Sledge vs Recharge: subscriptions alone, or subscriptions with the rest?
Summarize with AI
Recharge's entry plan is clean and flat. Its higher tiers move to a per-order cut on top of the monthly fee, and it grows with your recurring revenue, so the math that works at a handful of subscribers reads differently at scale.
Recharge is the most established subscriptions app on the Shopify App Store: launched in 2014, about 2,169 reviews at 4.8 stars, a Built for Shopify badge, and the deepest dedicated retention tooling out there. Sledge subscriptions sit beside search, filters, and bundles in one flat plan, Growth Intelligence on top, and no cut of any order.
How do Recharge and Sledge compare at a glance?
| Feature | Recharge Subscriptions App | Sledge |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat entry plan; higher tiers add a per-transaction fee that grows with recurring revenue | Flat plans: $29.99, $89.99, $199, or $399 a month. No cut of any order |
| Per-order fee | Yes, on Starter and Plus, on every subscription transaction | None. Subscription orders are not taxed |
| Free trial | 60 days | 14 days |
| Reviews and rating | 4.8 stars, about 2,169 reviews; since 2014 | Newer app with a smaller review base; judge it on your own store inside the trial |
| Subscriptions depth | Deep and dedicated: dynamic bundles, tiered discounts, churn prevention, failed-payment recovery, loyalty on Plus | Selling plans, subscriber discount, and self-service cancel, on every plan |
| Search | Not offered | AI search on every paid plan; whole-sentence queries are opt-in, with a monthly allowance |
| Filters | Not offered | Included on every plan. Filters that sell, not just sort |
| Bundles | Dynamic subscription bundles | Nine types, including build-your-own, free gift, and volume discounts |
| Tells you what to do next | No; the dashboard reports churn and revenue, you pick the moves | Yes, on paid plans; Growth Intelligence suggests moves, totals what they could add in dollars, then measures each one you set up against real sales |
| A/B testing | Not offered | Yes, on offers |
| Built for Shopify badge | Yes | Not yet |
Should you pick Recharge or Sledge?
Choose Recharge if:
- Subscriptions are the core of your business, not a side offer, and platform depth is the point.
- You want advanced retention tooling: churn prevention, failed-payment recovery, dynamic bundles, tiered discounts, loyalty on Plus.
- You want the longest track record: since 2014, about 2,169 reviews at 4.8 stars, the Built for Shopify badge.
- The per-order fee fits your margins, and the trade for that depth makes sense.
Choose Sledge if:
- Straightforward subscriptions are enough: selling plans, a subscriber discount, and self-service cancel, with no per-order fee on any renewal.
- You want the front of the store covered too: AI search and filters, which Recharge does not carry.
- You want bundles and Growth Intelligence naming your next moves and totaling what they could add in dollars.
- You want a flat monthly price, never a percentage of your sales.
Deep dive 1 · The per-order fee
What does each subscription order actually cost?
Recharge's entry plan is clean and flat, with a long trial. Outgrow it and the model changes: its higher tiers move to a per-transaction fee on top of the monthly price. That fee buys real depth, and it grows with your recurring revenue.
Sledge takes no cut of any order. Plans are flat at $29.99, $89.99, $199, or $399 a month, by the revenue a tier covers, and how often findings land. A renewal today and one after a great quarter cost the same. Past a tier's monthly cap, conversational search and new Growth Intelligence runs pause until the month resets. Passing the cap never adds a charge to your bill.
The real comparison is the sticker plus the slice from every renewal, not the sticker alone.
Deep dive 2 · Descriptive vs prescriptive
Which tool tells you what to do next?
Recharge reports the numbers that matter to a subscription business: churn, recurring revenue, failed payments, recovery rate. The reading and acting stay with you.
Growth Intelligence names the move. It reads your orders, searches, and shopper behavior, finds where money leaks, and hands you the fixes, totaling what they could add in dollars. Click a finding and the offer opens pre-filled: review, save, live. Then Growth Intelligence grades its own work. Every suggestion you set up is checked against real sales, so you know what's working. On Pro and up. A free install lands on the trial tier, which runs none.
Recharge gives you a retention dashboard. Growth Intelligence gives you the next move.
Migration note
Switching from Recharge to Sledge: what's involved?
Subscriptions are not casual to move, so go in stages.
- Install Sledge free; Recharge keeps running. Start where there is no overlap: turn on Sledge search and filters, which Recharge does not carry.
- Pilot Sledge subscriptions on a new product or a single line, and check selling plans, a subscriber discount, and self-service cancel against how your subscribers buy.
- Weigh what you would leave behind: if you lean on self-service pause and skip, an MRR dashboard, advanced churn prevention, failed-payment recovery, or loyalty on Plus, Sledge has pause and skip but does not match the rest one for one. Move only once the basics clear your bar.
Live in retention tooling, and staying on Recharge is reasonable. If subscriptions are one offer beside search, filters, and bundles, Sledge will cover the core with no per-order fee. Either way, Sledge never edits your theme files.
FAQ
Questions, answered
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14-day free trial
Explore Sledge on your store before you decide to commit.
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No credit card required
Start improving your store with no upfront commitment.
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Setup in minutes
Get Sledge running without a lengthy setup process.
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Built to grow sales
Turn shopper behavior into actions that help you sell more.
Should you switch from Recharge to Sledge?
When subscriptions are one offer among many, yes: Sledge runs subscribe-and-save on Shopify selling plans with a subscriber discount, alongside search, filters, bundles, and Growth Intelligence that Recharge does not carry. When subscriptions are the whole business with deep retention needs, Recharge runs deeper.
Does Sledge charge a per-order fee like Recharge?
No. Recharge's plans can add a per-transaction fee on top of the monthly price. Sledge takes no cut of any order. Plans are flat at $29.99, $89.99, $199, or $399 a month.
Which is cheaper, Recharge or Sledge?
It depends on volume. Recharge's entry plan is flat, but its higher tiers add a per-order cut that grows with your recurring revenue. Sledge takes no cut of any order, so after a good quarter the gap is whatever Recharge's fee added on top. Each Sledge plan covers the sales Sledge helps make up to a monthly cap; past it, conversational search and new Growth Intelligence runs pause until the month resets or you upgrade.
Can I run Recharge and Sledge together?
Yes. Recharge has no search or filters, so nothing collides at the front: add Sledge search, filters, and bundles while Recharge runs subscriptions. If you later move subscriptions to Sledge, run one app at a time so subscribers are not billed twice. Both are free on development stores.
The deepest platform. Or subscriptions with the rest.
Recharge goes deepest on subscriptions. Sledge is building the core and already surrounds it with search, filters, and bundles, on a flat bill with no per-order fee. On a paid plan, Growth Intelligence names your next fixes, and one total in dollars, labeled “Est. potential”, shows what they could add each month. Install free, keep Recharge running, and let your numbers pick.
