Comparison · Subscription billing
Subscription billing: Exact Online, Stripe or Chargebee?
If you sell subscriptions, you have to invoice somewhere. For companies on Exact Online, Exact Online Subscription Management, Stripe Billing and Chargebee are the three common choices. They solve the same problem from very different starting points.
Short answer
Exact Online Subscription Management is the logical choice if your books are already in Exact Online and your customers pay by invoice or direct debit. Your subscriptions and your administration then sit in one system, which makes getting insight into your figures a lot easier. Stripe Billing suits online sales with card or iDEAL payments and self-service. Chargebee is strong with complex pricing models and multiple payment providers. Stripe and Chargebee need a third-party integration to post to Exact Online.
The differences at a glance
| Aspect | Exact Online Subscription Management | Stripe Billing | Chargebee |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A module in your Exact Online administration | Billing and payments in one platform | A billing platform on top of a payment provider |
| Subscriptions and administration | In one system: subscriptions, invoices, payments and general ledger | Two systems: subscriptions in Stripe, administration in your accounting package | Two systems: subscriptions in Chargebee, administration in your accounting package |
| Accounting | No integration needed; deferred revenue is processed automatically | Via a third-party integration to Exact Online | Via a third-party integration to Exact Online |
| Payments | Payment link on the invoice, direct debits sent to your bank | Card, iDEAL, SEPA direct debit and more; automatic collection | Via a connected payment provider, such as Stripe or GoCardless |
| Changes to a running subscription | Adjust, extend and pause, invoiced pro rata | Upgrades and downgrades, pro rata | Upgrades, downgrades, trials and discounts |
| Usage-based billing | Not mentioned on the product page | Yes | Yes |
| Subscription insight | Expected MRR, growth and cancellation reasons | MRR, churn and active subscribers | Analytics included |
| Cost | €60 per month (Dutch price list), on top of your Exact Online subscription | 0.7% of billing volume, plus transaction fees (e.g. 1.5% + €0.25 per European card payment) | From 0.8% of billing volume, plus payment provider fees |
Which to choose when?
Choose Exact Online Subscription Management if
- Your books are already in Exact Online.
- You want your subscription figures and your financial figures from one source.
- Your business customers pay by invoice or direct debit.
- You invoice fixed amounts per month, quarter or year.
- You don't want to manage an extra integration.
Choose Stripe Billing if
- Customers sign up online and pay straight away by card or iDEAL.
- You sell internationally in several currencies.
- You bill based on usage.
- You have developers who build billing into your own product.
Choose Chargebee if
- You combine many price plans, add-ons and discounts.
- You want to use several payment providers side by side.
- You want to link quotes and contracts to your billing.
- You want to set up billing without writing code.
Everything in one administration makes insight easier
With Exact Online Subscription Management your subscriptions, invoices, payments and general ledger sit in the same administration. A new subscription, a cancellation or a price increase lands in your books directly, with no integration in between. What you see as MRR therefore ties in with the revenue in your P&L.
With Stripe or Chargebee you have two sources: the billing system knows everything about your subscriptions, your accounting package everything about your finances. An integration carries invoices and payments across, but anyone who wants subscription figures next to profit, balance sheet and cash flow has to make two systems agree.
With RecurBoard that advantage grows. RecurBoard reads your Exact Online administration and calculates both your subscription KPIs (MRR, ARR, NRR, GRR, churn and cohorts) and your P&L, balance sheet and cash flow. One source, one dashboard, updated every hour. If you have several entities, RecurBoard consolidates those administrations into one picture. And with the MCP connector you can ask questions about your subscriptions, your financial figures and all the underlying data in Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot. If you bill through Stripe or Chargebee, tools such as ChartMogul and Baremetrics are the more obvious choice, because they connect to those systems out of the box.
Worked example: when is Stripe more expensive than Exact?
Exact Online Subscription Management costs a fixed €60 per month. Stripe Billing charges 0.7% of your billing volume. The tipping point is about €8,600 of subscription invoices per month: above that, Stripe's Billing fee is higher than Exact's fixed amount.
At €20,000 per month you pay Stripe €140 in Billing fees, before transaction fees per payment. On the other hand, Stripe also handles the payment itself, while with Exact you handle the direct debit or payment link through your bank and possibly a payment provider. For Stripe and Chargebee, also add the cost of the integration with Exact Online.
Frequently asked questions
What does Exact Online Subscription Management cost?
According to Exact the module costs €60 per month excluding VAT (Dutch price list). You also need an Exact Online subscription, such as Exact Online Accounting.
Can I connect Stripe to Exact Online?
Yes, via a third-party integration. The Exact Online App Store has integrations that post Stripe invoices as sales entries and match Stripe payments automatically, among others. Those integrations have their own costs.
Can I connect Chargebee to Exact Online?
Yes, via a third-party connector or an integration platform. Customers and invoices from Chargebee are then created in Exact Online.
Is Stripe Billing cheaper than Exact Online Subscription Management?
Below about €8,600 of subscription invoices per month, Stripe's Billing fee (0.7%) is lower than Exact's €60. Above that, Exact is cheaper. Stripe adds transaction fees per payment, and for both you should compare the total cost of payments and bookkeeping.
Why does it matter that subscriptions and accounting are in one system?
Because your figures then come from one source. With Exact Online Subscription Management every subscription change lands directly in your administration, so your MRR ties in with the revenue in your books. With RecurBoard you see your subscription KPIs and financial reports side by side. With a separate billing system you have to reconcile two sources.
Does RecurBoard work with Stripe or Chargebee?
RecurBoard reads your subscriptions from Exact Online Subscription Management. If you bill through Stripe or Chargebee, tools such as ChartMogul or Baremetrics fit better.
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