Subscription billing infrastructure that is free until you hit $250K in processed revenue
Chargebee is a subscription billing and revenue management platform sat on top of Stripe, Braintree, Adyen, GoCardless and 30+ other gateways. We picked it because once your pricing model goes beyond flat monthly seats (usage tiers, hybrid plans, dunning, multi-currency tax), Stripe Billing alone starts to bleed engineering hours, and Chargebee absorbs that complexity without you having to rebuild billing from scratch.
You connect a payment gateway (or several), define product catalogues with pricing models (flat fee, per-unit, tiered, volume, stairstep, usage-based), and Chargebee handles the subscription lifecycle: trials, upgrades, prorations, coupons, taxes, dunning and revenue recognition. Hosted checkout pages, a customer self-service portal and a Salesforce/HubSpot/NetSuite sync layer ship out of the box.
The Startup programme (Launch plan) gives free access until $1M in cumulative billing, including most core features, which is why it shows up on every YC and Techstars perks list.
Launch is free up to $1M total billings. Performance kicks in around $599/month and includes 0.75% over $100k MTR (monthly recurring revenue). Enterprise is custom and adds advanced revenue recognition, custom roles, multi-entity and dedicated success. Card processing fees are charged separately by your gateway (Stripe at 2.9% + 30c card-present, similar elsewhere). The honest cost line is: Chargebee fee + gateway fee, not just the headline.
| Tool | Strength | Weakness vs Chargebee |
|---|---|---|
| Chargebee | Gateway-agnostic, deep subscription logic | — |
| Stripe Billing | Native to Stripe, lower friction | Locks you to Stripe, less flexible for hybrid pricing |
| Recurly | Similar feature set | Pricier at scale, smaller ecosystem |
| Paddle/Lemon Squeezy | Merchant of record (handles tax) | Higher take rate, less control over checkout |
Buy if you run a subscription product crossing the $250k ARR mark, you have or will have multiple pricing models, and you want to keep your gateway choice open as you grow. The Startup programme makes the entry decision easy.
Skip if you sell one-off transactions, you are happy on Stripe Billing for simple flat plans, or you want a merchant-of-record model where the vendor handles global sales tax for you (use Paddle).
Apply through the verified link to get free billing up to $1M cumulative revenue. We re-check the offer monthly.
Early-stage SaaS founders need invoicing, subscription management, and revenue recognition from day one but lack budget for billing software. Chargebee for Startups provides production-grade billing—tax compliance, dunning, proration—free until hitting $1M ARR, letting founders focus on product-market fit.
Marketplaces and platforms handle complex split billing, vendor payouts, and per-transaction revenue sharing. Chargebee's API and webhook system automate payout logic and reconciliation without custom billing infrastructure, staying free through early scaling phases.
Agencies bill recurring retainers, project fees, and usage-based add-ons across multiple clients. Chargebee for Startups handles invoice generation, payment reminders, and tax compliance for service-based recurring revenue, freeing finance time until the agency scales past $1M ARR.
Quarterly access to product leadership.
Bonus credits redeemable on partner tooling.
We re-verify the offer every quarter so it never goes stale.
Hit the button on this page — opens the partner site in a new tab.
Check your investor or accelerator benefits portal for the Chargebee for Startups partner code. Y Combinator, Sequoia, and most Tier 1 VCs have codes available.
Renewals stay at the same rate — verified by us, not the vendor.
| Feature | Chargebee for Startups |
|---|---|
| Free trial | 14 days |
| Cheapest paid plan | $0/mo |
| Annual discount | Up to 25% |
| Refund window | 30 days |
| Setup time | < 1 hour |
| Best for | Founders |
“Best subscription billing for SaaS that wants to grow without billing headaches”
“Handles complex billing scenarios that Stripe alone cannot”
“Free until $250K in billing made this a no-brainer for us”
1 free transaction for new accounts
Free Business Account
Verified offer
Verified offer
$30 signup discount for new users
Verified offer
Free Basic plan + partner onboarding
Free payment terminal + flat 0.99% rate via partner link
