Subscription 3rd Party Payment Gateway

EddieFromHella
Tourist
8 0 2

Hello Shopify Community, 

I am seeking a subscription / recurring payments app that will integrate with non-Shopify Payments gateways. My store was recently removed from Shopify Payments (long story) and, since then, I've been happily using Authorize.net. However, now I'm looking to activate subscriptions for some of my products. While most older documentation would suggest that 3rd party payment gateways are supported, I'm running into issues with each app developer because Shopify Payments is not supported. Here are example responses from two such developers:

@ChrisRak "Shopify requires all the new subscription apps to use it for now, they are working on support for other gateways and should be available in 2021."

Bold Subscriptions "You must use Shopify Payments as your payment gateway to use Bold Subscriptions"

Does anyone know if Shopify has officially blocked app developers from using 3rd party payment gateways such as Authorize.net for subscriptions and recurring payments? If that is not the case, can anyone please refer me to a subscription app that supports 3rd party gateways such as Authorize.net? 

Thank you,

Eddie

Co-Founder, Hella Cocktail Co.

Replies 13 (13)

Iddo
Tourist
4 0 3

Hi Eddie! 

I'm facing the same issue currently, and was wondering if you managed to find a solution that works with 3rd party payment methods.

Thank you

JonasJostine
Visitor
3 0 2

Following this one. Have the same issue. 

EddieFromHella
Tourist
8 0 2

@Iddo and @JonasJostine , here's what I've gleaned so far. Please add and amend as you gather better information. 

  1. On November 2nd, 2020, Shopify opened a new subscription API to select app developers, including ReCharge, PayWhirl, and Bold.
  2. Before the API roll-out, the most popular subscription apps offered 3rd party checkout pages that allowed one-time purchase items alongside subscription plans. These 3rd party checkout pages were hosted separately from the Shopify checkout pages and supported a myriad of 3rd party payment gateways such as Authorize.net.
  3. One objective of the new API is to keep users within the Shopify checkout flow while still allowing subscription plans to be purchased via app integration with the API. However, the first phase of the API rollout limits payment gateways to Shopify Payments. I am told that API support of 3rd party payment gateways is planned for release sometime in 2021.
  4. Thus, users like myself are simultaneously prohibited from using Shopify Payments and required to use Shopify Payments. Quite a conundrum. 

  Here are potential solutions in order of least to most optimal based on my personal preference:

  1. Recurring Invoice App – Seal Subscriptions is among apps that are not a true subscription but will invoice the customer via email on a recurring basis for them to pay each period manually
  2. Non-Unified Checkout – ChargeBee is among apps that allow the purchase of subscription plans via a separate website integrated by iFrame. Contact Brett Spenner <brett@chargebee.com> if you're interested in this approach
  3. Legacy Checkout Page Exception – This is the solution I am currently most optimistic about. Before the API rollout, apps that offered 3rd party checkout pages are allowed to grandfather-in users of 3rd party payment gateways since before November 2nd. Because of my unique situation (long story), I'm hoping that Shopify will generously offer me an exemption and allow me to use the pre-API checkout pages of an app developer such as ReCharge, PayWhirl, of Bold.
  4. Appeal Decision to Block Shopify Payments – Of course, I would prefer not to have to use any 3rd party services in the first place. Since I believe my products are blocked from Shopify Payments in error if all else fails, I will continue to petition Shopify to lift my website's embargo from the native payments gateway.
Iddo
Tourist
4 0 3

@EddieFromHella Thanks for doing this research, it will definitely help. 

I was looking into ReCharge, and it seems like they do offer to use PayPal/Stripe/Authorize.net as the payment providers. I haven't tested it yet, but it might be a good solution for us.

EddieFromHella
Tourist
8 0 2

Hi @Iddo,

Yes, that is true but they do not support the gateways in conjunction with the new Shopify API. Here is a form that you can use to apply to Legacy access to multi-platform checkout pages (or solution #3 in the above post). 

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DpDBn_rFqxY4UZ35pH2pveEt_NPcF3PsCrBYni9mu54/viewform?edit_requested...

 

Eddie

Iddo
Tourist
4 0 3

Thank you for the link. Do you have experience with Bold or Recharge using the old payment gateways? Is there any recommendation to request one over the other?

EddieFromHella
Tourist
8 0 2

Hi @Iddo – as I've been unable to install either, I don't have a recommendation. I'll likely choose ReCharge because it's said to integrate with Shogun well.

Please let me know if you discover anything more about Legacy exemptions. 

Eddie

Iddo
Tourist
4 0 3

@EddieFromHella I actually tried contacting the Shopify support and they weren't very helpful with finding a solution for this matter.

 

Chargebee
Visitor
3 0 0

Hi Iddo,  I think we might be able to help you out at Chargebee like Eddie referenced.  Ping me and we'll see if we can make it happen.

greenapothecary
Visitor
2 0 0

Is there a solution for this yet?

EddieFromHella
Tourist
8 0 2

Fortunately, Shopify re-allowed my store into Shopify Payments. I am not sure if there's a subscription solution now for companies using 3rd Party Payment Gateways.

TUNA_Fabian
Shopify Partner
1 0 1

Shopify has added more payment gateways:

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/subscriptions/setup#eligibility-requirements

Paypal and Authorize.net are now available for subscriptions in addition to Shopify Payments.

EddieFromHella
Tourist
8 0 2

That is excellent news @TUNA_Fabian. Thank you for contributing to the thread.