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12 min readBilling & Invoicing

Custom Plans without Stripe Billing

Create and manage custom plans when billing happens outside the platform, including free plans, manual plan assignment, and monthly credit renewal without Stripe.

A non-Stripe custom plan is a plan where the platform controls access, limits, and credits, but billing is handled somewhere else or not handled at all.

This is useful when you invoice customers manually, sell through resellers, run done-for-you onboarding outside the platform, or want a true free tier with no checkout flow.

What a non-Stripe custom plan is

Non-Stripe plans still define the full product offer. They decide what the customer can access, how many locations and team members they get, and how many credits they receive. The only difference is that payment collection does not happen through Stripe checkout links and Stripe subscription objects.

AspectStripe planNon-Stripe plan
Payment collectionStripe handles it automaticallyYou handle it yourself
Subscription managementAutomatedManual
Payment linksGenerated automaticallyNot available
Free trialsManaged by StripeManual
Credit renewal timingAligned with Stripe billing cycleMonthly based on credit grant timing
Customer self-service billingBilling PortalNo billing self-service
Auto-downgrade from Stripe subscription endAvailableNot applicable by itself

Create the plan

Go to `Settings -> White Label -> Custom Plans`, click `Create Plan`, enter the plan name, and open the editor.

The General tab works the same as Stripe-backed plans. You still choose the plan name, description, whether it is the default, and whether it should be hidden.

Configure pricing and billing without Stripe

On the Pricing and Billing tab, leave the Stripe price fields empty. That is what makes the plan non-Stripe. If the plan is free, turn on `Is Free` as well.

The system treats a plan as non-Stripe when both the monthly and yearly Stripe price fields are empty.

  • Free plans should have `Is Free` turned on
  • Paid non-Stripe plans still leave the Stripe price fields empty because billing happens outside the platform
  • Trial days can still exist on a non-Stripe plan and affect platform-side trial logic

Features and options work the same way

The Features and Options tab works exactly the same as it does on Stripe-backed plans. All the same sections, feature states, limits, and access controls still apply.

That means a non-Stripe plan can still be a serious paid offer. The billing model changes, not the product control.

Assigning a non-Stripe plan to a customer

Because there is no Stripe checkout flow attached to the plan, you assign it manually from the agency side.

  • When creating a new customer, choose the plan in the customer creation flow
  • When switching an existing customer, use the plan switch action in Customer Manager
  • When the plan changes, old subscription credits expire and the new plan credits are granted immediately

How credits work on non-Stripe plans

Credits behave almost the same as on Stripe-backed plans. The main difference is how renewal timing is determined. Instead of following a Stripe billing cycle, the system renews based on the internal monthly timing since the last grant.

When a non-Stripe plan is assigned, the customer immediately receives the email and SMS credit allocation defined on that plan, unless trial-credit rules block that initial grant.

  • Old credits expire when the next monthly renewal is granted
  • Fresh credits are granted at the plan-configured amount
  • No Credits During Trial still applies if enabled on the plan
Worth knowing

If credits are the part that tends to confuse your agency, the dedicated credits guide is the next thing to read after this one.

How customers access the platform without Stripe

Without Stripe, you decide how customers enter the platform. The main options are manual customer creation, open self-registration without payment, or self-registration tied to a default non-Stripe plan.

PathHow it works
Manual customer creationYou create the customer and assign the plan directly
Open signupsCustomer registers freely and is assigned the default plan
Self-registration with default planNew registrations automatically land on the chosen non-Stripe default plan

Per-customer overrides still work

Non-Stripe plans still support per-customer overrides. That means you can give one customer extra locations, different source permissions, extra credits, or feature access changes without changing the underlying plan for everyone else.

Managing non-Stripe customers

  • You handle billing outside the platform
  • You decide when a customer should upgrade, downgrade, or lose access
  • You can move a customer to a free plan, delete the account, or leave them on the current plan until you act
  • Credits still renew automatically according to the plan unless you intervene manually

Free plans are the most common non-Stripe plans

Free plans are usually the clearest example of a non-Stripe plan. They are useful for starter tiers, downgrade targets, or permanently limited free access.

On a free plan, trial days do not apply because the plan is already free.

Signup form settings still matter

Even without Stripe, the signup form settings control how registrations happen. `Allow Signups` decides whether customers can self-register at all, and `Require Payment First` only matters for Stripe-connected paid flows.

  • Allow Signups controls whether the registration page is available
  • Phone Number Required and First Login Consent still apply
  • Custom checkboxes can still be used for consent or terms

When non-Stripe plans are the right move

Non-Stripe plans are strongest when the platform is part of a higher-touch agency relationship rather than a self-serve SaaS motion. If you already bill manually, sell through a reseller, or onboard customers through a done-for-you service, non-Stripe plans can keep the platform side simple while you handle billing elsewhere.

Common questions