13 Best Shopify Subscription Apps for your online store

Managing an online business can be challenging and acquiring new customers often involves high costs, making it more cost-effective to concentrate on retaining your existing customer base.

One effective strategy for achieving this is by introducing a Shopify apps subscription service that offers a substantial boost to customer retention and long-term value to your business. They provide convenience and flexibility for both business owners and customers by automating recurring payments.

In this article, we will delve into the Top 13 Must-Have Shopify Apps Subscription, helping you establish a dependable source of recurring revenue and enhance your customers' lifetime value.

What Is A Shopify Subscription App?

A Shopify subscription app is a tool that Shopify store owners can use to offer products or services on a subscription basis. With these apps, you can manage subscriptions, handle billing, and process payments.

In e-commerce, a subscription business model means that customers pay a fee to use a product or service. This fee, which can be monthly or yearly, allows customers to keep accessing the product or service.

For example, think of paying a monthly or yearly fee for services like Netflix or Disney+ for streaming content, or a monthly fee for e-commerce newsletters or consulting services.

Types of Shopify Subscription App

There are different types of subscription-based business models you can think about for your business. These include:

1. Service Subscription

This is when you offer a service, like website hosting (like WordPress.com) or email marketing (like MailChimp) on a subscription basis. People can subscribe for a certain period, usually paying based on how much they use the service. The price can be flexible depending on what features they need and how long they want to subscribe.

2. Subscription Box

With this model, people subscribe to receive products regularly. For example, they might get a subscription for meal plans, skincare products, coffee deliveries, and more.

3. Digital Content Subscription

Big companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify use this model. They offer exclusive digital content, like movies and music, that you can only access if you subscribe. This makes subscribers feel special and valued.

4. Other Types of Subscriptions

Any business can use subscriptions. It could be a membership where special members get discounts or offer regular customers don't, or a subscription-and-save model where customers get discounts by signing up for a subscription.

Why you should try Shopify Subscription App

Increasing sales is a big challenge for online businesses. If you have an online store on platforms like Shopify, it can be a good way to boost your sales. Subscription models, where customers pay regularly for your products, are becoming popular in online business. Subscription apps can help you with this. If you're new to online business or subscriptions, we can explain.

There are several benefits when using a subscription app for your online store:

• Customers can pay less for products if they subscribe regularly.
• It makes it easy for customers to pay and sign up for subscriptions.
• You can make subscriptions that fit your needs and make your customers happy.
• You can control and change all the payments, subscription details, and when things are delivered.

The Shopify App Store has many subscription apps that you can use with your Shopify checkout. You can also manage your subscriptions from the Shopify Admin. You can see what products your customers bought and how often they get them.

And here's more good news: if you have a Shopify plan or a higher one, you can see subscription information in some special reports, not just the regular sales reports.

Top 13 Shopify Subscription apps

When you're all set to start a subscription program for your Shopify store, numerous apps can help you set up and track how well it's doing.

We've compiled a list of the top subscription apps on the Shopify App Store and provided a direct link to each app. Choose the one that suits your brand and budget the most.

1. Appstle℠ Subscriptions App

Appstle℠ Subscriptions App is effective tools for managing subscriptions, loyalty perks, streamlined one-click checkout, strategies for reducing customer churn, customizable product bundles, and additional capabilities.

Highlight Features

• Market regular and prepaid subscriptions, including free trials and customizable "Build a Box" options.
• Provide tiered discounts, personalized shipping, and loyalty perks like gifts.
• Introduce a feature-rich customer portal featuring convenient one-click login and rapid action links.
• Enhance conversion rates using the 'Appstle Menu': a shopper-centric menu template.
• Boost ROI through strategic upselling, bundling, automated bulk processes, retention tools, and additional strategies.

Pricing Plans

• Free plan available with 10-day free trial.
• Additional charges may apply.

Rating: 4.9/5

2. Seal Subscriptions App

Seal Subscriptions app completely controls your subscribers, products, discounts, churn rate, subscription boxes, and cancellations.

Highlight feature

• Market both traditional and prepaid subscriptions, featuring discounts, free trials, and additional perks.
• Provide tiered discounts, personalized shipping, gift options, and loyalty incentives.
• Enable customer access to subscriptions effortlessly via secure and convenient magic links.
• Gain valuable business insights through comprehensive statistics, payment calendars, and more.
• Implement white-label branding, including custom email domains, for a personalized touch.

