Recurly Technology Intelligence

What is Recurly?

Recurly is an enterprise subscription management and billing platform. Built specifically for subscription businesses, Recurly handles complex billing scenarios, revenue recovery, and subscriber lifecycle management.

Used by major subscription companies in media, SaaS, and consumer goods, Recurly provides the infrastructure for high-volume recurring billing.

Key Features

Billing Engine

• Subscriptions: Complex plans
• Usage: Metered billing
• Add-ons: Flexible pricing
• Trials: Free periods

Revenue Recovery

• Dunning: ML-powered retry
• Card updater: Automatic updates
• Backup payments: Fallback methods

Enterprise Features

• Multi-gateway: Route intelligently
• Currencies: Global support
• Tax: Compliance ready

Use Cases

Streaming Services

Media companies manage millions of subscribers. High-volume billing with sophisticated churn prevention.

SaaS Platforms

Enterprise software handles complex pricing. Usage-based billing combined with seat licensing.

Subscription Boxes

Consumer subscription companies manage physical product subscriptions. Pause, skip, and gift features.

Digital Publishers

News and content sites handle digital subscriptions. Paywall integration and access management.

Code Examples

Create Subscription

const recurly = require('recurly');
const client = new recurly.Client('API_KEY');

const subscription = await client.createSubscription({
    planCode: 'premium',
    account: {
        code: 'user_123',
        email: '[email protected]'
    },
    billingInfo: {
        tokenId: 'CARD_TOKEN'
    }
});

Hosted Payment Page

<!-- Recurly.js -->
<script src="https://js.recurly.com/v4/recurly.js"></script>
<form id="payment-form">
    <div data-recurly="card"></div>
    <button type="submit">Subscribe</button>
</form>

Webhook Handler

app.post('/recurly/webhook', (req, res) => {
    const notification = recurly.parseNotification(req.body);
    if (notification.type === 'new_subscription_notification') {
        activateSubscription(notification.subscription);
    }
    res.sendStatus(200);
});

Comparison

vs Chargebee

• Enterprise: Recurly stronger
• SMB: Chargebee better fit
• Recovery: Recurly ML-powered

vs Stripe Billing

• Dunning: Recurly superior
• Gateway: Recurly multi-gateway
• Native: Stripe simpler

Strengths

• Enterprise-grade platform
• ML revenue recovery
• Multi-gateway routing
• High-volume capability