Design a subscriptions integration

Learn about the configuration options for a subscriptions integration.

Use this guide to learn the different ways to build your subscriptions integration, and follow the links to in-depth, step-by-step guides. You’ll need to consider the following:

How you want to charge customers
How you want your customers to check out and provide their payment information
When you want customers to pay for the subscription

Decide how you want to charge customers

Compare the following pricing models and determine how you want to charge your customers for the subscription to your product or service:

Flat rate: Charge customers a flat rate for the service tier they choose.
Per-seat: Charge customers for each pricing unit, which represents one user or seat.
Tiered: Charge customers a varied amount for each pricing unit (such as a user or seat), based on quantity or usage.
Usage-based: Charge customers based on their usage of your product or service.

Pricing model

Description

Flat rate

In the following example, you offer three different service levels: basic, starter, and enterprise. For each service level, you specify a monthly and yearly price.

Per-seat

In the following example, you offer a per-seat plan for software licenses. For each user, you charge a specific amount for their license.

Tiered

Volume-based pricing: You multiply the quantity by the unit cost of the tier that corresponds to the usage at the end of the period.

Graduated pricing: You multiply the usage for each tier used during the period and then sum the totals for each tier. This differs from volume-based pricing, which only uses the tier from the end of the period.

In the following example, you offer lower rates for customers who use more projects per month, with tiers that you can adjust based on volume or graduated pricing.

	Number of projects	Price per tier
First tier	1-5	7 USD
Second tier	6-10	6.50 USD
Third tier	11+	6 USD

Usage-based

Fixed fee and overage pricing: You charge a flat fee per month for your product or service. The flat fee has some included usage entitlement, and you charge any additional usage (overage) at the end of the period.

Pay as you go pricing: You charge for usage tracked over a specific period. You can use any of the following pricing: per unit, per package, volume-based, or graduated.

Credit burndown pricing: You collect prepayment for your usage-based product or service, and allow customers to apply billing credits as they use your product or service.

In the following example, you charge a flat rate per month for your service that includes a set number of tokens. You charge any usage above the included tokens at an additional rate per token.

	First unit	Last unit	Per unit	Flat rate
First tier	0	100,000	0.001 USD	1.00 USD
Second tier	100,001	∞	0.002 USD	2.00 USD

Decide how customers check out

Compare the following checkout interfaces and determine how you want your customers to provide their payment information for the subscription to your product or service.

Interface	Description	Example
Stripe-hosted page	Use a payment page that’s prebuilt and hosted by Stripe. Benefits: Stripe handles payment method collection and validation. Stripe automatically starts the subscription process. UI customization: 20 preset fonts, 3 preset border radiuses, custom background and border color, and custom logo
Embedded payment form	Embed a payment form that’s prebuilt and hosted by Stripe directly into your site. Benefits: Stripe handles payment method collection and validation. Stripe automatically starts the subscription process. UI customization: 20 preset fonts, 3 preset border radiuses, custom background and border color, and custom logo
Custom payment form	Build a custom payment form using UI components that you can integrate on your website. Benefits: Combines Stripe Elements with the front end of your web app. Allows you to customize the Payment Element layout to fit your checkout flow. UI customization: Customize the look and feel of the payment form with the Appearance API.
Pricing table	Embed a pricing table on your website to show pricing information for subscriptions. Benefits: Displays a range of pricing options. Redirects to a Stripe-hosted payment page for the checkout flow. UI customization: Customize the button layout, text, and appearance.
One-click payment button	Accept payments through one-click payment buttons for various payment methods. Benefits: Allows you to add payment buttons without any front-end changes. Dynamically sorts payment buttons based on a customer’s location. Supports the following payment methods: Link, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Klarna, and Amazon Pay. UI customization: Customize the button layout, text, and appearance.
Payment link	Create a payment link that you can share directly with customers. When customers click the payment link, they’re redirected to a Stripe-hosted payment page.¹ Benefits: Allows you to accept payments using a payment link that you can share as many times as you want. Uses your customer’s preferred browser language. Supports more than 20 payment methods, including credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Allows you to customize the UI with 20 preset fonts, 3 preset border radiuses, custom background and border color, and custom logo
Mobile app	Use a payment form that’s prebuilt and hosted by Stripe in your mobile app. Benefits: Allows you to use a prebuilt sheet or a customizable drop-in component on any screen in your app. Supports wallet payments, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Link. UI customization: Customize the look and feel of the payment form with the Appearance API.

