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Managing Subscriptions

Last updated on November 9, 2026

Navigation: WP Admin > License Server > Subscriptions

The Subscriptions screen manages recurring billing for software products. Subscriptions are the engine behind your recurring revenue — they automatically collect payments, renew licenses, and handle failed payments with configurable retry logic and grace periods.

Subscriptions List

Subscription List

The table displays all subscriptions with:

  • ID — Unique subscription identifier.
  • Customer — The subscriber.
  • Product — The software product.
  • Status — Current subscription status.
  • Billing Period — The recurring interval (e.g., monthly, yearly).
  • Next Payment — Date of the next scheduled payment.
  • License — The linked license key.

Use the search box and status filter to narrow the list.

Subscription Detail

Click a subscription to view full details including:

  • Linked license and order information.
  • Payment history and next payment date.
  • Gateway subscription ID (Stripe, PayPal, etc.).
  • Trial period details (if applicable).
  • Retry count for failed payments.

How Subscriptions and Licenses Work Together

Subscriptions create and manage licenses automatically:

  1. Purchase: When a customer buys a subscription product, a license key is generated and linked to the new subscription.
  2. Renewal: When a subscription payment succeeds, the linked license's expiry date is extended by the billing period (e.g., +1 year for annual subscriptions). Both the subscription and license remain active.
  3. Failure: When a payment fails, the subscription moves to on-hold. The license remains active during the retry period and grace period, giving the customer time to update their payment method.
  4. Expiry: When a subscription expires (retries exhausted, grace period ended), the linked license is also expired. The customer loses access to updates.
  5. Cancellation: When a subscription is canceled, the linked license typically remains active until its current expiry date, then expires without renewal.

Tip: You rarely need to manage license expiry dates manually. The subscription lifecycle handles renewals and expirations automatically. See Licenses for more on the license side.

Subscription Lifecycle

A subscription moves through these states:

StatusDescription
activePayments are current. The linked license is active.
on-holdA payment has failed. The system will retry based on your retry settings.
expiredThe subscription has ended (missed payment, grace period elapsed, or non-renewal).
canceledThe customer or admin has canceled the subscription.
suspendedThe customer has temporarily paused the subscription (if allowed in settings).

Lifecycle Flow

  1. Active — Customer purchases a subscription product. Payment succeeds.
  2. On-hold — A renewal payment fails. A scheduled action retries the payment based on the configured max retry attempts.
  3. Expired — If retries are exhausted and the grace period (if configured) ends, the subscription expires. The linked license is also expired.
  4. Canceled — The customer cancels from their account, or an admin cancels manually.

Payment Retry Logic

When a subscription renewal payment fails, SLSWC does not give up immediately. Instead, it follows a configurable retry process:

  1. The subscription status changes to on-hold.
  2. The slswc_retry_failed_payments scheduled action runs every 12 hours and processes on-hold subscriptions in batches of 50.
  3. Each retry attempt increments the subscription's retry counter. The gateway handles the actual payment collection:
    • Stripe: Calls Invoice::pay() on the failed invoice.
    • PayPal, Payfast, Polar: Checks the remote subscription status (these gateways handle retries on their side).
  4. If the payment succeeds, the subscription returns to active and the license is renewed.
  5. If the maximum retry count is reached (default: 3, configurable at Settings > Subscriptions), the subscription either enters the grace period or expires immediately.

Tip: Configure your retry and grace period settings at WP Admin > License Server > Settings > Subscriptions. A combination of 3 retries over 6 days plus a 7-day grace period gives customers nearly two weeks to fix payment issues before losing access.

Grace Periods Explained

A grace period gives customers extra time after all payment retries have been exhausted. During the grace period, the subscription remains on-hold and the linked license stays active — the customer can still use your software and receive updates.

How it works:

  1. Payment fails and retries begin (twice daily).
  2. After the maximum retries (default: 3) are exhausted, if a grace period is configured, the system sets a grace_period_end date on the subscription (current date + grace period days).
  3. The daily slswc_expire_subscriptions scheduled action checks for on-hold subscriptions whose grace period has ended.
  4. Once the grace period expires, the subscription and its linked license are both set to expired.

Example with 3 retries and a 7-day grace period:

DayEvent
Day 0Renewal payment fails. Subscription goes to on-hold.
Day 0.5First retry attempt (12-hourly scheduled action).
Day 1Second retry attempt.
Day 1.5Third retry attempt. Max retries exhausted. Grace period starts.
Day 1.5 — 8.5Grace period. Customer's license still works. Expiring emails are sent.
Day 8.5Grace period ends. Subscription and license expire.

If the grace period is set to 0 days: Subscriptions expire immediately when retries are exhausted. No buffer is provided.

Warning: Setting the grace period too long may result in customers using your software for extended periods without paying. A 7–14 day grace period is a reasonable balance between customer goodwill and revenue protection.

What to Do When a Subscription Payment Fails

  1. Check the subscription detail page to see the retry count and next payment date.
  2. Review Logs for the specific payment error (card declined, expired card, insufficient funds, etc.).
  3. Contact the customer if the error suggests they need to update their payment method. An email notification is automatically sent on payment failure.
  4. Wait for retries — the system will automatically retry based on your settings.
  5. If retries are exhausted and the customer has contacted you, you can manually retry from the gateway's dashboard (e.g., Stripe Dashboard) or ask the customer to make a manual payment.
  6. As a last resort, you can cancel the subscription and have the customer re-purchase, or manually extend the license from the Licenses page.

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