To offer subscription products in your store, it’s important to know which payment methods are available for your customers. In this article, we will cover the payment methods you can offer for subscriptions and any relevant considerations to ensure everything works seamlessly.
Supported Payment Gateways for Subscriptions
Shopify offers several payment methods for subscriptions, and each method comes with its own benefits and limitations. Here's a quick overview of what you can expect with each supported gateway:
Shopify Payments:
Automatically updates card details to reduce payment failures.
Customers can use Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal to complete their subscription purchases.
Note: Shop Pay is only available for certain stores, and Apple Pay support is limited to specific regions.
PayPal Express:
Allows customers to use PayPal as a wallet option.
If Shopify Payments isn’t activated on your store, third-party transaction fees may apply.
Authorize.net:
Customers can use PayPal as their wallet option, but Google Pay and Apple Pay aren’t supported.
Stripe:
Available to certain merchants, Stripe supports PayPal as a wallet option but does not support Google Pay or Apple Pay directly.
These gateways allow your customers to purchase subscription products directly through their preferred payment method. Additionally, customers cannot use local payment methods such as Klarna, mollie iDEAL, and Sofort to purchase subscriptions.
If you need to learn more about the eligibility requirements, we have a dedicated article on Shopify’s eligibility requirements for subscriptions where you can get more information.
Considerations for Subscription Payments
When choosing payment methods for subscriptions, here are some important things to keep in mind:
Automatic Card Updates: Shopify Payments supports automatic card updates, which help reduce payment failures when customers get new cards. If you're using Shopify Payments, this feature helps keep your subscription orders running smoothly.
Subscription Products Are Supported Only on Certain Sales Channels: Subscription products are only supported on the Online Store and Custom Storefront sales channels. Make sure your subscription products are available through these channels for customers to subscribe.
Gift Cards and Discounts: Gift cards can be used for the first subscription payment only. Similarly, automatic discounts set in your Shopify admin will apply to subscription orders, but only for the first payment.