An effective subscription platform helps you successfully sell online subscriptions through various means. Whether you’re offering digital courses or services, selling subscriptions to your audience can help you earn a consistent monthly income while maintaining an increasing customer lifetime value.
Having spent over five years successfully selling subscription services for my online courses, I have tested and experienced most subscription-based platforms, and in today’s blog post, I will be sharing with you the best Eleven Subscription Platforms that can help you establish your online services with consistent recurring revenue.
But first, let’s understand the subscription eCommerce platforms.
What are the Subscription Platforms for Creators?
A subscription-based eCommerce platform allows sellers to sell their services online and receive monthly, quarterly, or yearly recurring payments on customer subscriptions.
This subscription model helps the seller get continuous and recurring income by providing recurring billing methods for products that need to be renewed/replaced over time. Mostly, these subscriptions host your content and site, but some don’t.
Though this model is unsuitable for physical products, it is useful for businesses offering buyers services or access to their courses.
Let’s get started.
11 Best Subscription Platforms for Creators
- Subbly
- SamCart
- Podia
- FastSpring
- Sellfy
- Younium
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
- LearnWorlds
- Teachable
- Recurly
Some platforms provide a complete solution to all your needs as a seller, while others provide only a subscription tool that converts your site to an eCommerce website, such as SamCart.
#1. Subbly
Kicking off our list is Subbly, the most popular subscription management software. One of the best subscription eCommerce platforms for your digital products and services, it was founded in 2019 by Matt Cooper and Mike Smith to help entrepreneurs sell subscriptions.
Subbly, headquartered in San Francisco, California, boasts over 100,000 creators and businesses on its platform, with over 100 million USD processed in sales.
The platform offers an all-in-one solution for your subscription-based online needs as a seller. It helps you set up your business quickly and get the income coming in consistently without requiring any other third-party services or plugins.
Subbly has a modern, easy-to-use interface that allows you to create an online store, manage subscriptions, and handle customer relationship issues, requiring no technical skills or coding knowledge.
It also provides an in-depth document and knowledge base with video tutorials to understand the platform and issues, a graphical page builder that you can use to create stunning store and checkout pages, and a few integrations you may need to manage your business, including Twilio, Drip, Google Analytics, Pirate Ship, etc.
To round it off, it also provides Zapier support, so you can add over 4,000 apps with Subbly.
Subbly Pros
- Easy-to-use platform
- Useful knowledge base and tutorials
- Great customer service
Subbly Cons
- Automation is only available in premium plans
- Limited integration
Subbly Pricing
Subbly has four pricing plans:
- Lite: 19 USD per month.
- Basic: 39 USD per month.
- Subbly: 79 USD per month.
- Advanced: 159 USD per month.
#2. SamCart
Founded by Brian Dean and Chris Moeller in 2015, SamCart is the most popular shopping cart software. It allows you to sell digital and physical products and manage your subscription with its headquarters in San Diego, California.
If you have an existing online business or website and are looking for a standalone subscription management platform, SamCart is your best option.
You can easily integrate SamCart with your existing site.
I seriously considered using SamCart to sell my digital products and subscription services but could not as, at that time, Stripe services were unavailable in Kuwait.
SamCart lets you create convertible checkout pages and add conversion-focused elements such as testimonials, guarantee boxes, safety seals, etc.
You can even upsell, downsell, cross-sell your products and run AB testing for your checkout pages to select the best-performing page.
SamCart has a native payment processor called “SamPay” that lets you collect payment from your buyer without using third-party applications such as Stripe or PayPal.
It offers multilingual checkout support, so your buyer can purchase your subscription in their language and currency. You can also send invoices to your customers automatically.
It also provides in-depth reporting to gain insights into your audience and sales and make informed decisions to increase sales—very few subscription platforms offer this feature.
SamCart is used by over 100,000 entrepreneurs globally and processed over 1 billion USD in sales.
SamCart Pros
- Modern interface
- No learning curve
- Easily integrated with WordPress websites
- In-depth knowledge base
SamCart Cons
- No free plan
- Expensive
- Two-day email response in the basic plan
- Custom branding with a basic pan
SamCart Pricing
SamCart has three pricing plans:
- Launch: 59 USD per month; on a yearly plan, you get it at 39 USD.
- Grow: 119 USD per month; on a yearly plan, you get it at 79 USD.
- Scale: 299 USD; on a yearly plan, it reduces to 199 USD.
Read my SamCart review.
#3. Podia
Podia was founded in 2014 by Spencer Fry to help course creators sell their products with minimal effort.
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, it is an online course management platform that lets you sell online courses, digital downloads, membership areas, subscriptions, etc., to your audience.
Podia is simple and can be easily used without any technical skills, allowing you to sell anything— from courses, coaching, and webinars to digital downloads—drip your course content, upsell and presell, and offer discount coupons, bundles, cohort-based courses, etc.
You can also connect to a payment processor and seamlessly collect payments.
Though Podia provides a complete solution to your seller needs, it also allows you to connect to third-party services using Podia third-party integration. You can connect with popular third-party services such as Stripe, Google Analytics, MailChimp, AWeber, Zapier, etc.
