Shopify Recurring Payments: How Subscriptions Work (2026)
Recurring payments on Shopify run only through a subscription app. Checkout, the customer account and the admin all understand subscriptions, but the subscription plan itself (frequency, discount, skip and cancel rules) comes from an app: Shopify’s own free Shopify Subscriptions or a third-party app from the App Store. The card is stored by Shopify, and the recurring charge goes through one of five supported payment gateways.
Shopify facts come from the Shopify Help Center on subscriptions; app prices from each app’s App Store listing on October 21, 2026, and ratings re-read on October 31, 2026.
What you need
- A supported payment gateway. Third-party subscription apps work only with Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Authorize.net, Adyen or Stripe, depending on your region and the gateway’s terms. Stripe is available only to select merchants, and Adyen only to organizations already approved by Adyen.
- A subscription app that creates the selling plans on your products: Shopify Subscriptions (free) or a third-party app.
- Recurring-billable payment methods. Local, manual and other non-card methods may not be offered for subscription products.
With Shopify Payments, cards are updated automatically when a customer gets a new one (widely supported in the US, varying elsewhere), and customers can pay with Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal. Apple Pay on subscriptions is limited to Visa and Mastercard. With PayPal Express and no Shopify Payments, third-party transaction fees apply. With Authorize.net, PayPal is the only wallet; Apple Pay and Google Pay are not supported.
How a recurring payment runs
- The customer picks a purchase option such as “every 2 weeks” on the product page. Checkout shows the delivery frequency under the item and the recurring total.
- Checkout always shows a subscription disclosure that the customer agrees to. It cannot be removed on any plan; on Shopify Plus you can edit all of its wording, on other plans only the cancellation text and instructions.
- Shopify stores the card. You never see the full card number.
- Each renewal is billed the day after the subscription is due, at 10:00 in your store’s time zone.
- The first delivery uses the shipping method the customer chose. Later deliveries use the cheapest available method, and each recurring shipment is billed and fulfilled separately.
Rules and limits to know before you launch
| Topic | What Shopify does |
|---|---|
| Sales channels | Subscriptions sell on the online store, Shopify POS, Shop and custom storefronts only |
| Draft orders | Can hold recurring and prepaid subscriptions, completed by invoice or checkout link (paying by card or marking as paid listed as coming soon) |
| Automatic discounts | Apply to every subscription order |
| Gift cards | Count toward the first payment only |
| Bundles | Not compatible with the Shopify Subscriptions app |
| Order editing API | Does not support subscriptions |
| Reports | Every sales report can be split by purchase option (subscription or one-time) |
| Uninstalling a third-party app | App data is deleted after 48 hours; subscription contracts and customer payment details stay with Shopify |
When you switch apps, contracts and stored cards remain in Shopify, so a move between apps does not mean asking every subscriber for their card again. Shopify Subscriptions also lists “transfer of existing subscription contracts” as a feature.
Six subscription apps compared
| App | Price from | Transaction fee | App Store rating | Built for Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Subscriptions | Free | none listed | 3.8 (883 reviews) | No |
| Appstle Subscriptions | Free up to $500/month in subscription revenue | 0% on paid plans | 5.0 (9,160) | Yes |
| Seal Subscriptions | Free up to 50 subscriptions | 0% on every plan | 4.9 (3,161) | Yes |
| Loop Subscriptions | Free up to 50 active subscriptions | 1.0% on Starter ($99/month) | 5.0 (802) | No |
| Recharge | $25/month (no fees for the first 50 subscribers) | 1.49% + 19¢ on Starter ($99/month) | 4.8 (3,149) | No |
| Skio, a Recharge company | $599/month | 1% + 20¢ | 5.0 (246) | No |
Shopify Subscriptions
Free, made by Shopify, launched January 2024. Weekly, monthly or yearly plans with discounts; customers can skip, pause or cancel; editable email templates; reporting; contract transfer. Its rating (3.8) is the lowest here, and it does not work with bundles. It suits a simple “subscribe and save” on a few products.
Appstle Subscriptions
The most-reviewed app in the category (5.0 from 9,160). Plans are priced by monthly subscription revenue: Free up to $500, Starter $10/month up to $5,000, Business $30 up to $15,000, Business Premium $100 up to $100,000, all with 0% transaction fees and a 14-day trial. It has build-a-box and trial subscriptions, tiered discounts and a customer portal, and its revenue-based tiers keep it cheap while subscription revenue is small.
Seal Subscriptions
Priced by number of subscriptions: Free up to 50, $5.95/month up to 100, $9.95 up to 250, $24.95 up to 500, with larger plans on request and 0% fees throughout. It offers classic and prepaid subscriptions, boxes, tiered discounts and “magic links” that let customers open their subscription without a password, and for a few hundred subscribers it has the lowest fixed price in this list.
Loop Subscriptions
Free up to 50 active subscriptions, then Starter $99/month + 1.0% and Pro $399/month + 0.75%. Its features center on retention (cancellation flows, payment recovery, automations, build-a-box), which suits brands whose main revenue is subscriptions.
Recharge
On Shopify since 2014 with 3,149 reviews. A $25/month plan with no transaction fees for the first 50 subscribers, Starter $99/month + 1.49% + 19¢ (60-day trial), Plus $499/month + 1.34% + 19¢. Customer portal, churn prevention, bundles, loyalty, retention analytics and the widest list of integrations (Klaviyo, Gorgias, Attentive, Triple Whale and others).
Skio
Skio is now “a Recharge company”. Its Scale plan costs $599/month + 1% + 20¢ and includes a passwordless portal, lifecycle journeys, multi-step cancel flows and build-a-box, a price aimed at brands that already run large subscription programs.
How to choose
- Check how each app counts. Under 50 subscriptions, Seal and Loop are free; under $500 a month in subscription revenue, so is Appstle.
- Work out the fee at your volume. A 1% fee on $20,000 a month of renewals is $200 a month on top of the plan; Appstle and Seal charge 0%.
- Check the gateway first. If you cannot use Shopify Payments, confirm that PayPal Express, Authorize.net, Adyen or Stripe is available to you before choosing an app.
- Need bundles or build-a-box? Shopify Subscriptions does not support bundles; Appstle, Seal, Loop, Recharge and Skio list boxes or bundles.
- Plan the exit. Contracts and cards stay in Shopify when you uninstall an app, but the app’s own data is deleted after 48 hours. Export what you need first.
The payment side of subscriptions, including why Shopify Payments is the simplest gateway for them, is in Shopify Payments, and the numbers to watch once subscribers renew are in loyalty and retention metrics. Other operations guides are in the running a store hub.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify have recurring payments built in? Shopify’s checkout, card storage, customer accounts and reports handle subscriptions. The subscription plans come from an app, and Shopify’s own app, Shopify Subscriptions, is free.
Which payment gateways support Shopify subscriptions? Shopify Payments, PayPal Express, Authorize.net, Adyen and Stripe, subject to region and the gateway’s terms. Stripe is limited to select merchants.
When are subscribers charged? Subscribers are charged the day after the subscription is due, at 10:00 in your store’s local time.
Can I sell subscriptions in my physical shop? Yes. Shopify POS is one of the supported channels, together with the online store, Shop and custom storefronts.
Can I charge for services or memberships, not products? Subscriptions attach to products in Shopify, so a membership is sold as a product with a recurring purchase option. Check that your app supports the delivery and fulfillment setup you need for non-shipping items.