The verdict in three sentences
Well-designed recurring billing is not just charging a card every month: you must handle proration, plan changes, VAT and above all dunning (automatic recovery of failed payments). For a Toronto SME, integration costs between 3,000 and 12,000 EUR, plus a billing tool at 0 to 599 EUR/month depending on volume. The real gain is financial: good dunning recovers 5 to 10 % of MRR otherwise lost to involuntary churn.
What sets recurring billing apart from a simple payment
A one-off payment is a transaction. A subscription is a lifecycle: free trial, activation, renewal, upgrade/downgrade with proration, payment failure, retry, cancellation, refund. Each of these events must be handled cleanly, or you lose solvent customers (expired card not retried) or you bill incorrectly. That is why billing deserves a dedicated tool beyond a certain volume.
| Function | Stake | Impact if mishandled |
|---|---|---|
| Dunning (failure retries) | Recover expired/declined cards | 5 - 10 % of MRR lost |
| Upgrade/downgrade proration | Bill fairly on plan change | Disputes, refunds |
| VAT / tax handling | Multi-country compliance | Reassessment, blockage |
| Free trial + conversion | Convert without friction | Churn at first charge |
| MRR/churn reporting | Steer growth | Blind decisions |
Comparing billing solutions
From Stripe Billing (integrated, economical) to Chargebee or Recurly (rich, geared to scaling SaaS), the choice depends on your volume, pricing complexity and reporting needs.
| Solution | Cost | Dunning | Failure handling | When to choose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Billing | 0.5 - 0.8 % of recurring volume | Smart Retries included | Good | Launch, simple pricing |
| Chargebee | 0 - 599 EUR/month + % | Advanced, configurable | Excellent | Multi-plan SaaS, scale-up |
| Recurly | ~249 EUR/month + % | Machine learning | Excellent | High volume, US/international |
| GoCardless (SEPA) | 1 % (cap ~2 EUR) | Low failure rate | Native | B2B subscriptions, large amounts |
| Custom solution | 8,000 - 12,000 EUR setup | To build | Bespoke | Very specific needs |
SEPA via GoCardless has a much lower failure rate than cards (no expiry, fewer decline types): for recurring B2B subscriptions, it cuts involuntary churn by several points.
Mini case study
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Sophie runs a B2B SaaS in Toronto, 400 subscribers at 89 EUR/month, that is 35,600 EUR of MRR. Before integrating real dunning, she was losing about 7 % of MRR/month to unrecovered payment failures, roughly ~2,490 EUR/month. After integrating Stripe Billing with Smart Retries and automatic email reminders, involuntary churn drops to 2 %, about ~710 EUR/month lost.
Gain: 1,780 EUR of MRR recovered per month, that is 21,360 EUR/year. The integration (billing, proration, VAT, dunning, reporting) cost her 7,500 EUR, paid off in about 4 months. As a bonus, MRR/churn reporting finally gives her clear visibility to steer her growth.
FAQ
What is dunning and why does it matter? Dunning is the automatic retry of failed payments (expired card, insufficient funds); good dunning recovers 5 to 10 % of MRR otherwise lost to involuntary churn.
How much does Stripe Billing cost? Expect about 0.5 to 0.8 % of recurring volume on top of transaction fees; it is often the best cost/feature ratio to start.
When should I move to Chargebee or Recurly? As soon as you have multiple plans, complex proration, multi-currency or a need for advanced reporting; expect 0 to 599 EUR/month depending on volume.
How do I handle VAT on subscriptions? The tool must apply the right rate by customer country and generate compliant invoices; this is essential as soon as you sell outside your country.
Is SEPA better than card for recurring? For B2B and large amounts, yes: SEPA has a much lower failure rate (no expiry) and a cost capped around 2 EUR per debit.
Let's scope your project. Share your subscriber count, pricing grid and payment methods: we will quote the billing integration and the recoverable MRR. 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.
