Recharge Raises Entry Costs as Skio Pricing Comes Into Line
Nov 04, 2026Six months after acquiring Skio, Recharge is raising the cost of entry for new subscription merchants while changing its pricing for growing businesses.
Recharge and Skio, two major providers of subscription commerce technology, have changed their pricing within days of each other. New merchants will pay more to get started with Recharge, while the companies now charge the same transaction fees on their plans for growing businesses.
Recharge provides technology that ecommerce brands use to manage recurring orders, subscriber accounts and failed payments. Skio is a newer, Shopify-focused subscription management platform known for its customer experience tools and work with fast-growing direct-to-consumer brands.
When Recharge acquired Skio in April 2026, the companies said they collectively served more than 20,000 merchant brands processing over $20 billion in annual merchandise volume. Both platforms have continued operating separately while Recharge develops a shared product roadmap.
A Higher Price to Get Started
Recharge's new pricing applies to stores installing its platform beginning November 2. Its monthly Starter price increased from $99 to $149, and the company discontinued its $25 entry plan for new merchants with fewer than 50 lifetime subscription customers.
Recharge also renamed its $499 monthly Plus plan to Scale and lowered its percentage transaction fee from 1.34% to 1.25%. The fixed charge increased slightly, from 19 to 20 cents per transaction.
Skio went in the opposite direction, raising its Scale transaction fee from 1% to 1.25%, with the 20-cent fixed charge unchanged. Both platforms now advertise a transaction fee of 1.25% plus 20 cents on their Scale plans.
Merchants pay transaction fees on subscription orders in addition to monthly platform charges. The companies' monthly prices differ, with Skio charging $499 per month under annual billing or $599 when billed monthly.
| Plan or fee | Previous | New |
|---|---|---|
| Recharge $25 entry plan | $25/month | Discontinued for new stores |
| Recharge Starter | $99/month | $149/month |
| Recharge Scale transaction fee | 1.34% + 19¢ | 1.25% + 20¢ |
| Skio Scale transaction fee | 1.00% + 20¢ | 1.25% + 20¢ |
Recharge introduced its $25 entry plan in February 2026 to give new merchants an inexpensive way to begin offering subscriptions. Nine months later, that option is no longer available to new stores.
Merchants already on the $25 plan can keep it until they exceed 50 lifetime subscription customers. Existing Recharge Plus customers also retain their contractual rates.
Is Recharge Placing More Emphasis on Established Merchants?
- Getting started costs more. With the $25 entry plan gone and Starter priced at $149 monthly, a new merchant faces a higher commitment before knowing how its subscription program will perform.
- Recharge is emphasizing tools for established businesses. Its Scale plan offers more advanced retention, customer management and subscriber journey testing capabilities, along with a lower percentage transaction fee. The total cost still depends on order size.
For an established merchant, recovering failed payments or reducing cancellations can produce meaningful revenue gains. Those opportunities increase as the subscriber base grows, making more sophisticated technology easier to justify.
Skio has also focused on merchants with established products and plans for growth. Its acquisition strengthens Recharge's position among brands looking for more advanced subscription management capabilities.
Recharge continues to offer Starter for emerging brands. Its new pricing, however, puts a higher cost on entry while giving more prominence to tools aimed at merchants with established recurring revenue.
Insider Take
Recharge is making it more expensive for the smallest merchants to get started while emphasizing technology designed to help established subscription businesses improve performance. The changes point toward greater emphasis on merchants with recurring revenue already in place.
For operators, choosing a subscription technology partner comes down to fit. A platform focused on advanced retention and revenue tools may be valuable to a growing business, but expensive for one still testing whether its subscription model works.
As Recharge and Skio develop under common ownership, their pricing and product priorities will help show which merchants they most want to serve.
Related Member Resources
Recharge's pricing changes raise two questions for merchants: Does the platform still make financial sense for their business, and how might the Skio acquisition affect their technology choices? These resources help operators examine both before committing to a provider.
- Subscription Technology Requirements & Vendor Selection Workbook
This workbook helps teams document what their subscription business needs, set priorities and compare vendors against the same criteria. It's particularly useful when new pricing forces a fresh look at whether a platform's cost and capabilities are a good fit.
- Why Vendor History Matters When Choosing Subscription Technology
An acquisition can bring changes to a vendor's products, pricing and future plans. This guide helps operators examine a provider's history and ownership when assessing the stability of a technology relationship and the questions to raise before signing or renewing a contract.
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