What is subscription billing?
Subscription billing lets your app automatically charge customers on a recurring schedule — weekly, monthly, annually, or any interval you choose. Rather than requiring a customer to manually pay each time, their payment method is securely stored and charged automatically, with invoices, receipts, and failed-payment handling all taken care of.
This is the backbone of SaaS products, membership platforms, subscription boxes, and any service where customers pay regularly rather than once.
When does your app need it?
- You charge customers monthly or annually for access to your platform
- You offer tiered plans (e.g. Basic / Pro / Enterprise) with different feature sets
- You need to handle free trials, then convert to paid automatically
- You have a membership or subscription box model
- You want customers to be able to upgrade, downgrade, or cancel self-serve
- You need to send automated payment receipts and billing notifications
How much does it cost?
Adding subscription billing typically adds 8–16 hours of development — roughly $1,000–$4,000 AUD.
The range reflects real differences in complexity:
Simpler end ($1,000–$2,000): A single plan, charge at signup, cancel anytime. Stripe Billing handles most of the logic out of the box.
More complex ($3,000–$4,000): Multiple tiers with different feature gates, proration when customers switch plans mid-cycle, usage-based components (e.g. charge per seat or per API call), and integration with your accounting software (Xero, MYOB).
Note that the payment processing provider (almost always Stripe for Australian SaaS) charges approximately 1.7%–1.75% + 30¢ per transaction on top of your build cost — this is an ongoing operational cost, not a development cost.
How it's typically built
In Australia, the vast majority of subscription apps are built on Stripe Billing — it handles the payment processing, recurring logic, plan management, and webhook notifications. The developer integrates Stripe's API into your backend, builds a customer portal (where users manage their subscription), and connects the subscription status to your app's access controls.
A typical flow: user selects a plan → enters card details via Stripe's hosted UI → Stripe charges them on schedule → your app receives a webhook confirming payment → access is granted or revoked accordingly.
For businesses using Xero or MYOB, the invoices Stripe generates can be synced automatically — reducing manual reconciliation.
Questions to ask your developer
- How does plan switching work? If a customer upgrades mid-month, is the difference prorated immediately or applied next cycle? Both are valid — but you need a clear answer before launch.
- What happens when a payment fails? Smart retry logic, dunning emails, and a grace period before access is revoked matter enormously for retention.
- Can customers manage their own subscription? A customer portal that lets users cancel, update payment methods, and view invoices dramatically reduces support load.
- What accounting system do you use? Stripe can sync to Xero and QuickBooks natively — worth setting up from day one.
- What's the tax treatment? If you sell to businesses, GST applies. If you sell internationally, you may need to collect VAT. Stripe Tax handles this — but it needs to be configured.
See also: One-off payments · Usage-based billing · GST calculations · App cost calculator