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Payments

Recurly : Datenschutz, & EU Alternatives

Recurly is subject to US law (CLOUD Act / FISA 702). GDPR-compliant use is only possible with a valid DPA, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA). For sensitive data, an EU alternative is the more robust choice.

🇺🇸USAUS-Jurisdiktion

Last checked:

Is Recurly GDPR compliant?

Recurly is subject to US law (CLOUD Act / FISA 702). GDPR-compliant use is only possible with a valid DPA, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA). For sensitive data, an EU alternative is the more robust choice.

Vendor Profile

Who is the contractual partner?

Jurisdiction
USA
Hosting
AWS US
Owner
Recurly, Inc.🇺🇸

Sovereignty Level: Level 0 of 4

US-Anbieter, US-Server. Voller CLOUD-Act-Zugriff. Bei jedem Schrems-Urteil fällt das Tool um.

  1. Level0
  2. Level1
  3. Level2
  4. Level3
  5. Level4

The five levels, from US-SaaS (Level 0) to fully sovereign (Level 4), we explain in detail here.

Contract & Subprocessor Chain

  1. 1.Recurly, Inc. (US, San Francisco CA)
  2. 2.AWS US (Subprozessor)

Even if the main provider is based in the EU, a US subprocessor in this chain can trigger a third-country transfer. This is the core pitfall of .

Data Categories

What data does Recurly process?

In typical use, the following data categories arise. Which ones are relevant for you depends on your setup and scope of use.

  • Payment and credit card data (PCI-DSS applies)
  • Billing and delivery addresses
  • Transaction history and subscription status

Data Subjects

Who is affected by the processing?

Under Art. 30 GDPR, you must document the categories of data subjects per processing activity. In typical use, these include:

  • Paying customers with payment data

Concrete Impact

What does this mean in practice?

Payment data and transaction history are stored with a US provider. For sensitive sectors (health, public, banking) this is a KO criterion.

Note: This is a risk description, not a specific incident. Whether access occurred in your case depends on many factors. What can be documented: the risk must be named in your TIA and mitigated with additional measures.

meetergo Recommendation

US-Subscription-Tool durch EU-Alternative ersetzen

Recurly verarbeitet Abonnementdaten in den USA. Europäische Alternativen: Billwerk+ (DE) oder Chargebee EU-Hosting.

EU-Subscription-Alternativen prüfenCheck your own domain

GDPR-compliant providers

EU alternatives to Recurly

Providers based in the EU or EEA. No third-country transfer, simpler DPA situation, TIA generally not required.

Mollie-Logo

Mollie

🇳🇱

Niederländischer Payment-Anbieter, DSGVO-konform.

Switch in ~7 days

Adyen-Logo

Adyen

🇳🇱

Internationaler Payment-Konzern aus Amsterdam.

Switch in ~14 days

Bambora (Worldline)-Logo

Bambora (Worldline)

🇸🇪

Swedish payments (acquired by Worldline).

Bluesnap EU-Logo

Bluesnap EU

🇮🇪

Payment platform with Irish entity.

Buckaroo-Logo

Buckaroo

🇳🇱

Dutch payment provider.

Migration Plan

How to migrate away from Recurly

The following steps are the typical path for this tool category. Order and time required depend on your specific setup.

  1. 1

    Set up PSP integration in parallel

  2. 2

    Test webhook handler and refund workflow

  3. 3

    Adjust accounting sync (DATEV / Xentral)

  4. 4

    Gradually migrate existing subscriptions to new PSP

We help with migration planning at no cost: 30 minutes with a data protection specialist to prioritise and define a migration sprint. Book appointment

Frequently Asked Questions

Recurly & Privacy: FAQ

Is Recurly GDPR-compliant?

Recurly can be used in a GDPR-compliant way if a valid DPA is in place, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are signed, and a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA) has been conducted. However, the provider is headquartered in the US (Recurly, Inc.), so the CLOUD Act and FISA 702 continue to apply. This is true even when data is stored in an EU data centre. For sensitive data or strict oversight (public authorities, healthcare, large corporates), switching to an EU provider is often preferred.

Who is the contractual partner for Recurly?

The contract chain includes: Recurly, Inc. (US, San Francisco CA) · AWS US (Subprozessor). The legal parent entity is decisive for data protection. Even if an EU subsidiary signs the DPA, a US subprocessor in the chain can trigger third-country transfer obligations.

What EU alternatives are there to Recurly?

There are several GDPR-compliant EU alternatives. They are listed under "EU Alternatives" on this page. The selection is tailored to the feature set of Recurly (Subscription Management). meetergo covers the core workflow and can fully replace Recurly in many cases.

Where is Recurly data stored?

According to provider information: AWS US. Note: even an EU data centre does not protect against the CLOUD Act when the parent company is in the US. This is the core finding of the Schrems II decision.

What does the CLOUD Act mean for Recurly users?

The US CLOUD Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, 2018) allows US authorities to request data from US companies regardless of the physical storage location. If Recurly, Inc. is subject to the CLOUD Act, US law enforcement could theoretically access Recurly data stored in Frankfurt without involving EU authorities. The EDPB Recommendations 01/2020 therefore require additional safeguards or a switch to an EU provider.

Do I need a TIA for Recurly?

Yes, in most cases. Since Schrems II (July 2020), a Transfer Impact Assessment is mandatory for US providers when personal data is transferred. The TIA documents US law, practical risks (NSA access, subpoenas) and additional measures (encryption, pseudonymisation). Only a valid TIA makes the use of Recurly legally defensible.

How much effort is involved in switching away from Recurly?

Migration effort depends on your specific setup: typically between a few business days (booking, forms) and several weeks (CRM, hosting). The roadmap below shows the typical order.

Related Vendors

More tools in Payments

Next Step

Which tools are running on your website?

60 seconds, no login: the Sovereignty Scan shows all detected vendors with jurisdiction, risk, and matching EU alternatives.

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Note

Hinweis

Risiko-Indikator, keine Rechtsberatung.

Der Sovereignty Scan wertet öffentlich erreichbare Signale aus (HTML der Startseite und Rechtsseiten, DNS-, MX-, SPF- und ASN-Daten) und vergleicht sie mit unserer Datenbank von ca. 3.000 Anbietern. Die Zuordnung von Tool zu Eigentümer und Jurisdiktion basiert auf öffentlichen Quellen (Impressum, Datenschutzerklärung, Wappalyzer, RIPE/ARIN-Registrierungen) und ist als Erstindikation zum Stichtag der Auswertung gedacht, nicht als rechtsverbindliche Bewertung.

Die Note A–E ist ein Risiko-Indikator, kein DSGVO-Konformitätsurteil. Für eine konkrete DSGVO-Bewertung, insbesondere für Auftragsverarbeitungsverträge (AVV/DPA), Standardvertragsklauseln (SCC) und Transfer Impact Assessments (TIA), wenden Sie sich bitte an Ihren Datenschutzbeauftragten oder eine externe Rechtsberatung. meetergo trifft keine Aussage darüber, ob ein konkreter Anbieter in einem konkreten Anwendungsfall DSGVO-konform eingesetzt werden kann.

Korrektur & Stellungnahme: Wenn Sie Domain-Inhaber, Datenschutzbeauftragter oder Pressestelle der bewerteten Domain sind und die hier gezeigten Signale nicht Ihrer aktuellen Tool-Konfiguration entsprechen, nehmen wir Korrekturen auf und passen die Anzeige nach Prüfung umgehend an.

Methodik & GrenzenListing korrigieren / Stellungnahme einreichen