Subscriptions States
List of states of a Subcription and their significance.
You can track a Subscription through its various stages from creation to completion. While the life cycle for a Subscription includes creation, authentication, active and then completion, you also have the option to cancel a Subscription.
The stages that a Subscription is likely to go through are illustrated here:
During its life cycle, a Subscription can go through the below states.
A Subscription attains the created
state once it is created.
A Subscription goes to the authenticated
state when the customer completes the authentication transaction.
Subscriptions with an Immediate Start Date
The Subscription with an immediate start date remains in the created
state till the first charge is made and moves to the active
state after the first charge.
Subscriptions with a Trial Period
- The Subscription with an add-on amount remains in the
created
state and moves to theauthenticated
state after the add-on amount is processed. - The Subscription without an add-on amount moves to the
authenticated
state when the customer completes the authentication transaction.
A Subscription goes to the active
state when the billing cycle for the Subscription starts.
When a Subscription moves to the active
state from the authenticated
state, we attempt to charge the authorized card against the invoice amount.
- A Subscription goes to the
pending
state when an auto-charge on a payment is unsuccessful. We continue to retry the payment while it is in this state. In the meanwhile, you can ask the customer to authenticate another card, if required. - After all the retry attempts have been exhausted, the Subscription moves to the
halted
state.
- When the Subscription moves to the
halted
state from thepending
state, invoices continue to be generated as per the billing cycles. However, no auto-charge is attempted. It is important to note that once the Subscription moves back to theactive
state, the previous charges will not be re-attempted. Only future billing cycles are charged automatically. - When the Subscription moves to the
pending
state from theactive
state, you are notified about the failed attempt via our webhooks. For Subscriptions authenticated via cards, we continue to automatically process a retry without you having to take any action. We also send the customer an email notifying them about the failure. This email has a call-to-action from the customer to change the card that is associated with the Subscription.
To move the Subscription back to the active
state from the pending
state, the customer needs to authenticate another card. This enables us to successfully perform a charge on it. You or the customer can also manually attempt a charge on the same card by attempting to charge any of the older unpaid invoices. If they go through successfully, the Subscription moves back to the active
state.
The Subscription goes to the halted
state when the last auto-charge is unsuccessful and all retries are exhausted.
Handy Tips
It is possible for the Subscription to continue to remain in the halted
state for more than one billing cycle. In such scenarios:
- Invoices are generated for all billing cycles, but no auto-charge is attempted.
- The customer needs to authenticate another card or you or the customer needs to manually attempt a charge on an older unpaid invoice. If the older invoice is successfully charged, the Subscription will automatically move to the
active
state.
The Subscription moves to the active
state once the customer changes their card details and we are able to successfully perform a charge on it.
- It can also move to the
active
state if a charge on an older invoice is attempted and it goes through successfully. - You can charge an older invoice from the .
Watch Out!
Once the Subscription moves to the active
state from the halted
state, the previous charges are not re-attempted. Only future payments are charged automatically.
- When you cancel a Subscription, it moves to the
cancelled
state. Once cancelled, a Subscription cannot be restarted.
- A Subscription can be cancelled using the or from the .
- Only Subscriptions in the
active
state can be paused.
- You can pause a Subscription.
- From the .
- Using .
Watch Out!
If you pause a Subscription in the authenticated
state, the Subscription goes to the cancelled
state.
If the start_at
time for the Subscription has been set and the authentication transaction has not been done by the start_at
time, the Subscription moves to the expired
state and cannot be used again.
A Subscription moves to the completed
state when it reaches the end of its life cycle as per the end_date
set for the Subscription.
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