So far, so good. But what next for Chargebee?

“Zuora arrived in 2006, and from the sound (and look) of it, they’ve stayed there. Luckily times have changed, even if Zuora hasn’t.” 

Billing and subscription management company Chargebee has a section on its website where it compares itself with its larger rival Zuora. And it doesn’t hold back, repeatedly punching Zuora hard in the gut. “50% of their [a client’s] engineering resources were spent in building internal tools — maintaining Zuora required huge upfront investments,” says another sharp takedown. 

Chargebee has even thrown in what appears to be testimony from a dissatisfied customer. “The main problem with Zuora was complexity. Even creating invoices involved a lot of human errors because of the different fields you have to fill,” says a quote attributed to Quentin Choserot of Coorpacademy.

So, what’s behind this overt and aggressive pursuit of a rival’s customers? Zuora, headquartered  in Redwood City, California, is Chargebee’s biggest competitor, offering products that are largely similar. In its efforts to turbocharge growth, catch up with Zuora, and justify its $3.5-billion valuation, Chargebee is pulling out all the stops. It has gone on an acquisition spree, partnered with various payments companies, integrated APIs and is wooing the clients of competitors.

Another factor that has injected urgency into this pursuit of growth is the tremendous valuation pressure that SaaS companies have come under in recent months in the US, with investors in listed ones taking a harder look at the sustainability of their business models and many choosing to unload their holdings.