In April 2026, Recharge acquired Skio for $105 million. That acquisition changes the framing of this post - but not in the way you might expect. Recharge and Skio continue to operate as separate products with separate roadmaps, separate portals, and separate positioning. The acquisition means they are owned by the same parent company, not that they are the same platform. For DTC brands evaluating subscription infrastructure, the choice between them is still live and still consequential.
This guide covers Recharge and Skio as the two platforms Tribe works with most - because they are the two platforms serious DTC subscription brands are consistently running or migrating to. We encounter Loop and Stay AI occasionally, and they are capable tools. But across the agencies and brands Tribe works with in the subscription space, the conversation almost always comes back to Recharge and Skio. That is not an agenda - it is what the market actually looks like at the DTC scale where subscriptions move the commercial needle. See our full post on the Recharge acquisition of Skio for the strategic context behind that deal.
The honest context: why Recharge and Skio dominate serious DTC subscription
There are 20+ subscription apps on the Shopify App Store. Most of them handle recurring billing. That is the commodity layer - taking a card and charging it monthly. What separates Recharge and Skio from the field is not billing. It is everything that sits around billing: the subscriber portal experience, the cancel flow logic, the build-a-box mechanics, the Klaviyo integration depth, the bundle subscription architecture, and the infrastructure for running a subscription programme at the scale where retention rate improvements directly change the economics of the business.
Brands on Appstle, Bold, or Seal Subscriptions are often running straightforward subscribe-and-save mechanics on a handful of products. That is fine for what it is. Brands on Recharge or Skio are typically running complex programmes - dynamic bundles, multiple frequency options, custom subscriber portals, build-a-box as the primary purchase mechanic, and Klaviyo lifecycle flows that use subscription events to drive retention. The feature gap is real and the price reflects it. For DTC brands where subscriptions are a core revenue channel rather than an add-on, the cost of the platform is not the primary decision variable - the cost of churn is.
Platform comparison at a glance
| Recharge | Skio | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 | 2021 |
| Ownership | Recharge Payments | Recharge Payments (acquired Apr 2026, independent product) |
| Shopify merchants | 20,000+ | Growing DTC base |
| Pricing | From $99/mo + 1.25–1.49% per transaction | Free tier + 1% per transaction; paid from ~$499/mo |
| Portal | Recharge SDK — fully custom, native to Shopify theme | Passwordless login, clean native UX |
| Bundle / build-a-box | Yes | Yes — Skio Build-a-Bundle |
| Klaviyo integration | Deep — events, churn risk, custom properties | Deep — full event suite |
| Cancel flow logic | Reason-based, configurable | Reason-based, configurable |
| Loyalty | Via integrations | Skio Loyalty — native |
| Checkout Extensibility | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-currency | Yes — Shopify Markets | Yes |
| Best fit | Complex programmes, enterprise scale, custom portal | DTC-first, UX-led, fast implementation |
Recharge
Recharge is the most established subscription platform on Shopify - 20,000+ merchants, a decade of iteration, the deepest feature set in the market, and the infrastructure to match. Complex pricing logic, multi-currency, advanced dunning, and a subscriber portal that can be built entirely within the Shopify theme via the Recharge SDK. It is built for brands running subscription as a serious commercial programme, not an add-on. Tribe is a Recharge Premier Partner - one of five agencies in EMEA - which means direct access to Recharge’s product team, early feature access, and the ability to implement it at a level most agencies cannot. For brands considering the platform, our guide to migrating to Recharge covers what the process involves.
Origin Coffee — replenishment subscription on Recharge
Origin Coffee runs its subscription programme on Recharge, using the platform’s replenishment mechanics to power recurring coffee orders across multiple roast profiles and grind options. The subscription architecture allows subscribers to manage frequency, quantity, and product selection within the Origin brand experience. Recharge’s dunning and payment recovery infrastructure is particularly relevant for Origin’s subscription base - involuntary churn from failed payments is a significant driver of subscriber loss for any replenishment programme, and Recharge’s retry logic and recovery sequences are among the most robust in the market. Origin Coffee’s subscription revenue grew +96% year on year following Tribe’s Recharge implementation.
[INSERT VIDEO: Origin Coffee subscription experience — add video here]
Freja — custom subscriber portal via Recharge SDK
Freja Bone Broth uses the Recharge SDK to deliver a fully custom subscriber account portal built within the Freja Shopify theme. Subscribers manage their bone broth subscription - frequency, quantity, payment method, delivery address - without leaving the Freja brand environment. No off-brand iframe, no third-party redirect. The portal is a designed product experience, not a billing administration screen. This is the SDK’s primary commercial value: for a premium DTC brand, the subscription portal is part of the brand. The Recharge SDK makes it possible to build it that way.
