Best Shopify Subscription Apps in 2026 [154,065-Store Study]

TL;DR:

• 98.3% of Shopify stores have no detectable subscription app. That's 151,489 stores in our database with no recurring revenue tools.
• Seal Subscriptions has the largest detected footprint at 2,255 stores (87.6% of subscription app users). Skio is second at 279 stores, Recharge third at 45.
• Food & Beverage leads subscription adoption at 5.6%, followed by Health & Wellness (5.0%) and Beauty (3.4%). Consumable niches dominate.
• Shopify Plus stores are 5.75x more likely to run subscription apps (2.3% vs 0.4% on Standard Shopify).
• Skio stores run the most sophisticated stacks: 93.2% use Klaviyo, 34.8% use Gorgias, 25.1% use Rebuy.
• Subscription stores carry 27% fewer products than non-subscription stores (1,243 vs 1,709), suggesting focused, repeat-purchase-oriented catalogs.
• Subscription app users have 112% more apps installed (3.6 vs 1.7) and 30% higher lead scores (85.2 vs 65.7) than stores without.

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Every "best subscription apps" article gives you the same list. Recharge, Loop, Appstle, maybe Seal. They compare features, show pricing tables, and declare a winner based on whoever is paying for the review.

Most of them are written by subscription app vendors promoting their own product. Stay AI's article says Stay AI leads. Recurpay's article favors Recurpay. Loop's comparisons always pick Loop.

We took a different approach. We scanned 154,065 Shopify stores and recorded which subscription apps they have installed. Then we combined that detection data with thorough pricing research and community sentiment to build the most honest subscription app guide available.

The result? 98.3% of Shopify stores have no detectable subscription app. The subscription economy may be worth $40 billion, but the vast majority of Shopify merchants aren't participating yet. If you sell subscription setup services or partner with platforms like Recharge, that's 151,489 stores potentially leaving recurring revenue on the table.

How We Collected This Data

We detect installed apps by scanning each store's public-facing code: JavaScript globals, script URLs, DOM elements, and tracking pixels. Our scanner identifies 72+ apps across categories including email marketing, reviews, upsell, customer support, analytics, and more.

Important caveat on detection: Subscription apps work differently from email marketing or review apps. Many subscription platforms (Recharge, Loop, Appstle, Stay AI, Bold) operate primarily through Shopify's Subscription Contracts API and backend integrations rather than injecting visible storefront scripts. Our scanner detects apps with frontend footprints: subscribe-and-save widgets, subscription management portals, and client-side scripts.

This means our detection data captures apps like Seal Subscriptions (which injects prominent storefront widgets) more completely than Recharge (which processes much of its logic server-side). The adoption rates below are conservative. True subscription adoption across Shopify is certainly higher than 1.7%.

We supplement our detection data with pricing research, Shopify App Store reviews, and community sentiment from forums and merchant discussions to cover all major players.

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98% of Shopify Stores Have No Detectable Subscription App

Out of 154,065 stores in our database, 151,489 (98.3%) have no detectable subscription app.

For context, 94.4% of stores lack a customer support app, 62% have no email marketing, and 67% have no reviews app. Even accounting for backend-only subscription tools our scanner misses, subscriptions remain one of the least adopted capabilities on Shopify.

This is partly expected. Not every product lends itself to subscriptions. You can subscribe to coffee, vitamins, and skincare. You probably won't subscribe to furniture or wedding dresses. The niche breakdown below shows exactly where subscriptions make sense.

Which Niches Go Recurring? Food & Beverage Leads at 5.6%

Subscription adoption maps closely to product replenishment cycles. Consumable and replenishable product categories lead, while one-time purchase categories trail.

The top four categories (Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Beauty, Pets) all sell consumable products that customers reorder on a regular cycle. Coffee subscriptions, vitamin refills, skincare routines, and pet food deliveries are the classic subscription use cases.

The gap between Food & Beverage (5.6%) and Fashion (0.6%) is nearly 10x. If you're prospecting for agency clients, focus on consumable niches first. A coffee brand doing $50K/month without a subscription option is leaving significant lifetime value on the table.

Skio appears almost exclusively in the top three categories (Food & Beverage at 0.6%, Health & Wellness at 0.8%, Beauty at 0.5%), confirming its positioning as a premium tool for serious DTC subscription brands.

Shopify Plus Stores Adopt Subscriptions at 5.75x the Rate

The Shopify Plus gap is significant but smaller than what we see for customer support apps (8.8x).

On Standard Shopify, Seal Subscriptions is essentially the only detected option (167 stores). This aligns with Seal's positioning as the most affordable subscription app with plans starting at $4.95/month. Skio and Recharge appear almost entirely on Plus stores.

