Comparison
Recharge vs Stay AI
Recharge vs Stay AI for Shopify subscription retention — pricing verified May 2026, OLIPOP case study, churn-reduction features, and verdict by store stage.
Recharge
"The world's leading subscription platform, powering 71% of subscriptions sold on Shopify stores" — Recharge homepage (getrecharge.com, May 2026).
Stay AI
"Top Shopify Subscription App" — fuel subscription growth with retention intelligence.
Affiliate link. Pricing and terms are set by the vendor. details
On this page
At a glance
Recharge is the incumbent Shopify subscription platform with the largest merchant footprint (combined ~20k merchants per the April 30, 2026 Skio acquisition press release). Stay AI is the newer entrant positioned around AI-driven retention: their published OLIPOP case study reports a 26% reduction in active churn and 35% subscription-revenue growth after migrating from Recharge. The right comparison is not "which is the better subscriptions platform" — both ship the core capability — but "is the retention delta worth the price step-up." Stay AI Pro starts at $499/mo against Recharge Standard at $25/mo.
Quick stats
Starting price
Recharge
$25/mo
Stay AI
$499/mo
Rating
Recharge
8.1/10
Stay AI
9.1/10
Integrations
Recharge
8
Stay AI
12
Entry pricing (verified 2026-05-30)
Recharge
$25/mo Standard + 1% + $0.19/transaction
Stay AI
$499/mo Pro
Affiliate program
Recharge
Yes — Lasso platform, 90-day cookie
Stay AI
No public affiliate program
Published case study
Recharge
Large incumbent footprint; per-case results vary
Stay AI
OLIPOP — 26% churn reduction, 35% subscription-revenue growth after migrating FROM Recharge (vendor-published)
G2 / Shopify rating
Recharge
4.5/5 G2 (379 reviews)
Stay AI
4.9/5 Shopify App Store
Pricing
Recharge
$25/mo
- up to
- —
- Model
- tiered
Tiers: Starter $25/mo (first 50 lifetime subscribers, new merchants only, no transaction fees); Standard $99/mo + 1.49% + $0.19 per subscription transaction; Plus $499/mo + 1.34% + $0.19 per transaction (annual contract); Custom for high volume Pricing gotchas: Transaction fees apply on every subscription order (1.49% Standard / 1.34% Plus + $0.19/order); Plus and Custom require annual contracts. Free plan: 60-day free trial on Starter plan only Verified 2026-05-30
Stay AI
$499/mo
- up to
- —
- Model
- flat
Tiers: Monthly Plan $499/mo + 1% transaction fee + $0.19 per subscription order (single published tier); custom for higher volume Pricing gotchas: Single published paid tier — $499/mo minimum applies regardless of order volume. Free plan: No—30-day free trial Verified 2026-05-30
Recharge starts at $25/mo vs Stay AI's $499/mo. Pricing models differ: Recharge is tiered, Stay AI is flat.
Recharge: Standard $25/mo + 1% + $0.19/transaction; Pro $499/mo + 0.75% + $0.19/transaction; Enterprise custom. Stay AI: Pro $499/mo; Enterprise $1,499/mo + custom — same headline price tier as Recharge Pro but Stay AI does not publish a sub-$499 tier. At low subscription volume Recharge Standard is roughly 20x cheaper; at meaningful subscription volume the per-transaction fees on Recharge close the gap.
Features
Recharge
- Shopify Checkout Integration — Subscriptions run inside Shopify's native checkout (no iframes)
- Concierge SMS — AI-powered SMS lets subscribers skip, delay, swap, or add products via text
- Bundles (curated and customizable) — Static and dynamic subscription bundles with tiered discounts
- Rewards & Referrals — Built-in loyalty/points and referrals tied to subscription behavior
- Cart and Cart Overlay Upsell — Convert one-time orders to subscriptions inside the cart with analytics
- Post-purchase Cross-sell — One-click post-purchase add-on offers for subscribers
Stay AI
- ExperienceEngine — Personalizes subscriber experience: dynamic carousels, in-portal banners, A/B tests
- RetentionEngine — AI-personalized cancel flows: pauses, discounts, surprise gifts to save churners
- WinbackEngine — Automated reactivation campaigns triggered by churn-risk signals
- Predictive Churn Alerts — Identifies high-risk subscribers before cancellation
- Digital Punch Cards — Gamified milestone-based rewards built into subscription program
- Self-Optimizing A/B Testing — A/B tests that auto-optimize over time as winners emerge
Shopify integration
Recharge
Deep native Shopify integration; Shopify App Store; supports Shopify Plus and the Recharge–Shopify Checkout Integration; subscription billing engine native to Shopify checkout
Stay AI
Deep native Shopify integration; Shopify App Store; built for Shopify and Shopify Plus subscription brands; native checkout integration
Integrations
Only Recharge
- Amazon
- Google Ads
- Meta
- Shopify Checkout
- Stripe
- TikTok
Both
- Shopify
- Tapcart
Only Stay AI
- AfterSell
- Bubblehouse
- Inveterate
- NoFraud
- Richpanel
- Rivo
- Shopify Plus
- Slack
- Wonderment
- Zaymo
Customer support
Support rating (aggregated from independent review platforms like G2, Capterra, Shopify App Store): Recharge 8/10, Stay AI 9.7/10. This is an editorial composite of channel availability, response speed, and resolution quality — see the individual reviews below for specifics.
