Subscription management software FAQs
How much should I expect to pay for subscription management software transaction fees?
When using subscriptions management software, you can expect there to be a charge for each subscription you collect. Unless you take cash or ask your members to pay by BACS ther is absolutely no way of avoiding this.
The charge you pay is usually a small fee, decided by the payment processing company itself (such as Stripe or GoCardless), and is called a 'transaction fee'. These are usually made up of two parts. The first is a percentage of the actual transaction amount, and the second is a flat processing fee which is charged in pence. By adding these together you have the total processing fee per individual transaction.
Each payment processor (such as Stripe, Paypal & GoCardless) has different fees. For example, Stripe charge 1.4%+20p per transaction and GoCardless charge just 1%+20p per transaction.
Is subscription management software free?
When it comes to subscription software, many providers will advertise themselves as 'free to use' advertising that they have with no monthly subscription fee. They will however then add an extra percentage onto the payment processors' transaction fee that we spoke about in the above FAQ.
This is also known as 'marking up fees'. Many club owners are taken in by this clever (or sneaky - you decide) way of marketing, because the system appears 'free' to use. However, this usually means that if you do the maths, you will actually end up paying way more each month / year in transaction fees than by using a subscription management platform that charges a monthly subscription fee but has vastly lower transaction fee charges.
This fee difference can somes add up to thousands of punds a year in extra fees, so check this out very carefully.
So it has to be said that when it comes to asking 'Can I get subscription management software free?' The answer is no, but you CAN avoid additional fees from providers who add percentages onto existing fees.
How do I know which subscription software is the best value for money?
We usually tell people to shop around a little bit and check out all of the fees that subscriptions management software companies charge. Many subscription software companies aren't entirely transparent when it comes to telling you what their transaction fees are. So, the research process can sometimes tell you all you need to know about whether you can get subscription management software free or not.
A trustworthy subscription management provider will be open and honest about their fees from the beginning. They will happily answer any questions you have about their fees and costs and will also tell you why they charge them. If their full fees are not easy to find (often being burried down deep in their terms and conditions) or they aren't completely open and transparent if you chat to them then tread very, very carefully.
Is there more info to help me understand if free subscription management software is really free?
Yes there is. Take a look at this article about free membership management software and discover for yourself if it really is as free as the companies that are developing them claim.