Softwr

E-Commerce · head to head

FastSpring vs Heartland Retail

FastSpring logo

FastSpring

E-Commerce

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Heartland Retail logo

Heartland Retail

E-Commerce

Cloud point of sale and inventory management sold alongside Heartland card processing

From
$150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: FastSpring pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.; Heartland Retail the software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.
  • They diverge on capability: FastSpring covers Global online payments, Heartland Retail covers Multi-store inventory.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where FastSpring and Heartland Retail differ
AttributeFastSpringHeartland Retail
Starting priceOn request$150/month
Pricing modeltransactionsubscription
Platformsweb, apiWeb
Founded20061997

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

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

  • Multi-store inventory
  • Cloud point of sale
  • Purchasing and receiving
  • Customer records
  • Sales and stock reporting
  • Integrated card processing
  • E-commerce integrations

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

  • A specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of themnot FastSpring
  • Replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every storenot FastSpring
  • A retailer whose buying team needs purchase orders and receiving rather than just a cash registernot FastSpring
  • An existing Heartland processing customer consolidating software and payments under one suppliernot FastSpring

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

  • The software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.
  • Leaving means changing till software and merchant account together, and since the payment terminals, the reporting history and the staff training are all tied to the same supplier, the switching cost is far higher than a software migration alone.
  • It is not an online store platform, so a merchant selling on the web still buys and maintains a separate e-commerce platform, and the stock and order integration between the two is an ongoing operational dependency rather than a one-off setup.
  • Historical sales and customer purchase history rarely migrate cleanly out of a point of sale system, so a retailer who switches typically starts with an empty history and keeps the old system read-only, paying for it, for years.
  • Heartland sits within Global Payments, a group that has repeatedly restructured its portfolio through acquisitions and divestitures, so which entity owns and invests in this specific product is not stable over a long contract term.

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 multi-store inventory.
  • You also want cloud point of sale.
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 Multi-store inventory, Cloud point of sale, Purchasing and receiving, Customer records.

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
Heartland Retail: Can I use it as my online store?

No. It manages the shop floor and stock. Selling online means a separate e-commerce platform and an integration to keep the catalogue and stock aligned.

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
Heartland Retail: Do I have to use Heartland for card processing?

The product is sold as part of a payments relationship, and that is where the supplier's margin sits. Ask explicitly what the software costs standalone before assuming you have a choice.

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
Heartland Retail: What should I negotiate hardest on?

The card processing rate and the contract term, not the software subscription. Ask for interchange-plus pricing in writing rather than a blended rate.

Heartland Retail: What happens to my sales history if I leave?

Assume products and current stock export cleanly and that years of transaction history do not. Budget for keeping the old system available read-only during any transition.

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