How YC-backed UpCodes simplified their subscription billing operations to scale exponentially, with Chargebee

The Problem

Architects and engineers in the construction sector have to navigate hordes of compliance laws with building codes and regulations — the rules for which vary with jurisdiction. Failure to comply with the ever-changing regulations could cost millions. The problem was that a lot of this had to be done by referring to books and other antiquated methods.

Y-Combinator-backed UpCodes set out to make it easier for builders and architects by allowing them to follow regulations transparently. Vertical SaaS makes searching building codes simpler — it gives architects and engineers the ability to determine code requirements and calculate project parameters while staying compliant.

What started off as a side project for UpCodes snowballed into a full-fledged product as soon as they saw validation from their audience and peers. They also started getting more paying customers in the short term.

And offering a subscription model was the natural next step for UpCodes.

The Solution

For UpCodes, a recurring billing solution like Chargebee was a ‘foundational piece’ to launch and set them apart from their competitors. Reinventing the wheel by building the billing component was only counterproductive.

Benefitting from Chargebee’s software perk for Y-Combinator’s startups, UpCodes opted for Chargebee as their subscription billing partner, which allowed them to launch very quickly and effectively. The positive recommendations from their peers about Chargebee only accelerated their decision-making process.

Chargebee let them focus only on what they needed to focus on — which was getting the law and regulations out there, making it easier for the construction companies to build faster while staying compliant.

What set Chargebee aside from the competitors for UpCodes was the depth of the product offerings. According to the team at UpCodes, Chargebee’s system was very trustworthy, and robust and covered a large number of edge cases right out of the box. Shortly after signing up for the product, the Upcodes team was pleasantly surprised to find that Chargebee had a slew of features that they never thought of!

The Payoff

The team at UpCodes has been able to leverage Chargebee as a growth engine to win more customers and scale their operations seamlessly. They offer a range of offerings that promise to delight their customers. A lot of these offerings are built keeping in mind the non-technical customers — using Chargebee has helped them deliver a billing experience that’s very intuitive and easy to comprehend.

• Trial Flexibility: UpCodes offers a 2-week free trial for their users to be able to evaluate the value they deliver. The free trial comes with an additional offering of no charge during the card trial as well as the ability to cancel anytime — this has helped them improve their customer acquisition.

• Optionality in Billing Models with Proration: UpCodes offers both monthly plans as well as a discounted annual plan that can be billed on a monthly basis. Offering annual plans helps increase the LTV of its customers significantly. Chargebee also lets UpCodes users upgrade to a higher plan or downgrade to the basic plan with accurate proration in place, charging them for exactly what they use.

• Complex Hybrid Pricing Models: With the ability to select from either a fixed pricing plan or a quantity-based pricing model, UpCodes leverages the best of both models with Chargebee’s pricing model flexibility. They bill their customers exactly for the number of users that they sign up for.

What set Chargebee aside from the competitors for us was the comprehensiveness of the product offering. It was a very, very robust system and this was a system we needed to trust out of the box. We never once had an issue in billing with Chargebee, which we had heard in testimonials, but we found this to be true with firsthand experience.

Scott Reynolds, Co-Founder & CEO, UpCodes