battles / Subscriptions
Ongoing Subscriptions vs Stay AI
Ongoing Subscriptions ($29/mo/mo, vibe code 7/10) vs Stay AI ($1,119/mo/mo, vibe code 6/10). Ongoing Subscriptions is the easier one to rebuild yourself — here is what you lose either way.
Subscriptions
$29/mo/mo
- MVP
- 1 week
- Full replacement
- 1-2 months, due to Shopify Subscription API edge cases, app proxy integration, and payment retry logic
easier to rebuild
get the build prompt →Subscriptions
$1,119/mo/mo
- MVP
- 2-3 weeks
- Full replacement
- 3-6 months
price gap / year
$13,080/mo
running both / year
$13,776/mo
our call
Start with Ongoing Subscriptions — highest vibe code, weakest moat.
Ongoing Subscriptions
Shopify handles payment vaulting and card processing natively through its Subscription Contracts API. Ongoing Subscriptions provides an admin dashboard, discount configurations, and an embedded customer portal. Rebuilding a custom in-house subscription controller for a single store with Claude/Cursor requires executing standard webhooks and GraphQL mutations.
you can rebuild
- Selling plan creation and product tier configuration
- Customer portal for order pausing, skipping, and cancelling via App Proxy
- Automated recurring order triggers via Shopify GraphQL Subscription API
- Custom recurring discount rules (e.g., 10% off recurring items)
- Subscriber transactional notification emails via Klaviyo or Resend
what you lose
- Turnkey setup with zero infrastructure to host or maintain
- Out-of-the-box Theme App Extensions for complex custom themes
- Pre-built edge-case handling for Shopify API version upgrades
- Pre-configured dunning schedules and automated credit card update prompts
- One-click migration scripts from Recharge, Bold, or Seal
real moats
- Deep native integration with Shopify Payments card vaulting
- Zero-maintenance infrastructure and API compliance upkeep
- Pre-configured compliance workflows for state auto-renewal laws
open source escape hatches
- Kill Bill Apache-2.0
- Cavaon Subscription Engine MIT
- Payum MIT
Stay AI
You can replace Stay AI's core subscription portal, skip/swap logic, and basic cancellation flows with an AI-generated app in a couple of weeks. However, matching their automated reinforcement-learning save flows, churn prediction models, and zero-touch migration services requires serious custom ML data engineering and ongoing operations.
you can rebuild
- Customizable drag-and-drop customer portal (swap, skip, pause, delay)
- Cancellation survey flows and retention save offers
- Bundles and build-your-own box UI
- Gamified digital punch cards and loyalty milestones
- One-click add-on upsells inside the customer portal
what you lose
- Proprietary reinforcement-learning models for dynamic retention save offers
- Turnkey white-glove migration team to transfer raw contract data from legacy platforms
- Dedicated human subscription growth strategist
- Pre-configured multi-channel integrations (Attentive, Postscript, Gorgias, Rebuy)
- Benchmarked retention analytics compared against industry-wide DTC cohorts
real moats
- Reinforcement learning models trained across hundreds of DTC subscription brands
- High-touch, human-led white-glove migration services and dedicated growth strategists
- Pre-built integrations with e-commerce stack tools (Attentive, Gorgias, Postscript, Klaviyo, Rebuy)
Questions people ask
Which is easier to rebuild with AI, Ongoing Subscriptions or Stay AI?
Ongoing Subscriptions. It scores 7/10 on vibe code with a moat of 3/10, so an AI-assisted MVP takes about 1 week and a full replacement about 1-2 months, due to Shopify Subscription API edge cases, app proxy integration, and payment retry logic.
Which one costs less, Ongoing Subscriptions or Stay AI?
Ongoing Subscriptions at $29/mo/mo for a typical mid-market store. The gap between the two is about $13,080/mo a year.
What do I lose if I replace Ongoing Subscriptions?
Turnkey setup with zero infrastructure to host or maintain Out-of-the-box Theme App Extensions for complex custom themes Pre-built edge-case handling for Shopify API version upgrades
What do I lose if I replace Stay AI?
Proprietary reinforcement-learning models for dynamic retention save offers Turnkey white-glove migration team to transfer raw contract data from legacy platforms Dedicated human subscription growth strategist
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