Pros & cons
Recharge
Pros
- Industry-standard Shopify subscription management
- Customizable customer portal
- Collections & dunning capabilities (9.0 G2)
Cons
- Built on legacy code — causes intermittent issues
- Limited out-of-box checkout customization
- Pricing & 12-month Plus contracts criticized
Stay AI
Pros
- AI-driven RetentionEngine — OLIPOP reduced active churn by 26% and grew subscription revenue 35% after leaving Recharge, per Stay AI case study
- Drag-and-drop no-code customer portal
- High-touch white-glove migration team
Cons
- Single $499/mo + transaction fee plan — high floor
- No multi-tier pricing for smaller brands
- Smaller ecosystem vs. Recharge
When each one wins
Winner: Recharge
Subscriptions under $30K MRR
At this stage the question is still "do subscriptions work for this catalog" — the answer requires the cheapest functional platform. Recharge Standard at $25/mo handles the core flow; Stay AI Pro at $499/mo is overkill until subscription revenue justifies it. Revisit when MRR clears the threshold where churn becomes a measurable revenue leak.
Winner: Stay AI
Subscription revenue >$30K MRR with measurable active churn
This is the zone where the OLIPOP case study becomes relevant. If your active churn (subscribers actively cancelling, not card-fail involuntary churn) is 8%+ monthly, a 26% reduction is meaningful revenue protection. Pilot on a 90-day instrumented window before full migration — vendor case studies report top-end outcomes, your delta will be lower.
Winner: Recharge
Want native affiliate program for own partnership
Recharge runs an active affiliate program on the in-house Lasso platform (since March 15, 2026; 90-day cookie). Stay AI does not have a public affiliate program. For agencies or content sites earning referral commissions, this is the deciding factor regardless of churn-reduction math.
Our verdict
For brands under $30K MRR subscription revenue, Recharge Standard at $25/mo + per-transaction fees is the only honest choice — Stay AI Pro at $499/mo cannot pay back at that scale. Above $30K MRR subscription revenue where active churn is a measurable revenue leak, Stay AI becomes evaluable: the OLIPOP case study suggests the retention delta covers the price step-up at meaningful scale, but case-study results are top-end outcomes, not median ones. Pilot the migration on a 90-day window with churn instrumented before committing.
Recharge
"The world's leading subscription platform, powering 71% of subscriptions sold on Shopify stores" — Recharge homepage (getrecharge.com, May 2026).
Related comparisons
- Loop SubscriptionsvsStay AI
Neither tool is a partner — both pages render editorial-only and PartnerAlternatives surfaces Recharge as the partner alternative in this category. For brands $20K-$100K MRR subscription revenue, Loop Essentials at $99/mo is the cheaper functional choice and ships UX-led subscriber-portal features. For brands $50K+ MRR subscription revenue where active churn is the measured leak, Stay AI Pro at $499/mo becomes evaluable — OLIPOP case study math applies. Below $20K MRR, neither is the right answer — start on Recharge Standard at $25/mo and migrate up when retention or UX is the actual constraint.
Open
- Loop SubscriptionsvsRecharge
For brands under $20K MRR subscription revenue, Recharge Standard at $25/mo beats Loop Essentials at $99/mo on raw cost — the Loop entry-tier price jump made the lower-volume comparison harder to justify. For brands $20K-$100K MRR where per-transaction fees on Recharge add up, Loop becomes evaluable on the price-stability + UX axis. Recharge stays the partner choice (active affiliate program); Loop is editorial-only here.
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- SkiovsStay AI
Neither tool is a partner — both pages render as editorial-only and PartnerAlternatives surfaces Recharge as the partner option in this category. For 2026 new deployments, Stay AI is the cleaner independent bet — published OLIPOP retention math, no parent-company question, AI-driven retention is the explicit positioning. Skio is the right pick only if its specific feature set (CSV pricing, customer-portal behavior) solves something Stay AI does not — and only with a re-evaluation calendar invite for Q2 2027 when Recharge-side roadmap signals firm up.
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- RechargevsSkio
For new subscription deployments in 2026, default to Recharge — it is the post-acquisition continuing platform with the active affiliate program (Lasso, 90-day cookie window). For existing Skio merchants, no immediate forced migration was announced, but treat the next 12-24 months as a stay-or-migrate window: stay if Skio specifically solves a pricing or feature edge you rely on, migrate if you want long-term roadmap certainty. Either way, evaluate what specifically broke for you on the platform you would migrate FROM before signing a new contract.
Open