The Problem
Why teams leave Chargebee
Revenue-share pricing (0.5-0.75% of revenue)
Costs grow proportionally with your success
Advanced features on Scale/Enterprise plans only
Complex pricing experiments need higher tiers
Dunning and revenue recovery features are tier-gated
What We Build Instead
Your custom finance & erp tool
Subscription billing with no revenue share
Flexible pricing models: per-seat, usage, tiered, flat
Dunning and automated payment recovery
Coupon and promotion management
Revenue analytics and forecasting dashboards
Customer self-service portal
The Math
Chargebee vs. custom build
Based on 10 seats at $75/seat/month, with ~10% annual SaaS price increases.
Keep paying Chargebee
Build with 86 SaaS
3-year savings with 10 seats
-$21,050
-71% less than Chargebee
Pricing Breakdown
Chargebee tier pricing vs. one-time custom build
Compare what you pay per seat across Chargebee's tiers against a single investment in software you own forever.
| Tier | Monthly/Seat | Annual/Seat | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Free | Free | Basic subscriptions, Hosted checkout, Customer portal, Email support |
| Performance | $75/mo | $63/mo | Usage-based billing, Dunning automation, Advanced analytics, Priority support |
| Scale | $150/mo | $125/mo | Revenue recognition, Multi-entity, Custom domains, Dedicated CSM |
| Enterprise | $300/mo | $250/mo | Custom contracts, SLA guarantees, Audit logs, SOC 2 compliance |
| Custom Build by 86 SaaS | $25,000–$45,000 one-time | $0/seat | Unlimited users, full ownership, no recurring fees |
Migration Timeline
From Chargebee to ownership — week by week
A structured migration plan to move off Chargebee in 6-10 weeks with zero downtime.
Discovery & Audit
1 weekAudit pricing models, subscription lifecycle, dunning rules, and payment integrations
Architecture & Design
1-2 weeksDesign billing engine with flexible pricing models and payment gateway integration
Core Development
3-5 weeksBuild subscription management, checkout, dunning, and analytics modules
Data Migration & Testing
1-2 weeksMigrate subscribers, billing history, and validate recurring charge accuracy
Deployment & Training
1 weekDeploy billing platform and train finance team
Total build time
6-10 weeks
Feature Comparison
What you keep, what you skip, and why
A transparent comparison of Chargebee features vs. your custom-built alternative.
| Feature | Chargebee | Custom Build | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription Billing | |||
| Hosted Checkout | |||
| Customer Portal | |||
| Dunning & Recovery | |||
| Coupon Management | |||
| Usage-based Pricing | |||
| Revenue Analytics | |||
| Multi-currency | |||
| Revenue Share Model | Flat monthly cost — no percentage of your revenue | ||
| Data Ownership | All billing data on your infrastructure |
Your custom build focuses on the features your team actually uses — typically 15-20% of what Chargebee offers — built exactly for your workflow.
How It Works
From Chargebee to ownership in 6-10 weeks
Free Audit
We analyze your Chargebee usage and identify exactly which features your team actually uses.
Scope & Build
We build your custom finance & erp tool with only the features you need. 6-10 weeks.
Deploy & Migrate
We deploy to your infrastructure, migrate your data from Chargebee, and train your team.
You Own It
Full source code, documentation, and optional maintenance retainer. No vendor lock-in. Ever.