Best Membership payment processing in USA
Non-sponsored, Expert Verified and Transparently Ranked Membership payment processing in USA
Published: December 27, 2025 | Verified by: Ted Scheiman & Rob Watts
Executive Summary
We analyzed 5 solutions. Top Recommendation: AffiniPay Payment Platform for Associations by AffiniPay scored highest due to Association-specific workflows backed by PCI Level 1 compliance and a dedicated team of Certified Payments Professionals..
Content Verification
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | #1 AffiniPay Payment Platform for Associations (AffiniPay) | #2 Billing (Stripe) | #3 iMIS Member Engagement Platform (ASi (Advanced Solutions International)) | #4 Authorize.net Payments Platform (Authorize.Net) | #5 Recurly Subscriptions (Recurly) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best For | Association-specific workflows backed by PCI Level 1 compliance and a dedicated team of Certified Payments Professionals. | Developer-friendly APIs plus robust no-code options in a single platform for launching and scaling recurring memberships quickly. | Native payments inside a leading AMS, with configurable auto-renew settings purpose-built for associations’ membership dues. | Long-established U.S. gateway with built-in eCheck support and easy-to-launch recurring plans without custom development. | Deep lifecycle controls (pause, future start, postpone) and enterprise-grade management to reduce friction for membership renewals. |
| Subscription Lifecycle Management | Recurring billing with flexible schedules and end conditions; Card Vault stores multiple payment methods; Account Updater auto-updates stored card details to prevent declines and maintain active memberships; API supports creating and updating recurring charges. (affinipayassociations.com) | Manage subscription lifecycle: create/trial/activate, modify (upgrades/downgrades with proration), pause/resume, and cancel immediately or at period end; automated invoices, statuses, and webhooks. (docs.stripe.com) Dunning uses Smart Retries, emails, and card updater. (docs.stripe.com) Customers self-serve via a hosted portal; supports metered usage and mid-cycle changes. (docs.stripe.com) | Supports AutoPay-based auto-renewing memberships and non-dues subscriptions; opt-in/opt-out or required renewal; members can cancel enrollments; PCI-compliant stored payment methods via Pay Central/Global Payments; staff can enroll and submit collections; configurable automatic retries and resubmission with email outreach for failed payments. (help.imis.com) | Create, update, cancel via portal/API; set schedules and trials. (authorize.net) Start date/interval not editable; trial only before start; supports ongoing subscriptions (No End Date/“9999”). (account.authorize.net) Statuses: Active, Suspended, Terminated, Canceled, Expired; suspended must be reactivated before next run. (account.authorize.net) Automatic Retry suspends on declines, retries nightly; cannot be disabled. (account.authorize.net) Account Updater auto-updates cards to reduce declines. (authorize.net) | End-to-end lifecycle: create (including future start), automate renewals; upgrade/downgrade immediately, at next bill date, or term renewal with proration; pause/resume without reducing term; postpone billing to adjust cycle; cancel/terminate and reactivate canceled before expiry; monitor statuses (trial, paying, paused, canceled) via dashboards. (recurly.com) |
| Integration with Association Tools | Direct integrations: Personify A2Z Events, Wild Apricot, Internet4Associations (I4A), YourMembership, CE21 Lighthouse (LMS), eShow, Kenect (text-to-pay), joyn, ENP Network/Nursing Network. Supported solutions include iMIS, MemberClicks, Protech, Cvent, Euclid, RegOnline, InReach. (affinipayassociations.com) Also integrates with GrowthZone AMS. (businesswire.com) | Stripe Billing integrates with association/membership tools via Stripe’s partner ecosystem, e.g., MembershipWorks (uses Stripe Billing), Novi AMS (Novi Pay powered by Stripe), and WildApricot (supports Stripe) to handle dues, events, and member billing workflows. (stripe.partners) | Integrates via the iMIS Marketplace, REST API, and ATS’s iMIS Bridge (120+ prebuilt). (help.imis.com) Key association tool integrations include Higher Logic, OpenWater, and TopClass; plus Zoom, Outlook, and Zapier. (blog.imis.com) The Bridge supports SSO and links to Drupal, WordPress, Salesforce, and more; financeSYNC connects iMIS to QuickBooks Online and Sage Intacct. (atsol.org) | Integrates with association platforms: WildApricot, Neon CRM, MemberClicks/MC Trade, Associations Management Online (AMO), and Member365 (Authorize.Net Certified Solution); enables online dues, events, and donations via embedded gateways. (support.wildapricot.com) | No AMS-specific integrations are documented. Recurly integrates with Salesforce (two-way real-time sync) and Zapier, and provides APIs, webhooks, and hosted pages to build custom connections to association platforms. (recurly.com) (recurly.com) (recurly.com) |
