Braintree vs Recurly

PayPal's developer-friendly sidekick meets subscription billing that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out when you need to handle a prorated refund. Here's our take.

Braintree

Nice Pick

PayPal's developer-friendly sidekick. It makes payments easy until you need to talk to a human.

Pros

• Seamless integration with PayPal and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Robust APIs and SDKs that simplify complex payment workflows
• Strong fraud protection and PCI compliance built-in

Cons

• Customer support can be slow and impersonal, typical of big corporate platforms
• Pricing isn't the cheapest, especially for high-volume transactions

Recurly

Subscription billing that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out when you need to handle a prorated refund.

Pros

• Handles complex subscription logic like upgrades, downgrades, and pauses without custom code
• Built-in dunning management to automatically retry failed payments and reduce churn
• Strong API with webhooks for real-time subscription events and easy integration
• Supports multiple currencies and tax compliance (VAT, GST) out of the box

Cons

• Pricing is steep for small startups, with setup fees and percentage-based transaction cuts
• Reporting can feel limited compared to pulling raw data into your own analytics

The Verdict

Use Braintree if: You want seamless integration with paypal and digital wallets like apple pay and google pay and can live with customer support can be slow and impersonal, typical of big corporate platforms.

Use Recurly if: You prioritize handles complex subscription logic like upgrades, downgrades, and pauses without custom code over what Braintree offers.

The Bottom Line

Braintree wins

PayPal's developer-friendly sidekick. It makes payments easy until you need to talk to a human.