Podia Pros
- Easy to use
- Free plan
- Affordable
- In-built email marketing
Podia Cons
- No coding is allowed in lower tiers
- Mediocre reporting
Podia Pricing
Podia has three pricing plans:
- Free: In the free plan, Podia charges an 8% transaction fee, and you can have one coaching and one digital product.
- Mover: 39 USD per month (33 USD with yearly plan), unlimited products, coaching, and no transaction fee. Affiliate management is not allowed in this plan.
- Shaker: 89 USD (75 USD with yearly plan). Affiliate management is allowed.
Podia offers email add-ons that you can buy separately if you’re interested in email marketing.
#4. FastSpring
FastSpring is a payment processing and subscription management platform for businesses of all sizes. Justin Hartz and John Kim founded this platform in 2005, and the company is located in San Francisco, California.
Over 10,000 businesses use FastSpring worldwide, processing over 10 billion USD in payments.
FastSpring is a reliable and robust software that can help you sell your software or services globally—it supports most major currencies, including the dollar, euro, pound, etc.
You can create a beautiful store using the FastSpring template, allowing buyers to buy products using high-performing checkout pages. With FastSpring, you can create branded stores and checkout pages and display offers to your audience based on location.
FastSpring fraud prevention is solid and complies with all regulations.
While it can help you collect taxes globally, it also provides all the necessary integrations to manage your subscription-based business, such as Google Analytics, MailChimp, ConstantContact, etc. Finally, it also provides Zapier support, so you can use thousands of applications.
FastSpring Pros
- Responsible customer support
- Supports major currencies
- Tax collection
FastSpring Cons
- Outdated user interface
FastSpring Pricing
FastSpring does not provide pricing information on its website; you must contact customer care for a quote.
Click here to visit FastSpring
#5. Sellfy
Rob Balaban founded Sellfy in 2011. A user-friendly platform that helps you sell your subscription services, software, or digital products without hassle, Sellfy also assists eCommerce merchants in setting up and launching a new subscription plan almost instantly. It also lets you sell your physical products.
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Sellfy provides you with in-built marketing features that you can use to grow your brand recognition and sales. Its key features include in-built email marketing, site customization, print-on-demand, store embedding, etc.
It also provides integrations with popular third-party services and applications and Zapier support.
Sellfy Pros
- User-friendly platform
- In-built email marketing
Sellfy Cons
- Slow response to customer service
- Sales limit in each pricing plan
Sellfy Pricing
Sellfy has three pricing plans:
- Starter: 29 USD per month.
- Premium: 79 USD per month.
- Business: 159 USD per month.
Sellfy offers discounts on yearly and two-year plans. You can visit their site to learn more about it.
Sellfy is used by over 1 million creators worldwide. The company has processed over 1 billion USD in sales.
#6. Younium
Younium was founded by Martin Kåver, Niclas Lilja, and Per Nordling in 2017 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
Useful for business-to-business (B2B) subscription services, Younium provides robust real-time data analytics that you can use to make decisions and grow your sales.
You won’t need third-party software or services to analyze the data, not even MS Excel.
Younium fulfills your needs for sales CRM, financial systems or ERP, customer support, and service desk systems.
Its key features include robust sales data, audit trail and versioning, sub-ledger, subscription billing, etc.
Finally, it provides all necessary integrations and Zapier support.
Younium Pros
- Automates subscription management
- Robust sales data
Younium Cons
- Expensive
- Confusing error messages
Younium Pricing
Being a B2B service, Younium does not provide its pricing on the website. You must contact customer care to get the demo and quote.
#7. Shopify
Shopify was founded by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake in 2006 and is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.
Shopify is one of the most popular and the best eCommerce platforms. You can use it for anything to sell online—digital products, physical products, software, services, subscriptions, etc. It is perfectly capable of managing your eCommerce business.
Note that Shopify does not provide a native solution for subscriptions. You must integrate with third-party services to use subscription services. Shopify offers many such applications in the Shopify App Store; you can install it and get the subscription features in seconds.
The platform also provides a complete solution to your subscription needs. You can build your website, stores, checkout pages, etc. Don’t know how? Shopify’s got you covered with templates for everything.
Shopify has a unique feature that allows you to sell your products via many channels. You can sell on your store or get the Buy button, embed it on other channels such as social media or other websites, and seamlessly sell your products.
They also provide complete email marketing and ads solutions for Google, Facebook, native payment processors, and customer relationship management.
Shopify boasts over 1 million merchants globally and processed over $497 billion in sales in 2021.
Shopify Pros
- Professional store themes
- Easy to use
- Inbuilt email marketing
- Ads support
Shopify Cons
- Mediocre SEO
- Rigid site builder
- Costly application
- Subscription requires integration
Shopify Pricing
Shopify has three pricing plans:
- Basic: 32 USD per month.
- Shopify: 92 USD per month.
- Advanced: 399 USD per month.
By subscribing to the yearly plan, you get a 25% discount on all plans.
#8. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is another popular name in the eCommerce industry. It is a B2B and B2C platform suitable for large and small business owners.
