Pick Recharge when
- One product, or a short catalog, ships on a fixed cadence and the customer rarely changes the contents.
- You want the Recharge integrations directory, failed-payment recovery and the analytics benchmarks its pricing page lists.
§
§ · best shopify subscription apps
Recharge vs Awtomic and the rivals. Six Shopify subscription apps, one decision.
Six picks compared on live 2026 fees, customer portal UX, cancel-flow control and category fit, with the monthly cost of each at 500 subscribers and the migration path for the day you outgrow your first choice.
On this page
disclosure
Now the disclosure, because a list that hides who wrote it is an advert. Digital Heroes compiled this page. We do not build a subscription app and we are not on the list. The order is our assessment against the criteria below, drawn from the three Recharge builds in our case studies and from each vendor's published pricing page or App Store listing, not a measured benchmark. Every fee is the vendor's published price, read on 2026-10-06 and linked.
quick answer
Recharge vs Awtomic is a product-shape call, not a price call. At 500 subscribers and $50 orders, Recharge Starter costs $566.50 a month and Awtomic Professional $549 on their live 2026 pricing. Pick Recharge for single-SKU replenishment with a long integration list. Pick Awtomic when build-a-box or bundle subscriptions are the product. Skio is the portal-first alternative to both.
tl;dr
- The subscription app you pick sets your cancel flow, your customer portal and the fee line on every renewal, so it is the one app choice that is hard to undo.
- Six apps, ranked on pricing read from each vendor on 2026-10-06: Recharge, Skio, Bold, Loop, Awtomic and Seal. Digital Heroes is not on the list.
- At 500 subscribers Recharge and Awtomic cost within $20 of each other, so product shape decides between them, not price.
- Shopify holds the subscription contracts and the vaulted payment methods, so a migration moves the data but rebuilds the portal, cancel flow and integrations.
- Book a free 30-minute call and we review your stack, churn flow and portal UX. The right answer is often to stay on what you have.
§ 01 · methodology
Six apps. One subscription decision.
The subscription app sets three things you live with for years: the cancel flow a subscriber sees, the portal where they skip or swap, and the fee on every renewal. This page compares six apps on those three, with the vendor's own 2026 pricing, so you can pick once and stay.
Recharge is the one app here we have built on for clients. Three subscription case studies on this site, a pet food brand, a craft coffee roaster and a DTC skincare brand, all run on Recharge, which is why its rows carry the most detail. The other five are assessed from each vendor's published pricing page or App Store listing. The category fits cover consumables, beauty, food, supplements, pet and apparel replenishment.
How we evaluated
- Hands-on work with Recharge across the three builds in our case studies; the other five assessed from each vendor's published pricing page or App Store listing
- Fees as the vendor publishes them on 2026-10-06: platform fee, percentage and any per-order charge
- Customer portal UX: passwordless or SMS login, one-click skip and swap, depth of the cancel flow
- Cancel-flow control: skip, swap, pause, discount and cancel in a hierarchy you can edit
- Migration tooling: subscription contract import and export, plus the vendor's own migration offer
- We excluded ourselves. Digital Heroes does not build a subscription app, so nothing on this page is self-promotion
§ 02 · head-to-head
Fees and fit, side by side.
Every figure below is the vendor's own list price on 2026-10-06, with the pricing page or Shopify App Store listing linked under the table. Percentages apply to subscription order value. Where a vendor offers an annual discount, the monthly price is shown and the annual figure sits in the app's own card further down.
| app | platform fee | transaction fee | best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recharge | $99/mo Starter, $499/mo Plus, custom above | 1.49% + 19¢ (Starter), 1.34% + 19¢ (Plus) | Single-SKU replenishment, long integrations list |
| Skio | $599/mo, or $499/mo billed annually | 1% + 20¢ | Portal-first brands that want a cancel-flow builder |
| Bold Subscriptions | $24.99 Launch, $49.99 Grow, $74.99 Scale, per month | 2%, 1%, 0.9% by tier | Stores already on the Bold suite |
| Loop Subscriptions | Free to 50 active subscriptions, $99/mo Starter, $399/mo Pro | 1% Starter, 0.75% Pro, $0 per order | Add-on and bundle revenue on a flat fee |
| Awtomic | $299/mo, or $249/mo on a yearly contract. Enterprise on request | 1% per order | Build-a-box, shuffle and gift subscriptions |
| Seal Subscriptions | Free to 50 subscriptions. $5.95, $9.95 and $24.95/mo for 100, 250 and 500, larger tiers on the listing | 0% | Launches and small catalogs |
Sources, each read 2026-10-07: Recharge pricing, Skio pricing, Bold on the Shopify App Store, Loop pricing, Awtomic pricing and Seal on the Shopify App Store. Vendors change prices without notice, so verify before signing.
