Web · WooCommerce
WooCommerce Subscriptions and Memberships
WooCommerce subscriptions and memberships add recurring revenue and gated access to your store: charging customers on a schedule, offering free trials, and unlocking content or perks for members. We build the billing schedules, trial and renewal logic, and failed-payment handling, using WooCommerce Subscriptions or custom recurring logic with a gateway that supports it.
Built withWooCommerce SubscriptionsWooCommerce MembershipsStripeWooPaymentsCart and Checkout blocksDunningWebhooks
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What it is
What are WooCommerce subscriptions and memberships?
WooCommerce subscriptions and memberships are two related ways to earn recurring revenue. A subscription charges a customer automatically on a schedule, weekly, monthly, or yearly, for a product or service. A membership controls access, unlocking content, pricing, or perks for people who join, often paid through a subscription. Together they cover recurring billing and gated access, and many stores use both.
They matter because recurring revenue is more predictable than one-off sales, and the subscription model keeps growing. The detail that decides success is the billing edge cases: free trials, plan changes, renewals, and especially failed payments, where retry and dunning logic prevents silent churn. WooCommerce Subscriptions now works with the Cart and Checkout blocks and many gateways, and we build the model that fits, rather than forcing one tool on every store.
What's included
What a subscriptions build includes
Recurring billingSubscription products charged automatically on a set schedule.
Memberships and accessGated content, pricing, or perks unlocked for members.
Trials and schedulesFree trials, billing intervals, and renewal timing set up.
Gateway supportA payment gateway that can store cards and charge on schedule.
Failed-payment handlingRetry and dunning so a declined card does not silently cancel.
Plan changesUpgrades, downgrades, pauses, and cancellations handled cleanly.
Member accountsSelf-service accounts where customers manage their own plans.
How we work
How we build subscriptions
1Model the plans
We define your subscription and membership plans and pricing.
2Choose the tools
We pick WooCommerce Subscriptions or custom logic, and the gateway.
3Build billing
We set up schedules, trials, and renewal handling.
4Failed payments
We configure retry and dunning to reduce involuntary churn.
5Member experience
We build access control and self-service account management.
6Test and launch
We test renewals, declines, and plan changes before going live.
Why it matters
Why recurring revenue pays off
Subscriptions and memberships turn one-off buyers into predictable, recurring revenue.
Predictable revenue
Scheduled billing makes income steadier than one-off sales.
Less churn
Retry and dunning recover payments that would otherwise be lost.
Member loyalty
Gated access and perks give customers a reason to stay.
Who this is best for
The right fit
Best fit for recurring billing and access
Stores selling subscription products, content or community memberships, recurring services, or any model where customers are charged on a schedule and may need trials and plan changes.
You might not need this
If you sell to businesses with wholesale pricing and accounts rather than recurring consumer billing, that is a different model, see WooCommerce B2B and Wholesale. One-off product sales do not need subscriptions at all.
FAQs
Common questions about WooCommerce subscriptions
What is the difference between WooCommerce subscriptions and memberships?
A subscription is about billing: it charges a customer automatically on a schedule for a product or service. A membership is about access: it unlocks content, pricing, or perks for people who join. They often work together, with a subscription paying for a membership, but they solve different problems. We help you pick whether you need recurring billing, gated access, or both.
Do you build on WooCommerce Subscriptions or custom recurring logic?
It depends on the store. WooCommerce Subscriptions is a mature option that handles schedules, trials, and renewals and works with many gateways, so it suits most cases. For unusual billing models, custom recurring logic can be the better fit. We recommend the approach that matches your needs rather than defaulting to one. [verify]
How are failed payments and renewals handled?
Renewals charge the stored payment method on schedule, and the important part is what happens when a payment fails. We set up retry attempts and dunning, where the system re-tries the card and notifies the customer, so a temporary decline does not silently cancel the subscription. This recovers revenue that would otherwise churn away. [verify]
Which payment gateways support subscriptions?
Recurring billing needs a gateway that can store a payment method and charge it on a schedule, which many do, including Stripe through WooPayments. The right gateway depends on your market and the methods you want to offer. Setting up or changing the gateway itself is a related payments task we can handle alongside the subscription build.
Can customers manage their own subscriptions?
Yes. We set up self-service accounts where customers can view, pause, upgrade, downgrade, or cancel their plans, which reduces support load and improves retention. The level of self-service is configurable to how much control you want to give. We build the account experience as part of the project.
Will subscriptions work with the new block checkout?
Yes. WooCommerce Subscriptions now works with the Cart and Checkout blocks, so you can offer recurring products in the modern checkout. As with any block-checkout setup, we test that your gateway and other plugins behave correctly in it before launch. This keeps subscriptions working as WooCommerce moves to block-based checkout.
09Proof
Selected WooCommerce work
Build, migration, speed, subscriptions, redesign — filter by the kind of project you have.
10 — In their words
What store owners say after launch
Image, audio, and video — the formats buyers trust most.
Ready to add recurring revenue?
Get a free build audit. We will help you decide between subscriptions, memberships, or both, recommend the right tools and gateway, and map the billing and failed-payment handling before you commit.
Get your free build audit