Billsby

Billsby is subscription management software for recurring charges, invoicing and customer account management. It is best suited to startups that need several ways to price subscriptions, including charges based on usage. The range of billing options is a strength, though gateway setup and fees that rise with revenue make plan costs worth weighing carefully.

Overview

Billsby organizes subscriptions into products, plans and billing cycles, giving businesses a way to define what they sell, what it costs and how often customers pay. Pricing can be flat, per unit, volume-based, tiered or ranged, so it can accommodate services where one fixed monthly price would not reflect how customers use the product.

Billsby sits on top of payment gateways rather than processing payments as a gateway itself. Businesses need to account for that separate gateway relationship when setting up billing. It also supports tax automation, multi-currency billing and a customer billing portal.

Key features

Usage billing and customer self-service

Metered allowances, API-based real-time usage updates and manual adjustments give businesses options for billing variable consumption. Automated updates suit services that can report usage through an API; manual adjustments offer a way to correct or enter charges without that connection. Checkout and account-management modals can be added to a website with as little as two lines of code, helping customers handle purchases and account tasks on the business’s site.

Payment recovery and integrations

Failed and declined payments enter dunning flows designed to help resolve payment problems and recover customers. Zapier connections to more than 5,000 applications, accounting integrations, Webex, Billsby Pages and website builders extend the ways businesses can connect billing to their operations and web presence.

Billsby says it complies with EU GDPR, UK GDPR and applicable CCPA obligations. Payment card data is tokenized in the Billsby Vault, powered by Spreedly. Its infrastructure uses Google Cloud, with daily database backups in two regions within the same continent.

Pricing

Billsby has a free plan for setup before launch, with unlimited users, unlimited testing and unlimited time. It is useful for preparing a billing setup before going live; businesses needing a live paid plan can compare Core and Pro.

• Core: $45 a month, billed monthly, plus 0.4% on revenue exceeding $15,000/mo. It allows 5 users, 1 payment gateway and 1 tax region, with unlimited products, plans and cycles, usage billing and QuickBooks integration. Core suits a smaller team with a single gateway and tax region; the caps can constrain businesses with multiple billing operations or broader tax coverage.
• Pro: $135 a month, billed monthly, plus 0.5% on revenue exceeding $30,000/mo. It supports 25 users, unlimited payment gateways and tax regions, ACH processing, advanced reporting and full API access. It is aimed at larger or more complex operations that need those capacities, but costs more monthly and carries a higher revenue percentage above its threshold.
• Custom: bespoke solution with unlimited users and custom pricing, for businesses whose needs call for a tailored arrangement.

Both paid plans combine a monthly fee with a percentage charge above a revenue threshold, so the total cost depends on monthly revenue as well as plan choice. API documentation, email support and live chat support from 04:00–21:00 EST are included among the support options.

Platforms

Billsby supports web and API access. The API is relevant for businesses connecting usage reporting or billing workflows to their own systems; the web platform provides the browser-based route to manage billing.

Who it's for

Billsby is a good fit for startups and growing businesses that need recurring billing with several pricing models, usage charges and customer account management. Core is more appropriate for a small team operating with one gateway and one tax region. Pro is a better match when the business needs more users, gateways or tax regions, ACH processing, advanced reporting or full API access.

It is less suitable for a business seeking a standalone payment gateway, or one whose priority is avoiding a monthly subscription and revenue-based fees. Gateway selection and the combined monthly and percentage charges are central parts of the decision.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Multiple pricing models and usage billing support services whose charges vary with customer consumption.
• Pros: Website checkout and account modals can be added with little code, while dunning flows address failed and declined payments.
• Pros: Core and Pro make the trade-off between a smaller team’s needs and broader gateway, tax, payment and reporting capabilities clear.
• Cons: Billsby depends on separate payment gateways, so it does not provide the whole payment setup by itself.
• Cons: Core is limited to 5 users, 1 gateway and 1 tax region; moving to Pro raises the monthly fee and the revenue percentage.
• Cons: Paid plans add percentage fees above monthly revenue thresholds, which makes costs rise with revenue.

Alternatives

Choose Kill Bill if self-hosting, open-source software and control over infrastructure and data are the priority. Churn Buster is worth considering when recovery analytics or dunning and cancellation flows are the main need; its Measure plan is free, while Dunning or Cancel Flows starts at $269 a month.

FOSSBilling is a free, open-source option for businesses seeking self-hosted billing software. GetPaidHQ offers free self-hosted billing under the MIT license, with fixed, usage-based and hybrid pricing, built-in dunning and invoicing, and support for bringing your own gateway.

Lago is an alternative for businesses that want free, AGPLv3-licensed open-source software deployed on their own infrastructure. Pabbly Subscriptions may suit a business that can work within a free plan capped at 50 customers, or wants a monthly Standard plan starting at 14.00 USD.

Paymenter offers free open-source billing under the MIT license, with a PaaS option at €5 a month. PayWhirl may be a fit for businesses comparing free plans that charge 3% per transaction, in addition to payment gateway processing fees.

For more options, browse Subscription Billing Software and Dunning Management Software.

Verdict

Billsby is best for startups that need flexible recurring and usage-based billing, customer self-service and room to expand their billing setup. Its combination of pricing models, usage tools and dunning is a persuasive reason to choose it; the separate gateway requirement and revenue-linked fees are the main reasons to look elsewhere. Compare the Core limits with your team and tax footprint, and consider Pro only if its additional capacity and features justify the higher monthly and percentage charges.