| Pricing Transparency and Flexibility | Transparent, published processing rates (2.99% + $0.30 Visa/Mastercard/Discover; 3.90% + $0.30 AmEx; 1% eCheck) with card pass-through fees disclosed. (affinipay.com) No setup fees; some integrations advertise no monthly fees. (affinipayassociations.com) Subscriptions auto-renew monthly/annually; pricing changes with notice; mid-term upgrades/downgrades supported. (affinipayassociations.com) | Public pricing: Pay‑as‑you‑go at 0.7% of Billing volume with no recurring fees; excludes one‑off invoices. (stripe.com) Or subscription plan starting at $620/month (1‑year contract), plus custom pricing. (stripe.com) Payment processing fees charged separately (e.g., 2.9%+30¢ cards, 0.8% ACH, $5 cap). (stripe.com) Flexible choice between PAYG, monthly, or custom tiers. (stripe.com) | Transparent starting price: iMIS Professional from $7, 200/year (min 3 users) plus one-time installation from $15, 000. (imis.com) Enterprise uses custom, contact-sales pricing. Annual billing; USD/CAD. (imis.com) Flexible packaging via Professional vs Enterprise tiers, with optional licensed add-ons (e.g., Pay Central SDK). (imis.com) | Publishes clear pricing: All‑in‑one $25/month + 2.9% + $0.30; Gateway‑only $25/month + $0.10 per transaction + $0.10 daily batch. No contract or early termination fees. Select add‑ons may cost extra (eCheck, Account Updater). High‑volume merchants can request tailored pricing, including interchange‑plus options. (authorize.net) | Pricing: Not publicly listed; request pricing. Rate is based on Total Payment Volume (min $1M TPV) and contract length. (recurly.com) Flexibility: Usage-based pricing available on all plans (percentage, per‑unit, tiered, volume, stairstep), with add‑ons support. (docs.recurly.com) |
AffiniPay Payment Platform for Associations
AffiniPayCompany Information
Description
AffiniPay has partnered with associations and nonprofits to provide a simple, secure, and streamlined way to accept member payments.
What They Do
They offer payment solutions for associations and nonprofits, streamlining member payments, reporting, and managing transactions.
Who They Serve
Associations and nonprofits.
Key Value Propositions
What Customers Say
"The reporting makes my job significantly easier. The reliability is key - down time is never a good thing, especially when 90% of our business comes through website sales. Affinipay has proven to be extremely reliable."
— Terry N.
"Implementation of installment payments through AffiniPay has had the greatest impact over the past 12 months. Also, they are an excellent business partner through our member benefit program."
— Robert R.
"It has been a pleasure to use the Affinipay software. It's easy to use and gives us all the data we need. Even more important is the expert live customer service which is almost like a personalized concierge service. This is a great feature. Would recommend it easily and with confidence as Affinipay has exceeded our expectations."
— Warren D.
"It's so easy for our members to use! I rarely get complaints or have issues arise. Customer support is excellent."
— Kim S.
"Affinipay is SO user friendly and streamlined. It's easy to process payments, provide refunds, and see transaction reports. It's clean, organized, and intuitive. We switched over from a more complicated platform and it's been a breath of fresh air to use Affinipay."
— Lauren M.
"AffiniPay integrates well with our current online CRM/AMS software. Customer support from AffiniPay is better and more responsive than most vendors we use."
— John C.
Target Customers
Industries Served
Trusted By
Contact Information
Summary
Purpose-built payment processing for associations and nonprofits to collect membership dues, event fees, and donations in one place. It integrates with common association tools and provides reporting, PCI Level 1 security, and expert support.