Monthly cost at 500 subscribers
Assume 500 active subscribers, each renewing once a month at $50, so $25,000 of subscription revenue and 500 orders. The bill is the platform fee plus the percentage plus any per-order charge, on the cheapest tier that covers 500 subscribers, billed monthly. Shopify's own free app would be $0 here, and the trade-off for that is covered under Seal below.
| app and tier | arithmetic | per month |
|---|---|---|
| Skio Scale | $599 + 1% of $25,000 + 500 × 20¢ | $949 |
| Recharge Starter | $99 + 1.49% of $25,000 + 500 × 19¢ | $566.50 |
| Awtomic Professional | $299 + 1% of $25,000 | $549 |
| Loop Starter | $99 + 1% of $25,000 | $349 |
| Bold Grow | $49.99 + 1% of $25,000 | $299.99 |
| Seal Legend | flat tier to 500 subscriptions, 0% | $24.95 |
§ 03 · the lead question
Recharge vs Awtomic. Product shape decides.
At 500 subscribers the two cost within $20 of each other, $566.50 against $549 a month. Price will not settle it. Recharge is built around single-SKU replenishment and an integrations directory. Awtomic is built around build-a-box, shuffle and gift subscriptions. Start from what the customer puts in the box.
Pick Awtomic when
- The customer composes the box each cycle: a wine club, a snack box, a vitamin stack. Awtomic names wine clubs, food and beverage and apparel on its own site.
- You need shuffle, gift or prepaid subscriptions and batching to specific ship days, which its pricing page lists as features.
- You prefer one flat percentage with no per-order cents, which keeps the bill simpler as order counts rise.
Our own evidence points the same way. In the pet food case study the churn lever was a breed-and-weight cadence, and in the coffee roaster case it was the delivery interval, which had defaulted to Recharge's two-week setting. Neither needed a build-a-box engine, so both sat well on Recharge. A box the customer composes is the signal to look at Awtomic.
§ 04 · the two market leaders
Skio vs Recharge. The portal question.
Skio's Shopify App Store listing is titled "Skio, a Recharge Company" as of 2026-10-06, while skio.com still sells Skio on its own pricing at $599 a month. Read them as two products under one roof: Recharge for breadth and integrations, Skio for a cleaner customer portal and a multi-step cancel flow builder.
pick 01
Recharge
From $99/mo + 1.49% + 19¢ · rechargepayments.com
The market default, and the app behind all three subscription builds in our case studies. Its pricing page lists a subscription-first product widget, a no-code customer portal, failed-payment recovery and industry benchmarks, with a Plus tier at $499 a month on 1.34% and a custom tier above that.
Strengths: a published integrations directory, 76 entries when read on 2026-10-07, where Loop's pricing page lists 30+ and Skio's pricing page gives no count, and the failed-payment recovery its pricing page lists.
Weaknesses: the 19¢ per order on top of 1.49% makes it the second-priciest app here at 500 subscribers, and in our view the portal looks dated next to Skio's. See our Recharge setup guide.
Does not fit: a box the customer composes each cycle, or a brand that wants one flat percentage with no per-order cents.
pick 02
Skio
$599/mo ($499 billed annually) + 1% + 20¢ · skio.com
The portal-first choice. Its App Store listing names a no-code customer portal, automated lifecycle journeys, a multi-step cancel flow builder and static or dynamic build-a-box. Its pricing page says the migration team moves subscriber bases in from other apps and that support staff come from Shopify and Recharge.
Strengths: the cancel flow builder, lifecycle journeys, and a flat 1% that beats Recharge Starter's 1.49% once volume covers the higher fixed fee.
Weaknesses: the highest fixed fee on the list. At 500 subscribers it is $949 a month, $382.50 more than Recharge Starter, and its pricing page gives no integrations count where Recharge's directory lists 76.