¹Payment links aren’t supported for usage-based billing.

Decide when you want customers to pay

Compare the following models and determine when you want your customers to pay for the subscription to your product or service.

Billing model	Description
Pay up front	Require that your customers pay before you provide access to your product or service. A typical flow looks like this: Your customer chooses their subscription plan. You collect payment information. You provision access to your product or service. You continue to provision access to the customer throughout the subscription lifecycle. After the initial charge, you continue to charge the customer the same fixed price for the same service at regular periods.
Free trial	Offer your customers a free trial period for your product or service before billing them. A typical flow looks like this: Your customer chooses their subscription plan. You collect payment information, but don’t charge the customer. You provision access to your product or service for a limited time. When the trial ends, a new billing period starts. Stripe generates an invoice with the price you defined for your service.
Freemium	Allow customers access to your product or service without requesting payment information. A typical flow looks like this: Your customer chooses their subscription plan. You provision access to your product or service for a limited time. Before the trial ends, you collect payment information. When the trial ends, a new billing period starts. Stripe generates an invoice with the price you defined for your service.

Billing model

Description

Pay up front

Require that your customers pay before you provide access to your product or service.

A typical flow looks like this:

Your customer chooses their subscription plan.
You collect payment information.
You provision access to your product or service.
You continue to provision access to the customer throughout the subscription lifecycle.
After the initial charge, you continue to charge the customer the same fixed price for the same service at regular periods.

Free trial

Offer your customers a free trial period for your product or service before billing them.

A typical flow looks like this:

Your customer chooses their subscription plan.
You collect payment information, but don’t charge the customer.
You provision access to your product or service for a limited time.
When the trial ends, a new billing period starts.
Stripe generates an invoice with the price you defined for your service.

Freemium

Allow customers access to your product or service without requesting payment information.

A typical flow looks like this:

Your customer chooses their subscription plan.
You provision access to your product or service for a limited time.
Before the trial ends, you collect payment information.
When the trial ends, a new billing period starts.
Stripe generates an invoice with the price you defined for your service.

Build your subscriptions integration

Pricing model	Checkout interface	Billing model	Use case	Instructions
Flat rate	Payment page or embedded form	Free trial	You want to offer a free trial period for your subscription and collect a payment method to use after the trial ends. Use either a Stripe-hosted page, a Stripe-hosted payment form that’s embedded in your checkout flow, or your custom payment form.	Start a free trial period using a Stripe-hosted page, an embedded payment form, or a custom payment form
Usage-based	Payment page, embedded form, or mobile app		You want to charge customers based on their usage of your product or service. Collect payment information using either a Stripe-hosted page, a Stripe-hosted payment form that’s embedded in your checkout flow, your custom payment form, or a payment form in your mobile app.	Set up usage-based billing
Flat rate, per-seat, or tiered	Pricing table	Free trial	You want to display different subscription pricing levels in a pricing table that’s embedded on your website. You can offer a flat rate, per-seat or tiered pricing, or a free trial. After choosing a pricing level, customers can provide their payment information in a prebuilt payment form.	Create and embed a pricing table on your website
Flat rate	Payment link	Pay up front	You want to sell subscriptions for a flat rate, and collect payment information using a payment link that you share with your customers. The payment link redirects to a Stripe-hosted payment page.²	Create your subscription and then create a payment link for your subscription
Flat rate	Mobile app	Pay up front	You want to sell subscriptions for a flat rate. Collect payment information using a custom payment form that’s embedded in your mobile app.	Create and embed a payment form in your iOS app, Android app, or React Native app
Flat rate	One-click payment buttons	Pay up front	You want to sell subscriptions for a flat rate. Collect payment information using one-click payment buttons on either a Stripe-hosted payment page, a Stripe-hosted payment form that’s embedded in your checkout flow, or your custom payment form.	Add one-click payment buttons on your checkout page

²Payment links aren’t supported for usage-based billing.