ML retries meet AI voice recovery
Paddle retries automatically. Quitlo calls when retries fail.
Paddle Retain (formerly ProfitWell Retain) uses ML-powered Tactical Retries and email/in-app/SMS dunning to recover failed payments passively. Free for Paddle Billing users, around $500/mo standalone. Strong retry engine trained on billions of data points. G2 reviewers report email customization requires going through the ProfitWell team: "Impossible to edit emails through the platform." No phone calls.
Feature comparison
Feature
ProfitWell Retain
Quitlo
AI voice calls for recovery
Smart retries
Email dunning
Email customization
SMS recovery
In-app recovery
Phone calls
Payment processors
Failure-reason-aware messaging
Secure payment link via email
Structured Slack reports
Time-zone-aware calling
Cancel flow module
NPS/survey follow-up
Analytics
Self-serve signup
Free tier
Starting price
Starting price
Free (Paddle Billing) / ~$500/mo (standalone)
$0 upfront / $349/mo
What ProfitWell Retain does well
- Free for Paddle Billing users with deep platform integration
- ML Tactical Retries trained on billions of data points for optimal retry timing
- Multi-processor support: Paddle, Stripe, Braintree, Chargebee
- ProfitWell Metrics (comprehensive SaaS analytics) bundled with recovery
- Pre-dunning features to prevent some failures before they happen
Where Quitlo differs
- AI voice calls: active recovery for the payments retries and email cannot reach
- Self-serve email editing is not an issue because Quitlo does not send email. Keep your existing email dunning
- Secure payment link sent via email and SMS after the call identifies the issue
- Failure-reason-aware conversations adapt to expired card vs NSF vs wrong zip
- Structured Slack summary after every call with outcome and next steps
- Native Stripe integration without pressure to switch billing platforms
- Month-to-month pricing, no sales call required
Who should use what
Choose ProfitWell Retain if you
- You use Paddle Billing (Retain is free and deeply integrated)
- You want ML-optimized retry timing and are satisfied with email as your customer-facing channel
- You need payment recovery across multiple processors (Paddle, Stripe, Braintree, Chargebee)
- Your failed payments are mostly soft declines that better retry logic can solve
- You want ProfitWell Metrics bundled with recovery
Choose Quitlo if you
- You are on Stripe and want a native Stripe Marketplace integration
- Your dunning emails and retries are already running but still losing revenue
- Hard declines (expired cards, closed accounts) represent a significant share of your failures
- You want an active recovery channel (phone calls) not just passive channels
- You want month-to-month pricing without a sales call
- You want structured Slack summaries from every recovery attempt
The Quitlo Difference
Paddle Retain optimizes passive recovery: ML retries for soft declines, email for customer action. Quitlo adds the active channel. When retries fail and emails go unread, the AI calls the customer, explains the issue, and sends a secure link to update their card.
Frequently asked questions
Paddle Retain uses ML-powered Tactical Retries and email dunning to recover failed payments passively. Quitlo uses AI voice calls to actively contact customers when retries and emails fail.
Paddle Retain is free for Paddle Billing users. Standalone pricing starts around $500/mo. Quitlo starts at $349/mo for 100 recovery calls, or $0 upfront with performance pricing for early customers.
G2 reviewers report that email customization requires going through the ProfitWell team rather than self-serve editing. Quitlo does not send dunning emails. It calls customers by phone after your email sequence has run.
No. Paddle Retain uses ML retries and email only. There is no phone or voice channel. Quitlo adds AI voice calls as an escalation layer after passive channels have been exhausted.
Use Paddle Retain if you are on Paddle Billing and want free recovery. Use Quitlo if you are on Stripe and want AI voice calls for the payments that retries and emails cannot recover.
Yes. Paddle acquired ProfitWell in 2022 for over $200M and rebranded ProfitWell Retain as Paddle Retain. The core product (ML retries and email dunning) remains the same under the new name.
ML retries recover 15-25% of failed payments. Adding email pushes recovery to 30-40%. Adding AI phone calls pushes it above 50%. Each channel captures a different segment of failed payments.
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