Does not fit: brands under about 2,100 subscribers at a $50 order, where the $599 floor costs more than the portal saves, and stores that depend on an integration in the Recharge directory.
Decision rule: stay on Recharge when your integrations work today and the cancel flow already saves subscribers. Move to Skio when the portal is a documented churn driver and you are past about 2,100 subscribers at a $50 order, the point where Skio's bill drops below Recharge Starter's on the published rates.
§ 05 · mid-market alternatives
Bold, Loop and Awtomic. Three different angles.
These three cost between $299.99 and $549 a month at 500 subscribers, well under Skio and close to Recharge. Each wins on one angle: Bold for stores already inside its suite, Loop for flat fees with bundles and no per-order charge, Awtomic for boxes the customer composes.
pick 03
Bold Subscriptions
$24.99 to $74.99/mo + 2% to 0.9% · boldcommerce.com
Three tiers: Launch at $24.99 plus 2%, Grow at $49.99 plus 1%, Scale at $74.99 plus 0.9%, with prepaid subscriptions and unlimited subscribers on each. It belongs with the rest of the Bold suite.
Pick when: you already run other Bold apps and want one vendor.
Does not fit: brands not on the Bold suite. Without it the Recharge integrations argument is stronger, and the listing's 4.0 rating is the lowest of the paid apps here, against Recharge 4.8, Awtomic 5.0, Loop 5.0, Skio 5.0 and Seal 4.9 on their App Store listings, read 2026-10-07.
pick 04
Loop Subscriptions
Free to 50, $99/mo + 1%, $399/mo + 0.75% · loopwork.co
Flat plans with no per-order charge, a free tier up to 50 active subscriptions, bundles, a cancellation flow and 30+ integrations, with free migration, per its pricing page. Starter is $349 a month at 500 subscribers.
Pick when: add-on and bundle revenue is the plan and you want a predictable fee.
Does not fit: brands that need the full Recharge integrations directory, or a build-a-box deeper than bundles. Take the bundle strategy away and you are paying for a portal without the lift that justifies it.
pick 05
Awtomic
$299/mo ($249 yearly) + 1% per order · awtomic.com
Build-a-box, shuffle, gift and prepaid subscriptions, batching to specific ship days and add-on upsells, per its pricing page. Awtomic pitches wine clubs, food and beverage and apparel, and its Enterprise tier is priced on request.
Pick when: the customer composes the box.
Does not fit: straight single-product subscriptions, and launches under 50 subscribers where the $299 floor is most of the bill. The build-a-box strength has nothing to work with there.
§ 06 · cheapest entry
Seal Subscriptions and Shopify's own app. For launches.
Two options cost almost nothing. Seal is free to 50 subscriptions and $24.95 a month at 500, with a 0% transaction fee. Shopify's own Shopify Subscriptions app is free outright. Both prove the model before you pay $99 to $599 a month for a cancel-flow builder and lifecycle automation.
pick 06
Seal Subscriptions
Free to 50 subscriptions · $5.95 to $24.95/mo to 500 · 0% · sealsubscriptions.com
The cheapest entry on the list. Free for life up to 50 subscriptions with a 0% transaction fee, then flat tiers priced by active subscriptions, with API and webhook access on the free tier. Larger tiers are on the App Store listing. Migration to Recharge, Loop or Skio is a contract export when you outgrow it.
Pick when: you are validating subscription as a model, or the catalog is small and will stay small.
Does not fit: brands that need a cancel-flow builder, lifecycle journeys or a long integrations list. Those are what the $99 to $599 platforms charge for, and this page's own migration path moves you to one of them at that point.
not ranked
Shopify Subscriptions (Shopify's own app)
Free · Shopify Help Center
Per the Help Center, Shopify's free app creates auto-billed plans that renew weekly, monthly or yearly, lets customers skip, pause and cancel, and imports and exports subscription contracts. Card details are stored by Shopify. Its App Store rating is 3.7, the lowest of any app on this page: Bold is 4.0, Recharge 4.8, Seal 4.9, and Awtomic, Loop and Skio 5.0 on their listings, read 2026-10-07.
Use when: one product on a fixed cadence and no budget for an app.
