Suggestions appear as you type. Use the up and down arrows to choose one and Enter to open it.

This page's audience our own tag's counts — open to see them
–Visits
–Page views
–Clicks to vendors
–Time on page
–Reading now
Clicks to vendors, by tool
  • –
Top countries
  • –
Devices
  • –

– · visits, page views and clicks counted by our own tag, which counts more than our checked analytics; every figure rounded down · how we count

Head-to-head · Paywall Software

Pigeon vs Cleeng

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Pigeon #1 in Paywall Software 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Pigeon
Cleeng #2 in Paywall Software 9.2/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 4 features Visit Cleeng

Pigeon leads on 0 checks, Cleeng on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scorePigeon · 9.4/10
  • Free planboth
  • Most featuresPigeon · 4 of 4

Pigeon scores higher on our rubric for paywall software: 9.4 against 9.2 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #2.

Pigeon is the better fit for publishers needing broad paywall control. Cleeng is the better fit for multichannel subscription businesses.

  • Pigeon fits best

    Publishers needing broad paywall control

  • Cleeng fits best

    Multichannel subscription businesses

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Pigeon 9.4/10 Visit ↗ Cleeng 9.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.4 9.2
Ranking #1 in Paywall Software #2 in Paywall Software
Best for Publishers needing broad paywall control Multichannel subscription businesses
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price $99/mo —
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Cloud, Mobile
Platforms Web Web, iOS, Android
Support Email, Docs Tickets, Docs
Integrations 20 integrations 15 integrations
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Pigeon 4/4 · Cleeng 2/4
Metered paywall ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Registration wall ✓ (best) Not checked yet
One-time payments ✓ ✓
Entitlement rules ✓ ✓
Specs
Included pageviews Not checked yet Not checked yet
Supported CMS WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, HubSpot, Magento, Wix, Squarespace, Concrete, Hugo, Gatsby, Jekyll, Eleventy, Nuxt.js, Next.js, Astro, custom CMS Not checked yet
Payment processors AlignPay, Authorize.net, Clover, Braintree, PayPal, Stripe Adyen, PayPal, Stripe, Primer, dLocal
Our review
Pros
  • Eight paywall modes, including hard, soft, metered, and time-based
  • Rules can use URLs, CMS categories, tags, and API parameters
  • Billing, entitlements, analytics, CMS, and payment integrations in one platform
  • Supports web, mobile and connected-TV billing
  • Combines entitlements, billing recovery and hosted checkout
  • Offers subscriptions, passes, live events and one-time purchases
Cons
  • The free Experiment plan does not allow transactions
  • Publishers plan charges 10% transaction fees
  • Enterprise pricing starts at $500 per month with variable transaction fees
  • Enterprise pricing is tailored rather than publicly specified
  • Full platform configurability is limited to Enterprise
  • Merchant services are split across separate plan options
Our verdict

Pigeon is a cloud-based paywall and subscription management platform for newspapers, magazines, blogs, education providers, and other digital content publishers. It supports hard, soft, metered, time-based, cookie, ads, newsletter, and…

Read the review →

Cleeng is a cloud-based subscriber retention management platform for digital subscription businesses. It brings together subscriber accounts, identity management, subscription offers, recurring billing, payment processing, entitlement…

Read the review →
  1. PigeonPaywall Software 9.4Free plan
  2. CleengPaywall Software 9.2Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Pigeon — where it wins

    • Eight paywall modes, including hard, soft, metered, and time-based
    • Rules can use URLs, CMS categories, tags, and API parameters
    • Billing, entitlements, analytics, CMS, and payment integrations in one platform

    Where it doesn't

    • The free Experiment plan does not allow transactions
    • Publishers plan charges 10% transaction fees
    • Enterprise pricing starts at $500 per month with variable transaction fees

  • Cleeng — where it wins

    • Supports web, mobile and connected-TV billing
    • Combines entitlements, billing recovery and hosted checkout
    • Offers subscriptions, passes, live events and one-time purchases

    Where it doesn't

    • Enterprise pricing is tailored rather than publicly specified
    • Full platform configurability is limited to Enterprise
    • Merchant services are split across separate plan options

More comparisons

All paywall software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update