92.9% of stores with subscription apps are on Shopify Plus, compared to 66.6% of all stores. Subscription-focused stores tend to be more established operations with the budget and traffic to justify recurring revenue infrastructure.

Adoption by Store Size

Subscription app adoption scales modestly with traffic, though not as dramatically as customer support or analytics tools.

Stores with over 1M monthly visitors adopt at roughly 2x the rate of stores under 50K, but the curve is flatter than other app categories. This makes sense: subscription viability depends more on product type than traffic volume. A niche coffee roaster with 20K monthly visitors can run a successful subscription program. A high-traffic fashion store with 5M visitors may never need one.

The 3.1% peak at 1M-5M suggests that subscription apps become most valuable once stores have enough traffic to generate meaningful recurring revenue.

The Subscription App Ecosystem: Skio vs Seal

The co-occurrence data reveals two distinct subscription store profiles. Skio stores are premium DTC operations with sophisticated stacks. Seal stores are more budget-conscious and earlier in their growth journey.

Skio stores look like mature DTC brands: 93.2% run Klaviyo, 34.8% use Gorgias for support, 25.1% have Rebuy for upselling, and 13.3% track attribution with Elevar. These are stores that invest across their entire tech stack.

Seal stores lean more toward starter stacks: 39.2% use Klaviyo (vs 93.2% for Skio), 18.5% still use Mailchimp, and Judge.me is the top review app at 18.6%. They're earlier in their growth curve but still significantly more invested than the average Shopify store.

The Most Common Subscription + Email Pairings

Klaviyo dominates across all subscription apps, but the concentration varies. 93.2% of Skio stores use Klaviyo, the highest email pairing rate we've seen in any app category. Seal stores are more diverse, with meaningful Mailchimp (18.5%) and Omnisend (5.2%) adoption.

Subscription Stores Are More Focused

One unexpected finding: stores with subscription apps carry 27% fewer products on average.

Subscription stores don't try to be everything to everyone. They run focused catalogs built around replenishable products. They invest more heavily in their stack (112% more apps), track more data (41% more pixels), and score 30% higher on lead quality. The smaller catalog makes sense: subscriptions work best when you have 5-50 hero products that customers reorder, not 5,000 SKUs in a general store.

The 8 Best Shopify Subscription Apps

Based on our detection data, pricing research, App Store reviews, and community sentiment, here are the top subscription apps for 2026.

1. Recharge: The Enterprise Standard

Recharge is the largest subscription platform on Shopify by merchant count, with over 20,000 brands and $20 billion in processed subscription revenue. It's the default choice for enterprise DTC brands. Our scanner detected it on only 45 stores because Recharge operates primarily through backend APIs rather than storefront scripts.

Pricing: $99/month + 1.25% + $0.19 per transaction (Standard). Enterprise pricing available. App Store: 4.6 stars, 1,800+ reviews. Best for: Enterprise DTC brands with high subscription volume who need maximum flexibility. Watch out for: The pricing model has drawn criticism from merchants. The transaction fee (1.25% + $0.19) adds up at scale. A store doing $100K/month in subscription revenue pays roughly $1,440/month in Recharge fees.

2. Skio: The Premium DTC Platform (279 Stores Detected)

Skio is positioned as the subscription platform for growing DTC brands. Our data shows Skio stores run the most sophisticated stacks of any subscription app: 93.2% use Klaviyo, 34.8% use Gorgias, 25.1% use Rebuy.

Pricing: From $299/month + 1% + $0.20 per transaction (Growth). Custom pricing for larger brands. App Store: 5.0 stars, 217+ reviews. Best for: Premium DTC brands focused on subscriber experience. Passwordless login and native build-a-box features differentiate it from competitors. Watch out for: Premium pricing limits it to brands with meaningful subscription revenue. The $299/month base is 3x Recharge's starting price.

3. Loop Subscriptions: The Recharge Challenger

Loop has become the most popular Recharge alternative, with 1,000+ brands migrated from Recharge to Loop. Real case studies include Lilac St. (72.7% subscription growth), Beam Supplements (30% reduction in cancellation rate), and OSEA Malibu (churn cut from 10% to 5%). Our scanner did not detect Loop because it operates through backend integrations.

Pricing: From $99/month + 1% + $0.10 per transaction (Growth). App Store: 5.0 stars, 500+ reviews. Best for: Brands frustrated with Recharge pricing who want a gamified subscription experience (Journey Builder, loyalty rewards, flexible cancellation flows). Watch out for: Newer platform than Recharge, so integrations library is smaller. Migration from Recharge is straightforward but requires planning.

4. Seal Subscriptions: The Budget Champion (2,255 Stores Detected)

Seal Subscriptions has the largest detectable footprint in our database at 2,255 stores. Its appeal is clear: plans start at just $4.95/month with zero transaction fees. While bigger subscription platforms charge 1-1.25% on every order, Seal takes nothing beyond the flat monthly rate.

