Best Subscription App for Shopify: 6 Apps Compared

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For most Shopify stores starting or growing a subscribe-and-save program, Appstle Subscriptions is the best value: a free plan, paid plans from $10 a month, and no transaction fees. Recharge and Loop Subscriptions make more sense once subscriptions are a large share of revenue and you want retention tools and a bigger support team, while Skio and Stay AI are priced for high-volume brands.

Quick comparison

	Free plan	Starting paid price	What scales the price	Standout	Shopify App Store rating*
Appstle Subscriptions	Yes, up to $500/mo subscription revenue	$10/mo	Monthly subscription revenue; 0% transaction fees	Build-a-box and bundles from $30/mo	5.0 (9,169 reviews)
Seal Subscriptions	Yes, up to 50 subscriptions	$5.95/mo	Number of subscriptions; 0% transaction fees	API and webhooks even on the free plan	4.9 (3,160 reviews)
Recharge	No (60-day free trial on Starter)	$25/mo for 50 or fewer subscribers	Plan fee plus 1.49% + 19¢ per transaction on Starter, per its Shopify listing	Bundles, loyalty rewards, retention analytics	4.8 (2,958 reviews)
Loop Subscriptions	Yes, up to 50 active subscriptions	$99/mo + 1%	Plan fee plus a percentage of transactions	Cancellation flows and dunning on Starter	5.0 (805 reviews)
Stay AI	No (30-day trial)	$499/mo + 1% + 19¢	Plan fee plus per-transaction fee	Churn forecasting and promotions engine	4.9 (148 reviews)
Skio	No (no free trial)	$599/mo ($499/mo billed annually) + 1% + 20¢	Plan fee plus per-transaction fee	Multi-step cancel flows, build-a-box	5.0 (244 reviews)

*Ratings as listed on the Shopify App Store in November 2026.

Our pick by store type

Just launching subscriptions: Start with Seal Subscriptions or Appstle Subscriptions. Both have a free plan, both charge 0% transaction fees, and their first paid tiers cost $5.95 and $10 a month.

Growing subscription program (hundreds of subscribers): Appstle is still the cheapest on paper, because it caps revenue rather than taking a cut. Loop Subscriptions and Recharge cost more but are built around retention: cancellation flows, failed-payment recovery and, on higher plans, loyalty and rewards.

High-volume subscription brand: Recharge Plus, Skio, Stay AI and Loop Pro are all priced for brands where subscriptions are the main business. At this size the transaction fee matters more than the plan fee, so run your own numbers (there is a worked example below). For a closer look at the two biggest names, see our Recharge vs Skio comparison.

Appstle Subscriptions

Appstle Subscriptions is our top pick for small and mid-size stores because it charges a low flat fee and takes no percentage of your subscription revenue.

Pricing (from its Shopify App Store listing):

Free: up to $500 a month in subscription revenue
Starter: $10/month, up to $5,000 a month
Business: $30/month, up to $15,000 a month
Business Premium: $100/month, up to $100,000 a month

Paid plans list "0% Transaction Fee & No Hidden Charges," come with a 14-day free trial and are 20% cheaper billed yearly.

What you get: pay-as-you-go and prepaid subscriptions with several delivery frequencies, failed-payment retries, a customer portal and cancellation retention tools. Build-a-box and bundles start on Business. Product swaps, checkout links and a custom email domain are on Business Premium. Appstle also lists free migration from other subscription apps and 24/7 human support.

Watch out: each plan caps your monthly subscription revenue, so the price steps up as you grow. Past $100,000 a month you are beyond the highest plan on its listing.

Seal Subscriptions

Seal Subscriptions is the cheapest way to start a subscription offer on Shopify.

Pricing: Free for up to 50 subscriptions. Then $5.95/month (up to 100), $9.95/month (up to 250) and $24.95/month (up to 500). Every plan says unlimited revenue and 0% transaction fees, paid plans have a 30-day free trial, and yearly billing saves 20%. Seal says bigger plans up to 150,000+ subscriptions are available, but their prices are not on the listing.

What you get: auto-charging subscriptions and recurring invoices, a customer portal where subscribers edit, pause, cancel or reactivate, product swaps, tiered subscription discounts and full API and webhook access, even on the free plan. Paid plans add a custom cancellation flow and renewal reminders.

Watch out: you move up a plan every time you pass a subscription cap (50, 100, 250, 500). Prices for plans above 500 are not published.

Recharge

Recharge is the long-standing subscription app for Shopify and the better fit for brands that want a broad retention toolkit and a clear upgrade path.

Pricing (per its Shopify App Store listing in November 2026):

$25/month with no transaction fees for your first 50 subscribers, including the Starter feature set
Starter: $99/month plus 1.49% + 19¢ per transaction, with a 60-day free trial
Plus: $499/month plus 1.34% + 19¢ per transaction, with what Recharge calls scalable transaction rates

What you get: a no-code customer portal where subscribers skip, swap and reschedule, churn prevention (cancel prevention, failed-payment recovery and win-backs), bundles, loyalty rewards and retention analytics that compare your cohorts with other brands. Plus adds hands-on implementation, customizable bundles and tiered discounts, Concierge SMS, loyalty and referral programs, and a JavaScript SDK and Storefront API.

Skio's own Shopify App Store listing is now titled "Skio, a Recharge Company", meaning Recharge acquired Skio.

Watch out: the transaction fee is what drives your bill. Recharge's help center has shown 1.25% for Starter while its Shopify listing shows 1.49%, so confirm the current fee when you sign up. At the listing rate, every $10,000 of subscription transactions on Starter adds $149 plus 19¢ per transaction on top of the $99 plan fee.

Loop Subscriptions

Loop Subscriptions is built for subscription brands focused on cutting churn.