Pricing Plans

• Free to install
• Starter: $10/month
• Business: $30/month
• Business Premium: $100/month

Rating: 4.9/5

3. Skio Subscriptions (YC S20)

Skio stands out as a premium subscription application, positioning itself at a relatively higher price point compared to other offerings in the market.

Yet, it doesn't just emulate ReCharge; it goes beyond to elevate and refine features, significantly improving the user and customer experience. This distinction makes Skio an attractive option, particularly for those seeking an alternative to ReCharge.

One notable aspect of Skio is its ability to automatically generate customer accounts with each subscription order. This feature enables customers to log in seamlessly without the need for a password, enhancing the user journey and convenience.

Highlight Features

• Collaborate with teams at Shopify, Recharge, Klaviyo, Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
• Effortlessly transition to the native 1-click Shopify Checkout from alternative platforms.
• Minimize customer support tickets through secure, passwordless login options.
• Gain comprehensive revenue insights through the Skio Data Platform.
• Mitigate churn by implementing a conditional cancellation flow

Pricing Plans:

• Dog Plan: $499/month

Rating: 5.0/5.0

4. Ongoing Subscriptions

Besides the convenience, one big reason people like subscribing is the money they save.

Ongoing Subscriptions help store owners offer these savings in different ways—like a fixed price, a certain amount less, or a percentage off. When customers see those savings, they're more likely to subscribe.

Adding it to your store is easy and can be done with a single click. Then, you can let customers set up regular payments or pay ahead for subscriptions using a widget that matches your store's style.

Highlight Feature

• Quickly craft a subscription product within minutes, offering discounted incentives.
• Offer "Build a Box" functionality allowing customers to mix and match products, promoting bundled savings.
• Enable automatic, regular billing for recurring subscriptions.
• Automatically arrange subscription orders that seamlessly integrate into your Shopify order system.
• Implement tools for recapturing failed payments, including a set of automated billing emails.

Pricing Plans

• Pro: $99/Month
• Enterprise: $499/Month

Rating: 5.0/5

5. Loop Subscription

This Lopp subscription app streamlines recurring order payments, automating the process for a hassle-free experience. It offers extensive customization options with input from the DTC community, featuring over 200 widget designs. Gamification elements, automation of discounts and rewards, and engaging features like video content and exit surveys make it a comprehensive tool for managing Shopify subscriptions.

Highlight Features

• Enhance the subscription experience with a self-service, mobile-centric customer portal.
• Utilize a no-code platform for crafting personalized and engaging subscriber journeys.
• Quickly establish preset bundles and subscription boxes through our intuitive bundle builder.
• Access comprehensive retention tools including exit surveys, discounts, and reactivation strategies.
• Employ an integrated smart dunning system to minimize revenue loss effectively.

Pring Plans

• Free plan available with 14-Day free trial.
• Growth: $99/Month
• Enterprise: $399/Month

Rating: 5.0/5

6. Smartrr Subscriptions

Let's begin by introducing an efficient solution in your quest for the finest subscription app tailored for Shopify: Smartrr.

Smartrr stands out as a successful customer account portal by offering clear steps, comprehensive subscription management capabilities, and user-friendly features. Additionally, it provides various subscription models aimed at enhancing your business's lifetime value.

Utilizing Smartrr is practical for fostering a strong relationship between your brand and customers. If acquiring and organizing subscriptions is one of your objectives, Smartrr allows you to commence acquisition and organization immediately.

Key Features

• Establish customized subscription plans effortlessly with pre-designed solutions.
• Enhance customer lifetime value (LTV) by optimizing through an improved customer account portal.
• Craft personalized customer experiences using our unique Bundle Builder tool.
• Implement a built-in loyalty program within the customer account portal to reward customers.
• Collaborate with a dedicated customer success manager for assistance in migrations and setup processes.

Pricing Plan

• Launch: $99/month
• Growth: $299/month
• Exel starting at: $499/month

Rating: 5/5.0

7. Native Subscriptions

Native Subscriptions app lets you design a subscription box with discounted frequency choices. You can set up a prepaid or pay-as-you-go subscription and assemble a box to boost your recurring income. You'll have complete authority over your subscribers, customer portal, shipping preferences, product swaps, discounts, anchor dates, dunning management, and email notifications to launch your subscription adventure.