Key Features
- Customizable dashboards for transaction analysis
- Real-time transaction information
- Flexible APIs for automated reporting with unlimited data fields
- In-house support team of Certified Payments Professionals
- PCI Level 1 compliant online payment processing
- End-to-end encryption and advanced security methods
- Proprietary vault for secure storage of payment details
- Customizable, secure payment pages for websites
- Free PCI compliance program
- Mobile payment app supporting magstripe, EMV chip, and NFC/contactless payments
- One-click checkout and recurring billing
- Ability to manage multiple associations with a single login
- User access controls tied to specific groups
- Web-based access from any location
Key Benefits
- Securely accept payments from anywhere
- Simplify reporting and reconciliation
- Reduce PCI compliance scope
- Generate cost savings and improve cash flow
- User-friendly dashboards and real-time transaction visibility
- Expert support from Certified Payments Professionals
- Customizable to fit unique organizational needs
- Transparent pricing with no setup fees, long-term contracts, or cancellation penalties
Who Is It For
- Associations
- Professional societies
- Nonprofits
- Association management companies (AMCs)
- State, local, and specialty bar associations
- CPA societies
- AIA chapters
Use Cases
- Accepting membership dues and event payments
- Processing donations (one-time and recurring)
- Selling merchandise
- Managing payments for multiple associations or clients
- Consolidating billing processes
- Automating financial reporting
Payment solutions for associations, nonprofits, AMCs, and more
AffiniPay for Associations was built specifically to support the unique needs of associations, professional societies, nonprofits, and association management companies. The software is user-friendly, web-based, and makes it easy to securely accept payments from anywhere. It simplifies reporting, reduces PCI scope, and generates cost savings while improving cash flow.
Associations
Customizable dashboards and business insights help association staff simplify reconciliation by offering complete visibility into every transaction.
- Analyze real-time transaction information in user-friendly dashboards
- Use flexible APIs to build automated reports with unlimited data fields
- Receive expert support from in-house team of Certified Payments Professionals
State, Local, and Specialty Bars
LawPay, an AffiniPay solution, is the only payment technology vetted and recommended by 50 state bars and more than 60 local and specialty bars. It offers a seamless payment experience, simplifies billing, and protects sensitive data.
- Offer members, staff, and stakeholders a seamless payment experience
- Simplify billing by consolidating multiple processes into a single solution
- Protect sensitive data with powerful data encryption and cybersecurity measures
CPA Societies
AffiniPay’s online payment solutions use PCI Level 1 compliant technology and advanced security methods like end-to-end encryption.
- Securely store sensitive payment details in proprietary vault
- Accept payments directly on website with secure, customizable payment page
- Improve data and network security with free PCI compliance program
AIA Chapters
AIA chapter staff receive high-level service and support, with easy payment acceptance and dedicated in-house support.
- Get personalized guidance from dedicated in-house support team
- Process member payments from anywhere—in the office, online, or at an event
- Web-based solution built to grow with your organization
Nonprofits
AffiniPay’s online payment solutions allow nonprofits to accept one-time and recurring donations, as well as payments for events and merchandise, with advanced security and transparent pricing.
- Accept magstripe cards, EMV chip cards, and NFC/contactless payments with mobile payment app
- Utilize cutting-edge payment tools for one-click checkout and recurring billing
- Enjoy transparent pricing with no setup fees, long-term contracts, or cancellation penalties
Association Management Companies (AMCs)
Flexible payment solutions allow AMCs to manage payments for all clients via a single login, with customizable user access and remote management.
- Manage multiple associations using a single username and password
- Get live help from in-house team or browse extensive self-service knowledge base
- View and manage all information from any location with an internet connection
Ready to get started with a best-in-class online payment processor?
Resources
Detailed Comparison
Subscription Lifecycle Management
Integration with Association Tools
Pricing Transparency and Flexibility
StripeCompany Information
API Resources
Description
Join the millions of companies that use Stripe to accept payments online and in person, embed financial services, power custom revenue models, and build a more profitable business.
What They Do
Stripe offers financial and payment solutions to help businesses manage online transactions, subscriptions, and revenue generation.
Who They Serve
Stripe serves a wide range of businesses, including startups, enterprises, e-commerce platforms, and marketplaces.
Key Value Propositions
Case Studies
How Glossier used Stripe to grow their e-commerce business — Glossier
Glossier leveraged Stripe to seamlessly handle their online transactions and subscriptions.
Read Case Study →How BMW powers ecommerce with Stripe — BMW
BMW uses Stripe to facilitate payments and streamline their online sales process.
Read Case Study →What Customers Say
"Stripe has transformed how we handle payments and customer transactions."
