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Software · head to head

Airbase vs Recurly

Airbase logo

Airbase

Software

The first all-in-one spend management platform

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Recurly logo

Recurly

Software

The subscription management platform built for growth

From
$29/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Airbase airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.; Recurly starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Recurly covers Subscription billing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Recurly actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Recurly differ
AttributeAirbaseRecurly
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Api
Founded20172009

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Airbase

  • Corporate cards
  • Bill payments
  • Expense management
  • Procurement
  • Approvals
  • NetSuite
  • Sage Intacct
  • QuickBooks

Only in Recurly

  • Subscription billing
  • Revenue recovery
  • Payment gateway optimization
  • Analytics
  • API
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Braintree

Both cover

  • PCI DSS
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbase

  • Spend managementnot Recurly
  • Expense reportingnot Recurly
  • Vendor paymentsnot Recurly

Recurly

  • Subscription billing and recurring invoicingnot Airbase
  • Dunning and failed payment recoverynot Airbase
  • Trials, plan changes and promotionsnot Airbase
  • Revenue recognition through the RevRec add-onnot Airbase
  • Shopify-native subscriptions with subscribe and savenot Airbase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbase

  • Airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.

Recurly

  • Starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
  • All-Access is quoted at under 1 percent of billing volume with a $1M minimum, putting it out of reach of smaller merchants
  • Only one dunning campaign on Starter; multiple campaigns need All-Access
  • SSO, multicurrency and payments orchestration are All-Access only
  • Revenue recognition and the Engage churn tooling are separate add-ons at $850 and $1,600 a month

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbase

$29/month
  • StandardFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense reports
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$10/month
    • Advanced approvals
    • NetSuite sync
    • Procurement
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom workflows
    • API access
    • Dedicated support

Recurly

$29/month
  • CoreFree
    • Basic billing
    • Revenue recovery
    • Analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want bill payments.

Choose Recurly if

  • You need subscription billing.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want revenue recovery.

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Recurly better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Recurly at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Recurly?
Airbase starts at $29/month and Recurly at $29/month.
Does Airbase or Recurly run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Recurly runs on Web, Api.
What is Airbase best used for?
Airbase is most often used for spend management, expense reporting, vendor payments. Of those, spend management and expense reporting are not what Recurly is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Recurly cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Bill payments, Expense management, Procurement. Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics. Both handle PCI DSS, Web support.

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