Recharge Pricing 2026: Plans, Transaction Fees, and the Number That Actually Adds Up
Recharge, the largest Shopify subscription app, prices in three tiers: USD 25 per month for the first 50 subscribers, USD 99 per month plus 1.49% and 19 cents per transaction on Starter, and USD 499 per month plus 1.34% and 19 cents on Plus. The monthly plan fee is the number brands compare, but the per-transaction fee is where the real cost sits, because it scales with every subscription order and never stops.
The distinction matters because the two fee structures cross over at a volume most growing brands reach quickly. At low subscription counts the monthly fee dominates and the transaction percentage is trivial; at scale the transaction fee dwarfs the plan fee, and the plan difference between Starter and Plus becomes a rounding error against the percentage. Choosing a plan on its monthly price alone optimizes the smaller of the two numbers.
This guide breaks down Recharge's current plans, how the transaction fee accrues, where the tiers cross over, and the detail in the entry tier that most brands miss.
Recharge plans and fees
| Plan | Monthly fee | Transaction fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry (first 50 subs) | $25/mo | None | Net-new merchants only, up to 50 active subscribers |
| Starter | $99/mo | 1.49% + 19c per transaction | Automatic once past 50 subscribers |
| Plus | $499/mo | 1.34% + 19c per transaction | 12-month annual contract |
| Custom | Quoted | Negotiated | Annual contract; for high-volume merchants |
Every fee above sits on top of the rest of the stack. Recharge is the subscription-management layer; a brand still pays its Shopify plan, its payment processor (roughly 2.9% plus 30 cents), and any other apps separately. The Recharge fee is additive, not inclusive.
How the transaction fee accrues
Recharge stacks two charges on every subscription order: a percentage of the order and a flat 19 cents. On Starter that is 1.49% plus 19 cents; on Plus, 1.34% plus 19 cents. The flat 19 cents matters more than it looks for brands with low average order values, because it is fixed regardless of order size - on a USD 20 subscription it is nearly 1% on its own, on top of the percentage.
Recharge Starter transaction cost = (Order value x 0.0149) + $0.19, per order
For a brand processing 1,000 subscription orders per month at a USD 40 average order value, that is USD 596 in percentage fees plus USD 190 in flat fees - USD 786 in transaction fees against a USD 99 plan fee. The plan fee is 11% of the Recharge bill; the transaction fee is the other 89%.
Where the tiers cross over
Plus costs USD 400 more per month than Starter (USD 499 versus USD 99) but charges 0.15% less per transaction (1.34% versus 1.49%). The saving from the lower percentage only exceeds the higher plan fee at high volume.
Crossover monthly billing = $400 / 0.0015 = ~$267,000 in subscription billing per month
Below roughly USD 267,000 in monthly subscription billing, Starter is cheaper despite the higher percentage, because the 0.15% saving does not cover the extra USD 400 in plan fee. Above it, Plus wins. A brand upgrading to Plus for the lower rate before reaching that volume is paying more, not less - the upgrade is worth it for the Plus features or support, not for the fee reduction alone.
The entry-tier detail most brands miss
The USD 25 per month tier is restrictive in two ways that are easy to overlook. It is available only to net-new merchants who installed Recharge after February 2026, and only up to 50 active subscribers. Cross 50 subscribers and the account moves automatically to Starter at USD 99 per month plus the transaction fee.
This makes the USD 25 tier a launch subsidy, not a durable plan. A brand modeling its subscription costs on it will be wrong the moment it succeeds, because success means crossing 50 subscribers and jumping to a fee structure four times the plan cost plus per-transaction charges. The entry tier should be treated as a free trial with a low cap, not as the steady-state price.
Reading the real cost
Model the transaction fee, not the plan fee, because it is the larger number at any real volume. Include the flat 19 cents explicitly if average order value is low, because it can rival the percentage. And treat the USD 25 tier as temporary, because it ends at 50 subscribers.
The cost that Recharge's pricing page cannot tell you is what its subscription and retention features are worth against your specific churn - the number that decides whether any subscription app justifies its fee. Finsi computes your churn composition and the revenue at stake from your order data, across Recharge or any platform, as the analytics layer on top rather than a competing app.
Related reading: best Shopify subscription apps compares Recharge to Skio, Stay.ai, and Loop, and failed payment recovery covers the dunning that determines a subscription platform's real value.
Andrei Rebrov is Co-CEO of Finsi, where he builds AI-powered analytics for subscription and DTC e-commerce. He writes on subscription economics, LTV modeling, cohort analysis, and retention metrics.