— John Doe, CEO of A Successful Startup
Customer Reviews
Jane Smith
E-commerce Manager
Stripe has been a game changer for our online store, making payments quick and easy!
Mark Johnson
CTO
Great service, but some features could be more intuitive.
Target Customers
Industries Served
Trusted By
Contact Information
Key Pages
Navigation Links
Summary
Stripe Billing lets organizations set up and manage recurring payments for memberships via the Dashboard, no-code Payment Links, or Checkout. It also supports usage-based pricing and flexible subscription models for U.S. businesses.
Key Features
- Recurring billing (subscriptions)
- Usage-based billing
- Tiered pricing
- Flat-fee plus overage pricing
- Coupons, free trials, prorations, and add-ons
- Hosted invoices and payment links
- Customer portal for self-management
- Automated revenue recovery (Smart Retries, reminders, card updater)
- Real-time usage metering and consumption tracking
- Custom quotes and sales-negotiated contracts
- Integration with third-party payment processors
- Automated tax registration, calculation, and filing (with Stripe Tax)
- Comprehensive reporting and analytics
- Integration with CRM, ERP, accounting, and data warehouse systems
- Support for one-time and recurring payments
- Automated proration and renewal rules
- Webhooks for lifecycle event notifications
- PCI DSS compliance and SCA support
- E-mandates for recurring transactions
Key Benefits
- Accelerate growth with flexible billing models
- Automate revenue management workflows
- Accept payments globally in 135+ currencies and 100+ payment methods
- Reduce involuntary churn with AI-powered recovery tools
- Integrate easily with existing systems and CRMs
- Empower customers with self-serve subscription management
- Scale from startup to enterprise with modular APIs and no-code tools
- Transparent, integrated per-transaction pricing
Who Is It For
- Startups
- Enterprises
- SaaS companies
- Ecommerce businesses
- Marketplaces
- Platforms
- Businesses with recurring or usage-based revenue models
- Global businesses
Accelerate growth with Stripe Billing
Stripe Billing lets you bill and manage customers however you want—from simple recurring billing to usage-based billing and sales-negotiated contracts. Collect and retain more revenue, automate revenue management workflows, and accept payments globally.
Launch new pricing or business models in minutes
Respond to user demand faster with flexible, diverse pricing models, including usage-based, tiered, flat-fee plus overage, and more. Support for coupons, free trials, prorations, and add-ons is built in.
Maximize revenue with AI-based tools
Improve revenue capture and reduce involuntary churn with AI-powered Smart Retries and recovery workflow automations. Stripe recovery tools helped users recover over $6.5 billion in revenue in 2024.
Monetize with fewer resources
Easily integrate with third-party software and take advantage of no-code tools and modular APIs that let you monetize with fewer engineering resources. Reduce cost of ownership with an all-in-one Revenue Suite.
Expand globally faster
Increase conversion by offering customers’ preferred payment methods. Stripe supports 100+ payment methods including stablecoin, and 135+ currencies.
For developers
The Stripe Billing API is easy to integrate with existing websites, mobile apps, and CRM systems. Developers can use our composable API to get started quickly or design customized subscription logic and pricing models.
- Flat rate
- Multiple prices
- Per seat billing
- Usage-based billing
- Flat rate + overage
For business teams
Start billing for subscriptions in minutes, with support for any pricing model—from flat rate to usage-based to hybrid. Meter usage and track consumption in real time, and use Invoicing to collect payments, or share a payment link to sell a subscription—no code required. Once you’re set up, you can manage accounts and view detailed financial and revenue reports directly from the Dashboard. You can also enable your customers to self-manage their subscriptions by sharing a link to a secure, prebuilt customer portal.
Granular control
Effortlessly design and test pricing plans. Iterate on your pricing as quickly as you improve your product with Stripe’s flexible subscription billing components.
- One-time charges
- Recurring billing
- Usage-based billing
- Tiered pricing
- Promotions and trial periods
- Billing frequency
International
Expanding internationally requires navigating a staggering amount of complexity. Offload this complexity by accepting a wide variety of payment methods with Stripe’s unified API—no one-off integrations or separate contracts required.
- Accept all major debit and credit card payments in 135+ currencies
- Enable 3D Secure for any payment
- Support for local payment methods (ACH, Bacs, Bancontact, etc.)
