Spreedly – Sell Site Subscriptions

Spreedly is a tool that web publishers can use to quickly sell subscriptions to their online properties. Whether you run an online magazine, sell stock photos, or operate virtually any other type of web-based business, you can count on Spreedly to handle all the most stressful parts of the billing process so you don’t have to.

Before you creating a paid account with Spreedly and start entrusting the site with your subscriber lists and billing data, it might be worthwhile to take the web-app for a spin and sign up for a free trial. Once you’ve decided to commit, you can start integrating your payment system with Spreedly by following the web-app’s step-by-step integration guide. Spreedly offers more tools than most individual companies would ever need, which means you get the benefit of being able to pick and choose which features to offer your online subscribers. The most obviously – and useful – feature on Spreedly is its subscription management system. Spreedly will manage users signups, account upgrades, and subscription cancellations. The web-app will also accept any complimentary subscription codes you’ve handed out to important customers and offers pro-rated fees for times when your site was down.

The responsibility for recurring billing and credit card security falls squarely on the shoulders of Spreedly, so you don’t have to live in fear of exposing your user data in an accidental way. For publishers who want to offer subscription services without all the hassle of payment collection and sales, Spreedly is an obvious solution that can decrease the time spent sorting out complicated financial matters each month.

Practical Uses:

• Offer a subscription to your online magazine
• Charge clients the right amount at the right time of the month, without worrying about embarrassing billing errors
• Let users choose between multiple subscription pricing levels
• Offer metered billing based on the time a client spends on your site

Insider Tips:

• Publishers can offer pro-rated prices when their sites go down
• Spreedly can accept complimentary subscription codes
• Website owners can browse through their list of subscribers at any time
• From the dashboard page, users can see revenue totals for the day or month

What we liked:

• Spreedly offers numerous guides and tutorials that make getting set-up a breeze
• Spreedly works with a number of different payment gateways
• Full-fledged test sites help people learn about Spreedly without signing up for an actual account
• Spreedly will work on all types of sites, regardless of what code they’re written in

What we didn’t like:

• Nothing

Alternatives:

• Chargify – http://chargify.com
• CheddarGetter – https://cheddargetter.com
• SnapBill – http://www.snapbill.com

Company Info:

• Launched: July 2008
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Raleigh, North Carolina
• Founded by: Alexander Kohlhofer, Nathaniel Talbott, Duff O’Melia, and John Carlin
• Web site: http://spreedly.com

Costs:

• $19 per month, plus 20¢ or 2% per payment transaction