A monthly or yearly service is a Stripe subscription for one add-on, separate from the customer's plan subscription. Stripe charges it automatically until the customer or you cancel it.
Typical examples are Google Business Profile management, ads management, a monthly reporting call, or a remove-branding add-on.
Set up a recurring service
#Create the service at Business -> Billing & Revenue -> Custom Products -> Create Product -> Service or add-on
Steps and details
- Under
How do customers pay?, chooseStripe checkout - Set
BillingtoMonthlyorYearlyand enter thePrice - Or click
Use an existing Stripe price IDand paste a Stripe price that bills every month or every year at a fixed amount - Turn on
Show to customersand clickSave changes
Your own link services can show Monthly or Yearly on the card, but the platform does not bill them. Use that only when you bill the customer elsewhere.
How it relates to the customer's plan
#The service subscription never changes the customer's plan, credits, or plan status
Steps and details
- Cancelling the service never downgrades their plan
- Syncing subscriptions from the customer's manage page does not turn a service subscription into a plan subscription
- You cannot use the Stripe price of one of your custom plans for a service. The editor shows
This price belongs to one of your custom plans. Create a separate price for the service.
To make an add-on like remove branding take effect, change the option for that customer after they buy: open Business -> Customers -> Manage Customers, click Manage on the customer, go to Plan Options -> General, set Remove 'Powered By' Branding to Enabled, and click Save.
What the customer sees
#The Manage button only appears when the customer's plan shows Billing Pages
Steps and details · includes a table
- If a customer tries to subscribe again while a subscription is still live in Stripe, they see
You already have an active subscription tothe service, with aManage billingbutton
| Situation | Card shows |
|---|---|
| Not subscribed | The price per month or year and the Subscribe button (or your label) |
| Subscribed and active | Active badge and a Manage button that opens the Stripe billing portal |
| Set to cancel at the end of the period | Still Active until the period ends |
| Payment past due | Still Active, so they can fix payment through Manage |
| Cancelled | The button again, so they can subscribe again |
Situation · Card shows
- Not subscribed
- The price per month or year and the
Subscribebutton (or your label) - Subscribed and active
Activebadge and aManagebutton that opens the Stripe billing portal- Set to cancel at the end of the period
- Still
Activeuntil the period ends - Payment past due
- Still
Active, so they can fix payment throughManage - Cancelled
- The button again, so they can subscribe again
Renewals and cancellations
#Stripe renews and charges the subscription on its own schedule. Renewals appear in Stripe, not as new orders
Steps and details
- Customers can cancel from the Stripe billing portal if your billing portal settings in Stripe allow cancellation
- You can cancel any service subscription in your Stripe dashboard
- Subscription orders have no
Cancelaction inOrders, because cancelling there would not stop Stripe charging. Cancel in Stripe instead
One currency per customer
#Stripe keeps each customer in one currency. A customer subscribed to a plan billed in USD cannot buy a service priced in EUR.
Steps and details
The service editor warns you when this can happen: Some of your plans are billed in those currencies. The customer sees This service is priced in a different currency from your current subscription. if they try to buy.
- Keep your platform currency and your plan prices in the same currency
- If you need a service in a plan's currency, create that price in Stripe and use
Use an existing Stripe price ID
SEPA Direct Debit and other delayed payment methods
#Some payment methods, such as SEPA Direct Debit, take a few days to confirm. The customer returns to Services with Your payment is being processed. You will get an email when it is confirmed.
Steps and details
The order is recorded and you are emailed once the payment succeeds. If it fails, no order is recorded. For monthly and yearly services, Stripe can keep the unpaid subscription open for a while, and during that time the customer sees Manage billing instead of buying again.