Credit Subscriptions

With the Credit Subscriptions addon, you can offer your customers credits not just as a one-time purchase, but as a monthly or yearly subscription. Credits are automatically added to their account, billing runs through Stripe — you don't need to do anything manually.

Category: Finance

What are credit subscriptions?

A credit subscription is a plan where a customer regularly (monthly or yearly) receives a set amount of credits and pays a recurring fee for it.

Difference compared to one-time credit packages:

Credit subscriptions are especially suited for customers who book courses regularly. They save money through the subscription price, and you gain predictable, recurring revenue.

Tip: Price the subscription about 10–20% lower than the equivalent individual purchase. This makes the subscription attractive without cutting too deeply into your margin.

Activation in the Addon Store

Note: For credit subscriptions, Stripe Connect must be active and fully set up in your studio. Go to Settings → Payments if that is not yet the case.

Creating subscription packages

Create a new subscription package

Example packages

Configuration options in detail

Credits per period: Defines how many credits the customer receives per billing cycle. Credits are always added at the start of the new period.

Price: The amount charged monthly or yearly via Stripe. Stripe handles the automatic recurring billing.

Rollover: When enabled, unused credits do not expire at the end of the period but are carried over to the next one. You can set a maximum rollover value (e.g. a maximum of one month's volume can be carried over).

Minimum term: Customers can only cancel the subscription after this period has elapsed. Useful for offering subscriptions with a particularly attractive introductory price.

Automatic credit top-up

Once a subscription is active, the credit top-up runs fully automatically:

1. Stripe charges the subscription amount on the agreed date
2. Upon successful payment, Bookicorn immediately adds the credits
3. The customer receives a confirmation email with the credit details
4. The transaction appears in the customer's transaction history

What happens if payment fails?

If the charge fails (e.g. an expired card), the following happens:

• Stripe automatically retries the payment 3 times within 7 days
• The customer receives an email asking them to update their payment details
• While the payment is outstanding, no new credits are added
• After the final failed attempt, the subscription is automatically paused
• You can see failed payments under Finance → Outstanding Payments

Configuring rollover

Rollover determines what happens to unused credits when a new period begins.

No rollover (default)

Unused credits expire at the end of the period. The customer starts each month with their full credit balance.

• Easy to communicate
• Keeps accounting clear
• Encourages regular use

Rollover enabled

Unused credits are carried over to the next period.

Maximum rollover: To prevent unlimited accumulation, you can set a cap. Recommendation: maximum = 1–2 months' volume.

Tip: Rollover is a strong selling point. Communicate it in the package name: "Starter Subscription with Rollover" sounds more valuable and sets you apart from competitors.

Customer self-management

Customers can manage their subscriptions directly in the Customer Dashboard — without needing to contact you:

What customers can do themselves

• View subscription: Current status, next billing date, available credits
• Change payment method: Update credit card or SEPA direct debit
• Cancel subscription: At the end of the current period (credits remain valid until end of period)
• View already-paid periods: Download invoices

What only you as admin can do

• Cancel subscriptions immediately (without waiting period)
• Manually add or deduct credits
• Deactivate subscription packages (existing subscriptions continue, new bookings no longer possible)
• Apply discount codes to subscriptions

Stripe integration

Credit subscriptions run entirely through Stripe Subscriptions. This means:

• Automatic billing on the same day every month (or year)
• Stripe Customer Portal optionally activatable so customers can manage their payment details directly with Stripe
• Webhook processing for all Stripe events (payment successful, failed, cancellation)
• PCI compliant — Bookicorn does not store card data, everything runs through Stripe

Stripe webhooks for subscriptions

The following events must be active in your Stripe webhook configuration (Bookicorn checks this automatically upon activation):

• invoice.payment_succeeded
• invoice.payment_failed
• customer.subscription.created
• customer.subscription.updated
• customer.subscription.deleted

Note: If you have webhook issues, you can find the current configuration under Settings → Payments → Stripe Webhooks.

Tips for attractive subscription packages

Pricing

Tip: First calculate your average credit value (revenue divided by credits sold). Price the subscription so that a customer who uses at least 70% of their credits gets a better deal than with individual purchases.

Rollover as a buying incentive

Rollover lowers the barrier to signing up for a subscription. Customers are less worried about "losing credits" when they are ill or on holiday.

Promote yearly subscriptions

A yearly subscription gives you planning security and immediate cash flow. Offer a significant discount (15–25%) compared to the monthly option. Frame it as "1–2 months free".

Subscription with introductory offer

You can offer new customers a reduced price for the first 1–3 months, after which the regular subscription price applies. This option is configured directly in Stripe — contact our support team if you would like to set this up.