Billing and subscription management
Asked as “subscription billing platform”, and as “recurring billing and subscription management tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 48 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
60%
Clear leader
60Chargebee15Stripe Billing12Maxio12others
60% of first choices, clear leader.
Since September 2026▲+2Since September 2026: 60% → 62%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Chargebee held the lead, +2 points on 60%, inside the 12-point floor.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01
Chargebee60%17%65endorsed leader▲+2Since September 2026: 60% → 62%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.60% → 62%
Chargebee60%17%65endorsed leader▲+2Since September 2026: 60% → 62%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.60% → 62%02
Stripe Billing15%15%61accepted challenger▼−8Since September 2026: 20% → 12%, −8 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.20% → 12%
Stripe Billing15%15%61accepted challenger▼−8Since September 2026: 20% → 12%, −8 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.20% → 12%03
Maxio12%12%40accepted challenger▲+12Since September 2026: 0% → 12%, +12 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 12%
Maxio12%12%40accepted challenger▲+12Since September 2026: 0% → 12%, +12 points. Past the 12-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 12%04
Zoho Billing4%0%11accepted challenger▼−1Since September 2026: 6% → 5%, −1 point. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 5%
Zoho Billing4%0%11accepted challenger▼−1Since September 2026: 6% → 5%, −1 point. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 5%Show the four products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
08
Zuora0%50%38criticized challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%
Zuora0%50%38criticized challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%05
Recurly0%14%43accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%
Recurly0%14%43accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%06
Paddle0%14%29accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Paddle0%14%29accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%07
Metronome0%10%10accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Metronome0%10%10accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
All six head-to-head pages: the top four products, each against each
One product takes 60% of first choices here, so the chart would put seven markers in one corner and one at the far edge. The two measurements it plots are columns in the standing above: share, and the negative label rate. One product carries a negative rate above 25% in this category.
What they warned about
A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Zuora50%
19 of 38 labels negative · 10 of 6 models · 4 hard negative
“Unless you have a massive IT department and six figures to spend on integration consultants, avoid Zuora.” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
Chargebee17%
11 of 65 labels negative · 10 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“Chargebee — Highest number of recurring complaints ... the most consistent negative feedback across user review sites.” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
Stripe Billing15%
9 of 61 labels negative · 7 of 6 models
“Stripe Billing is excellent for developers, but it is often advised that non-technical companies or those with complex finance needs avoid building their stack solely on top of it.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
Recurly14%
6 of 43 labels negative · 6 of 6 models
“Recurly is a strong tool technically, but it is known for aggressive sales tactics and opaque pricing structures.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the six in this edition.
Sites the answers cite
76 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1022 links across 223 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.
vendor site · Younium30 answers · 35 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Rework27 answers · 36 citations · 9 models
27 answers · 27 citations · 10 models
25 answers · 50 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Guideflow24 answers · 30 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Solvimon23 answers · 25 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Solidgate23 answers · 23 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Maxio22 answers · 28 citations · 7 models
vendor site · Hyperline22 answers · 27 citations · 9 models
21 answers · 27 citations · 12 models
19 answers · 25 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Chargebee19 answers · 23 citations · 8 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
26 answers · 10 models
25 answers · 9 models
23 answers · 9 models
21 answers · 11 models
20 answers · 11 models
18 answers · 7 models
17 answers · 6 models
16 answers · 8 models
15 answers · 10 models
14 answers · 7 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best subscription billing platform”, “subscription billing platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chargebee chargebee.com | 60% | 180 | 5,400 | 140 | 69,891 | $1,889 | 82 | 7 |
| Stripe stripe.com Stripe Billing 15%, Stripe 2% | 17% | 166 | 823,000 | 102,741 | 3,226,782 | $3,621 | 102 | 1 |
| Maxio maxio.com | 12% | 105 | 2,400 | 49 | 32,891 | $518 | 59 | |
| Zoho parent site Zoho Billing 4% | 4% | 41 | 18,100 | 29 | ||||
| Younium younium.com | 4% | 20 | 110 | 0 | 1,700 | 11 | ||
| Wave wave.video | 2% | 50 | 368,000 | 253,218 | 54,926 | 1 | ||
| Recurly recurly.com | 0% | 122 | 3,600 | 105 | 22,718 | $12,207 | 17 | 2 |
| Paddle paddle.com | 0% | 84 | 60,500 | 69,116 | 172,079 | 31 | ||
| Billsby billsby.com | 0% | 27 | 170 | 1 | 1,447 | |||
| Lemon Squeezy lemonsqueezy.com | 0% | 26 | 9,900 | 419 | 7,174 | 0 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 16 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (chargebee.com, solidgate.com, withorb.com, zoneandco.com). The first result for “best subscription billing platform” is salesforce.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best subscription billing platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which recurring billing and subscription management tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top subscription billing platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best subscription billing platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a subscription billing platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which subscription billing platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Claude Opus 4.8no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-6 Astrano first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-5.6 Solno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.1 Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Perplexity Sonar Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Zero rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
PayPal read as PayPal Subscriptions
Unresolved, counted raw
Altegio
Chargebee for Startups
Doxo
GoCardless
Google Payments (payments.google.com)
Paddle.com
PayPal's subscription services
Recharge Subscriptions
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.