Introduction to WooCommerce Subscriptions

WooCommerce Subscriptions is a premium WooCommerce extension that allows you to sell products and services with recurring payments.

The content linked below aims to teach you how to do it, explaining which features are available and the options you should consider in choosing to sell products and services on an ongoing basis.

There is also documentation written specifically for WooCommerce developers, which details the Subscriptions API. This section includes a guide to integrating a payment gateway with Subscriptions. An advanced understanding of PHP and WordPress development is required.

A FAQ is provided to answer general questions not covered in other sections.

Documentation Contents

↑ Back to top

Getting Started with WooCommerce Subscriptions

↑ Back to top

• Subscriptions General Settings – this document explains all the settings you’ll find in WooCommerce > Settings > Subscriptions
• Creating a Subscription Product – learn how to create a subscription product
  • How Subscriptions Manages Stock – a reference guide to how stock/inventory is reduced for subscriptions.
• Guide to Synchronized Renewals – what are synchronized subscriptions and how do they work?
  • Creating a Synchronized Subscription Product – learn how to create a subscription product with synchronized renewals.
• Understanding the Subscription Renewal Process
• Subscriptions vs. Subscriptions Products – reference guide to understanding the difference between subscriptions (agreements) and subscription products.
• Orders Related to Subscriptions – a reference guide to the different order types for WooCommerce Subscriptons
• Subscriptions Reports – a reference guide to the different reports available in Subscriptions

Payments and Payment Gateway Guides:

• Subscription Payment Gateway Guide
• Failed Recurring Payment Retry System
• Migrating Subscribers to WooCommerce Subscriptions

Subscriptions Management

↑ Back to top

• Store Manager Settings: This section includes reference guides and instructions on how to manage subscriptions for store managers/admin. 
  • Manually Adding or Importing a New Subscription
  • Editing an Existing Subscription
  • Sort, Search, and Filter Subscriptions
  • Change a Subscription from Automatic to Manual Payments
  • Subscription Status Guide
  • Subscriptions Resubscribe Guide
  • Managing Expired Subscriptions
  • Guide to Early Renewal Settings and Management
  • Subscription Switching Guide
  • Guide to Subscription Emails

• Subscriptions Coupons: There are two new coupon discount types introduced with WooCommerce Subscriptions: the recurring product discount and the signup fee discount. Recurring product discounts can be used to create limited subscription payment coupons that only apply to a predetermined amount of payments.

• Subscriber’s View: This section outlines the different subscription management tools that your customers have access to in the Subscriptions section of their “My Account” page. It includes information about switching subscriptions, canceling/suspending subscriptions, resubscribing, managing payment methods, renewal payments, and accessing subscription information on the “View Subscriptions” page.

• Subscriptions FAQ
  • PayPal Reference Transactions for Subscriptions FAQ
  • Testing Subscription Renewal Payments
  • Subscriptions Scheduled Action Errors
  • Disabling Subscriptions
  • Subscriptions Logs

Subscriptions Developer Guides

↑ Back to top

The following is developer-level documentation and provides explanations of the data structures, filters, and functions for Subscriptions. Please note that we are unable to provide support for any customizations made to the default functionality of Subscriptions under our Support Policy. If you need to further customize a snippet, or extend its functionality, we highly recommend Codeable, or a Certified WooExpert.

• Developer Documentation is the main landing page for the subscriptions’ developer guides. For quick reference, here are a few of the most commonly used documents:
  • Subscriptions Data Structure & Storage
  • Payment Gateway Integration Guide
  • Action Reference
  • Filter Reference
  • Function Reference
  • Subscription Caches
  • Subscription Product Function Reference
  • Subscriptions Management Function Reference
  • Subscription Order & Cart Function Reference
  • Guide to Multiple Subscriptions
  • How Does Subscriptions Handle Staging Sites and Migrations?