SMART Subscriptions vs Bold
Updated · SMART Subscriptions (E-TRADE PARTNER)
SMART Subscriptions is free, with no monthly or transaction fee, and keeps separate retry settings for payment failures and inventory failures. Bold Subscriptions has no free plan: Launch is $24.99/mo + 2%, Grow $49.99/mo + 1%, Scale $74.99/mo + 0.9% and Ultimate Retention $399.99/mo + 0.9%. Bold says every plan includes all of its features, including cancellation flows, dunning, APIs and complimentary white-glove migration.
SMART Subscriptions does this with plans, a product-page widget, and a native customer portal.
Try it freeOn this page
Bold prices by revenue rather than by feature. Its four plans differ in monthly fee, transaction fee, support level and migration priority, not in what the app can do. Comparing it with SMART therefore comes down to two questions: will you use what Bold adds, such as upsells, cancellation flows and APIs, and what does its transaction fee cost at your volume?
Quick comparison
| Area | SMART Subscriptions | Bold Subscriptions |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | E-TRADE PARTNER | Bold |
| Price | Free. No paid plans or app fees | Launch $24.99/mo + 2%; Grow $49.99/mo + 1%; Scale $74.99/mo + 0.9%; Ultimate Retention $399.99/mo + 0.9%. 30-day free trial except on Ultimate Retention |
| What the plans change | One free feature set for every store | All features on every plan; plans differ in fees, support level and migration priority |
| Plan options | Pay as you go and pay in advance; percentage, amount off or fixed price; second discount after a set number of payments | Prepaid and pay-as-you-go; order-based and fixed-date schedules; dynamic discounts |
| Customer self-service | Requires the new Shopify customer accounts. Pause, resume, skip or unskip, switch to a saved payment method, update the shipping address, cancel after the plan's minimum payments | Full customer portal with portal upsells |
| Failed payments | Separate retry count and interval for payment failures and inventory failures; final pause, cancel or skip | Automatic dunning with retry counts and actions such as pausing or skipping orders |
| Cancellation | Customers cancel once the plan's minimum payments are reached | Cancellation flows on every plan; ProsperStack-powered flows on Ultimate Retention |
| Emails | 17 templates, inactive until activated, test sends, sender name and reply-to | Subscription email upsells on every plan |
| Migration | No import or migration tool | Complimentary white-glove migration; priority migration support on Scale and Ultimate Retention |
| Support | Chat or email (support@etradepartner.io), plus SMART docs and guides | Standard support on Launch, Grow and Scale; priority support with ProsperStack onboarding on Ultimate Retention |
Sources, checked November 1, 2026: Bold Subscriptions on the Shopify App Store and Bold plan details. Prices are USD list prices as shown on those pages, and features are described the way the vendor describes them. Trademarks belong to their owners. SMART Subscriptions is not affiliated with Bold. Spot something out of date? Email support@etradepartner.io.
When SMART fits better
- You want to test subscribe and save without a bill after the trial: SMART is free, while Bold's Launch plan is $24.99/mo + 2% once its 30-day trial ends.
- Out-of-stock renewals matter to you, and you want them retried on their own schedule, separate from declined cards.
- You plan prepaid options with a minimum commitment, and want the discount to step up after a set number of payments.
When Bold fits better
- You want cancellation flows. Every Bold plan has them, and Ultimate Retention adds ProsperStack flows with 1,000 cancellation sessions a month ($0.70 per session after that).
- You already run Bold Upsell or Bold Custom Pricing and want subscription upsells or VIP pricing for subscribers.
- Your developers need APIs and dev tools to build a custom subscription experience.
- You are leaving another subscription app and want Bold's complimentary white-glove migration; SMART has no import tool.
What Bold's transaction fee adds
Examples using Bold's listed rates, assuming the fee applies to all subscription revenue: at $2,000/mo, Launch costs $24.99 + $40 = $64.99/mo. At $20,000/mo, Grow costs $49.99 + $200 = $249.99/mo. At $50,000/mo, Scale costs $74.99 + $450 = $524.99/mo. Bold lists Launch for stores under $2.5K/mo in subscription revenue and Grow for up to $25K/mo. SMART charges nothing at any of these sizes; whether Bold's extra features earn back the fee depends on your store.
On the SMART side, Failed payments and retries explains the two retry types, and the failed payments guide covers how to set the final action.
Run subscriptions without a transaction fee
Set up plans, the product-page block and retry rules without paying a monthly or per-order app fee.
Install free on ShopifyFrequently asked questions
›Does Bold Subscriptions have a free plan?
No. Bold's plans start at Launch, $24.99/mo + 2%, after a 30-day free trial. SMART Subscriptions has no paid plans at all.
›Are Bold's features limited by plan?
Bold says all plans include full access to all Bold Subscriptions features. The plans differ in monthly fee, transaction fee, support level and migration priority.
›How do cancellations work in SMART compared with Bold?
In SMART, customers cancel from their Shopify customer account once the plan's minimum number of payments is reached. Bold includes cancellation flows on every plan and ProsperStack-powered flows on Ultimate Retention.