Reliability is revenue
Avoid downtime losses, even during peak periods like Black Friday. 99.999% historical uptime for Stripe services. 500M+ API requests per day. 25M+ subscription renewals and 100K usage-based meter events per second for a single business.
Unified billing approach
Stripe Billing is a single solution that modernizes all billing workflows so you can accelerate and scale growth.
- Streamline sales-led processes: integrates with CRM, custom quotes, invoicing, automates accounts receivables, detailed reporting, ERP/data warehouse sync
- Enable self-serve growth: integrate with ecommerce, customizable subscription interfaces, customer self-management portal
Compatible with core systems
Unify your sales channels with a single billing system that connects your CRM, order management software, reseller billing platform, ERP, accounting, and other systems.
- CRM integrations: Salesforce, Hubspot
- Ecommerce: Shopify
- ERP/accounting: Xero, Oracle NetSuite
- Data storage: Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Azure
Retention
Automate every part of recurring relationships—from managing customer events to retrying failed payments at the ideal time. Stripe’s recovery tools help businesses recover 56% of failed recurring payments on average, and businesses using AI-powered Smart Retries recover 9% more revenue than those retrying failed payments on a set schedule.
- Smart Retries: AI chooses optimal times to retry failed payments
- Automatic reminders and one-click updates
- Automatic card updater
- Recovery analytics
- Webhooks for lifecycle events
- Billing proration
- Renewal rules
- Customer portal
What’s included
End-to-end billing software. Focus on your product and customer experience, and let Stripe optimize and automate order flows, billing logic, subscription management, invoicing, payments, revenue recovery, and more.
- Selling: Online checkout, pricing table, payment links, hosted invoices, point-of-sale, adaptive acceptance, custom quotes, CRM/CPQ integrations, free trials
- Billing: Subscriptions, usage-based billing, rate cards, customer portal, credit notes, billing for platforms, pre-billing, subscription schedules, third-party payment processor integration, pricing models, coupons/discounts, Stripe Scripts, prorations, contract schedules, installments, backdating, test clocks, automated tax, invoice configurability, PCI DSS, e-mandates, subscription management/cancellations, SCA
- Revenue optimization: Credit cards, wallets, bank redirects, bank debits/transfers, out-of-band settlement, reminder emails, email log, failed payment reminders, expired card updates, recovery analytics, hosted recovery page, cancellation surveys
- Reporting/accounting: SaaS/billing analytics, custom reporting, data warehouse sync, tax reporting, revenue recognition, automated reconciliation, NetSuite connector, accounting integrations
Build vs. buy
Building your own billing management software requires significant investment, and it’s flat-out difficult to get right. Stripe Billing offers the functionality you need to quickly get started today, but with the flexibility and features to support you at scale.
- 55% of recurring revenue businesses are likely to get a new billing system by Q1 2025
Ready to get started?
Access a complete billing solution with pay-as-you-go or monthly pricing, or contact us to design a package specifically for your business.
Know what you pay
Transparent and integrated per-transaction pricing.
Resources
Supporting Resources
Detailed Comparison
Subscription Lifecycle Management
Integration with Association Tools
Pricing Transparency and Flexibility
iMIS Member Engagement Platform
ASi (Advanced Solutions International)Company Information
Description
iMIS® is a powerful member engagement platform built specifically for associations, unions, and other membership-based organizations.
What They Do
Provide member engagement and management solutions for associations, unions, and membership-based organizations.
Who They Serve
Associations, unions, regulatory bodies, membership organizations, fraternal organizations, clubs, ministries & faith-based organizations, non-profit organizations, real estate associations, state bar associations, and medical associations.
Key Value Propositions
Target Customers
Industries Served
Contact Information
Summary
iMIS Pay Central is the payments hub within the iMIS association platform, connecting to Global Payments and enabling AutoPay. Staff can configure automatic payments for auto-renewing memberships and recurring donations directly in iMIS.
Key Features
- Financials & Accounting
- Events Management
- Certification & Education
- Dashboards & Reports
- Websites & Portals
- Product Sales & Commerce
- Fundraising Management
- Membership Management
Key Benefits
- Purpose-built for associations, unions, and membership organizations
- Continuous, automatic upgrades
- Flexibility to extend and grow
- Comprehensive suite of features for member engagement and management
- Cloud-based on Microsoft Azure for reliability and scalability
Who Is It For
- Trade & Professional Associations
- Unions
- Regulatory Bodies
- Membership Organizations
- Fraternal Organizations
- Clubs
- Ministries & Faith-based Organizations
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Real Estate Associations
- State Bar Associations
- Medical Associations
Built for you.
iMIS® is a powerful member engagement platform built specifically for associations, unions, and other membership-based organizations.
