Will my customer get duplicate emails from Stripe and RetryFi?

Potentially, yes, if both systems are sending failed-payment reminders. Stripe Billing has built-in recovery emails. If you use RetryFi for messaging, you should review your Stripe customer-email settings so the customer gets one clear sequence instead of overlapping reminders.

How does RetryFi's retry schedule differ from Stripe Smart Retries?

RetryFi schedules its own retries based on the decline code: soft declines get retried at 4h / 3d / 4d / 7d; hard declines (expired card, lost/stolen) skip retries entirely and go straight to dunning emails. Stripe Smart Retries uses network-wide ML; the two can coexist without colliding.

Comparison

RetryFivs Stripe Smart Retries

Stripe already provides retries and failed-payment emails. RetryFi's value is in opinionated recovery UX, visibility, and founder-focused defaults.

These aren't either/or — RetryFi runs on top of Stripe Smart Retries to add branded emails, visibility, and opinionated defaults.

Choose RetryFi if

You want branded, sequenced dunning emails on top of Stripe Smart Retries.
You want a recovery dashboard and a historical scan of what you've lost.
You want Slack alerts when recovery pauses and decline-code-aware control.

Choose Stripe Smart Retries if

You've already built your own dunning email pipeline.
You have very low failed-payment volume.
The default Stripe emails and dashboard are enough for you.

Why RetryFi

Most Stripe accounts already have Smart Retries on. It's a card retry scheduler — Stripe attempts the failed charge on a schedule it tuned across the network.

RetryFi runs alongside Smart Retries and adds an opinionated four-email sequence (0h / 72h / 96h / 120h), auto-branded with your company name and linked to the Stripe-hosted card-update page.

RetryFi also adds a purpose-built recovery dashboard. You don't disable Smart Retries to use RetryFi — they coexist by design.

About Stripe Smart Retries

Stripe Smart Retries is built into Stripe Billing and is enabled by default for many accounts. Stripe schedules retries using machine learning trained across the network. It's included with Stripe Billing and can be configured in the Dashboard (retry counts, duration windows, and automation rules).

Feature comparison

Feature	RetryFi	Stripe Smart Retries
Retries failed charges on a tuned schedule	YesDecline-code aware	YesML-tuned
Sends customer email when payment fails^[2]	Yes4 branded emails	YesBuilt-in Billing recovery emails
Customer-facing recovery dashboard / portal for you	Yes	Partial:Reporting, not purpose-built
Skips retries on hard declines (expired card, lost/stolen)	YesGoes straight to dunning	Partial:Limited control
Slack alert when recovery is paused (circuit breaker)	YesPro plan	No
Historical scan to see what you've already lost	YesLast 90 days	No
Cost	YesFree up to 10 actions/mo	YesIn Stripe Billing (0.7% of volume)

Pricing

Plan / tier	RetryFi	Stripe Smart Retries
Default behavior	Free (10 actions/mo)	In Stripe Billing (0.7% of volume)
Customer emails	Included	Included in Billing recovery suite
Dashboard / visibility	Included	Stripe dashboard only

Straight talk

When Stripe Smart Retries is the better choice

If you've already built your own dunning email pipeline (with Customer.io, Loops, or transactional email + Stripe webhooks), Stripe Smart Retries plus your custom emails may be all you need. RetryFi's value is in saving you that build.

If you have very low payment volume (a handful of failed charges per quarter), the default Stripe Smart Retries behavior may be sufficient on its own.

Try RetryFi free

10 failed payments recovered/month, forever. No credit card required.

FAQ

No. Smart Retries keeps running. RetryFi adds branded customer emails on top — it doesn't disable or interfere with Stripe Smart Retries.

Last verified: 2026-06-07. Pricing and features change; please check each vendor's site for the current details.

Stripe Smart Retries documentation — source
Stripe Billing customer emails for failed payments and payment updates — source
Stripe automations and retry configuration in Billing — source