Not for: any brand that needs a save flow, a portal it can design, or lifecycle automation. It is left out of the ranking because it is the baseline the six are measured against.
§ 07 · migration math
When to migrate. And when to stay.
A subscription migration on Shopify moves data that Shopify already holds. Subscription contracts and vaulted payment methods live in Shopify, per its developer docs on subscriptions, so the move is an export and import plus a rebuild of the portal, cancel flow and integrations. The cost is the rebuild and the subscriber communication, not the data.
Stay if:
Stay put when any one of these is true. The rebuild would cost more than twelve months of fee difference on the published rates. Your integrations work today. A churn-reduction project is already live on the current app.
Migrate if:
Move when any one of these is true. The portal is a documented churn driver, which you can check by putting your monthly numbers into our churn rate calculator. Your roadmap needs an API the app does not expose. The published math crosses, as Skio's bill does against Recharge Starter past about 2,100 subscribers.
Common migration paths:
Seal to Recharge or Loop once you pass the free tier and need a save flow. Recharge to Skio for the portal. Bold to Recharge for integrations. Never move because the new app looks shinier, and plan the subscriber emails before the cutover, since portal-change emails are a churn moment of their own. Our Shopify migration service runs the contract export, the portal rebuild and the cutover.
When none of the six fits, the alternative is a custom portal on Shopify's subscription APIs through our Shopify app development team, and for Plus merchants our Shopify Plus agency page covers checkout and B2B.
§ 08 · questions
Four honest answers.
Recharge vs Awtomic: which one should a Shopify brand pick?
Pick by product shape. Recharge suits single-SKU or short-catalog replenishment and brings a published integrations directory, 76 entries on 2026-10-07, and failed-payment recovery. Awtomic suits boxes the customer composes, with shuffle, gift and prepaid subscriptions and batching to ship days. At 500 subscribers the bills are $566.50 and $549, so price rarely decides.
Is Skio better than Recharge?
Skio wins on the customer portal: a no-code portal, lifecycle journeys and a multi-step cancel flow builder. Recharge wins on breadth: a published integrations directory of 76 entries on 2026-10-07, failed-payment recovery and a $99 plus 1.49% entry. On published rates Skio's bill drops below Recharge Starter's past about 2,100 subscribers at a $50 order. Its App Store listing reads "Skio, a Recharge Company".
Is Skio worth switching to from other Shopify subscription platforms?
Only when the portal is the churn driver. Skio's cancel flow builder and lifecycle journeys earn their $599 floor when subscribers leave because skipping or swapping is hard. If churn comes from product or cadence, a migration rebuilds your portal and integrations for no gain. Check your monthly churn in our churn rate calculator before you move.
What is the cheapest Shopify subscription app?
Shopify's own Shopify Subscriptions app is free and covers weekly, monthly and yearly auto-billed plans with skip, pause and cancel, but its App Store rating is 3.7. Seal Subscriptions is free up to 50 subscriptions with a 0% transaction fee, then flat tiers from $5.95 a month. Loop also has a free tier to 50 active subscriptions.
Last reviewed .
§ 09 · subscription audit
Subscription audit. In 30 minutes.
Free 30-minute call. We review your subscription stack, churn flow and customer portal UX, then recommend specific moves, which often means staying on what you have. Clutch shows a 5.0 rating from 66 verified reviews, read 2026-10-07.
Why work with Digital Heroes
115 people across five studios in New York, Delhi, London, Sydney and Lucknow, shipping ecommerce, web, software and mobile work for founder-led brands. Senior engineers only, no account-manager relay, and the same team from kickoff to launch.
- Shopify Premier Partner, the tier Shopify reserves for agencies with a sustained delivery record on Plus builds
- Tier 1 registered supplier on the United Nations Global Marketplace, which requires audited company documentation
- Top Rated Plus on Upwork, the bracket for the top 3% of talent by client outcomes
- 397 public five-star-weighted reviews across four Fiverr gigs, from clients in 36 countries
- DUNS verified business, No. 650878346, so procurement can check us before signing
- Listed by Clutch in Top 1000 Global B2B Companies and Top Web Designers 2024
- Verified profiles on GoodFirms, DesignRush, Digital.com, AppFutura and TopDevelopers
- 2,000+ brands built across 55+ countries, with $50M+ in client revenue scaled
Published · Last updated .