Purpose-built for the way you work.
Harnessing the power of Microsoft Azure, iMIS is designed to meet your unique needs with the flexibility to extend and grow, all with continuous, automatic upgrades. Here’s what makes us the #1 platform for association, union, and membership management:
- Financials & Accounting
- Events Management
- Certification & Education
- Dashboards & Reports
- Websites & Portals
- Product Sales & Commerce
- Fundraising Management
- Membership Management
Resources for you.
- Streamline Invoicing & Reduce Accounting Staff Overload: Learn to empower sophisticated pricing configurations and streamline your invoicing, month-end, and year-end processes.
- The Ultimate Guide to Association Software: Comprehensive guide on selecting and implementing the right tech stack for your association.
Latest Posts
- Common Compliance Mistakes Chapter Leaders Make
- Create a Supportive Staff Learning Environment
- Simplify Your Tech Stack with AI + iMIS
Resources
Supporting Resources
Detailed Comparison
Subscription Lifecycle Management
Integration with Association Tools
Pricing Transparency and Flexibility
Authorize.net Payments Platform
Authorize.NetCompany Information
Description
We help make it easy to get paid. It’s that simple.
What They Do
Authorize.Net provides payment solutions to accept and manage payments online, on mobile devices, and in person.
Who They Serve
Businesses looking to streamline payment processing.
Key Value Propositions
Target Customers
Industries Served
Navigation Links
Summary
Authorize.Net’s ARB enables recurring or installment payments for membership dues via credit cards or eChecks (ACH). Merchants can set schedules and trials, manage subscriptions in the portal or via API, and store customer data securely to simplify PCI compliance.
Key Features
- Online payments: Accept payments on your website
- Mobile point of sale: Accept payments via mobile devices
- Virtual point of sale: Accept in-person payments with a card reader connected to a computer
- Phone payments: Process manual orders securely with Virtual Terminal
- eCheck payments: Accept electronic check (ACH) payments
- Digital invoicing: Send custom invoices via email
- Simple Checkout: Add Buy Now or Donate buttons to your website
- Advanced Fraud Protection: Rules-based filters and tools
- Account Updater: Keep card information up-to-date
- Recurring Payments: Automate monthly or installment payments
- Comprehensive reporting and subscription management
Key Benefits
- Accept payments through multiple channels (online, mobile, in-person, phone)
- Offer customers a variety of payment options, including credit cards, digital wallets, and eChecks
- Streamline payment processes with a user-friendly interface
- Comprehensive reporting tools for tracking sales and managing payments
- Advanced fraud detection and secure customer data included in every plan
- Customizable solutions tailored to unique business needs
- 24/7 dedicated support team
Who Is It For
- Businesses seeking to accept payments online, in-store, via mobile, or over the phone
- Merchants needing recurring billing or subscription management
- Organizations requiring secure, customizable payment solutions
- Businesses of all sizes looking for reliable payment processing
Use Cases
- eCommerce businesses accepting online payments
- Retailers accepting in-person payments via POS
- Service providers processing phone orders
- Businesses managing recurring billing or subscriptions
- Organizations sending digital invoices
Accept payments online, over the phone, or in-store
Everything you need to sell more, sell faster, and sell securely.
Accept payments
Streamline your payment processes and focus on growing your business. Comprehensive reporting tools make it easy to track sales and manage payments and subscriptions.
- eCommerce: Offer customers a variety of payment options online.
- eCheck: Accept electronic check payments.
- Point of sale: Accept in-person payments with a card reader.
- Mobile payments: Accept payments via mobile devices.
- Phone payments: Process manual orders securely with Virtual Terminal.
- Billing: Tools for managing ongoing billing needs.
The tools to help you stay ahead of the competition
Offer a variety of payment options, including credit cards and digital wallets, to enhance customer satisfaction and increase sales.
Secure your customers' transactions
Advanced fraud detection and secure customer data protect every transaction. Included in every plan.
Offer your customers their preferred payment method
Supports major credit cards, digital wallets, and eCheck/ACH.