Pricing: Free plan (basic features), then $4.95/month (SuperSale), $7.95/month (Rising Star), $20/month (Legend). No transaction fees on any plan. App Store: 4.9 stars, 2,400+ reviews. Best for: Small to mid-sized stores testing subscriptions for the first time, budget-conscious merchants, stores with lower subscription volume. Watch out for: Fewer enterprise features than Recharge or Skio. No AI-powered retention flows. Limited analytics compared to premium platforms.

5. Appstle Subscriptions: The Feature-Rich Free Option

Appstle is the most-reviewed subscription app on the Shopify App Store with 5,800+ reviews and a near-perfect rating. Its free plan includes most core features with no transaction fees, making it the strongest free option available.

Pricing: Free plan available (includes workflows and analytics). Paid plans from $10/month. App Store: 4.9 stars, 5,800+ reviews. Best for: Merchants who want full subscription functionality without paying until they scale. The feature set rivals paid competitors at the free tier. Watch out for: Less brand recognition than Recharge or Skio. Fewer DTC-specific features like passwordless login or build-a-box.

6. Stay AI: The Retention Specialist

Stay AI focuses specifically on reducing subscription churn through AI-powered retention tools. Its RetentionEngine analyzes subscriber behavior and triggers personalized cancel flows, offers, and re-engagement campaigns.

Pricing: Custom pricing (typically $499+/month for established brands). App Store: 5.0 stars, 200+ reviews. Best for: Brands with existing subscription programs looking to reduce churn and increase LTV. Not a starter subscription app. Watch out for: High price point. Only makes sense for brands already doing significant subscription revenue where a 1-2% churn reduction justifies the cost.

7. Bold Subscriptions: The Legacy Platform

Bold was one of the original Shopify subscription apps and still maintains a significant installed base. It offers solid core functionality but has fallen behind newer competitors on features and UX.

Pricing: From $49.99/month + 1% per transaction. App Store: 4.0 stars, 300+ reviews. Best for: Existing Bold customers who don't want to migrate. New merchants should consider Loop, Appstle, or Seal instead.

8. Shopify Native Subscriptions

Shopify's built-in subscription functionality is free and requires no app install. It handles basic subscribe-and-save on product pages using Shopify's Subscription Contracts API.

Pricing: Free. App Store: 3.4 stars, 200+ reviews (Shopify Subscriptions app). Best for: Testing whether subscriptions work for your products before committing to a paid app. Watch out for: Very limited features. Merchants report issues with card expiry handling, broken "manage subscription" links, and no customer self-service portal. The community consensus: fine for testing, not viable for a real subscription business.

What You'll Actually Pay: Pricing by Revenue Tier

Subscription app pricing is notoriously complex. Here's what each app costs at different monthly subscription revenue levels:

Estimates based on published pricing. Seal and Appstle charge flat monthly fees with no transaction fees. Loop, Recharge, and Skio charge base fee + percentage + per-transaction fee. Actual costs vary by plan tier and negotiated rates.

The pricing gap is dramatic. At $50K/month in subscription revenue, Seal costs $20/month while Recharge costs roughly $724. The premium platforms justify their pricing with advanced retention tools, analytics, and automation features that Seal lacks. But for a store just launching subscriptions, paying 36x more for features you don't need yet makes no sense.

How to Choose a Subscription App

The decision depends on two factors: your monthly subscription revenue and how sophisticated your retention needs are. Stores doing under $25K/month in subscriptions should avoid percentage-based pricing entirely. Stores doing $100K+ need tools that actively prevent churn, and the 1% fee pays for itself if it saves even 2-3% of subscribers.

Prospecting Opportunity: 151,000 Stores Without Subscriptions

For agencies and consultants who set up subscription programs, the data points to a massive addressable market. Even among the niches most suited to subscriptions, adoption is low:

• 94.4% of Food & Beverage stores have no subscription app
• 95% of Health & Wellness stores have none
• 96.6% of Beauty stores have none
• 96.7% of Pet stores have none

The ideal prospect profile:

• Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Beauty, or Pets category
• 50K+ monthly visitors (enough traffic to generate subscription revenue)
• Running Klaviyo or Omnisend (already invested in customer communication)
• Has a reviews app (cares about customer experience and repeat purchase)
• No subscription app detected

You can filter stores by these criteria, combine with verified founder contacts, and build a qualified outreach list. A pitch like "I noticed you're selling replenishable products but have no subscribe-and-save option. Here's how stores in your niche are generating 20-30% of revenue from subscriptions" is the kind of personalized cold email that converts.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best subscription app for Shopify?

