The subscription tax nobody puts on the invoice
Recharge is a great product. It also charges 1.49% of your recurring revenue — every month, forever — on top of its platform fee and a $0.19 per-order cut. The amount compounds as you grow. Medusa + Reorder charges none of that.
Same subscriptions, two very different bills
| What you pay | Shopify + Recharge | Medusa + Reorder |
|---|---|---|
| Cut of subscription GMV | 1.49% + $0.19/order | 0% |
| Platform fee | $99-$499/mo | Infrastructure only (0% GMV) |
| You own the code | No | Yes - open source · MIT licensed |
| If they raise prices | You're stuck | You can walk |
$80k/mo on Recharge Standard
“The $0.19 per-order charge is easy to miss in the pricing page - but at scale it can rival the percentage fee. Both are recurring costs that compound with growth.”
Reorder isn't “free.” It's yours.
There are real costs to running Reorder: hosting infrastructure, any build or migration work, and your team's time. We don't pretend otherwise.
Past roughly $50k/mo, the eliminated Rechargefees alone typically pay back a migration budget in months - then keep saving, forever. Below that, the case isn't “you'll save money day one.” It's ownership: code you control, pricing you set, a platform you can leave.
You'll never wake up to an email saying “our per-transaction fee is going to 1.99% effective next quarter.” You can fork, modify, and deploy every part of the stack. And if Medusa isn't the right call in five years, your subscription data and logic aren't hostage to anyone.
That's the trade. The calculator below puts real numbers on it for your volume.
How much are you handing to Recharge?
Used to estimate order count for Recharge Standard.
A $12,000 migration pays for itself in about 6 months from eliminated fees, then keeps saving.
Net of ~$348/yr hosting, you keep $23,985/yr.
Recharge Standard = $99/mo platform fee + 1.49% of subscription revenue + $0.19 per subscription transaction (Plus = $499/mo + 1.34% + $0.19); the cheaper of the two is used. Shopify plan is auto-detected from subscription GMV (Basic $39 / Grow $105 / Advanced $399, monthly billing; Shopify Plus excluded). Reorder is open source, MIT licensed, self-hosted.
You own the code
MIT licensed. Fork it, modify it, deploy it anywhere. No vendor lock-in, ever.
Native to Medusa
Built as a first-class Medusa plugin - not a bolt-on. Deep integration, no hacks.
Change anything
Custom billing cycles, dunning flows, storefront UI. Modify whatever you need.
Walk anytime
Your data, your stack. No exit fees, no migration penalties, no permission required.
Thinking about the move?
We build and migrate Medusa subscription stacks. Talk to the team or explore the plugin yourself.
Pricing and methodology. Recharge Standard: $99/mo + 1.49% of subscription GMV + $0.19 per subscription order.Recharge Plus: $499/mo + 1.34% of subscription GMV + $0.19 per subscription order. The $25/mo entry tier is net-new subscribers only (50 subscribers max) and is excluded from all calculations; it is not designed for merchants at meaningful GMV. The calculator compares against whichever Recharge plan (Standard or Plus) is cheaper at your volume, plus the mandatory Shopify subscription auto-detected from subscription GMV (Basic $39/mo below $10k, Grow $105/mo up to $50k, Advanced $399/mo above, monthly billing; Shopify Plus from $2,300/mo is excluded so totals stay conservative). Payment processing fees are not included on either side. Reorder is open source, MIT licensed, self-hosted. Hosting and migration costs are yours to bear. Always verify current vendor pricing before making a business decision - pricing changes.