Swell vs Sticky.io

Swell8.7Visit Sticky.io8.6Visit

Higher score Swell #4 in Subscription Ecommerce Software 8.7/10 Paid ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Swell

vs

Sticky.io #5 in Subscription Ecommerce Software 8.6/10 Paid ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Sticky.io

• Swell fits best

  Headless or omnichannel product sellers

• Sticky.io fits best

  Enterprise businesses needing custom checkout flows

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Side by side

Feature	Swell 8.7/10 Visit ↗	Sticky.io 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.7	8.6
Ranking	#4 in Subscription Ecommerce Software	#5 in Subscription Ecommerce Software
Best for	Headless or omnichannel product sellers	Enterprise businesses needing custom checkout flows
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	$29/mo (best)	$499/mo
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Browser extension	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Email, Live chat, Community, Docs	Email, Live chat, Phone, Docs
Compliance	GDPR, PCI DSS	PCI DSS, GDPR, HIPAA
Integrations	13 integrations	500+ integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Swell 5/5 · Sticky.io 5/5
Subscriber portal	✓	✓
Pause or skip	✓	✓
Prepaid plans	✓	✓
Payment recovery	✓	✓
Native storefront	✓	✓
Specs
Product types	Both	Both
Billing intervals	Custom	Custom
Our review
Pros	Supports physical and digital subscriptions with custom billing schedules Separates billing and fulfillment intervals for flexible operations Offers APIs, mixed carts, dunning, and pause, skip, and resume controls	160+ payment gateways with multi-gateway payment routing Flexible trials, proration, plan bundles, and custom billing models AI-timed recovery, smart dunning, portals, APIs, and headless access
Cons	No free plan is available Starter is limited to 2 admin users and $50K annual sales Advanced capabilities require higher-priced annual plans	Starts at $499 per month before usage-based fees Recovery pricing is available on request Support hours are limited to business hours
Our verdict	Swell is a headless commerce platform for developers, agencies, brands, and ecommerce teams selling physical or digital products through subscription models. It supports hosted storefronts as well as custom storefronts, checkout, APIs,… Read the review →	Sticky.io is a subscription commerce platform for ecommerce merchants, subscription businesses, performance marketers, and enterprise teams. It combines subscription and offer management, checkout and funnel building, recurring and custom… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Swell — where it wins

  • Supports physical and digital subscriptions with custom billing schedules
  • Separates billing and fulfillment intervals for flexible operations
  • Offers APIs, mixed carts, dunning, and pause, skip, and resume controls

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan is available
  • Starter is limited to 2 admin users and $50K annual sales
  • Advanced capabilities require higher-priced annual plans

• Sticky.io — where it wins

  • 160+ payment gateways with multi-gateway payment routing
  • Flexible trials, proration, plan bundles, and custom billing models
  • AI-timed recovery, smart dunning, portals, APIs, and headless access

  Where it doesn't

  • Starts at $499 per month before usage-based fees
  • Recovery pricing is available on request
  • Support hours are limited to business hours

• Swell8.7/10 · Paid

  Flexible subscriptions for physical and digital products across hosted and headless stores.

  Visit SwellFull verdict →
• Sticky.io8.6/10 · Paid

  A broad subscription commerce stack for enterprise teams building custom checkout flows.

  Visit Sticky.ioFull verdict →