SMART Subscriptions vs Kaching
Updated · SMART Subscriptions (E-TRADE PARTNER)
SMART Subscriptions is free with no revenue tiers. Kaching Subscriptions has no transaction fees but prices by monthly subscription revenue, from Starter ($9.99/mo, up to $1,000) to Enterprise ($299.99/mo, over $200,000), and is free only on development stores. Kaching adds customer product swaps, automatic swap, add or remove rules after each order, BOGO and BXGY discounts, wider analytics and a Kaching Bundles integration.
SMART Subscriptions does this with plans, a product-page widget, and a native customer portal.
Try it freeOn this page
Kaching and SMART agree on two things: neither takes a cut of each order, and both offer pay-per-delivery (pay as you go) and prepaid plans. They part ways on how the bill grows and on what customers can change. Kaching's eight paid tiers follow your subscription revenue, and its portal includes swaps. SMART stays free, and its portal covers pausing, skipping, address updates and switching to a saved card.
Quick comparison
| Area | SMART Subscriptions | Kaching Subscriptions |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | E-TRADE PARTNER | Kaching Bundles & Upsells |
| Price | Free. No paid plans or app fees | Starter $9.99/mo (to $1,000/mo in subscription revenue), Basic $14.99/mo ($3,000), Growth $24.99/mo ($10,000), Pro $49.99/mo ($30,000), Advanced $79.99/mo ($70,000), Premium $129.99/mo ($120,000), Elite $199.99/mo ($200,000), Enterprise $299.99/mo (over $200,000). No transaction fees; free on development stores; 14-day trial |
| Plan options | Pay as you go and pay in advance; percentage, amount off or a fixed price; minimum and maximum payments, with the contract ending after the maximum | Pay-per-delivery and prepaid; multiple frequencies; BOGO and BXGY automatic 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 | Pause, skip, swap or cancel in the customer portal |
| Automations | Bulk pause, resume and cancel from the Subscriptions list | Automatic swap, add or remove products after each order; retention offers |
| Failed payments | Payment and inventory failure retries; final pause, cancel or skip | Smart payment recovery and retry logic |
| Analytics | Home shows MRR and active subscriptions, refreshed about every 10 minutes | AOV, ARPU, LTV, cohort retention, revenue calendar and inventory forecasting |
| Translations | Translated plan option names and widget text; the customer portal in 33 languages | App available in 11 languages |
| Support | Chat or email (support@etradepartner.io), plus SMART docs and guides | 24/7 live support on every paid plan |
Sources, checked November 1, 2026: Kaching Subscriptions on the Shopify App Store and Kaching pricing. 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 Kaching. Spot something out of date? Email support@etradepartner.io.
When SMART fits better
- Your revenue would climb through Kaching's tiers: $15,000/mo in subscriptions is the Pro tier at $49.99/mo, and $100,000/mo is Premium at $129.99/mo, while SMART stays free.
- You sell fixed-length programs, where each option has a maximum number of payments and the contract ends after the last one.
- You want a fixed subscription price as an option, not only a percentage or amount off.
When Kaching fits better
- Customers should swap products in the portal on their own.
- You want products swapped, added or removed automatically after each order, for example for rotating boxes.
- You track AOV, ARPU, LTV, cohort retention and inventory forecasts inside the subscription app.
- You already use Kaching Bundles, or want BOGO and BXGY automatic discounts on subscription orders.
How Kaching's tiers scale
With no per-order fee, Kaching's cost is easy to predict: find your monthly subscription revenue in its tier list. The steps fall at $1,000, $3,000, $10,000, $30,000, $70,000, $120,000 and $200,000 a month. Kaching lists the same core features on every tier, so moving up buys revenue headroom rather than new tools. Live stores start with a 14-day trial; only development stores are free indefinitely.
For fixed-length programs in SMART, see Subscription plans, the billing frequencies guide and the subscription discounts guide.
Keep subscriptions free as revenue grows
SMART has no revenue tiers, so the app costs the same $0 at $1,000/mo as at $200,000/mo.
Install free on ShopifyFrequently asked questions
›Is Kaching Subscriptions free?
Only on development stores. Live stores pay from $9.99/mo (Starter, up to $1,000/mo in subscription revenue) to $299.99/mo (Enterprise, over $200,000/mo), with no transaction fees. SMART costs nothing on any store.
›Do I need Kaching Bundles to use Kaching Subscriptions?
No. Kaching lists Kaching Bundles as an integration, not a requirement.
›Can SMART customers swap products?
No. SMART has no customer product swaps. Kaching lists pause, skip, swap and cancel in its customer portal.