Paddle Retain
Recovery bundled into Merchant-of-Record billing
Starts around $500/mo plus 5% rev share.
Backstop
Recovery + cancel flow, flat-fee
$79 / mo Pro · $759 / yr annual (−20%) · 0% rev share · 14-day Pro trial, then 10/mo free.
Annual cost calculator
How much would you save?
Paddle Retain / yr
$7,500
$6,000 base + $1,500 rev share
Backstop Pro / yr
$948
$79 / mo · 0% rev share
You save
$6,552
87% less
Rough numbers — your real cost depends on the competitor's tier mix and your workspace size. Use these as a starting point, not a quote.
Recovery loop
Smart retries (Stripe-aware schedule)
Paddle's Tactical Retries are algorithm-timed on decline reason, card type, buyer location and 15+ signals.
Decline-code-aware retry timing
4-touch dunning email sequence
Up to 4 automated recovery emails alongside the retries; SMS + in-app channels also available.
Hosted card-update pages (PCI SAQ-A)
Paddle docs describe in-app notifications prompting buyers to update on login; a standalone no-login hosted card-update page is not documented.
Pre-dunning card-expiry warnings
Documented behavior is in-app prompts on login rather than a pre-failure warning email.
Manual + bulk campaign override
Retain recovery is fully automated; no manual/bulk override UI is documented.
Auto-close stale campaigns
Configurable recovery window (default 30 days), then cancel / pause / past-due the subscription.
Per-decline-code recovery forecast
Paddle reports recovery analytics but no documented per-decline-code forecast.
Cancel flow + customer portal
Full hosted portal that replaces Stripe billing portal
Retain is recovery + cancel-flow, not a billing portal. On Paddle Billing the billing UI is Paddle's own MoR checkout.
Visual flow builder
Form/dropdown configuration — map up to 5 cancel reasons to a salvage offer; no free-form visual builder.
Discount + pause + downgrade + schedule-call offers
Plan switch covers downgrade; "book a meeting" uses Calendly, with an optional one-time % discount as a last resort.
Conditional offers by survey answer
Offers are author-mapped per cancellation reason — user-configured, not algorithm-driven.
Save-rate analytics with funnel
Weekly CSV report of cancellation-flow activity with retained / cancelled / aborted outcomes.
A/B testing per cancel-flow version
No A/B testing of cancellation flows documented.
Discount approval policies (max %, cooldown)
A single optional one-time % discount; no documented approval-policy controls.
Pricing + ownership
Entry price
Bundled into Paddle Billing "at no extra cost"; standalone Retain is flat-fee "starting at $500/month" per Paddle's help center.
Revenue share / transaction fee
Getting "free" Retain means routing billing through Paddle as Merchant of Record at 5% + 50¢ per transaction.
You stay the merchant of record
On Paddle Billing, Paddle is the seller of record on every invoice. Standalone Retain on Stripe keeps you as merchant.
Real free tier
No standalone free tier; standalone pricing starts at $500/mo.
Migration takes 15 minutes.
Most Paddle Retain customers are already using Stripe Connect, which means our setup is already done. Here's the rest:
Step 1
Keep Stripe as your processor
If you're on standalone Retain over Stripe you already keep Stripe — Backstop connects to the same account, no re-platforming. If you're on Paddle Billing, you'll migrate billing back to Stripe to regain merchant-of-record status; export your customers and subscriptions from Paddle first.
Step 2
Rebuild the recovery loop
Backstop sets up Stripe-aware smart retries, decline-code-aware timing, and a 4-touch dunning sequence sent from your own domain. Mirror your existing Retain recovery window (Paddle's default is 30 days) so failed-payment handling stays consistent.
Step 3
Port your cancellation flow
Recreate your salvage offers (discount, pause, downgrade, schedule-call) in Backstop's visual flow builder and map them to your cancel-reason survey answers — the same per-reason logic Retain uses, plus A/B testing and discount approval policies.
Step 4
Turn on the hosted billing portal
Enable Backstop's full hosted customer portal to replace Stripe's default billing portal — something Retain doesn't provide — so customers manage cards, plans, and cancellations in one branded place.
Where Paddle Retain wins
If you want a single vendor to own billing, global sales tax, fraud, and churn recovery in one fee, Paddle is a genuinely strong package and Retain comes free inside it — there's no per-seat or per-feature charge once you're on Paddle Billing. Their recovery engine is mature: retries timed on decline reason, card type, buyer location and 15+ signals, up to four recovery emails, plus SMS (via Twilio) and in-app prompts that Backstop doesn't offer. As a Merchant of Record they handle worldwide VAT/sales-tax registration, filing, and liability for you — something Backstop on Stripe simply doesn't do, and for a small team selling globally that can be worth far more than the 5% spread. Their term optimization and automatic localization are also polished and largely hands-off. If you're already on Paddle, or you'd happily trade a revenue percentage to never think about tax compliance again, Paddle Retain is the more complete answer and we won't pretend otherwise. Backstop is for teams who want to stay on Stripe, keep being their own merchant of record, pay a flat fee instead of a percentage, and own a full billing portal — not bundle retention into someone else's checkout.
Switch when you're sure
Test-drive on free, switch when you're sure.
Run Backstop alongside Paddle Retainfor two weeks on the free tier. Compare recovery rates side by side, then move when you're convinced. We export your data on the way out — no lock-in either direction.
Zrionix Technology · founder-led · we read every reply