With an audience of more than 50 million users worldwide, Powtoon has been on a mission to transform communication into action-driven visual storytelling. From workplace presentations to educational materials and product launches, the platform is a go-to favorite for businesses, educators, and creatives. Powtoon makes storytelling come alive — but staying at the forefront of visual communication requires more than compelling animations and great design.

Behind the scenes of Powtoon’s platform lies an equally impressive subscription infrastructure built to power growth at a global scale. For more than a decade, Powtoon has relied on Recurly as its trusted partner, working together to tackle major challenges and create opportunities for scalable success.

Tackling fraud with precision

Fraud has the potential to derail even the fastest-growing subscription businesses, and Powtoon was no exception. When a spike in signup declines started causing major disruptions, the team needed answers quickly. 

Luckily, Recurly stepped in with a detailed approach, identifying the problem and implementing a solution without missing a beat. The team quickly pinpointed the root cause of the issue and implemented a recapture function within Powtoon’s payment infrastructure, flipping the script on fraud.

The results? A staggering improvement, with a 90% signup decline rate plummeting to just 19%. But this wasn’t just about solving an immediate problem — it was about future-proofing Powtoon’s operations with intelligent tools that protect the platform without interrupting user experience.

Revenue recovery on autopilot

Subscription success depends on more than attracting new users; retaining revenue from existing users can be just as critical. For Powtoon, declined payments were an ongoing challenge that meant leaving money on the table. Recurly addressed this head-on with its advanced dunning tools, creating a system that works behind the scenes to turn declines into recovered payments automatically.

Each recovered payment means more resources to reinvest in innovation and improved user experiences. Whether it’s refining Powtoon’s tools for professional animators or optimizing the platform for educational users during peak seasons, this recovered revenue gave the team a financial safety net to dream bigger.

But this wasn’t just a “win” for the books. With Recurly’s dunning solutions, Powtoon ensured that secondary revenue streams stayed healthy and predictable — even as they expanded operations across multiple continents.

“A real partner on the other side”

Powtoon and Recurly’s relationship goes beyond platforms and tools. They’ve built a true partnership that supports strategic goals and anticipates long-term needs. Whether it’s finding ways to combat churn, streamline analytics, or tailor subscription strategies for new markets, Recurly operates as an extension of Powtoon’s team.

“That's probably one of the most important things about Recurly — that there is a real partner on the other side,” explained Daniel Zaturansky, Co-Founder of Powtoon. “They truly help us and want our growth, and they’re always looking for ways to satisfy their customers and help them to achieve their business goals.”

For Powtoon, having a partner that actively participates in their success has been a game-changer. Whether brainstorming on monthly strategy calls or helping split B2B and self-serve accounts for better insights, Recurly has proven time and again that they’re in lockstep with Powtoon’s goals.

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With fraud reduced, revenue streams reclaimed, and a partnership rooted in shared success, Powtoon continues to reimagine visual creativity on a global scale.

Curious how Recurly helped Powtoon turn challenges into opportunities? Read the full case study here