Softwr

Accounting · head to head

freee vs Recurly

freee logo

freee

Accounting

Japanese integrated cloud accounting software for sole proprietors and corporations

From
980/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Recurly logo

Recurly

Accounting

The subscription management platform built for growth

From
$249/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: freee pricing varies significantly across multiple product categories and tiers; 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
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which freee and Recurly actually diverge.

Attributes where freee and Recurly differ
AttributefreeeRecurly
Starting price980/month$249/month
PlatformsWebWeb, Api
FoundedUnknown2009

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

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 freee

Nothing recorded that Recurly does not also cover.

Only in Recurly

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

What people use each for

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

freee

  • Filing Japanese tax documents electronically each yearnot Recurly
  • Calculating payroll and year-end adjustments automaticallynot Recurly
  • Creating opening documents without visiting tax officenot Recurly
  • Tracking company expenses across departments centrallynot Recurly

Recurly

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

Where each one falls short

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

freee

  • Pricing varies significantly across multiple product categories and tiers
  • Some corporate tiers (Advance) reach ¥39,780+/month

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

freee

980/month
  • freee會計 Starter$980/month
    • Individual business owner accounting tier
  • freee會計 Corporate Solo$2980/month
    • Corporate accounting tier
  • freee人事労務$400/month per employee
    • HR and payroll module per-employee pricing
  • freee勤怠管理$300/month per employee
    • Attendance tracking per-employee

Recurly

$249/month
  • Starter$249/month
    • Automated global subscription billing
    • Flexible plans and static churn-prevention tools
    • 1 dunning campaign
  • All-Access$null/month
    • Everything in Starter plus AI-powered agents and analytics
    • Intelligent churn-prevention with multiple dunning campaigns
    • Advanced pricing and promotions
  • All-Access for Shopify$null/month
    • Intelligent churn-prevention and customized bundles
    • Subscribe and save, prepaid/gift subscriptions
    • Hybrid subscription support and cancel-save flows

Which should you pick?

Choose freee if

Nothing in the data separates freee from Recurly on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

freee review

Choose Recurly if

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

Questions people ask

Is freee or Recurly better?
Neither clearly leads. freee starts at 980/month and Recurly at $249/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, freee or Recurly?
freee starts at 980/month and Recurly at $249/month.
Does freee or Recurly run on more platforms?
freee runs on Web. Recurly runs on Web, Api.
What is freee best used for?
freee is most often used for filing japanese tax documents electronically each year, calculating payroll and year-end adjustments automatically, creating opening documents without visiting tax office, tracking company expenses across departments centrally. Of those, filing japanese tax documents electronically each year and calculating payroll and year-end adjustments automatically are not what Recurly is typically brought in for.
What can freee do that Recurly cannot?
Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

freee: What is freee's accounting software pricing?

Individual business owners start at ¥980/month for Starter, while corporate accounting begins at ¥2,980/month for Solo Corp, with prices extending to ¥39,780+/month for Advance plans.

Source
Recurly: What does Recurly's Starter plan cost?

Recurly Starter plan costs 249 USD monthly plus 0.9 percent of billing volume, with the first 40000 USD monthly volume included in the base fee.

Source
freee: Does freee charge per employee for HR and payroll?

Yes, freee人事労務 (HR/Payroll) costs ¥400-¥1,100 per employee per month, and freee勤怠管理 (Attendance) costs ¥300 per employee per month.

Source
Recurly: What is the minimum commitment for Recurly's All-Access plan?

All-Access plans require a minimum 1 million USD annual commitment, billed annually at less than 1 percent of billing volume.

Source
freee: Are there free freee products?

Several freee products are completely free, including freee開業 (Business Opening), freee請求書 (Invoicing), freeeカード (Card), and certain features like payroll rules creation.

Source
freee: Does freee offer a free trial?

Freee offers a 30-day free trial for its accounting software and provides annual payment discounts on most plans.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on freee

More on Recurly

Keep looking

Other head to heads