The competition is heating up in the realms of online subscription eCommerce and subscription box services.
The explosion of online commerce, and the wild thriving market of online sales- via outlets like Amazon.com- are indicative of these popular and growing trends for the ‘unboxing experience.’ Subscription businesses are popping up everywhere, and you are likely seeing references to a number of options on Facebook, Instagram, and Google for your favorite items- no matter where you are. These options are catering to a wide variety of interests.
There seems to be a subscription service catering towards nearly anything you can imagine now!
This growing trend has given rise to two content management systems- beyond the typical WordPress options that so many have heard of.
These options are CrateJoy and Subbly.
CrateJoy Vs Subbly
If you are looking to start a subscription box site/business, you will want to research these two popular options.
CrateJoy was launched/started in 2014 out of Austin, Texas, by Amir Elaguizy and Alex Morse. The platform was still in Beta mode at that time, but it came out of Beta in 2015- and hasn’t looked back- and has since risen to be one most popular options out for setting up a subscription box business.
On to Subbly. Subbly was launched in 2014 by Stefan Pretty and a team that has been competing with CrateJoy since inception- and is considered a great CrateJoy subscription box alternative. They both offer very similar solutions of course.
Both solutions will effectively help you launch your Subscription based box business with an easy to use approach, easy-to-use ready-made templates, as well as customization options. Both offer analytics and your typical eCommerce functions. By default- subscription billing is part of these offerings as a standard, because that is the nature of what each service provides.
Where they start to become different is when we discuss their pricing structures.
Cratejoy offers a solo plan for $39 per month, but they have additional transaction fees- based on if you sell on their website, or your own.
Subbly offers 3 main plans- offering similar capabilities but variable transaction fees. Each plan higher than the previous will offer new features, in addition to all features from the previous tiered plan. Things like more options for support, custom designs for checkout, and even white labeling options at the top level plan. The options are plentiful, and do not stop there.
The user experience between these two platforms is relatively similar- but some may be more familiar with CrateJoy and their friendly customization options. They have plentiful themes as well- that you can customize.
CrateJoy also supports Stripe, Authorize.net, BrainTree, and Paypal Checkout. The one that they really seem to emphasize is Stripe, however.
Subbly offers only Stipe- so if this is a limiting factor for you, it is a huge one.
Subbly offers more variable rate plan options, as well as white labeling. So- in the end, depending on your needs, you could save money depending on your specific needs. Subbly limits you to using Stripe- but Stripe is a nice platform to use also- for payment integration. CrateJoy may be the way to go for now if you need more variable customization options and want an affordable solution. If you wish to whitelabel- Subbly helps- but is it necessary, given the options that are out there?
Overall- what is best?
CrateJoy really is best in most cases.
- It offers a bundle of customization options
- It integrates with more payment gateways as opposed to just one on Subbly.
- It has one convenient rate plan that is affordable and offers powerful options.
- It has an easily customizable interface on the back end.
- It offers a number of design themes to choose from.
HTMLPro offers design and development solutions in all of these realms- check out their solutions today! They can even turn custom designs into custom CrateJoy site builds!
