What it does
Chargebee manages recurring and usage-based billing for businesses with more complex pricing than a single payment button. It can combine subscriptions, one-time charges and usage on an invoice, connect payment gateways and provide a customer portal. Its wider product range includes sales quoting, revenue accounting and tools for larger organizations. Billing Flow charges a percentage of invoicing volume, with an optional monthly fee for a lower rate.
Chargebee is aimed at teams that need to turn a product catalog and contract rules into repeatable invoices. A monthly plan can coexist with annual add-ons, usage charges and credits. Customer portal features let subscribers view invoices, change payment details and manage their account.
The current Billing offer is called Flow. Choose between a percentage-only option and a monthly charge with a lower percentage:
| Billing option | Monthly platform charge | Invoicing-volume fee |
|---|---|---|
| Flow without a fixed fee | $0 | 0.80% |
| Flow with a fixed fee | $99 | 0.65% |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
Flow includes up to 100 million usage events each month. Enterprise addresses needs such as multiple business entities, account hierarchies and negotiated contracts. The free first 50 quotes in CPQ Lite apply to Chargebee Billing customers; they do not make the core billing service free.
Set up the rules before moving live
Start in the Test site. Under Settings > Configure Chargebee, choose currencies and configure the product catalog. Product families group plans, add-ons and other charges. Pricing can be flat, per unit or based on tiers or volume. For a metered plan, select This plan is metered and arrange for your application to send each customer's usage.
Connect the payment provider through Payment Gateways. Before live operation, Chargebee requires an approved gateway and merchant account, so provider eligibility remains part of the setup.
The Time Machine test tool simulates subscription states, scheduled actions, consolidated invoices and webhooks. This is useful for checking a renewal or plan change without waiting for the calendar to reach that date.
Moving to production has its own steps. Activate the Live site and use Settings > Configure Chargebee > Transfer Configurations to copy the relevant settings and catalog. Re-invite users for Live access, supply live gateway credentials, switch to the distinct Live API keys and checkout domain, and reconfigure tax settings. Those items are not all transferred automatically.
For a sales-led business, Chargebee also offers quoting tools with approvals and contract terms. Check the relevant product and plan before designing a process around them: the billing catalog, quoting service and Enterprise controls have different entitlements.
Strengths
- Recurring, one-time and usage charges can share an invoice.
- Product families and several pricing models support a varied subscription catalog.
- Time Machine can simulate future billing actions before launch.
Watch out for
- Moving from Test to Live requires several settings and user permissions to be configured again.
- Multiple-entity and account-hierarchy controls sit in the Enterprise offer.
- Live collection also depends on an approved payment gateway and merchant account.
Best for
- Subscription businesses with usage charges or add-ons
- Finance teams coordinating recurring invoices and sales quotes
- Organizations preparing more complex billing rules before launch
Sources
- Chargebee Billing Flow pricing and product entitlements (Oct 27, 2026)
- Chargebee invoicing and customer billing tools (Oct 27, 2026)
- Chargebee implementation guide and product setup (Oct 27, 2026)
- Chargebee go-live checklist and billing simulation (Oct 27, 2026)