Subscription start date
In this help article, we'll show you how to start a Stripe subscription or payment plan on a specific date in the future using the Start date setting.
Here are some examples of how you can use subscription start dates for your business, no code needed:
- Course cohorts: Enable sign-ups at any time, with their payment plan starting when the cohort officially kicks off.
- Magazine Subscriptions: Allow customers to subscribe anytime, with their Stripe subscription starting at the beginning of the next issue cycle.
- Event registrations: Allow attendees to register now, paying a deposit, than take a single payment when the events starts.
Setting a start date for subscriptions and payment plans
- Open your Checkout Page dashboard and click on your checkout
- In the Product tab, select Start date
- Set your desired date and time (based on your local time)
Please note: If the start date is in the past, it will not be displayed on the checkout and the Stripe subscription or payment plan will begin immediately.
Subscription start date with setup fee
You can add an initial setup fee to your Stripe subscriptions or payment plans. This fee can serve as a deposit charge, allowing you to confirm the customer’s card validity and ensure there are enough funds for the subscription.
Simply tick the Setup fee setting and specify a setup fee that is charged immediately upon signup.
Since Checkout Page allows full customization of your one page checkout, you can also choose to rename the labels and repurpose the fees charged.
To change the label for Setup fee, go to Design tab and rename Setup fee under Custom labels.
Learn more about setup fee here
Subscription start date and trials
The subscription start date cannot be used in conjunction with trial periods. If a trial period is set for a Stripe subscription that also has a start date, the start date will be prioritized, and the trial period will be disregarded.
Learn more about free trials here
Viewing start date subscriptions in Stripe and Checkout Page
When you view your subscriptions in Stripe, any subscription with a set start date will appear as Trialing until, with the date indicating the start date of the subscription.
The start date payment plan will appear similarly, but it will also include Upcoming phases showing the upcoming payments and overall end date of the payment plan.
In Checkout Page, a subscription with a start date set in the future will be displayed as Scheduled.
Once a subscription moves past the start date, it will become Active.
Integrations
For your integrations, including Webhooks, Zapier, and Google Sheets, a Stripe subscription or payment plan that has not yet started will show a status of scheduled and will contain a startDate.
Please note: There is currently no integration event for “subscription started” (when trial ends).
