How to Set Up WooCommerce Subscriptions (Complete Guide)

Recurring revenue is the backbone of sustainable eCommerce. WooCommerce Subscriptions lets you sell products and services with automatic recurring payments, turning one-time buyers into long-term subscribers. This guide walks you through every step of setting up WooCommerce Subscriptions, from installation to managing active subscribers and reducing churn.

What Is WooCommerce Subscriptions?

WooCommerce Subscriptions is a premium extension developed by Woo (formerly WooCommerce) that adds subscription functionality to any WooCommerce store. It enables you to create and manage products with recurring payments, whether you sell physical goods, digital products, or services.

At its core, the plugin handles the complex billing logic that subscriptions require: automatic renewals, payment retries on failure, subscriber notifications, prorated upgrades, and much more. It integrates directly with your existing WooCommerce setup, so your subscription products live alongside your regular catalog.

Key Features at a Glance

• Multiple billing schedules — daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly renewal cycles
• Free trials and sign-up fees — attract subscribers with flexible entry points
• Automatic payment retries — recover failed payments without manual intervention
• Subscriber account management — customers can upgrade, downgrade, pause, or cancel from their account
• Detailed reporting — track monthly recurring revenue (MRR), subscriber counts, and churn rates
• Synchronized subscriptions — align billing dates across multiple subscriptions per customer
• Variable subscriptions — offer multiple plan tiers within a single product

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WooCommerce Subscriptions is a premium extension available directly from the WooCommerce Marketplace. As of 2025, pricing is structured as follows:

Plan	Price	Details
Annual License	$239/year	1 site, 1 year of updates and support
Woo Express (Performance)	$70/month	Includes Subscriptions + other premium extensions

The annual license includes all updates, new features, and priority support from the Woo team. If you run multiple stores, you need a separate license for each site. However, Woo Express plans bundle Subscriptions with hosting and other premium extensions, which can be more cost-effective for new stores.

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Before installing WooCommerce Subscriptions, make sure your store meets these requirements:

1. WordPress 6.0+ and WooCommerce 8.0+ installed and activated
2. A compatible payment gateway that supports automatic recurring payments (more on this below)
3. SSL certificate enabled on your domain (required for payment processing)
4. PHP 7.4+ (PHP 8.1+ recommended for best performance)
5. A WooCommerce.com account to purchase and download the extension

Important: Your payment gateway choice directly affects which subscription features work. Not all gateways support automatic renewals, so choose carefully before setting up products.

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Step 1: Purchase and Install the Plugin

1. Go to WooCommerce Subscriptions on the Marketplace and purchase a license.
2. Download the plugin ZIP file from your WooCommerce.com account under My Subscriptions.
3. In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
4. Choose the downloaded ZIP file and click Install Now, then Activate.
5. Go to WooCommerce > Extensions > My Subscriptions and connect your WooCommerce.com account to receive automatic updates.

Step 2: Configure Global Subscription Settings

After activation, navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Subscriptions to configure the global defaults. These settings apply to all subscription products unless overridden at the product level.

Button Text

Customize the “Add to Cart” button text for subscription products. The default is “Sign up now,” but you can change it to match your brand voice. Examples include “Start your subscription,” “Subscribe today,” or “Join now.”

Roles

WooCommerce Subscriptions can automatically assign WordPress roles based on subscription status:

• Subscriber Default Role — the role assigned when a subscription is active (e.g., “Subscriber” or a custom role like “Premium Member”)
• Inactive Subscriber Role — the role assigned when a subscription is cancelled, expired, or on hold (e.g., “Customer”)

This is particularly useful for membership sites where you restrict content based on user roles.

Renewals

Configure how renewals are processed:

• Manual Renewal Payments — if enabled, customers receive an invoice and must pay manually each cycle. Only enable this if your gateway does not support automatic payments.
• Automatic Renewal — the default and recommended setting. The payment gateway charges the customer automatically on each renewal date.
• Turn Off Automatic Payments — allows customers to choose between automatic and manual renewal at checkout.

Switching

If you offer multiple subscription tiers, enable plan switching so customers can upgrade or downgrade. Options include:

• Between Subscription Variations — switch between variations of the same product (e.g., Basic to Pro)
• Between Grouped Subscriptions — switch between entirely different subscription products
• Proration — choose whether to prorate charges when customers switch mid-cycle

Step 3: Set Up a Payment Gateway

This is arguably the most critical step. Your payment gateway must support tokenization and automatic recurring billing for subscriptions to work seamlessly. Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments to configure your gateway. Since subscriptions involve storing payment details and processing repeat charges, it is also worth securing your store against fraudulent transactions — our guide to the best WooCommerce anti-fraud plugins covers tools that help protect recurring payment flows.

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Not all payment gateways are created equal when it comes to subscriptions. Here is a breakdown of the most popular gateways and their subscription support levels:

Gateway	Auto Renewal	Subscription Switching	Suspension	Reactivation	Free Trials
Stripe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PayPal Standard	Yes (limited)	No	Yes	No	Yes
PayPal Payments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Square	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Authorize.Net	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
WooPayments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mollie	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Amazon Pay	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes

Our recommendation: Use Stripe or WooPayments (which is built on Stripe) for the most complete subscription support. Both handle automatic renewals, subscription modifications, payment retries, and SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) compliance out of the box.

