Is FastSpring or Heartland Retail better?

Neither clearly leads. FastSpring starts at On request and Heartland Retail at $150/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, FastSpring or Heartland Retail?

FastSpring starts at On request and Heartland Retail at $150/month.

Does FastSpring or Heartland Retail run on more platforms?

FastSpring runs on web, api. Heartland Retail runs on Web.

What is FastSpring best used for?

FastSpring is most often used for selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity, b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals, recurring subscription billing for digital products, reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchases. Of those, selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity and b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals are not what Heartland Retail is typically brought in for.

What can FastSpring do that Heartland Retail cannot?

FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance. Heartland Retail covers Point of sale, Omnichannel selling, Inventory management, Customer management.

E-commerce · head to head

FastSpring vs Heartland Retail

FastSpring

E-commerce

Merchant-of-record commerce platform for global payments, subscriptions, and tax compliance

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Heartland Retail

E-commerce & Retail

Omnichannel retail management platform

From: $150/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

They diverge on capability: FastSpring covers Global online payments, Heartland Retail covers Point of sale.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FastSpring and Heartland Retail actually diverge.

Attributes where FastSpring and Heartland Retail differ
Attribute	FastSpring	Heartland Retail
Starting price	On request	$150/month
Pricing model	transaction	subscription
Platforms	web, api	Web
Category	E-commerce	E-commerce & Retail
Founded	2006	1997

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 FastSpring

Global online payments
Subscription billing
Branded checkout
Tax compliance
Fraud prevention
Digital invoicing and quotes

Only in Heartland Retail

Point of sale
Omnichannel selling
Inventory management
Customer management
Payment processing
Employee management
Analytics
Reporting

What people use each for

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

FastSpring

Selling software or SaaS internationally without a local tax entitynot Heartland Retail
B2B invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise SaaS dealsnot Heartland Retail
Recurring subscription billing for digital productsnot Heartland Retail
Reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchasesnot Heartland Retail

Heartland Retail

No use cases recorded yet. See the Heartland Retail review.

Where each one falls short

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

FastSpring

Pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.
As a merchant-of-record, FastSpring takes on more control of the checkout and payment relationship than a pure payment gateway like Stripe.
Revenue share pricing can become more expensive than flat per-transaction gateway fees at very high volumes.
Primarily targeted at software/digital goods sellers, so it is less suited to physical product e-commerce.

Heartland Retail

Nothing recorded yet. See the Heartland Retail review.

Pricing, plan by plan

FastSpring

On request

Custom$undefined/mo
- All-in-one transaction-based pricing based on sales volume
- No subscription fees or per-feature charges
- Discounted rates for ACH and wire transfers

Heartland Retail

$150/month

Core$150/month
- POS system
- Inventory management
- Customer management
Professional$350/month
- All Core features
- Omnichannel
- Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose FastSpring if

You need global online payments.
You work on web, api.
You also want subscription billing.

FastSpring review

Choose Heartland Retail if

You need point of sale.
You also want omnichannel selling.

Heartland Retail review

Questions people ask

Is FastSpring or Heartland Retail better?: Neither clearly leads. FastSpring starts at On request and Heartland Retail at $150/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FastSpring or Heartland Retail?: FastSpring starts at On request and Heartland Retail at $150/month.
Does FastSpring or Heartland Retail run on more platforms?: FastSpring runs on web, api. Heartland Retail runs on Web.
What is FastSpring best used for?: FastSpring is most often used for selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity, b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals, recurring subscription billing for digital products, reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchases. Of those, selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity and b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals are not what Heartland Retail is typically brought in for.
What can FastSpring do that Heartland Retail cannot?: FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance. Heartland Retail covers Point of sale, Omnichannel selling, Inventory management, Customer management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FastSpring: What does FastSpring cost?

FastSpring uses flat-rate, all-in-one pricing based on transaction volume, with fees withheld from payouts. There is no minimum volume or subscription fee, and pricing is typically quoted based on expected sales volume after contacting their sales team.

Source

FastSpring: Is there a free plan?

FastSpring does not offer a free plan; instead pricing is transaction-based with no upfront subscription cost, and merchants only pay a commission on completed sales.

Source

FastSpring: What does FastSpring integrate with or include compared to a payment gateway like Stripe?

FastSpring bundles international payments, subscription management, tax compliance, fraud prevention, reporting, and B2B invoicing into one price, whereas gateways like Stripe charge separately for many of these features.

Source

FastSpring vs Heartland Retail

FastSpring

Heartland Retail

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in FastSpring

Only in Heartland Retail

What people use each for

FastSpring

Heartland Retail

Where each one falls short

FastSpring

Heartland Retail

Pricing, plan by plan

FastSpring

Heartland Retail

Which should you pick?

Choose FastSpring if

Choose Heartland Retail if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on FastSpring

More on Heartland Retail

Keep looking

Other head to heads