Highlight Features

• Offer discounted prepaid subscriptions and pay-as-you-go options for flexibility.
• Increase your average order value by selling "Build a Box" bundles.
• Implement automatic recurring billing, charging customers at regular intervals.
• Mitigate subscription revenue loss from card failures through effective dunning management.
• Compatible with Shopify Payments, Paypal Express, Stripe, and Authorize.net for versatile payment support.

Pricing Plans

• Free plan available with 7-day free trial.
• Basic: $24/month
• Standard: $49/month
• Premium: $99/month

Rating: 4.9/5

8. Subscriptions by BSS

BSS Subscriptions is a complete subscription tool that helps businesses send products to customers every month. This makes customers stick around longer and brings in more money. With this app, you can sell products in different ways like paying for each delivery or paying ahead with discounts, and more. You can also keep an eye on how your subscriptions are doing on the app's dashboard, like how much money you're making and the average order value. Customers can also manage their subscriptions on your online store's subscription page.

Highlight Features

• Automated Recurring Payments: Automatically billed for recurring orders without manual intervention.
• Diverse Subscription Options: Enable customers to select from various plans that suit their needs.
• Subscription Management: Empower customers to oversee and control subscriptions through their accounts.
• Analyze Subscription Metrics: Visualize subscription data for in-depth performance analysis.
• Subscription Usage Alerts: Keep customers informed about their subscription usage through email notifications.

Pricing Plan

• You can use free
• Starter Plan: $5/Month
• Pro Plan: $10/Month
• Advanced Plan: $20/Month

Rating: 4.9/5

9. RecurrinGO! Subscriptions App

RecurrinGO! is a subscription app that makes setting up and handling subscriptions simple. You can make more money with subscriptions by automatically charging customers or sending regular bills. It's also a way to get customers to buy more by letting them pick both one-time and subscription products. You can set up the subscriptions how you like, like how often they get stuff, and even give discounts or leave messages for customers. Plus, it works smoothly with Shopify Checkout to make shopping easy.

Highlight Features

• Automate billing and generate recurring invoices for revenue growth.
• Offer flexible discount options for pay-per-delivery and prepaid subscription models.
• Utilize an intuitive customer portal aimed at retaining and engaging subscribers effectively.
• Employ analytics to glean insights from subscription rules and customer sign-ups.
• Manage cancellations and dunning processes to minimize subscriber turnover.

Pricing Plans

• You have a free plan available with 14-day free trial.
• Starter: Free To Install
• Basic: $9/month
• Plus: $29/month
• Pro: $99/month

Rating: 4.8/5

10. PayWhirl Subscription Payments

PayWhirl makes it easy to handle subscriptions and payments for your business. It works smoothly with Shopify checkout to give your customers a good experience, and it has a lot of different designs to pick from.

Highlight Features

• Automate billing and generate recurring invoices for revenue growth.
• Offer flexible discount options for pay-per-delivery and prepaid subscription models.
• Utilize an intuitive customer portal aimed at retaining and engaging subscribers effectively.
• Employ analytics to glean insights from subscription rules and customer sign-ups.
• Manage cancellations and dunning processes to minimize subscriber turnover.

Pricing Plans

• Free to install
• Pro: $9/month
• Traction: $29/month
• Scale: $149/month
• Starts at $249 per month and there's also a 0.5% transaction fee.

Rating: 4.6/5

11. Recharge Subscriptions

This Recharge subscription app lets you quickly put 'subscribe and save' features on your store. Even big subscription brands like Bokksu and Who Gives a Crap use it.

Recharge's comprehensive platform offers various strategies for maximizing customer lifetime value (LTV), including subscriptions, loyalty programs, customizable product bundles, and personalized customer journeys through Flows. This all-in-one approach helps businesses boost revenue and cultivate lasting customer relationships.

