Chargebee
Subscription billing and revenue management for recurring businesses
BillaBear
Self-hostable subscription billing system integrated with Stripe
BillaBear is a standalone subscription management and billing platform with REST API integration, advanced tax handling, workflow automation, and multi-brand support for self-hosted deployments.
Overview
Overview
BillaBear is a comprehensive subscription management and billing system designed for teams that need full control over their billing infrastructure. Built to integrate seamlessly with Stripe, it provides a REST API for straightforward implementation while offering capabilities that extend far beyond basic payment processing.
Core Capabilities
The platform handles complex pricing models—from fixed plans and package-based billing to tiered volume and graduated pricing structures. Its tax engine supports country and state-level rules, EU regulations including reverse charge and one-stop-shop compliance, configurable thresholds, and VAT Sense integration for automated rule syncing.
Workflows enable reliable automation of critical business processes with built-in retry logic, eliminating manual intervention when API calls or external services fail. Template management via Twig empowers non-technical teams to modify invoices, quotes, and emails without developer involvement.
Deployment & Extensibility
BillaBear is self-hostable and extendable, giving engineering teams the flexibility to customize functionality. It integrates with accounting platforms (Xero, EasyBill), email providers (SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark), help desks (FreshDesk, Zendesk), and marketing tools (Mailchimp, EmailOctopus). The managed cloud version receives continuous updates, while the open-source release follows a six-month feature cycle.
Highlights
Advanced tax engine with threshold tracking, multi-jurisdiction rules, and VAT Sense integration
Workflow system with retry logic for mission-critical billing and provisioning tasks
Flexible pricing models: tiered, graduated, package, usage-based, and seat-based billing
Twig-based template management for invoices, quotes, and emails editable by non-developers
Pros
- Self-hostable with full control over data and infrastructure
- Comprehensive tax compliance features including EU regulations and threshold management
- Workflow automation reduces manual intervention and developer escalations
- Extensive integration ecosystem covering accounting, email, help desk, and marketing platforms
Considerations
- Open-source version receives feature updates only every six months
- Primary payment provider integration limited to Stripe (Adyen and GoCardless listed but details unclear)
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure management and maintenance overhead
- Learning curve for configuring advanced tax rules and workflow definitions
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider BillaBear, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- SaaS companies requiring complex pricing models and usage-based billing
- Businesses needing granular tax compliance across multiple jurisdictions
- Teams wanting to customize billing workflows and document templates without vendor lock-in
- Organizations with multi-brand or multi-currency subscription offerings
Not ideal when
- Startups seeking fully managed billing with minimal configuration effort
- Teams without infrastructure resources to host and maintain the platform
- Businesses requiring frequent feature updates aligned with rapid product iteration
- Companies needing native integrations beyond Stripe for payment processing
How teams use it
Multi-Tier SaaS Pricing
Configure graduated pricing that automatically adjusts per-unit costs as customer usage scales, with invoices generated from branded templates
EU Tax Compliance Automation
Sync VAT rules via VAT Sense integration, apply reverse charge logic, and receive notifications when sales thresholds trigger new tax obligations
Subscription Provisioning Workflows
Trigger microservice calls during subscription creation with automatic retry logic, ensuring resources are provisioned without manual developer intervention
Multi-Brand Billing Operations
Manage subscriptions for multiple product lines with distinct branding, currencies, and localized invoices from a single BillaBear instance
Tech snapshot
PHP63%
Vue18%
Gherkin13%
JavaScript5%
TypeScript1%
CSS1%
Frequently asked questions
How does BillaBear differ from using Stripe directly?
BillaBear adds subscription lifecycle management, advanced tax rules, workflow automation, multi-brand support, and customizable document templates on top of Stripe's payment processing.
What is the workflow system used for?
Workflows automate critical tasks like provisioning, refunds, or external API calls with built-in retry logic, so failed operations can resume without manual developer intervention.
Can non-developers modify invoices and emails?
Yes. BillaBear uses Twig templates for documents and supports email service provider templates, allowing marketing or operations teams to make changes independently.
How often does the open-source version receive updates?
The open-source release on GitHub receives a new feature release every six months, while the managed cloud version gets regular updates.
Does BillaBear handle EU tax regulations?
Yes. It supports reverse charge, one-stop-shop compliance, configurable thresholds, and integrates with VAT Sense for automated tax rule syncing across EU jurisdictions.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 729
- Watchers
- 729
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Repo age2 years old
Last commitlast month
Self-hostingSupported
Primary languagePHP
Last synced 12 hours ago