A 2-minute read on subscription-app pricing — and why flat pricing protects your margin.
Most Shopify subscription apps charge a percentage of every subscription order (often plus a small per-order fee). On your first orders that feels tiny. The problem: the better your subscriptions do, the more they take. Your most successful channel quietly becomes your most taxed one.
Say you sell a €40 box and you're growing your subscriber base. Here's what a 1%–2% subscription fee costs per month versus a flat fee — at three stages of growth. (Illustrative example; your numbers will differ.)
| Monthly subscription revenue | 1% fee | 2% fee | Plooka (flat) |
|---|---|---|---|
| €8,000 (200 boxes) | €80/mo | €160/mo | ~€27/mo |
| €40,000 (1,000 boxes) | €400/mo | €800/mo | ~€140/mo |
| €120,000 (3,000 boxes) | €1,200/mo | €2,400/mo | ~€140/mo |
At small scale the percentage looks harmless. At real scale it's a serious, growing line item — money taken straight out of your margin, every single month, for the same software.
With a flat monthly fee, your cost is predictable and your growth stays yours. Double your subscribers and your app bill doesn't move. That's the whole idea behind Plooka:
Flat pricing is only half of it. Plooka is built specifically for pet brands: per-pet profiles, a portion engine that sizes orders to each pet, and reorder predictions that tell you when a subscriber is about to run low — so boxes arrive right on time and churn stays low.
Plooka is launching on the Shopify App Store. Want in early? Get early access →