If you operate in regions where PayPal is dominant, use PayPal Payments (the newer integration) rather than PayPal Standard, as it supports subscription switching and reactivation.

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With the plugin activated and a compatible gateway configured, you can start creating subscription products. WooCommerce Subscriptions adds two new product types to the product editor.

Simple Subscription

A simple subscription is a single product with one billing option. Think of a monthly coffee delivery box or a yearly software license.

1. Go to Products > Add New.
2. In the Product Data dropdown, select Simple subscription.
3. Set the Subscription price — for example, $29.99 every month.
4. Configure the Subscription period (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly).
5. Optionally set a Subscription length — leave empty for indefinite, or set a specific number of periods (e.g., 12 months).
6. Add a Sign-up fee if you want to charge a one-time fee at the start (common for physical product subscriptions to cover initial shipping).
7. Set a Free trial period to let customers try before committing.
8. Fill in the rest of the product details (description, images, shipping) as you would for any WooCommerce product.
9. Click Publish.

Variable Subscription

Variable subscriptions work like WooCommerce variable products but with subscription billing. They allow you to offer multiple plan tiers under a single product listing. This is ideal for SaaS-style pricing pages.

1. Go to Products > Add New.
2. Select Variable subscription in the Product Data dropdown.
3. Under the Attributes tab, add an attribute like “Plan” with values such as “Basic,” “Professional,” and “Enterprise.”
4. Check Used for variations and save.
5. Go to the Variations tab and click Create variations from all attributes.
6. Expand each variation and set its specific subscription price, period, sign-up fee, and trial length.
7. Publish the product.

For example, you might configure:

Plan	Price	Billing	Sign-up Fee	Trial
Basic	$19/month	Monthly	$0	14 days
Professional	$49/month	Monthly	$0	14 days
Enterprise	$399/year	Yearly	$99	30 days

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Once your subscription products are live, the recurring payment engine works automatically. However, there are several settings you should fine-tune to maximize revenue collection.

Failed Payment Retry Rules

Credit cards expire, bank accounts run low, and payment failures are inevitable. WooCommerce Subscriptions includes a built-in retry system that attempts to collect failed payments on a schedule.

The default retry schedule applies up to 5 retry attempts over approximately 7 days:

1. 12 hours after initial failure
2. 1 day after first retry
3. 2 days after second retry
4. 3 days after third retry
5. 5 days after fourth retry

After all retries are exhausted, the subscription status changes to “on-hold” or “cancelled” based on your settings. You can customize this schedule with custom code or by using the failed payment retry documentation as a reference.

Synchronized Renewals

If you want all subscribers to renew on the same date (for example, the 1st of every month), enable synchronized renewals under WooCommerce > Settings > Subscriptions > Synchronization. This is useful for:

• Subscription boxes that ship on a fixed schedule
• Services that bill on the 1st of the month
• Membership sites with synchronized access periods

When enabled, the first payment is prorated based on when the customer signs up relative to the next renewal date.

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Active subscriber management is handled from two interfaces: the admin dashboard and the customer’s My Account page.

Admin Dashboard Management

Navigate to WooCommerce > Subscriptions to view all subscriptions. From here you can:

• View subscription status (active, on-hold, pending-cancel, cancelled, expired)
• Edit billing schedule, next payment date, and pricing
• Manually process renewal payments
• Change the payment method on behalf of a customer
• Add, remove, or swap line items in an active subscription
• View the complete payment history and related orders

Customer Self-Service

WooCommerce Subscriptions adds a “My Subscriptions” section to the customer’s My Account page. By default, customers can:

• Pause (suspend) their subscription for a period you define
• Cancel their subscription (effective at the end of the current billing period)
• Reactivate a cancelled or suspended subscription
• Change payment method (update credit card details)
• Switch plans if you have enabled subscription switching

You can control which self-service actions are available under WooCommerce > Settings > Subscriptions > Misc. For example, some stores disable the ability to suspend subscriptions to reduce churn.

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WooCommerce Subscriptions adds several transactional email templates to your store. You can customize each one under WooCommerce > Settings > Emails.

Email	Trigger	Recipient
New Renewal Order	Automatic renewal payment processed	Admin
Subscription Switched	Customer upgrades or downgrades	Admin
Processing Renewal Order	Renewal order received	Customer
Completed Renewal Order	Renewal order completed	Customer
Customer Renewal Invoice	Manual renewal payment due	Customer
Cancelled Subscription	Customer cancels	Admin
Expired Subscription	Subscription reaches end of length	Admin
Suspended Subscription	Customer suspends	Admin

For each email, you can customize the subject line, heading, and body content. Consider adding branding elements and a personal touch to renewal emails — they are an opportunity to reinforce the value of the subscription.

