How do we map a legacy platform's subscription-app integration to Recharge, Skio, or Loop Subscriptions, given the 2026 Recharge-Skio acquisition uncertainty?

Why doesn't a legacy subscription integration map app to app?

A legacy subscription integration doesn't map app to app, because it is three layers and on Shopify each layer has a different owner. Shopify's guide for migrating a legacy subscriptions app splits the work the same way: selling plans and the product-page plan picker, then contracts and payment methods (Shopify developer docs, October 2026).

So map each layer separately, and the vendor question shrinks. Only the third layer is a purchase decision. The first is theme work with any vendor. The second belongs to Shopify, because Shopify generates a subscription contract whenever a customer buys a selling plan with recurring billing (Shopify developer docs, October 2026). Three settings travel outside the layers: checkout discount codes, subscription delivery profiles and custom tax rules are each recreated in Shopify (Shopify developer docs, October 2026).

How do Recharge, Skio and Loop compare as the portal layer after the Skio deal?

Recharge, Skio and Loop now differ most on ownership, because Recharge announced in April 2026 that Skio is joining it (Recharge, October 2026). Recharge says both platforms keep operating while it prepares a combined roadmap. Recharge's founder put the price at $105M (Oisin O'Connor on LinkedIn, October 2026).

Skio's $5,988 is its yearly price: Skio's own pricing page shows the same plan at $499 a month billed annually (Skio pricing, October 2026). Where the free native app is enough on its own is the subject of the native versus paid subscriptions answer.

Which payment methods move with the subscribers?

Cards and PayPal billing agreements can move with subscribers; most wallets and bank debits can't, and that gap decides how many subscribers you keep. Shopify imports payment tokens from four gateways connected to the store: Stripe, Braintree, PayPal Express and Authorize.net. From Stripe it takes credit cards only; from Braintree, cards and Apple Pay. PayPal billing agreements come across through PayPal Express (Shopify developer docs, October 2026). Token migration runs on every Shopify plan. Moving raw card numbers, a primary account number (PAN) migration, is a paid Shopify service on Shopify Plus or Enterprise. It takes credit cards only: Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank accounts and PayPal billing agreements can't move that way (Shopify Help Center, October 2026). Recharge adds SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) direct debit to that list (Recharge Help Center, October 2026).

Read that list against your legacy subscriber base before you choose a vendor. If a meaningful slice of recurring revenue bills to Google Pay, Venmo, a bank debit or a PayPal agreement you can't reach through PayPal Express, those customers re-authorize by hand, so the re-authorization rate is your real migration risk. Deploi's subscription migration record puts community-reported migrations at 60 to 90 days with 2 to 5% subscriber loss, and says the loss concentrates in re-collected cards (Deploi Build vs. Buy, October 2026). How billing dates and payment tokens carry across covers the mechanics.

Which subscription platform fits which merchant profile?

Loop Subscriptions fits a $20M to $100M DTC (direct-to-consumer) brand on one storefront with a retention-led program. Loop is the independent option now that Recharge owns Skio, at $99 to $399 a month (Shopify App Store, October 2026). Deploi's Recharge vs. Loop record scores the head-to-head DEPENDS, with Loop named for retention depth (Deploi Build vs. Buy, October 2026).

Three other profiles get different answers:

• Integration breadth matters more than independence. Recharge, for its scale and its range of integrations. Deploi's Recharge vs. Loop record also says to negotiate exit and export terms at signature.
• Fixed-cadence replenishment on standard products. Shopify Subscriptions, which is free, so spend the difference on the product page. Deploi's Skio versus native record scores this profile WAIT (Deploi Build vs. Buy, October 2026).
• A Skio account considering a move to Recharge. Wait: Recharge owns Skio, so the move stays inside one company until Recharge puts their combined roadmap in writing (Deploi Build vs. Buy, October 2026).

Which other legacy plugins split into the same layers?

Email, reviews, loyalty and affiliate plugins split the same way as subscriptions: the data imports, and the logic around it is rebuilt on Shopify. So each needs its own map, because each loses something different:

• Email marketing. Klaviyo's built-in integrations sync lists, unsubscribes and bounces from four email platforms, while autoresponders are rebuilt as flows (Klaviyo Help Center, October 2026). What email platforms lose in translation runs asset by asset.
• Reviews and user-generated content (UGC). Star ratings and text move between apps through standard exports, while photos and verified-buyer flags migrate imperfectly (Deploi Build vs. Buy, October 2026). How ratings and photos transfer compares Judge.me, Okendo and Yotpo.
• Loyalty. Smile.io's points import takes only two columns, email and points (Smile Help Center, October 2026), so earning rules are rebuilt by hand. The loyalty module mapping treats the move as a liability reconciliation.
• Affiliate. Shopify Collabs' bulk import takes only an email and a creator code for each creator (Shopify Help Center, October 2026), so commission rules stay behind. The affiliate plugin mapping weighs Collabs against Refersion and UpPromote.

When should you not choose the subscription platform yet?

Don't choose the subscription platform in the same sprint as the storefront cutover, because a choice made then is made on calendar pressure.