Stripe subscriptions charge a customer on a recurring schedule, and you can create, change, pause and cancel them from the Subscriptions page in the Stripe Dashboard without writing any code. Customers can also sign up through a Payment Link or your website, and manage their own plan through Stripe's customer portal.
Two rules surprise people. You can't delete a subscription, only cancel it or pause payment collection, and once it's canceled you can't reactivate it, so carrying on billing that customer means creating a new subscription. On top of that, as of October 2026, subscriptions cancel automatically after up to eight unsuccessful attempts to bill the customer, a number you can change in your subscription settings.
Setting one up in the Dashboard
- Go to the subscriptions page and click Create subscription.
- Find or add the customer.
- Enter the product and pricing. You can add more than one product.
- Set the start and end date.
- Set the billing cycle start date, which decides when the next invoice is generated and, depending on your settings, when the saved card is charged.
- Configure email reminders and notifications. Stripe recommends this.
- Optionally add a tax behaviour, a coupon, a free trial or metadata, and switch on revenue recovery to retry failed payments.
On iOS you can do the same from the Stripe app: open the Customers tab, pick a customer and tap + in the subscription row. You can only choose existing products with a recurring price there, and you can't pause a subscription from the app.
How the billing date is decided
Every subscription has a billing cycle anchor, the reference point for future billing dates. By default it's the day you create the subscription, or the day a free trial ends. A monthly subscription anchored on September 2 always bills on the 2nd. One anchored on January 31 bills on the last day of shorter months, so February 28, or February 29 in a leap year, then March 31 and April 30. A weekly one anchored on a Friday bills every Friday. Anchors use Coordinated Universal Time, which is worth knowing if you set dates late in the day.
If you set a billing date that doesn't match the sign-up date, Stripe bills a prorated invoice for the gap. Stripe's own example: with a 7 day trial and billing on the 1st, a customer who subscribes on the 15th gets a prorated invoice on the 22nd for the period up to the 1st, then the full amount on the 1st of each month after that.
Pause, cancel or change: which one you need
| Action | What happens, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pause payment collection | Subscription stays active and the customer keeps access. Invoices still generate, but Stripe doesn't collect payment. |
| Cancel immediately | Ends now. You choose a prorated refund, a full refund of the last payment, or no refund. |
| Cancel at end of period | The customer finishes the time they've paid for. You can undo it with Don't cancel until the period ends. |
| Cancel on a custom date | Ends on a date you pick. You can't provide a refund with this option. |
| Change price, quantity or billing period | Creates prorations and can generate an invoice. |
| Change payment method or discount | No proration. A new discount applies from the next invoice. |
Pausing payment collection step by step
- On the Subscriptions page, select the subscription.
- Click the overflow menu and select Pause payment collection.
- Choose Indefinite, or Until a custom date to resume automatically.
- Pick the invoice behaviour: keep invoices as drafts to collect later, mark them uncollectible, or void them so no record of charges is created.
- Click Pause.
Note that invoices created before you pause keep being retried unless you void them. To restart, open the overflow menu and select Resume payment collection. Stripe suggests using the subscription status, not the payment pause, as the trigger for switching a customer's access on or off.
Disputes, coupons and quantities
When a customer disputes a subscription charge, the subscription keeps cycling by default, which can lead to more disputed charges. Under Manage disputed payments in the Dashboard, you can choose to cancel immediately without prorating or cancel at the end of the period, giving you time to work through the dispute.
For discounts, a coupon is one you apply yourself, while a promotion code is one the customer types at checkout and wraps around a coupon. You can apply up to 20 discounts to a subscription or invoice. Once created, a coupon's name is the only setting you can edit, and coupons can only be deleted, not deactivated, though deleting one doesn't remove discounts already applied.
Quantities suit per-seat pricing: one subscription covering several seats, billed on a single invoice and prorated when the number changes. You can also put several products on one subscription, as long as they all use the same currency. Classic billing mode supports up to 20 subscription items, and flexible billing mode up to 100.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
My verdict on Stripe subscriptions
I'd run subscriptions straight from the Dashboard if you've got a handful of plans and don't want a developer in the loop, because creating, pausing and cancelling are all point and click. Turn on email reminders and revenue recovery on day one. I'd pause collection rather than cancel when a good customer hits a rough patch, since a canceled subscription can't be brought back. If you're choosing between tools, here's my overview of Stripe Billing, and to let customers handle changes themselves, set up the customer portal.
Subscription admin, from failed payment follow-ups to plan changes, is a great candidate for workflow automation. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
Can I delete a Stripe subscription?
No. You can't delete a subscription, but you can cancel it or pause payment collection.
Can I reactivate a canceled Stripe subscription?
No. You can't reactivate a canceled subscription. You can stop a scheduled cancellation before the period ends, but after cancellation you need to create a new subscription.
What happens when I pause payment collection in Stripe?
The subscription stays active and invoices keep generating, but Stripe doesn't collect payment. Your customer keeps access to the service during the pause.
When do Stripe subscriptions cancel for failed payments?
Subscriptions cancel automatically after up to eight unsuccessful billing attempts. You can configure the number of attempts in your Dashboard subscription settings.
How many discounts can a Stripe subscription have?
You can apply up to 20 discounts to a subscription, subscription item or invoice, shared between coupons and promotion codes.