[INSERT VIDEO: Freja subscriber account portal — add video here]
Skio
Skio launched in 2021 with one clear thesis: the subscription experience for DTC brands was unnecessarily complicated, and there was space for a platform built from scratch on modern Shopify architecture with UX as a first-order priority. Passwordless login - removing the password barrier from the subscriber portal entirely - is the most visible expression of that philosophy. A subscriber who can manage their account in two taps has no operational reason to cancel. Skio’s Build-a-Bundle mechanic, its native Skio Loyalty programme, and its speed of implementation have made it the platform of choice for DTC brands that want a subscription experience that feels like a product, not a billing layer.
Stocked — dynamic bundle subscription on Skio
Stocked runs its entire subscription model on Skio’s Build-a-Bundle mechanic. Every subscriber builds their own recurring meal box - choosing what goes in it, in what quantities, on their chosen frequency. The bundle is not an add-on to the subscription; it is the subscription. Subscribers have ownership over what they receive each delivery, which is the structural reason the churn rate is where it is. Stocked’s monthly cancellation rate sits at 0.92% - in a meal delivery category where industry average is five to eight times higher. That number is a direct consequence of the subscription architecture.
[INSERT VIDEO: Stocked dynamic bundle subscription experience — add video here]
Bold Bean Co — Skio Loyalty
Bold Bean Co runs Skio Loyalty as part of their subscription programme - a native points and rewards system sitting within the same subscriber portal as their subscription management. Subscribers earn points on recurring orders and redeem them against future deliveries. Tribe built the Bold Bean subscription and loyalty programme on Skio, and was the first UK agency to deploy Skio Loyalty. The commercial case for it is straightforward: a subscriber with accumulated loyalty points has a financial reason to stay that is independent of the product itself. Bold Bean’s subscription revenue grew +36% year on year following the implementation.
[INSERT VIDEO: Bold Bean Co Skio Loyalty and subscription experience — add video here]
What the acquisition means for brands on each platform
The immediate practical answer is: very little changes in the short term. Skio continues to operate as a separate product. The Skio team remains in place. The roadmap continues. The acquisition gives Recharge the ability to serve brands across two distinct product philosophies - enterprise-grade complexity via Recharge, modern DTC-native UX via Skio - under one commercial roof. For brands already on either platform, the most significant near-term implication is that both products now have access to Recharge’s resources and infrastructure, which should accelerate development on both sides.
The longer-term question - whether Recharge and Skio eventually converge into a single product, or remain permanently distinct - is unanswered. Our view: the two products serve genuinely different audiences with genuinely different priorities, and the acquisition thesis is more likely about market consolidation and cross-selling than about product merger. But this is worth monitoring if you are making a multi-year platform decision.
For brands considering migrating between the two - or migrating from a different platform to either - the acquisition does not change the migration process. Our guides to migrating to Recharge and the subscription retention strategy that should precede any migration decision both remain current.
A note on Loop and Stay AI
Loop and Stay AI both have genuine strengths and meaningful install bases. Loop’s retention-focused feature set and 4.9 App Store rating reflect real product quality. Stay AI’s AI-driven cancel flows and churn prediction tools are genuinely differentiated. As an agency working primarily with DTC food, drink, and CPG brands on Shopify Plus, Tribe rarely encounters brands on these platforms - the brands in this space that take subscriptions seriously are almost universally on Recharge or Skio, or actively considering a migration to one of them. That is an honest observation from the agency side, not a dismissal of platforms Tribe has less direct experience with. If you are evaluating Loop or Stay AI, both have strong documentation and active user communities to draw on.
Which platform for which brand
The decision framework Tribe uses when advising clients is not primarily about features - both platforms have the features a serious DTC subscription brand needs. It is about where the complexity sits in the subscription programme and what the primary retention lever is.
Choose Recharge if
Your subscription programme involves significant complexity: multiple product types, complex pricing logic, international markets with multi-currency requirements, or a subscriber portal that needs to be built entirely within your Shopify theme design system. Also the stronger choice if you are at Shopify Plus scale with a development team or agency capable of working with the Recharge SDK, and if you need enterprise-grade reporting and analytics. Recharge’s maturity and install base mean that almost any implementation challenge has been solved before.