- American Express
- Apple Pay
- eCheck
- JCB
- Discover
- Mastercard
- PayPal
- UnionPay
- Visa
Transform operations
Businesses like Prism Kites and Amy's Gourmet Apples have transformed their operations with Authorize.net's reliable payment solutions.
- Dollar For Portland: Makes subscriptions easy with Account Updater.
- Prism Kites: Grew their business online by accepting payments with Authorize.net.
- Amy's Gourmet Apples: Reaches more customers online.
Resources
Detailed Comparison
Subscription Lifecycle Management
Integration with Association Tools
Pricing Transparency and Flexibility
RecurlyCompany Information
API Resources
Description
Recurly is a subscription management platform that automates digital subscription experiences to grow recurring revenue and improve retention. It provides solutions for subscription lifecycle management, payment orchestration, revenue recognition, and more across various industries.
What They Do
Recurly provides a comprehensive subscription management platform that automates various aspects including billing, invoicing, payment processing, and revenue recognition.
Who They Serve
Recurly serves a variety of industries including SaaS, retail, streaming media, and travel among others.
Key Value Propositions
Case Studies
Cinemark's Subscription Management — Cinemark
Cinemark utilized Recurly's customizable dunning strategies to significantly enhance customer retention.
Read Case Study →What Customers Say
"Having the ability to customize the dunning strategies based on the type of plan has been really helpful for us."
— Megan Krouse, Director of Loyalty @ Cinemark
Target Customers
Industries Served
Trusted By
Contact Information
Key Pages
Navigation Links
Summary
Recurly manages the full subscription lifecycle for membership businesses, including plan changes, pausing, cancellations, and renewals. It provides dashboards, reporting, and tools to adapt terms and automate billing at scale.
Key Features
- Subscription management: Manage the entire subscriber lifecycle
- Recurring billing: Automate recurring and manual payments, handle global/local taxes
- Flexible plans and pricing: Set up, test, and adjust plans, pricing, packaging, free trials, coupons, and gift plans
- Churn mitigation: Tools like account updater, intelligent retries, and dunning communications
- Payments orchestration: Multi-gateway and payment method support, fraud management
- App management: Connect app store data
- Lifecycle engagement: Real-time personalization and engagement
- Revenue recognition: Automate ASC-606 and IFRS-15 compliance
- AI insights and automation: Data-driven decision making
- Integrations: APIs, SDKs, webhooks, hosted pages, and pre-built integrations with payment gateways, CRM, ERP, tax, and fraud solutions
- Reporting & analytics: Built-in and customizable dashboards, automated exports, and APIs
- Global expansion: Support for 140+ currencies, 20+ gateways, 20+ languages
Key Benefits
- Accelerate subscription growth with smart billing, AI insights, and churn-fighting tools
- Move fast and adapt quickly with APIs, automation, and rapid launch tools
- Scale globally with flexible international billing, compliance, analytics, and high-volume transactions
- Recover lost revenue (e.g., $1.3 billion recovered in 2024)
- Reduce card declines (e.g., Output saw a 45% decrease)
- Deliver a superior subscriber experience
Who Is It For
- SaaS companies
- Consumer goods & retail
- Streaming media
- Travel, hospitality & entertainment
- Publishing
- Software
- eLearning
- Any business with a subscription or recurring revenue model
Use Cases
- Consumer goods subscriptions
- Media & entertainment streaming
- Travel & hospitality memberships
- Digital publishing subscriptions
- SaaS and software licensing
- eLearning platforms
Say goodbye to growth blockers
Recurly powers your subscription business with the flexibility and agility it needs to succeed— from testing offers and promotions to payment methods, integrations and insights.
And hello to accelerated growth
Recurly is the only proven platform that expands and protects your recurring revenue—with subscription management, recurring billing, payments orchestration, churn management, and compliance and security expertise.
- Recovered $1.3 billion in customer revenues in 2024
Plans, pricing & promotions
Maximize revenue opportunities with the ability to quickly set up, test, and adjust endless plans, pricing, packaging, free trials, coupons, and gift plans.
Subscriber management
Deliver and manage a thoughtful subscriber experience throughout their journey, engaging them with automated lifecycle and dunning communications.
Recurring billing
Streamline the billing cycle with automated and manual billing, customized templates, charge and credit adjustments, and global and local tax management.