Highlight Features

• Customer Portal Customization - Tailor the look and feel of your store's customer portal to your preferences
• Tailored Journeys - Customize and personalize the path your customers take for a unique experience.
• Powerful and Adaptable API - Modify your subscription experience to suit your needs with a strong and flexible API.
• Curated or Customized Bundles - Offer pre-selected product packages or empower shoppers to create their own bundles.
• Streamlined Checkout - Ensure a unified checkout process regardless of the cart contents for a seamless shopping experience

Pricing Plans

• Standard: $99/month
• Pro: $499/month

Rating: 4.5/5

12. SubBox: Subscription

Meet SubBox is a strong subscription app that makes adding subscriptions to your business easy. SubBox makes it simple to make and handle subscriptions and makes shopping easy. No matter if you want to sell refills, subscription boxes, or memberships, SubBox can help you change customers who only shop once into customers who shop with you for a long time.

Highlight Features

• Provide diverse subscription options: Pay as you use, Prepaid, and Auto-Renewing Prepaid.
• Automatically generate orders and handle hassle-free prepaid and recurring payments.
• Exercise full control managing subscribers and their subscriptions while enabling adjustments as needed.
• Tailor the appearance of the 'Subscribe & Save' widget on your storefront to align with your brand.
• Implement a self-managed Customer Portal, utilize the native Shopify Checkout, and automate email notifications.

Pricing Plans

• You can use free plan available with 30-day free trial.
• Basic: $5/month

Rating: 4.5/5

13. Bold Subscriptions

Bold Subscriptions is a great choice if you want to offer subscription services for custom products or regular deliveries.

You can start using Bold Subscriptions quickly, and if you have subscribers on another platform, you can quickly move them over. When you install the app, it adjusts to your store's look, making your product pages better.

You can use their tools to make your subscription service work just the way you like. For example, you could set it up for people to order through text messages or smart devices.

Highlight Features

• Activate subscriptions swiftly with essential features readily accessible.
• Incorporate Passwordless login to streamline support and enhance the customer experience.
• Access powerful tools to craft a tailored subscription experience of your choice.
• Effortlessly manage cancellations and handle automatic dunning to maintain subscriber retention.
• Facilitating SAME DAY migrations from and to other subscription apps on Shopify for a hassle-free transition.

Pring Plans

• You can use 60-day free trial
• Core: $49.99/months

Rating: 4.2/5

How to choose the best Shopify subscription app for your specific business needs?"

We evaluated the listed apps using five key criteria. You can use these factors as a guide to assess each app and select the best fit for your business needs.

• User-Friendliness & Integrations: Finding an app that's easy to use and smoothly integrates with your existing Shopify store is essential. Apps offering various integrations, like email and bookkeeping, can save you significant time.
• Customization Capabilities: Your brand's uniqueness calls for a subscription app that allows customization of subscription offerings. Look for one offering control over product options and shipment frequency, enabling personalized experiences.
• Customer Support: A subscription app with robust customer support is vital. Seek one providing quick responses, useful resources, and a supportive team available when needed.
• Pricing: Affordability is crucial. Opt for an app that aligns with your budget while delivering the necessary features for a successful subscription program.
• Reviews and Ratings: Evaluating reviews and ratings from fellow Shopify merchants who've used the app can provide valuable insights. High ratings and positive feedback often signal a quality product.

Others also read: 

• How to Cancel Your Shopify Account and Get a Refund
• 25 Best Shopify Apps to Increase Sales Fast
• 30 Must Have Shopify Apps for Every Store
• Shopify Starter Plan Review: Features, Price, Pros & Cons

FAQS

Is Shopify Good For Subscription?
Yes, Shopify is a popular and versatile e-commerce platform that can work well for setting up and managing subscription-based businesses. With the right subscription app, you can offer and manage subscriptions effectively on Shopify.

Give some tips to choose the Best Shopify Subscription App?
When selecting a Shopify subscription app, consider factors like ease of use, the range of subscription features it offers (e.g., recurring billing, customization, and analytics), integration with other Shopify apps, customer support, and pricing.

What are the top subscription apps available for Shopify?
Well, you have some great options to choose from. Recharge, Bold Subscriptions, and Subscriptions by ReBill are among the best subscription apps for Shopify. With their features, you can efficiently manage and expand your subscription-based business on the Shopify platform.

Conclusion

After reading this article with Top 13 Best Shopify Subscription Apps to boost sales, you can easily run a program that boosts your monthly earnings and average order values. Subscriptions attract loyal customers who value the convenience of receiving essential items or curated products regularly.

While one-time purchases are excellent, setting up a stream of recurring income can be like finding a treasure trove that supports the growth of your brand.