Compare
Dunity next to Stripe’s own recovery tools
Stripe already retries failed payments and emails your customers. Dunity runs alongside it and adds what Stripe leaves out. Here is each one side by side, checked against Stripe’s own documentation.
- $29/month, flat
- Cancel anytime
- Restricted Stripe key only
Side by side
| Feature | Stripe |  Dunity |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 0.7% of Billing volume | $29/month flat, on top of Stripe |
| Automatic retries | Smart Retries, timed by AI | Timed to the decline reason |
| Skips hard declines, like a stolen card | Yes | Stops after one retry |
| Email when a payment fails | After each failure | Once, in your words |
| Email before a card expires | Yes | 30 and 7 days before |
| Page to update a card | Stripe-hosted, or your own | Hosted, with any discount |
| Payment wall inside your app | No | Yes |
| Discount to win back a failed payment | No | Yes |
| Keep VIP customers out | Custom rules | One list for everything |
| Slack alert on a failed payment | Team email only | Yes |
| Automatic card updates from the networks | Yes | Uses Stripe’s |
| Recovery analytics | Yes | Yes |
Stripe facts from Stripe’s own pages, checked 30 September 2026.
Which do you need?
Stripe alone is enough if
- Failed payments are rare, or small enough not to chase.
- You don’t want customers’ access to your app ever paused.
- Stripe’s emails and retries already bring most payments back.
Add Dunity if
- Customers keep using your app while their payment is failing.
- You’d rather offer a discount than lose the customer.
- Some customers should never get an automated email or retry.
- You want to hear about big failures in Slack.
Running both together
Dunity is built to sit on top of Stripe, so the setup is mostly deciding who talks to your customers.
- Leave Stripe’s Smart Retries on. Dunity’s retries are extra attempts, not a replacement.
- Pick one voice for failed-payment emails. If you want only Dunity’s, turn off “Send emails when card payments fail” in Stripe’s revenue recovery settings.
- Do the same for expiring cards: keep Stripe’s emails or Dunity’s reminders, not both.
See the whole flow on how Dunity works, or what it can access on the security page. Weighing a paid retention platform instead? See Dunity vs Churnkey, or all the options.
Stripe and Dunity questions
What people ask when they already use Stripe Billing.
Do I need Dunity if I already use Stripe Smart Retries?
Not always. Smart Retries and Stripe’s emails recover a lot on their own. Dunity is worth adding when you want what Stripe’s recovery tools leave out: a payment wall inside your app, a discount to win back payments that keep failing, one VIP list, and Slack alerts.
Is Dunity cheaper than Stripe Billing?
It isn’t a replacement, so Stripe Billing’s fee still applies (0.7% of Billing volume on pay-as-you-go). Dunity is $29 a month on top, flat, whatever you bill.
Will my customers get emails from both Stripe and Dunity?
Only if both are turned on. If you want customers to hear from you once, turn off Stripe’s failed-payment emails in its revenue recovery settings and let Dunity send its one email.
Does Dunity work with subscriptions from Stripe Checkout or Payment Links?
Yes. Those subscriptions are billed by Stripe Billing, and Dunity works with any Stripe Billing subscription whose payment fails.
What does Stripe do that Dunity doesn’t?
Stripe times its retries with AI, skips retries on hard declines like a stolen card, and can update expired cards automatically through the card networks where the card’s bank supports it. Dunity keeps all of that, because it runs alongside Stripe instead of replacing it.