Choose Skio if
Subscriber portal UX is a primary priority and you want passwordless login and a clean management experience without custom development. Also the stronger choice if build-a-bundle is central to your subscription model, if you want Skio Loyalty integrated natively, or if you are a growing DTC brand that wants faster implementation without sacrificing the features that matter for retention. Skio’s modern architecture and Shopify-native approach mean it is typically faster to launch on and produces a subscriber experience that feels like a premium brand product rather than a bolted-on billing layer.
By brand stage
Pre-launch to £1m annual revenue: Skio’s free tier and faster implementation make it the easier starting point. The portal UX is excellent without customisation and the platform scales well past this stage.
£1m to £5m: Either platform works at this stage. The decision depends on programme complexity. If you have straightforward subscribe-and-save mechanics, Skio. If you have or are building bundle subscription mechanics with complex fulfilment requirements, Recharge’s infrastructure handles this more robustly at scale.
£5m+: Both platforms have proven themselves at this scale. The decision is genuinely about which implementation model fits your team - Skio for brands that want a clean, fast-moving DTC-native platform; Recharge for brands with complex subscription logic and a preference for the deepest available customisation. Tribe has clients at this scale on both platforms producing strong retention numbers.
Migration: moving between platforms
Active subscriber migration is the highest-risk element of moving between subscription platforms, and the step most commonly underestimated. An active subscriber is not a data row - they are a live billing relationship with a payment method, a billing date, a subscription status, and an expected delivery. Moving them from one platform to another requires a coordinated migration process managed by the receiving platform, proper communication to subscribers ahead of the cutover, and careful timing to avoid billing events mid-migration.
Tribe has managed migrations from legacy platforms to both Recharge and Skio. The technical process is well-defined on both sides. The commercial decision to migrate - and the subscriber communication that should accompany it - matters as much as the technical execution. A poorly communicated migration produces subscriber churn that the migration itself caused. Our migration to Recharge guide covers the process in detail. The same principles apply to Skio migrations.
For a full overview of what goes into running a subscription programme on Shopify, and how platform choice sits within the broader subscription strategy, our ultimate guide covers the end-to-end picture. And if you are trying to understand whether your current subscription platform is the right one for where your brand is going, get in touch - this is a conversation Tribe has regularly with brands at every stage of subscription maturity.
Frequently asked questions
Did Recharge buy Skio?
Yes. Recharge acquired Skio for $105 million in April 2026. The two products continue to operate independently with separate teams, roadmaps, and positioning. Skio has not been merged into Recharge and continues to take on new merchants. The acquisition brings them under the same parent company but does not change the immediate platform decision for brands evaluating the two.
What is the difference between Recharge and Skio?
Recharge is the more established platform with the deeper feature set, strongest enterprise-grade infrastructure, and the most customisable subscriber portal via its SDK. Skio is the newer, DTC-native platform with passwordless login, a cleaner out-of-box subscriber experience, native Build-a-Bundle, and Skio Loyalty. Both have deep Klaviyo integration, both support complex subscription mechanics, and both are fully migrated to Shopify Checkout Extensibility. The difference is in implementation approach and where the design control sits - Recharge gives more, Skio requires less to produce a premium experience.
Is Recharge or Skio better for a DTC food and drink brand?
Both platforms have strong track records in DTC food and drink. Tribe has built subscription programmes for Bold Bean Co, Sauce Shop, Citizens of Soil, Stocked, and Fermary on Skio, and for Momo Kombucha and others on Recharge. The choice depends on programme complexity and portal requirements more than category. For brands where build-a-bundle is the primary subscription mechanic, Skio’s Build-a-Bundle is particularly well-developed. For brands with complex multi-product programmes requiring significant portal customisation, Recharge’s SDK offers more control.
How do I migrate from Recharge to Skio or vice versa?
Active subscriber migration requires a coordinated process managed by the receiving platform - it is not a simple data export and import. Payment method tokens may not transfer between processors, migration timing needs to avoid billing dates, and subscribers need proactive communication ahead of the switch. Both Recharge and Skio have migration teams that manage this process for inbound brands. Tribe has managed these migrations and can advise on the commercial and communication decisions alongside the technical process. See our guide to migrating to Recharge for the detailed process.
What is Skio Loyalty?
Skio Loyalty is a native points and rewards programme built into the Skio platform. Subscribers earn points on recurring orders and can redeem them against future deliveries - all within the same subscriber portal as their subscription management. Tribe was the first UK agency to deploy Skio Loyalty. It is a meaningful retention tool because accumulated loyalty points give subscribers an additional financial reason to stay that operates independently of the product itself.