Payment Reminder Emails

While WooCommerce Subscriptions sends renewal invoices, it does not include pre-renewal reminder emails by default. For that, you can use complementary plugins like AutomateWoo (also from Woo) or WooCommerce Follow-Ups to send emails a few days before renewal. Pre-renewal reminders help reduce unexpected charges and chargebacks.

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Acquiring subscribers is only half the battle. Keeping them is where the real revenue lives. According to ProfitWell research, the median monthly churn rate for subscription businesses is around 5-7%. Here are proven strategies to keep yours below that benchmark.

1. Offer a Dunning Management Flow

Involuntary churn (failed payments) accounts for 20-40% of all subscription cancellations. Make sure your payment retry rules are configured, and send clear, friendly emails when payments fail. Let customers update their card details easily from the My Account page.

2. Provide Annual Pricing Discounts

Annual plans lock in revenue and reduce churn by 2-3x compared to monthly billing. Offer a meaningful discount (typically 15-20% off the equivalent monthly price) to incentivize yearly commitments.

3. Use Cancellation Surveys

When customers click “Cancel,” show a brief survey asking why they are leaving. This data is invaluable for product improvements. Plugins like WooCommerce Subscriptions – Cancel Survey add this functionality.

4. Offer a Pause Option Instead of Cancel

Sometimes customers want a temporary break, not a permanent exit. Allowing subscription suspension for 1-3 months gives them flexibility and keeps them in your ecosystem. Configure the maximum suspension count under subscription settings.

5. Send Value-Reinforcing Emails

Between renewal cycles, send emails that highlight the value subscribers are getting. Usage summaries, exclusive content previews, and “what you would have paid” comparisons all reinforce the subscription’s worth.

6. Implement a Win-Back Campaign

When subscribers do cancel, send a series of win-back emails over the following 30-60 days. Offer a discount or bonus to re-subscribe. AutomateWoo’s workflow builder can automate this entire sequence. Pairing win-back offers with a referral and loyalty program can further incentivize former subscribers to return and bring new customers with them.

7. Continuously Improve Your Offering

Subscribers expect ongoing value. Regularly add new products to subscription boxes, release new features for SaaS subscriptions, or provide fresh content for membership sites. Stagnation is the fastest path to churn.

8. Monitor Your Metrics

Track these key subscription metrics in WooCommerce Analytics or a dedicated dashboard:

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) — your predictable monthly income
• Churn Rate — percentage of subscribers who cancel each month
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) — average revenue per subscriber over their entire tenure
• Renewal Rate — percentage of successful renewals
• Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) — helps identify upsell opportunities

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Restrict Content Based on Subscription

If you run a membership or content site, combine WooCommerce Subscriptions with WooCommerce Memberships ($199/year) to restrict access to pages, posts, or products based on active subscription status. This creates a gated content experience where subscribers get exclusive access.

Multiple Subscriptions Per Customer

By default, WooCommerce Subscriptions allows customers to purchase multiple different subscriptions. If your business model requires one subscription per customer (e.g., a single membership plan), you can enforce this with the “Limit subscription” setting on each product. Options include:

• No limit — customers can buy as many as they want
• Limit to one active subscription — prevents duplicate purchases
• Limit to one of any status — even cancelled subscribers cannot repurchase (use sparingly)

Using Coupons with Subscriptions

WooCommerce Subscriptions extends the coupon system with two subscription-specific coupon types:

• Recurring Product Discount — applies the discount to every renewal payment
• Sign-Up Fee Discount — reduces or eliminates the initial sign-up fee

You can also limit standard WooCommerce coupons to apply only to the initial payment by checking “Subscription initial payment only” in the coupon’s usage restrictions.

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Even with proper setup, you may encounter these common issues:

Renewals Not Processing Automatically

If renewals are generating invoices instead of charging automatically, check that your payment gateway supports automatic renewals (refer to the compatibility table above). Also verify that WooCommerce’s Action Scheduler is running correctly by going to Tools > Scheduled Actions and looking for pending subscription actions.

Subscription Status Stuck on “Pending”

This usually indicates a payment gateway communication issue. Check your gateway’s transaction logs and ensure your API keys are correct. Also verify that your SSL certificate is valid and not expired.

Emails Not Sending

Subscription emails use the same delivery system as all WooCommerce emails. If they are not arriving, verify your email configuration under WooCommerce > Settings > Emails. Consider using a dedicated email service like WP Mail SMTP or a transactional email provider (Mailgun, SendGrid, Amazon SES) for reliable delivery.

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WooCommerce Subscriptions transforms your WooCommerce store from a one-time transaction engine into a recurring revenue machine. The setup process is straightforward: install the plugin, configure a compatible payment gateway (Stripe or WooPayments are the top choices), create your subscription products, and fine-tune your renewal and notification settings.

The real work begins after launch. Monitor your churn rate, optimize your dunning flows, and continuously add value for subscribers. With the right approach, subscriptions can become the most predictable and profitable revenue stream in your WooCommerce store.

If you need help setting up WooCommerce Subscriptions for your store or want a custom subscription workflow tailored to your business model, get in touch with our WooCommerce experts. We have configured subscription systems for stores across dozens of industries and can help you get it right from day one.

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