Best ecommerce platform for UK subscription boxes: fees and recurring payments

What to take away

For a simple monthly box, Shopify plus a subscription app is the quickest route to launch. Where a box splits across VAT rates, WooCommerce with Subscriptions gives more control over invoice lines.
GoCardless charges 1% plus 20p per successful UK Direct Debit collection. Stripe Billing adds about 0.5% of recurring volume on top of card processing at 1.5% plus 20p.
Shopify Basic costs £25 a month and adds a 1.5% surcharge on sales that bypass Shopify Payments.
No mainstream platform charges a termination fee. Exit costs sit in migration labour, theme rebuilds and app data you cannot export.
VAT registration is required once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any rolling 12 months.

Pick a route, then a platform

Four routes cover most UK subscription boxes, each handling recurring billing and VAT invoices differently. The table below sets out the fit and the risks.

Recurring billing

Shopify plus subscription app: Native apps
Squarespace plus Stripe Billing: Limited native
WooCommerce plus Subscriptions: Full control
Headless with Stripe Billing: Custom

VAT invoices

Shopify plus subscription app: App-dependent
Squarespace plus Stripe Billing: Basic
WooCommerce plus Subscriptions: Extensions
Headless with Stripe Billing: Custom

Best for

Shopify plus subscription app: Simple monthly boxes
Squarespace plus Stripe Billing: Small, low-volume boxes
WooCommerce plus Subscriptions: Mixed VAT and large catalogues
Headless with Stripe Billing: Complex pricing

Watch out

Shopify plus subscription app: App fees and 1.5% surcharge
Squarespace plus Stripe Billing: Weaker recovery tools
WooCommerce plus Subscriptions: Hosting upkeep
Headless with Stripe Billing: Build and support cost

Shopify wins the simple monthly box. WooCommerce wins where a box mixes standard and zero-rated items, because you control the invoice lines. Check gateway support first with our UK payment gateway comparison.

What GoCardless and Stripe Billing actually charge

Platform pricing for subscriptions stacks four cost layers: the store plan, payment processing, the billing tool and VAT on those services.

GoCardless charges 1% plus 20p per successful UK Direct Debit collection, capped per transaction. Stripe charges 1.5% plus 20p on standard UK cards and 3.25% plus 20p on non-UK cards.

Stripe Billing sits on top of card processing at about 0.5% of recurring volume. The two charges stack, so a card subscription pays both.

Rates here are as published in January 2025. They change often, so confirm current figures before signing. Ask whether retries and refunds attract a separate charge, because a high failure rate multiplies the headline rate.

Platform plans and what leaving costs

Shopify Basic is £25 a month, Grow £65 and Advanced £344, all before VAT. Basic adds a 1.5% surcharge when you use a gateway other than Shopify Payments.

Squarespace puts recurring sales on its Business and Commerce tiers, from around £20 a month on annual terms. WooCommerce is free software, but hosting runs about £10 to £30 a month and the Subscriptions extension around £160 a year.

Leaving is rarely blocked by fees. Shopify and Squarespace do not charge a termination fee, and WooCommerce is yours to move. The real bill is labour, from theme rebuild to payment flow testing. Our guide to platform migration services in the UK covers what to expect.

Example: a £25 monthly box at 400 subscribers

Cost line	Basis	Monthly total
Shopify Basic	£25 plan	£25
Subscription app	£20 app fee	£20
Card processing	1.5% plus 20p on £25	£230
Stripe Billing	0.5% of £10,000	£50
Output VAT	£4.17 a box across 400 boxes	£1,667

The example assumes £10,000 of box revenue a month. Platform and app fees come to £45 before VAT, or £54 with it, and a VAT-registered business reclaims that £9.

Stripe Billing applies only if you bill through Stripe rather than a platform app. Output VAT is money held for HMRC, not a trading cost. Our ecommerce platform cost guide totals the whole-life figure, exit included.

VAT: the £90,000 threshold and mixed boxes

Most UK subscription box sales are standard-rated at 20%. Children's clothing, most books and some food can be zero-rated, so a mixed box needs apportionment between rates.

Register once taxable turnover passes £90,000 over any rolling 12 months, as GOV.UK's VAT registration guidance explains. One registration covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The VAT rates published by GOV.UK set out the standard, reduced and zero rates. Treat each element of a mixed box as its own supply and invoice it at its own rate.

Cancellation, renewals and cooling-off

Online subscription boxes are distance contracts. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give most consumers 14 days to cancel from delivery.

Pre-contract information must cover renewal terms and the total cost. Some goods are exempt, including sealed items that cannot be returned for health reasons.

Your platform has to stop future charges when a customer cancels and record the request. Run that once on a live mandate before launch.

Common questions

Which ecommerce platform is best for a UK subscription box?

Shopify with a subscription app for a simple monthly box. WooCommerce with Subscriptions where VAT splits across rates or the catalogue is large.

What do GoCardless and Stripe Billing charge?

GoCardless charges 1% plus 20p per successful Direct Debit. Stripe Billing adds about 0.5% of recurring volume on top of card fees of 1.5% plus 20p.

How is VAT handled on a mixed subscription box?

Apportion each item to its own rate, standard at 20%, with reduced and zero rates for specific goods.

Do I need to offer a cooling-off period?

Yes, 14 days for most online subscription sales, with a narrow set of exemptions.