A FeeFighters user recently asked:

My business runs on a subscription model and requires recurring billing. Can my gateway facilitate this or do I need to get a provider such as Chargify or Recurly to handle the recurring billing?

Here is our answer:

Unfortunately, most gateways are not built to manage recurring payments. Authorize.net will theoretically do recurring billing, however, their API is not good for making adjustments. For example, if you want to refund a customer one month due to poor customer service, Authorize.net’s API will not facilitate this customization. This is why services such as Chargify and Recurly exist. We recommend going with one of them plus a gateway when your business requires recurring billing: it’ll make your life much easier.