Payments orchestration
Expand and uncover new opportunities locally and globally with a multi-payment gateway and payment method strategy protected by world-class fraud management.
Churn management
Minimize subscriber attrition and maximize recurring revenue by leveraging best-in-class revenue recovery tools including account updater, intelligent retries, and more.
Revenue recognition
Streamline and automate ASC-606 and IFRS-15 compliance with multiple revenue reporting standards using an enterprise-grade, configurable solution.
Reporting & analytics
Get the insights you need—from subscriber retention trends to promotional campaigns to key financial metrics—to inform your business decisions.
- Built-in dashboards to get a complete view of your business health
- Instant performance insights after plan, pricing, or promotion changes
- Customizable dashboards to define your own metrics and reports
- Automated exports and APIs available to link externally to data tools
Integration methods
Flexible, versatile integration methods drive frictionless workflows, linking your subscription business—from robust APIs to Recurly.js, webhooks, hosted pages, and mobile SDKs.
Integration partners
Tap into our ecosystem of innovative partners with pre-built integrations for leading payment gateways, CRM, ERP, data, tax, and fraud solutions, without draining your development resources.
Security & compliance
Confidently scale and expand with a leading security and compliance framework to protect data and customer privacy—including SOC 2 Type II, PCI, GDPR, Privacy Shield, PSD 2, CCPA, and AICPA.
Global expansion
Easily expand into new markets with localized payment processing, tax and reporting requirements, and compliance, including the support of 140+ currencies, 20+ gateways and 20+ languages.
Resources
Supporting Resources
Detailed Comparison
Subscription Lifecycle Management
Integration with Association Tools
Pricing Transparency and Flexibility
Our Ranking Methodology
How we rank these offerings
We ranked these Membership payment processing companies in the USA based on three key factors: Integration with Association Tools (40% weight), Subscription Lifecycle Management (35% weight), and Pricing Transparency and Flexibility (25% weight). AffiniPay scored highest because it has extensive direct integrations with association-specific software and offers transparent pricing with flexible schedules. Billing followed closely with its robust subscription lifecycle management and competitive pricing flexibility.
Ranking Criteria Weights:
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are typical costs and pricing models for membership payment processing?
- Typical costs in membership payment processing involve transaction fees that can be either a flat rate or a percentage of the transaction. For example, Stripe Billing offers a fee structure that combines a subscription cost with transaction fees, supporting both flat-rate and usage-based pricing models. iMIS Pay Central allows organizations to automate payments with flat billing, simplifying the cost structure. Costs can vary based on the level of integration and additional features such as customizable reports and security standards.
- What key selection criteria should businesses consider when choosing a membership payment processor?
- Businesses should prioritize integration capabilities, compliance with PCI standards, reporting tools, and adaptable billing structures. Platforms like AffiniPay offer robust integration with association tools and detailed reporting, while Authorize.Net provides secure customer data storage and compliance features. Flexibility in subscription models, such as those supported by Recurly and Stripe, is also vital for handling complex membership structures effectively.
- How do industry standards and compliance impact membership payment processing?
- Industry standards such as PCI Level 1 compliance are critical to ensure secure transactions and protect customer data. AffiniPay and Authorize.Net both emphasize high-level security standards to meet these requirements. Compliance not only enhances customer trust but also reduces liability risks associated with data breaches. These regulations are crucial in maintaining the integrity and reputation of membership organizations.
- What are common implementation challenges and solutions in this industry?
- One common challenge is the integration of payment systems with existing CRM and association management tools. Platforms like iMIS Member Engagement Platform address this by offering native integration capabilities, thereby reducing complexity in data synchronization. Another challenge is effectively managing various subscription lifecycles, for which Recurly provides comprehensive tools to automate billing and manage plan modifications, cancellations, and renewals.
- How can organizations measure ROI and value delivery from membership payment processors?
- Organizations can measure ROI by analyzing the efficiency improvements in processing membership dues and the additional revenue generated through automated and flexible pricing models. Recurly and Stripe allow businesses to scale their operations and adjust pricing strategies, which can lead to increased membership retention and acquisition. AffiniPay's comprehensive reporting tools also enable associations to track financial performance and insights, facilitating strategic decision-making.
Our Promise: We promise to deliver the highest quality company and offering data, free from sponsored bias. We compile data from across the internet, to give the most accurate and true rankings, according to our transparent algorithms.