Subscription businesses have long envied crypto's low fees and global reach — but volatility and the lack of recurring billing infrastructure made it a non-starter. That's changing fast. With stablecoins settling the volatility problem and major processors adding native recurring payment APIs, accepting crypto for subscriptions is now not just possible but the things actually worth buying for SaaS, AI, and membership businesses.
We dug into the documentation, tested the APIs, and compared the top contenders across the dimensions that matter: stablecoin support, fiat settlement, and ease of setup for recurring billing.
The Contenders
1. Stripe — Best Overall for Recurring Crypto Billing
Stripe has long been the gold standard for online payments, and its recent addition of stablecoin support for recurring subscriptions cements that position. Through the Stripe Dashboard, businesses can now accept recurring crypto payments that settle automatically into fiat currency.1
Why it wins: Stripe's stablecoin-to-fiat pipeline is the killer feature. Your customers pay in USDC; you receive dollars in your bank account. No treasury management, no crypto accounting headache. For SaaS and AI companies already on Stripe, it's a one-click upgrade.
2. Crypto.com Pay — Best for Merchant Ecosystem Reach
Crypto.com offers a dedicated subscription feature through its Pay product, letting merchants collect recurring payments from the platform's massive user base at regular intervals.2
Why it's here: If your target audience already holds crypto and uses the Crypto.com ecosystem, this is the most frictionless path. Customers approve subscriptions once and payments happen automatically. The trade-off is that settlement stays within Crypto.com's ecosystem rather than converting to fiat natively.
3. Coinbase Commerce — Best for Custom API Integrations
Coinbase Commerce is a top-tier crypto payment gateway, though its native recurring payment support is limited — the API generates one-time payment charges, meaning subscription logic requires a separate web server to orchestrate recurring billing cycles.3
Why it still makes the list: For engineering teams that want full control over their subscription flow, Coinbase Commerce's API is robust and well-documented. You build the recurrence logic yourself, but you get Coinbase's reliability and liquidity in return.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Dimension | Stripe | Crypto.com Pay | Coinbase Commerce |
|---|
| Stablecoin Support | Native (USDC) | Native (USDC, USDT) | Native (USDC, USDT, DAI) |
| Fiat Settlement | Automatic | Ecosystem-only | Manual conversion |
| Setup for Recurring | One-click Dashboard | Built-in subscription API | Custom server required |
Which One Should You Choose?
Stripe is the default for most subscription businesses. If you're already using Stripe for card payments, enabling crypto subscriptions takes minutes, and automatic fiat settlement means zero operational overhead. It's the clear leader for AI tools, SaaS platforms, and digital membership sites.
Crypto.com Pay is the right call if your customer base skews heavily crypto-native and you want the simplest possible user experience. The built-in subscription feature removes friction on the customer side, and the ecosystem reach is substantial.
Coinbase Commerce is for teams that need maximum flexibility and have the engineering resources to build custom recurring billing logic on top of a battle-tested gateway. It's not plug-and-play, but it's powerful.
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