#sabrina_41117
median spear
lapis spindle
Hi 👋 you will need to use Subscription Schedules if you want to schedule future changes for a Subscription:
https://stripe.com/docs/billing/subscriptions/subscription-schedules
You'll first need to create a Subscription Schedule for the existing Subscription:
https://stripe.com/docs/billing/subscriptions/subscription-schedules/use-cases#existing-subscription
https://stripe.com/docs/api/subscription_schedules/create#create_subscription_schedule-from_subscription
Then you'll need to update the Subscription Schedule, during which you'll create another phase. You'll use that second phase to change the Price that the subscription is associated with to the new price that you want to charge the customer.
https://stripe.com/docs/api/subscription_schedules/update
velvet creek
Thank you! Another scenario.... A customer customer has an active subscription but we'd like to give them a 30 day free trial of a higher tier subscription. At the end of the trial the customer will remain on the higher tier and be billed accordingly. How do you recommend we handle this?
lapis spindle
Update the Subscription to use the new higher price, and set a trial period. If you're scheduling that to happen in the future, you'll need to use a Subscription Schedule, if it's happening immediately you can direclty update the Subscription.
velvet creek
What if the customer wants to cancel the trial and be put back on their original subscription plan?
lapis spindle
You make another update to change them back.
velvet creek
Is there an option to create an annual subscription with monthly billing? For example, if the subscription starts today the end date is October 6 2024 and the customer is billed in 12 increments?
lapis spindle
Since Stripe is used for the billing side of Subscriptions, it's the billing frequency that our Subscriptions care most about. What you're describing would be a Subscription in Stripe with a monthly Price. If you want to have that Subscription cancel after a year, you would use Subscription Schedules to schedule that cancellation.
velvet creek
Got it. Thank you!
lapis spindle
Any time!
For when you get around to testing these flows, I would strongly recommend checking out our Test Clocks if you haven't already:
https://stripe.com/docs/billing/testing/test-clocks
They let you create Subscriptions in sandboxes where you can advance time, allowing you to test their full lifecycle and see how Subscription Schedules behave.