Powtoon and Recurly: Powering global creativity with scalable subscriptions

Building connections through visual storytelling with AI

Founded in 2012, Powtoon is on a mission to transform communications into visual experiences that spark action. As an AI-driven company, Powtoon uses best in class AI to automate visual creation, helping teams produce presentations, product demos, and training materials with unprecedented speed. From creatives to enterprise sales teams and educators, Powtoon has become the platform of choice for those who need professional visuals without the traditional design overhead.

Today, with over 50 million users worldwide and more than 1,000 corporate clients, Powtoon’s role as a leader in visual communication redefines the way businesses connect with their audiences. But to deliver at this scale, Powtoon needed a solid subscription infrastructure. 

For over a decade, Powtoon and Recurly have worked hand-in-hand to build a foundation for success — from optimizing payments and fighting fraud to navigating global expansion and recovering lost revenue. Together, they’ve built a subscription model that’s as dynamic and reliable as Powtoon’s own platform.

From legacy system to limitless growth

When Powtoon’s legacy payment system announced it would be shutting down, time was of the essence.

“We needed to transition to avoid losing any subscribers along the way,” recalls Daniel Zaturansky, Co-Founder of Powtoon. “A quick and smooth migration was critical to keep the business running.”

But Powtoon wasn’t just looking for any provider. They needed a robust solution with advanced features for handling complex subscription tiers. As a growing SaaS company expanding into new markets, they also sought robust features to support international scale, such as reliable payment processing and flexibility to accommodate regional tax laws, currencies, and customer payment preferences.

“We looked at a few other platforms, but Recurly was the most innovative and easy to integrate,” said Zaturansky. “That was a big advantage — we were able to transition quickly and take off without ever touching the ground."

Fraud? Solved “nearly overnight” 

Like many growing businesses, Powtoon also faced challenges with fraud. An uptick in signup declines disrupted key operations and slowed momentum, signaling the need for a closer look at payment processes and fraud prevention. Without missing a beat, Powtoon turned to its longstanding partner for guidance.

Recurly quickly dove in to identify the root cause of the issue. By implementing a recapture function within Powtoon’s payment gateway, the team was able to address the problem head-on. This subtle adjustment not only fine-tuned payment processes, but ensured Powtoon had the right protective measures in place to support its growth.

“Recurly presented us with a solution for fraud which we implemented very quickly,” shared Zaturansky. “And nearly overnight, it stopped this fraud activity.”

And the results speak for themselves: Powtoon’s initial signup decline rate of 90% dropped to an impressive 19%. Over the course of six months, this solution has proved its staying power, delivering tangible results and restoring confidence in the subscription process.

“The customer success team showed genuine care for our growth, and they demonstrated that through consistent performance and support,” explained Zaturansky. “They recognized the problem, presented a solution, and quickly implemented it. Big kudos to the CS team.”

Revenue recovery on autopilot

Subscription businesses often encounter challenges when it comes to managing declined payments, and for a fast-growing platform like Powtoon, addressing this efficiently was key. With Recurly’s intelligent dunning system, Powtoon tackled the issue head-on, transforming an obstacle into an avenue for growth. 

One of the most significant outcomes? The recovery of substantial revenue that may have otherwise been lost. 

“Recurly's dunning system helped us recapture a large percentage of declined payments,” shared Zaturansky. “And we’re talking about big money here — they recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have slipped through the cracks, thanks to right implementation and dunning.”

To further strengthen this effort, Powtoon also partnered with Vindicia, an additional recovery tool that integrates with Recurly. This multi-layered approach ensures that Powtoon maximizes revenue recovery while supporting its broader subscription goals.

Furthermore, Recurly empowered Powtoon to optimize its subscription experience with features like flexible payment gateways, making it easier for users to upgrade, downgrade, or renew without a hitch. The result? A frictionless subscription model that works for millions of users worldwide.

Building a global framework for payments

With customers across the US, Europe, South America, and Asia, Powtoon has had a strong vision for global expansion — but it doesn’t come without its challenges. How do you deliver seamless subscription experiences across multiple regions with different payment methods and legal requirements? For Powtoon, that answer is Recurly.

With Recurly, Powtoon could adapt to regional needs with ease. For example, in Europe, they implemented VAT compliance using Avalara. Meanwhile, in markets like Brazil, where recurring payments are less common, Recurly integrated with prepaid-friendly payment gateways.

“When we expand into new markets, we need to tackle currencies, taxes, and payment preferences,” says Zaturansky. “Recurly provides the infrastructure to address all of that smoothly.”

Turning customers into partners

For Powtoon, the value of working with Recurly isn’t just in the technologies and tools. It’s the partnership. Monthly strategy calls with their customer success manager ensure Powtoon’s needs are always top-of-mind.

Efforts to reduce churn, improve declined payment recovery, and support analytics customization are just a few examples of this collaborative approach. Splitting B2B and self-serve accounts, for instance, allowed Powtoon to gain better insights into its revenue streams and craft more effective strategies for diverse user groups.

“That's probably one of the most important things about Recurly — that there is a real partner on the other side,” explained Zaturansky. “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.”

A shared vision for the future

For over a decade, Powtoon’s collaboration with Recurly has powered its global expansion, refined its subscription operations, and instilled confidence in its ability to serve customers worldwide. Looking ahead, Powtoon is laser-focused on elevating its platform with advanced AI tools and personalized experiences — made possible by a strong subscription foundation. 

“Recurly will continue to be our strategic partner,” shared Zaturansky. “Their infrastructure lets us focus on democratizing creativity for our users. And every new feature they develop gives us even more flexibility.”

With millions of users, operations spanning the globe, and an unshakeable partnership, Powtoon and Recurly are a testament to collaboration powering creativity at scale.