Sell Subscriptions Online

Who it's for and what you get

This use case is for businesses that sell a service by subscription, such as a membership, a support contract or a hosted website.

When it is done:

• visitors pick a plan on your site and pay through a checkout, with or without an account;
• they pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through Stripe, or choose to pay later;
• coupons and taxes are applied at checkout;
• each subscriber gets a receipt after every payment and can manage their plan under My Plans;
• you see every subscriber under Subscriptions > Agreements, every payment under Commerce > Payments, and every unpaid balance under Commerce > Transactions.

Before you start

You need	Who sets it up
The features Subscriptions, Stripe and Send Payment Receipts, plus Pay Later, Taxation or Subscriptions - Sites if you use them	Your administrator, in Tools > Features
Stripe connected, with your keys saved	Your administrator; see Payment providers
The currencies you sell in	Your administrator; see Products and currencies
Permissions to manage subscriptions and their settings	Your administrator; see Roles and permissions

Can't find it?

What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

Steps

1. Connect Stripe. Enter and save your Stripe keys, then connect your account. See Payment providers.
2. Choose your currencies. Under Commerce > Currencies, add the currencies you sell in. See Products and currencies.
3. Set up taxes, if you charge them. Under Commerce > Taxation, describe what you sell, where you charge tax and at what rate. See Taxes.
4. Create your plans. Create a plan for each thing you sell, with its prices, billing period and an optional free trial. See Subscriptions.
5. Offer a discount, if you want. Under Commerce > Coupons, create a coupon code to share with customers. See Coupons.
6. Try the checkout. Open a plan on your site and buy it, so you see what your customers see. See Checkout.
7. Brand your receipts. Under Settings > Commerce > Receipts, enter your business name, logo and footer. See Invoices and receipts.
8. Sell websites, if that is your business. With Subscriptions - Sites, each purchase creates the customer's own site. See Selling sites.
9. Follow your subscribers. Use Subscriptions > Agreements to see each subscriber and cancel a subscription. Use Commerce > Payments to see and refund payments. Use Commerce > Transactions for balances still owed, such as Pay Later orders. See Subscriptions, Payments and refunds and Transactions.

Check that it works

Use Stripe's test mode and its test card, so no real money moves.

1. In a private window, open a plan on your site and buy it with the test card, entering a coupon code if you made one.
2. The checkout confirms the purchase and a receipt is sent.
3. Under Subscriptions > Agreements, the new subscriber is listed as active.
4. Under Commerce > Payments, the payment is listed as succeeded.
5. Signed in as the customer, My Plans shows the plan and its next payment.

Tips

• Test everything in Stripe's test mode first, then switch to live keys.
• A subscriber who cancels keeps access until the end of the period they have already paid for.
• A refund does not cancel a subscription. Cancel the subscription as well when you want to stop it.
• If a customer can't pay online, choose Pay Later at checkout: the balance is tracked under Commerce > Transactions, and you record the payment when it arrives.