Hyperswitch
Composable open-source payments infrastructure built in Rust
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- 41,763
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Last commit
- 18 days ago
RustActive
Best Subscription Billing & Payments Tools
Recurring billing, subscriptions, proration, dunning, taxes and payment retries.
Subscription billing and payments tools enable businesses to automate recurring invoicing, manage subscription lifecycles, and process payments on a scheduled basis. They typically include capabilities such as proration, tax calculation, dunning management, and payment retries. Open-source solutions provide self-hosted building blocks that can be customized and integrated with existing systems, while commercial SaaS platforms offer managed services, support, and additional revenue-operations features.
Top Open Source Subscription Billing & Payments platforms
- Stars
- 9,630
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Last commit
- 18 days ago
PythonActive
- Stars
- 9,498
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Last commit
- 26 days ago
GoActive
Kill Bill
Open-source subscription billing and payments platform for SaaS
- Stars
- 5,402
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Last commit
- 19 days ago
JavaActive
Flexprice
Usage-based metering and billing infrastructure for developers
- Stars
- 3,544
- License
- AGPL-3.0
- Last commit
- 18 days ago
GoActive
- Stars
- 2,463
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Last commit
- 17 days ago
TypeScriptActive
Recently updated
17 days ago
Autumn provides a lightweight integration between your app and Stripe, enabling subscriptions, credits, usage‑based billing, and custom plans without handling webhooks, upgrades, or payment failures.
What to evaluate
01Feature completeness
Assess whether the solution supports core subscription functions-recurring invoicing, proration, dunning, tax handling, refunds, and usage metering-out of the box.
02Integration ecosystem
Look for native connectors, REST/webhook APIs, and SDKs that simplify integration with ERP, CRM, accounting, and payment gateways.
03Operational overhead
Consider deployment complexity, required infrastructure, compliance responsibilities (PCI, GDPR), and the level of ongoing maintenance or support.
04Pricing and licensing model
Compare open-source licensing (e.g., MIT, Apache) and any commercial add-ons against SaaS subscription fees, taking total cost of ownership into account.
05Scalability and performance
Evaluate how the platform handles high transaction volumes, concurrent billing cycles, and peak usage spikes, especially for global businesses.
Common capabilities
Most tools in this category support these baseline capabilities.
- Recurring invoicing and automated payment collection
- Proration and mid-cycle plan changes
- Dunning management and payment retries
- Tax calculation and compliance (VAT, GST)
- Usage metering and tiered pricing
- Multi-currency and multi-payment-method support
- Webhooks and RESTful API for integration
- Self-service customer portal
- Refunds, credits, and coupon handling
- Subscription lifecycle management (pause, resume, cancel)
- Dashboard & analytics reporting
- Extensible plugin or module architecture
Leading Subscription Billing & Payments SaaS platforms
Chargebee
Subscription billing and revenue management for recurring businesses
Subscription Billing & Payments
Alternatives tracked
12 alternatives
ChargeOver
Recurring billing and subscription management with invoicing and dunning
Subscription Billing & Payments
Alternatives tracked
12 alternatives
Maxio
Subscription billing & revenue operations platform for B2B SaaS
Subscription Billing & Payments
Alternatives tracked
12 alternatives
Paddle
All-in-one payments, subscription billing, tax, and fraud for SaaS
Subscription Billing & Payments
Alternatives tracked
12 alternatives
Recurly
Subscription management with billing, payments orchestration, and churn reduction
Subscription Billing & Payments
Alternatives tracked
12 alternatives
Stripe Billing
Recurring payments and subscription billing built into Stripe
Subscription Billing & Payments
Alternatives tracked
12 alternatives
Most compared product
10+ open-source alternatives
Chargebee automates subscription lifecycle operations—plans, trials, invoicing, proration, taxes, and revenue recognition. It handles recurring payments and dunning, integrates with payment gateways and accounting, and supports SaaS pricing changes.
Leading hosted platforms
Frequently replaced when teams want private deployments and lower TCO.
Typical usage patterns
01SaaS product subscription
Automate monthly or annual billing for software-as-a-service offerings, including trial periods, upgrades, and downgrades.
02Marketplace or platform subscriptions
Manage multiple vendors on a single marketplace, handling revenue share, tax distribution, and per-seller billing.
03Usage-based metering
Track consumption metrics (e.g., API calls, storage) and generate invoices that combine a base subscription fee with variable usage charges.
04B2B contract renewals
Support long-term contracts with custom renewal terms, multi-year pricing, and automated reminders for renegotiation.
05Hybrid subscription and one-time sales
Combine recurring billing with occasional add-on purchases, ensuring seamless invoicing and payment processing.
Frequent questions
What is the difference between open-source and SaaS subscription billing solutions?
Open-source tools are self-hosted and can be modified to fit specific workflows, but they require internal resources for deployment and maintenance. SaaS platforms are hosted by the vendor, include support, and handle compliance, but they involve recurring subscription fees.
How do these tools handle tax calculation for global customers?
Most solutions integrate with tax engines or provide built-in rules for common jurisdictions (VAT, GST, sales tax). They calculate tax at invoice generation and can generate tax reports for filing.
Can I use an open-source billing engine with my existing payment gateway?
Yes, many open-source projects expose pluggable payment adapters or webhook interfaces that allow integration with Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, and other gateways.
What is dunning management and why is it important?
Dunning management automates the process of handling failed payments, sending reminders, applying retries, and eventually suspending or canceling the subscription. It helps recover revenue and reduces churn.
Is PCI compliance required when using a self-hosted billing solution?
If the solution stores or processes raw card data, the operator must meet PCI DSS requirements. Many platforms avoid this by tokenizing payment data through a PCI-validated gateway.
How does usage-based billing work in these platforms?
Usage-based billing records consumption events (e.g., API calls) and applies predefined pricing tiers at the end of the billing cycle, adding the variable amount to the base subscription fee.