Capture residual revenue with recurring payments

Can you guarantee how much money your store is going to make this month? If you offered subscription-based products, you could do just that.

With WooCommerce Subscriptions, you can create and manage products with recurring payments — payments that will give you residual revenue you can track and count on.

WooCommerce Subscriptions allows you to introduce a variety of subscriptions for physical or virtual products and services. Create product-of-the-month clubs, weekly service subscriptions or even yearly software billing packages. Add sign-up fees, offer free trials, or set expiration periods.

A subscription-based model will allow you to capture more residual revenue — and all you have to do is ship the orders.

 

 

Requirements:

In order to use the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, there are a few requirements:

 

Requirements
PHP Version	7.0 or greater
MySQL Version	5.6 or greater
WordPress Version	5.9 or greater
WooCommerce Version	6.5 or greater
Cron	Working WP Cron
Site URL	Live site served exclusively on one URL

Compatibility:

• WooCommerce Subscriptions is compatible with High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS).
• WooCommerce Subscription is compatible WordPress Multisite, but please keep in mind that each plugin subscription will only be associated with the site on which it was purchased. User accounts (subscribers) created from using the plugin will also only exist on the associated site.  If you want to share a user account with other sites in your network, try the Multisite User Management plugin.

 

Reference Transactions is an added functionality that allows you to automatically receive subsequent payments of your PayPal customers without them having to approve the transaction. Reference Transactions are required to charge a customer with a Billing Agreement (including PayPal accounts stored in the Vault), without the customer being present on the site.

Reference Transactions is not a standard product and approval is subject to a fully underwritten application. This can include reviewing your business model and finances to determine your suitability.

This FAQ answers common questions about getting your PayPal account approved for Reference Transactions, and how PayPal Reference Transactions work with Woo Subscriptions.

 

Features

 

The features in this list are basic subscription features such as suspending, canceling, or reactivating/resubscribing to a subscription. If a column is checked, that means that the payment gateway supports the feature.

Extension	Subscription Suspension	Subscription Cancellation	Subscription Reactivation
WooPayments	✔	✔	✔
Amazon Pay for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Authorize.net for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Bambora for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Bankful for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Chase Paymentech for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Clover for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
CyberSource Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Elavon Converge Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Elavon Payments for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Eway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Global Payments HPP for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
GoCardless for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Intuit Payments Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Klarna Checkout for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Merchant Warrior for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Mollie Payments for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Moneris Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
NAB Transact for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Paya for WooCommerce (formerly Sage Payments USA)	✔	✔	✔
Payfast Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	–
PayPal Payments for WooCommerce (requirements)	✔	✔	✔
PayPal Braintree for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Paysafe Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Paystack for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
PayTrace Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Pin Payments Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
PsiGate Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
RedSys Gateway | Pasarela Redsys para WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Stripe for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Square for WooCommerc	✔	✔	✔
TrustCommerce Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Viva.com Standard Checkout for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Windcave for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔
Worldpay for WooCommerce	–	✔	–

 

Advanced Features

 

The features in this list are advanced options that require data changes to a subscription, such as changing the date a renewal occurs or the payment method used for the renewal. While the majority of payment gateways support the basic features from the table above, support for advanced Subscription features is a bit less consistent. Check the table below to see if the payment gateway you use/want to use supports these features:

 

Extension	Multiple Subscriptions	Recurring Total Changes	Payment Date Changes	Customer Payment Method Changes	Store Manager Payment Method Changes
WooPayments	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Amazon Pay for WooCommerce	–	–	–	✔	–
Authorize.net for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Bambora for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Bankful for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	–	–
Chase Paymentech for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Clover for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CyberSource Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Elavon Converge Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Elavon Payments for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔
Eway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Global Payments Gateway	✔	✔	✔	–	–
Global Payments HPP for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
GoCardless for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	–
Intuit Payments Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Klarna Checkout for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	–
Merchant Warrior for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Mollie Payments for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	–	✔
Moneris Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
NAB Transact for WooCommerce	–	✔	✔	–	–
Paya for WooCommerce (formerly Sage Payments USA)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Payfast Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	–	✔	✔	✔	–
PayPal Braintree for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
PayPal Payments for WooCommerce (requirements)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Paysafe Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Paystack for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
PayTrace Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Pin Payments Payment Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
PsiGate Gateway for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
RedSys Gateway | Pasarela Redsys para WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Stripe for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Square for WooCommerc	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
TrustCommerce Gateway for WooCommerce	–	✔	✔	–	–
Viva.com Standard Checkout for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Windcave for WooCommerce	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Worldpay for WooCommerce	–	–	–	–	–

 

Notes on Extension Support

 

This guide is based on the official WooCommerce extension for each payment gateway. It does not mean automatic payments are supported when:

• Using an extension purchased or downloaded from a vendor other than/outside of WooCommerce.com.
• Accessing one of these gateways through a third-party hosted checkout system.
• Integrating a gateway with another unless that payment gateway is also mentioned above. For example, customers can purchase subscriptions and have future automatic recurring payments processed with PayPal via the Braintree extension, which is why there is a row in the table above for Braintree (PayPal). However, other payment gateways that also offer PayPal payments cannot be used to create subscriptions with automatic payments via PayPal.
  The table also refers to the latest version of the payment gateway extension. If you have an outdated version installed, automatic payments may not be enabled. You can check the latest version by viewing the changelog for each extension. To view the changelog:
  1. Click the name of the extension in the table. This takes you to the product page at WooCommerce.com.
  2. Click the “Latest Version” square under “add to cart” to access the changelog (if available).
  3. Compare your version to the current one.