Baremetrics is a solid product. Clean UI, good metrics, reliable data. But at $75/month ($49/month if you pay annually) for their starter plan — and it goes up from there based on your MRR — it's hard to justify when you're at $500 MRR and trying to keep costs down.
I've been in that exact position. Here's what I found when looking for alternatives.
What You Actually Need
Before comparing tools, ask yourself what you're actually trying to solve:
- Do I just need MRR tracking? Stripe's built-in dashboard shows basic revenue metrics for free.
- Do I need customer-level insights? That's where dedicated tools become valuable — knowing which customers are at risk, who's growing, who might churn.
- Do I need AI-powered analysis? Newer tools are adding churn prediction and automated insights that Baremetrics doesn't offer.
The Options
Stripe Dashboard (Free)
If you just want to see your revenue numbers, Stripe's built-in analytics might be enough. You get MRR, subscriber counts, and basic charts. The limitation: no customer health scoring, no churn prediction, no cross-platform support.
Best for: Solo founders under $1K MRR who only use Stripe.
ChartMogul (Free up to $10K MRR, then $99/mo)
ChartMogul is the most full-featured Baremetrics alternative. Great cohort analysis, solid integrations, and their free tier is generous. The downside: once you pass $10K MRR, you're paying $99/month — more than Baremetrics.
Best for: Funded startups who need deep analytics and will grow past $10K MRR quickly.
ProfitWell / Paddle (Free metrics, paid for retention features)
ProfitWell was acquired by Paddle and is being folded into their platform. The free metrics tool still works but the future is uncertain. If you're already on Paddle for payments, it's a natural fit.
Best for: Teams already using Paddle as their merchant of record.
RevPane ($19/mo launch, $29/mo standard)
Full disclosure — I built this one. RevPane connects to Stripe and gives you MRR tracking, customer health scores (0-100 for every customer), AI-powered churn risk alerts, cohort retention, and an AI chat where you can ask questions about your finances.
The pitch: everything Baremetrics charges $75/mo for, plus AI features they don't offer, at a fraction of the price. The trade-off: it's newer and currently Stripe-only (PayPal, Gumroad, LemonSqueezy coming soon).
Best for: Indie founders and small SaaS teams who want customer intelligence without the enterprise price tag.
Spreadsheets (Free)
Honestly? If you have fewer than 10 customers, a spreadsheet works fine. Export your Stripe data monthly, calculate MRR manually, track churn in a column. It breaks down around 20-30 customers when the maintenance becomes a time sink.
Best for: Very early stage, pre-product-market-fit.
The Real Question
The tool matters less than whether you're tracking these numbers at all. Most indie founders I've talked to don't know their churn rate, their MRR growth rate, or which customers are at risk. Any tool — even a spreadsheet — is better than guessing.
Pick the one that fits your budget and actually use it. The data is only useful if you look at it.
Want to try RevPane? Start free — connect Stripe in minutes, no credit card required.
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