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Recurly vs Sage 50

Recurly logo

Recurly

Software

The subscription management platform built for growth

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sage 50 logo

Sage 50

Software

Powerful desktop accounting for small businesses

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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; Sage 50 sage 50 tiers as captured in 2022: Pro Accounting $595/year for 1 user, Premium Accounting $970/year for 1-5 users with multi-company support, Quantum Accounting $1,610/year for larger teams
  • They diverge on capability: Recurly covers Subscription billing, Sage 50 covers General ledger.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Recurly and Sage 50 actually diverge.

Attributes where Recurly and Sage 50 differ
AttributeRecurlySage 50
PlatformsWeb, ApiWindows
Founded20091981

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 Recurly

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

Only in Sage 50

  • General ledger
  • Invoicing
  • Inventory management
  • Job costing
  • Budgeting
  • Microsoft 365
  • Salesforce
  • Local encryption

What people use each for

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

Recurly

  • Subscription billing and recurring invoicingnot Sage 50
  • Dunning and failed payment recoverynot Sage 50
  • Trials, plan changes and promotionsnot Sage 50
  • Revenue recognition through the RevRec add-onnot Sage 50
  • Shopify-native subscriptions with subscribe and savenot Sage 50

Sage 50

  • Desktop accountingnot Recurly
  • Job costingnot Recurly
  • Inventory trackingnot Recurly

Where each one falls short

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

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

Sage 50

  • Sage 50 tiers as captured in 2022: Pro Accounting $595/year for 1 user, Premium Accounting $970/year for 1-5 users with multi-company support, Quantum Accounting $1,610/year for larger teams

Pricing, plan by plan

Recurly

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

Sage 50

$29/month
  • Pro Accounting$50/month
    • Core accounting
    • 1 user
    • Basic reports
  • Premium Accounting$85/month
    • 5 users
    • Job costing
    • Inventory

Which should you pick?

Choose Recurly if

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

Choose Sage 50 if

  • You need general ledger.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want invoicing.
Sage 50 review

Questions people ask

Is Recurly or Sage 50 better?
Neither clearly leads. Recurly starts at $29/month and Sage 50 at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Recurly or Sage 50?
Recurly starts at $29/month and Sage 50 at $29/month.
Does Recurly or Sage 50 run on more platforms?
Recurly runs on Web, Api. Sage 50 runs on Windows.
What is Recurly best used for?
Recurly is most often used for subscription billing and recurring invoicing, dunning and failed payment recovery, trials, plan changes and promotions, revenue recognition through the revrec add-on. Of those, subscription billing and recurring invoicing and dunning and failed payment recovery are not what Sage 50 is typically brought in for.
What can Recurly do that Sage 50 cannot?
Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics. Sage 50 covers General ledger, Invoicing, Inventory management, Job costing.
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