48% and subscription revenue per visitor rose 32.81%.
Dave's read was that the new layout made subscribe-and-save feel like the obvious default without pushing it harder.
A similar idea, offering a value pack, worked for Oliver Kenyon, who added a 3-pack bundle with "Save 20%" above Add to Cart and saw a forecast +$52,820 per month.
More tactics like these are in our average order value guide.
Judge subscription tests on lifetime value, not day one
Pre-checking the subscription box is a common default in subscription apps.
When Dave Diederen introduced subscriptions with the option pre-checked, conversion rate dropped 2.86%, revenue per visitor dropped 9.17% and AOV dropped 6.50%.
But the share of orders that were subscriptions rose 1,295%.
Dave's point is that a subscription test can look like a loser on the first order and still be the better business decision.
They recommend tracking rebills, churn, subscriber lifespan, contribution margin and 30, 60 and 90-day LTV before calling a result.
That means your app's analytics matter: pick one whose reports show retention and LTV, or export the data to a tool that can.
How to choose
- Just testing demand: start with Shopify Subscriptions or a free plan from Seal, Appstle or Loop.
- Growing, margin-sensitive: Appstle or Seal, since paid plans have no transaction fee.
- Subscriptions are your core revenue: Loop, Recharge, Smartrr or Skio, where cancellation flows and payment recovery can pay for the fees.
Whatever you install, A/B test how you present the offer.
Our Shopify A/B testing apps roundup covers tools that can run those tests on your product pages.