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Software · head to head

Recurly vs Spendesk

Recurly logo

Recurly

Software

The subscription management platform built for growth

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Spendesk logo

Spendesk

Software

Smart spend management for modern teams

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; Spendesk no publicly available pricing, requires custom quote
  • They diverge on capability: Recurly covers Subscription billing, Spendesk covers Company cards.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Recurly and Spendesk actually diverge.

Attributes where Recurly and Spendesk differ
AttributeRecurlySpendesk
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Mobile iOS, Mobile Android
Founded20092016

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 Spendesk

  • Company cards
  • Expense management
  • Invoice payments
  • Budget management
  • Spend analytics
  • Xero
  • Sage
  • NetSuite

Both cover

  • SOC 2
  • PCI DSS
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Recurly

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

Spendesk

  • Expense managementnot Recurly
  • Spend controlnot Recurly
  • Finance automationnot 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

Spendesk

  • No publicly available pricing, requires custom quote
  • Strong European presence but limited in some non-EU markets
  • High implementation costs due to extensive integration requirements

Pricing, plan by plan

Recurly

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

Spendesk

$29/month
  • EssentialsFree
    • Virtual cards
    • Expense tracking
    • Approvals

Which should you pick?

Choose Recurly if

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

Choose Spendesk if

  • You need company cards.
  • You work on Web, Mobile iOS, Mobile Android.
  • You also want expense management.
Spendesk review

Questions people ask

Is Recurly or Spendesk better?
Neither clearly leads. Recurly starts at $29/month and Spendesk at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Recurly or Spendesk?
Recurly starts at $29/month and Spendesk at $29/month.
Does Recurly or Spendesk run on more platforms?
Recurly runs on Web, Api. Spendesk runs on Web, Mobile iOS, Mobile Android.
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 Spendesk is typically brought in for.
What can Recurly do that Spendesk cannot?
Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics. Spendesk covers Company cards, Expense management, Invoice payments, Budget management. Both handle SOC 2, PCI DSS, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Spendesk: What is included in Spendesk's platform?

Spendesk combines corporate cards, a mobile receipts app, approval workflows, automated reconciliation, accounts payable, procurement, and spend controls into one platform.

Source
Spendesk: How does Spendesk handle expense receipts?

Spendesk captures receipts via mobile photo upload with OCR technology, automatically matching receipts to transactions and generating automated expense reports with 98% of expense receipts collected on time.

Source
Spendesk: What integrations does Spendesk offer?

Spendesk integrates with accounting software including Sage, Xero, NetSuite, and SAP, plus HR systems and tools like Slack for comprehensive spend management.

Source
Spendesk: Is Spendesk profitable?

Yes. Spendesk became the first spend management platform to reach profitability in 2025, processing over £10 billion in spend across 35+ countries.

Source
Spendesk: What is Spendesk's valuation?

Spendesk is a unicorn company with a valuation of $1.5 billion, with 2025 revenue of $52 million ARR.

Source
Spendesk: How much time can Spendesk save on bookkeeping?

Organizations using Spendesk save an average of 4 days per month on bookkeeping, equivalent to over 380 hours per year returned to the business.

Source
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Related pages

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