Pricing (from its pricing page): Free Forever up to 50 active subscriptions. Starter is $99/month plus a 1.0% transaction fee. Pro is $399/month plus 0.75%. Enterprise has custom pricing and negotiable fees. Paid plans are month-to-month with a 14-day free trial, and Loop says migration is included on paid plans.

What you get: on Starter, failed-payment recovery, cancellation prevention and personalized cancellation flows, a self-serve customer portal, subscription bundles, out-of-stock protection and 30+ integrations. Pro adds a dedicated customer success manager, surprise and delight flows, targeted campaigns, prepaid and gift subscriptions, a multi-language portal, API and webhooks, and reward features such as streaks and mystery rewards.

Watch out: the free plan stops at 50 active subscriptions, and the jump to Starter is $99 a month plus 1% of transactions.

Stay AI

Stay AI targets established, high-volume subscription brands.

Pricing: its Shopify listing shows one plan at $499/month plus 1% + 19¢ per transaction, with a 30-day free trial. The listing links to other pricing options on Stay AI's own site, which we did not confirm.

What you get: a no-code customer portal, ExperienceEngine for promotions across the subscriber journey, RetentionEngine for revenue forecasting and churn reduction, analytics with AI-driven recommendations, a customer success team and migration support. It integrates with Klaviyo, Gorgias, Postscript, Attentive, Rebuy, Aftersell and Shopify POS.

Watch out: no free plan, and at $499 a month before fees it only makes sense once subscriptions are a meaningful revenue line.

Skio

Skio is priced for established subscription brands. Its Shopify listing is titled "Skio, a Recharge Company".

Pricing: the Scale plan is $599/month billed monthly, or $5,988 a year ($499/month), plus 1% + 20¢ per transaction. Enterprise is custom. There is no free plan and no free trial.

What you get (from its Shopify listing): a no-code customer portal, automated lifecycle journeys, a multi-step cancel flow builder, static and dynamic build-a-box, passwordless login and quick actions, real-time analytics and segmentation, smart payment recovery and migration of your existing subscribers.

Watch out: the base fee is the highest here. Below a large monthly subscription volume, Recharge's lower plan fee usually wins on total cost, as our Recharge vs Skio math shows.

What it costs at two store sizes

These figures use only published prices. They assume each subscription order is one transaction and leave out Shopify's own payment processing fees, which apply whichever app you use. Recharge figures use the fee on its Shopify listing.

Small program: 80 subscribers, $3,000 a month in subscription orders (80 orders):

Seal Subscriptions: $5.95 (up to 100 subscriptions)
Appstle Subscriptions: $10 (Starter, up to $5,000)
Loop Subscriptions: $99 + 1% of $3,000 = $129 (past the 50-subscription free plan)
Recharge: $99 + 1.49% of $3,000 ($44.70) + 80 × 19¢ ($15.20) = $158.90 (past the 50-subscriber $25 plan)
Stay AI: $499 + $30 + $15.20 = $544.20
Skio: $599 + $30 + $16 = $645 billed monthly

Larger program: $50,000 a month in subscription orders (1,250 orders):

Appstle Subscriptions: $100 (Business Premium, up to $100,000)
Seal Subscriptions: price for plans above 500 subscriptions is not published
Loop Subscriptions: Starter $99 + $500 = $599; Pro $399 + $375 = $774
Stay AI: $499 + $500 + $237.50 = $1,236.50
Skio: $599 + $500 + $250 = $1,349 billed monthly, or $1,249 on annual billing
Recharge: Starter $99 + $745 + $237.50 = $1,081.50; Plus $499 + $670 + $237.50 = $1,406.50

The gap is large. What you pay the percentage-fee apps for is retention tooling, analytics and support, not the ability to bill subscriptions, so be sure you will use those features.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Seal Subscriptions if you are testing subscriptions on a tight budget and count in subscribers.
Choose Appstle Subscriptions if you want build-a-box, bundles and retention tools with no transaction fees, up to $100,000 a month in subscription revenue.
Choose Loop Subscriptions if churn is your main problem and you want cancellation flows and dunning built in from the first paid plan.
Choose Recharge if you want an established platform with loyalty, bundles, retention analytics and a $25 entry plan for your first 50 subscribers.
Choose Skio or Stay AI if subscriptions are your core business and you want a high-touch team and advanced retention features.

Common questions

Which Shopify subscription app has no transaction fees? Appstle Subscriptions and Seal Subscriptions both list 0% transaction fees on their plans. Recharge, Loop, Skio and Stay AI all add a percentage or per-transaction fee on top of the monthly plan, except Recharge's $25 plan for your first 50 subscribers.

Is there a free subscription app for Shopify? Yes. Seal is free up to 50 subscriptions, Loop Subscriptions is free up to 50 active subscriptions, and Appstle is free up to $500 a month in subscription revenue.

Are Recharge and Skio the same company now? Skio's Shopify App Store listing is titled "Skio, a Recharge Company", meaning Recharge acquired Skio. The two still list separate apps and separate pricing on the Shopify App Store.

Can I switch subscription apps later? Appstle lists free migration from other subscription apps, Loop says migration is included on its paid plans, and Skio and Stay AI both list migration support. Ask your new provider exactly what moves over, such as payment methods and subscriber history, before you switch.

How we put this together

We did not test these apps hands-on. Every fact and price comes from each company's own pages, read in November 2026: the Shopify App Store listings for Recharge, Skio, Appstle Subscriptions, Seal Subscriptions and Stay AI, Loop's pricing page and Shopify listing, and our fact sheets built from Recharge's billing help article and Skio's pricing page (checked November 2, 2026). Ratings are as listed on the Shopify App Store in November 2026. Transaction fees and plan limits change, so confirm current pricing for your volume before you install.

Best Subscription Apps for Shopify Stores