Founded in 2009 by Mitch Harper, Eddie Machaalani, and Nick Mehta, it provides a robust site builder and many professionally designed themes. You can select any one theme and customize it per your requirements.
BigCommerce provides SEO tools, marketing tools, abandoned cart recovery, and customer segmentation.
Like Shopify, BigCommerce has an embed button feature that allows you to sell your products in your store or on a third-party platform and does not support natively selling subscriptions. You must use third-party apps to do so.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, BigCommerce has over 150,000 merchants in over 150 countries. The company processed over 15 billion USD in sales in 2021.
BigCommerce Pros
- Robust and reliable platform
- Fast website and store
- Robust SEO features
- No transaction fee
BigCommerce Cons
- Sales limit on each plan
- Subscription requires integration
BigCommerce Pricing
BigCommerce has four pricing plans:
- Standard: 39 USD per month; on a yearly plan, you pay 29 USD.
- Plus: 105 USD per month; on a yearly plan, you pay 79 USD.
- Pro: 399 USD per month; on a yearly plan, you pay 299 USD.
- Enterprise: Contact customer care for pricing details.
Click here to visit BigCommerce
#9. LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds, an online course management platform that can help you sell digital products, online courses, and membership sites, was co-founded in 2014 by Panos Siozos and Ilias Siozos. It has its headquarters in Cyprus.
It allows your customers to buy products as a one-time purchase, recurring payment, or in a bundle. You can also sell subscriptions for your membership.
LearnWorlds is a robust platform I use for my online school. As an academician, you can use it to sell your courses. Its quizzes are the most advanced and offer native SCORM support.
It provides a wide range of payment methods for selling your products, such as Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal, etc.
The support team is responsive, and in cases where I messaged them concerning an issue, they responded to me within hours and took care of it.
It also offers Zapier support and provides all necessary integrations.
LearnWorlds Pros
- Responsible support
- Advanced quizzes
- Native SCORM support
LearnWorlds Cons
- No free plan
LearnWorlds Pricing
LearnWorlds has four pricing plans:
- Starter: 29 USD per month.
- Pro Trainer: 99 USD per month.
- Learning Center: 299 USD per month.
- High Volume & Corporate: Contact customer care for pricing details.
On annual plans, you can save 20% on each plan.
Click here to visit LearnWorlds
#10. Teachable
Teachable, previously known as Fedora, was founded in 2014 by Ankur Nagpal. Its headquarters are located in New York City, United States.
Teachable is one of the most popular online course platforms that lets you sell online courses and memberships. It allows you to charge a subscription for a membership or course access.
With an initiative and modern interface, it provides a complete solution to your subscription needs and a website builder to build your website. Teachable also allows you to host your website and content on its platform, offering adequate maintenance and security.
Teachable’s payment processor, “Teachable: Pay,” allows native payment processing to collect payment from your buyers without integrating third-party services like Stripe or PayPal.
It’s also planning to launch its marketplace, where you can sell your course or subscription, with Teachable deducting 30% of your earnings.
It has another great feature called the back office. By enabling this feature, Teachable will collect the taxes on your behalf and submit them to the EU country, making you compliant with EU VAT MOSS.
No other subscription platform offers this feature.
So, if most of your audience is from the EU, this platform is worthy of consideration.
Teachable Pros
- Free plan
- Modern platform
- In-depth analytics
- Native Payment process
- EU VAT MOSS support
- iOS and Android app
Teachable Cons
- Slow support response
- Poor white label feature
Teachable Pricing
Teachable has four pricing plans:
- Free: 10% transaction fee plus 1 USD.
- Basic: 39 USD per month plus a 5% transaction fee.
- Pro: 119 USD per month—no transaction fee in this plan.
- Pro+: 199 USD per month.
Teachable offers a 33% discount on a yearly plan.
#11. Recurly
Dan Burkhart and Isaac Hall founded Recurly in 2009. Its headquarters is located in San Francisco, California, United States.
Recurly is a popular subscription management platform. It provides many features that can help you grow your subscription business.
With Recurly, you can upsell your products and services. In the USA, it provides sixteen payment gateways; for other countries, you can select and see the available payment options.
You can have five types of recurring billing: fixed recurring, quantity-based, usage-based, one-time charge, and hybrid. All billings are automated, including selling, refunding, canceling, etc.
It also helps you collect VAT taxes.
Recurly Pros
- Easy-to-use platform
- Recurly is PCI Level 1 compliant to store credit cards on your behalf
- Access to multiple payment gateways
- Excellent customer support
Recurly Cons
- Slow page loading
- Quicker page timeout
Recurly Pricing
Recurly has three pricing plans. The first plan, “Core,” is free, and the pricing for the other two plans is not given on the site. You must contact customer service for a quote.
Summary
The subscription platform provides consistent income as a monthly fee from your subscribers and helps you grow your business. If you are looking for the best subscription platform, you can choose any platform mentioned in this post, depending on your business model. All platforms mentioned in this post have the capabilities needed to sell subscription products and can be used as eCommerce subscription platforms.
Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase after clicking. Please understand that I recommend these resources because they are useful, not just because of my commissions. Please do not purchase unless you need the materials to achieve your goals. Read the disclaimer.
I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.