It depends on your budget and stage. For stores testing subscriptions, Seal Subscriptions ($4.95/mo, no transaction fees) or Appstle (free tier) are the best starting points. For established DTC brands, Recharge remains the market leader, though Loop is gaining ground as a lower-cost alternative. For premium subscription experiences, Skio leads with passwordless login and build-a-box features.

What percentage of Shopify stores use subscription apps?

Based on our scan of 154,065 stores, 1.7% have a detectable subscription app. True adoption is higher since some subscription platforms operate through backend APIs that our scanner cannot detect. The niches with highest adoption are Food & Beverage (5.6%), Health & Wellness (5.0%), and Beauty (3.4%).

Is Recharge worth the price?

For stores doing over $50K/month in subscription revenue, yes. Recharge's advanced automation, analytics, and enterprise integrations justify the cost at scale. For smaller stores, the transaction fees (1.25% + $0.19 per order) add up quickly. A store doing $10K/month in subscriptions pays roughly $224/month in Recharge fees. Consider Seal or Appstle until you outgrow their feature sets.

What is the cheapest Shopify subscription app?

Appstle offers a genuinely functional free plan with no transaction fees. Seal Subscriptions starts at $4.95/month, also with zero transaction fees. Both are dramatically cheaper than Recharge ($99/mo + fees), Loop ($99/mo + fees), or Skio ($299/mo + fees).

Does Shopify have a native subscription feature?

Yes. Shopify offers basic subscription functionality through its Subscription Contracts API and a free Subscriptions app. It handles simple subscribe-and-save on product pages. Community reviews are mixed: merchants report issues with card expiry handling, limited customer self-service, and basic analytics. It works for testing subscription viability but lacks the retention tools and flexibility of third-party apps.

What is a good churn rate for Shopify subscriptions?

Industry benchmarks suggest 5-10% monthly voluntary churn is healthy for physical product subscriptions. High-performing brands with retention tools (AI cancel flows, flexible pause/skip/swap options) achieve 3-5% monthly churn. Involuntary churn (failed payments) adds another 2-4% but is largely recoverable through dunning management.

How do I choose between Recharge, Loop, and Skio?

Recharge is the safe enterprise choice with the largest integration ecosystem. Loop is the value play at roughly 40% lower cost, with strong retention features (Journey Builder) and an easy migration path from Recharge. Skio is the premium DTC option focused on subscriber experience (passwordless login, native build-a-box). Choose based on budget and whether subscriber UX or backend automation matters more to your business.

Can I switch from one subscription app to another?

Yes, but it requires planning. Shopify subscription contracts created by one app cannot be directly transferred to another. Migration tools copy subscriber data (customer info, products, billing cycles) and recreate contracts in the new app. Loop and Skio both offer migration assistance specifically for Recharge customers. Budget 2-4 weeks for a clean migration.

Which niches work best for Shopify subscriptions?

Our data shows consumable product niches lead: Food & Beverage (5.6% adoption), Health & Wellness (5.0%), Beauty (3.4%), and Pets (3.3%). Products with natural replenishment cycles (coffee, vitamins, skincare, pet food) convert best to subscriptions. One-time purchase categories like Fashion (0.6%), Jewelry (0.6%), and Electronics (0.6%) have minimal adoption.

What is subscribe-and-save vs subscription boxes?

Subscribe-and-save lets customers automatically reorder the same product at a discount (e.g., "save 15% when you subscribe"). Subscription boxes deliver curated selections of products on a recurring basis (e.g., a monthly beauty box with different products each time). Most subscription apps support both models, but apps like Skio and Loop have stronger build-a-box features for curated experiences.

Do subscription apps work with Shopify Checkout?

All major subscription apps now use Shopify's native checkout for subscription purchases. This is required for Shopify Plus stores after the checkout extensibility migration. Apps like Recharge and Loop previously used their own checkout flows but have fully transitioned to Shopify Checkout, which improves conversion rates and reduces compliance concerns.

What other apps pair well with subscription tools?

The most common pairing is subscriptions + email marketing. 93.2% of Skio stores also run Klaviyo. Beyond email, subscription stores commonly use review apps (62.7% of Skio users), customer support tools like Gorgias (34.8%), upsell apps like Rebuy (25.1%), and loyalty programs (19.0%).

How do subscription apps handle failed payments?

This is called dunning management, and it's one of the most important features to evaluate. Involuntary churn (failed cards, expired payment methods) accounts for 2-4% of monthly subscriber loss. Premium apps (Recharge, Loop, Skio, Stay AI) automatically retry failed charges, send payment update reminders, and offer grace periods before canceling. Budget apps (Seal, Appstle) have basic retry logic but less sophisticated recovery flows. The difference in payment recovery can be worth thousands per month at scale.

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Summary of Key Findings