The verdict in three sentences
For a B2B SaaS priced at 49 to 199 USD a month, recurring billing is a product in its own right, and it drives revenue from the very first customer. In Miami in 2026, building the subscription layer on Stripe Billing (plans, trials, proration, compliant invoices, dunning) costs roughly 15,000 to 35,000 USD, with Billing fees of 0.5 to 0.8 % on top of card processing and Stripe Tax handling US sales tax. Automated dunning usually recovers 3 to 8 % of involuntary churn, which pays back the build within a year once you have a few hundred subscribers.
What a B2B subscription layer must cover
A founder selling scheduling software to trades businesses needs several plans (Solo, Team, Business), a 14-day trial, upgrades and downgrades with proration, invoices with the right tax lines, and clean handling of expired cards. In the US, sales tax nexus is the trap: SaaS is taxable in roughly 20 states, and once you cross a state's economic threshold (often 100,000 USD in sales) you must collect and file there. Florida, for the record, generally does not tax SaaS, but your customers in Texas or New York may be taxable.
| Module | Scope | Indicative Miami price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Plans and checkout | Stripe Checkout or embedded elements, monthly and annual plans | 2,500 to 5,000 |
| Trial and onboarding | 14-day trial with or without card, conversion flow | 1,500 to 3,500 |
| Plan changes and proration | Upgrade, downgrade, extra seats | 2,500 to 5,500 |
| Invoices and Stripe Tax | Tax calculation, invoice numbering, accounting export | 2,000 to 5,000 |
| Dunning | Smart Retries, emails, staged suspension | 1,500 to 4,000 |
| Customer portal and webhooks | Customer Portal, entitlement sync in the app | 3,000 to 7,500 |
| MRR dashboard | MRR, churn, ARPA, cohorts | 2,000 to 4,500 |
The same scope built from Toulouse costs 8,000 to 15,000 EUR excluding VAT, which is why many US founders split product and billing work across time zones.
Stripe Billing vs the alternatives in 2026
| Option | 2026 fees (indicative) | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Billing + Stripe Tax | 0.5 to 0.8 % Billing + 0.5 % Tax + card 2.9 % + 0.30 USD | Proration, Smart Retries, native portal | Tax filing is a separate step |
| Paddle (Merchant of Record) | 5 % + 0.50 USD per transaction | Global tax handled, no nexus to manage | Expensive on large invoices |
| Chargebee on Stripe | 0 to 0.75 % above a revenue threshold | Advanced plans and quotes | One more tool to integrate |
| ACH Direct Debit (in Stripe) | 0.8 %, capped at 5 USD | Low churn, ideal for annual plans | 3 to 5 day settlement |
| In-house build | 0 % Billing fees | Full control | 50,000 USD and up, heavy maintenance |
For contractors, adding ACH Direct Debit next to cards often halves payment failures on annual plans.
Mini case study
Marco, founder of a scheduling SaaS for contractors in Miami, has 400 subscribers at an average of 89 USD, an MRR of 35,600 USD. Without dunning, he loses about 4 % of subscribers a year to expired or declined cards, roughly 17,000 USD of annual revenue. The subscription layer is quoted at 26,000 USD. Billing fees at 0.7 % come to about 3,000 USD a year. If dunning recovers 70 % of involuntary churn, Marco wins back nearly 12,000 USD a year and saves about 6 hours a month of manual billing. Payback lands at around 24 months at today's base, and under 12 months once he passes 800 subscribers.
FAQ
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How much does the subscription part of a B2B SaaS cost in Miami?
Between 15,000 and 35,000 USD depending on the number of plans, seat management and reporting depth. Delivery takes 4 to 7 weeks.
Does Stripe Tax file my sales tax returns?
Stripe Tax calculates and collects, and monitors your thresholds by state. Filing can be automated through Stripe's filing partners for a per-return fee, roughly 50 to 90 USD per state filing.
Should the free trial require a card?
Without a card, trials attract 2 to 3 times more sign-ups but convert at 5 to 10 %. With a card, conversion rises to 40 to 60 % on fewer sign-ups. Pick based on your acquisition cost.
How much of B2B SaaS churn is involuntary?
As a rough order of magnitude, 20 to 40 % of cancellations come from failed payments. Smart Retries and dunning emails recover a large share.
Can we also accept African customers via Wave or Orange Money?
Yes, through a unified payment module that creates the subscription in the app and collects through mobile money, for an extra 3,000 to 6,000 USD.
Let's scope your project. Describe your pricing plans, subscriber volume and tax footprint, and we will price the subscription layer with an indicative budget and launch date. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.