Alternatives
Stay AI alternatives
Category: subscriptions
Looking for an alternative to Stay AI? Here's our tested shortlist — same category, honest pricing, real trade-offs.
Why operators look for Stay AI alternatives
Stay AI's friction is almost entirely about the floor. There's a single published plan — $499/mo + 1% + $0.19/order — with no lower tier, so small or pre-revenue subscription brands can't ease in. Run the per-order math before judging the base: 5,000 subscription orders a month is $950 in per-order fees alone, on top of the $499 platform fee and 1% of GMV. The ecosystem is also smaller than Recharge's, with fewer pre-built partner integrations and a thinner playbook for non-standard models (B2B, multi-currency). None of that touches the product quality — it's a "does the price floor match our stage" question.
What we'd recommend instead of Stay AI
Loop Subscriptions
"Best Shopify Subscription App" — turn one-time buyers into loyal subscribers.
9.2Pricing$99/moLearn moreSkio
"The subscription platform top Shopify brands graduate to" — modern, Shopify-native subscriptions.
9.0Pricing$499/moLearn moreRecharge
"The world's leading subscription platform, powering 71% of subscriptions sold on Shopify stores" — Recharge homepage (getrecharge.com, May 2026).
8.1Pricing$99/moLearn moreBold Subscriptions
Recurring billing and subscriptions for Shopify.
6.8Pricing$24.99–$399.99/moLearn more
Who picks which
The subscriptions category is clean, so this is a real head-to-head. Stay AI's differentiated, verifiable claim is the OLIPOP case study — 26% lower active churn and 35% subscription-revenue growth after leaving Recharge — which makes it the pick when AI-driven retention experiments are the priority. Loop Subscriptions, listed alongside, undercuts on unit economics with no per-order flat fee and a $99/mo entry, the better fit for cost-sensitive growth-stage brands. Skio matches on UX but now sits under Recharge post-acquisition, adding a roadmap question Stay AI doesn't carry. Recharge is the incumbent for ecosystem depth. Bold Subscriptions is the legacy budget option. For pre-revenue brands or anyone seeking the lowest entry cost, Stay AI's $499 floor is structurally over-built — start on Shopify-native or Loop and graduate up.