Subscription Settings

WPSubscription → Settings configures how subscriptions renew, charge and behave. WPSubscription 2.0 reorganised this screen: the settings are grouped into five sections named for the job you came to do, reachable from a rail on the left, with one Save changes button for the whole screen.

Screenshot of the WPSubscription Settings screen showing the section rail on the left and the Renewals panel
The settings screen. The rail picks a section; the panel beside it holds that section's settings.
Note: Save changes saves every section, not just the one you are looking at. You can change something under Renewals, switch to Customers, change something there and save once.

Finding a setting

Screenshot of the settings section rail listing All Settings, Renewals, Payments, Switching and Upgrades, Customers and Advanced
Five sections, plus All Settings when you would rather scroll than click.
SectionHolds
RenewalsHow and when a subscription charges again.
PaymentsGateways, what happens when a payment fails, and the grace period.
Switching & UpgradesWhether customers can move between subscriptions, and what that costs.
CustomersWhat the customer meets: their role, guest checkout, their quick view.
AdvancedThe REST API and the health queue.

A section only appears when something fills it, so a free-only install shows fewer rail items than one running Pro. Nothing is hidden — the sections that are missing hold Pro settings only.

Note: Cancellation is not here any more. The reason list, the survey, the cancellation timing and the retention offer moved to their own screen in 2.0 — see Cancellation Flow.

Renewals

The section you are most likely to want.

SettingWhat it does
Renewal Process Automatic charges the saved payment method on the renewal date. Manual emails the customer an invoice and waits for them to pay. Automatic is what most stores want; manual suits gateways that cannot store a method.
Renewal Cart Notice The message shown when a renewal product is added to the cart. Manual renewals only — with automatic renewals nothing is ever added to a cart.
Stripe Auto Renewal Lets Stripe charge renewals automatically. Needs the WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway plugin.
Auto Renewal Toggle Gives customers a switch on their subscription page to turn automatic renewal on and off themselves.
Renewal Price Which price a renewal is charged at — the price they subscribed at, or the product's current price. See Renewal price behaviour.
Early Renewal Lets customers renew before the due date. See Early renewal.

Payments

Screenshot of the Payments section of WPSubscription settings
Gateways, failure handling and the grace period, in one place.

Payment gateways

  • Auto Complete Orders — mark subscription orders complete as soon as they are paid, rather than leaving them processing.
  • Require Payment for Free Trials — take a payment method up front even when the first period is free. Fewer trials, far fewer failed first charges.
  • Payment Gateway Settings / Hide Payment Gateways — which gateways are offered on a subscription checkout.

When a payment fails

  • Payment Failure Handling and Default Max Payment Retries — how many times to retry before giving up.
  • Enable Payment Failure Emails and Payment Failure Email Delay (Hours) — whether to tell the customer, and how long to wait first. A short delay avoids emailing about a failure that the next retry fixes.

Grace period

Grace Period (Days) keeps access alive while the retries run, with Grace Period Notifications and Grace Period Warning (Days Before) warning the customer before it runs out. See Grace period.

Switching & Upgrades

Screenshot of the Switching and Upgrades section of WPSubscription settings
Whether customers can move between subscriptions, and what it costs them.
  • Switch Subscription — allow customers to move to a different subscription.
  • Downgrade Subscription — allow moves to a cheaper one, separately from upgrades.
  • Switch Fee and Apply Fee To — a charge for switching, and which direction it applies to.

Customers

Screenshot of the Customers section of WPSubscription settings
Everything the subscriber themselves runs into.
  • Subscriber Default Role — the role given when a subscription activates.
  • Subscriber Inactive Role — the role they drop to when it stops. Together these are how a subscription gates access to the rest of the site; see Managing user roles.
  • Enable Role Based Access — switches the role swapping on.
  • Allow Guest Checkout and Enforce Login — whether a subscription can be bought without an account. See Guest checkout.
  • Quick Details QR — a QR code on the subscription that opens its details, and which of Product Details, Billing Details and Timeline that view shows.

Advanced

Screenshot of the Advanced section of WPSubscription settings showing API settings
The REST API and the health queue.
  • Enable API, API Key and REST API Endpoint URL — the REST API for reading and managing subscriptions from outside WordPress. See REST API integration.
  • Health Queue Email Frequency — how often the health queue emails its digest. See Subscription health.
Warning: The API key is a credential. Anyone holding it can read and change subscriptions. Treat it like a password, and regenerate it if it has ever been pasted somewhere public.

All Settings

The first rail item stacks every section on one page. It is there for when you would rather use your browser's find-on-page than remember which section something is in.

Screenshot of the All Settings view with every WPSubscription settings section stacked on one page
Every section at once.

Settings that are not on this screen

Some things that feel like settings live with the thing they configure instead:

Looking forWhere it is
Cancellation reasons, survey, timing, retention offerWPSubscription → Cancellation Flow
Billing schedules and pricesWPSubscription → Plans
Whether a product is sold as a subscriptionThe product's own Subscription tab
Gateway credentialsWooCommerce → Settings → Payments
Email wording and recipientsWooCommerce → Settings → Emails. See Email notifications.
Licence activationWPSubscription → License