Create Your First Subscription

Creating a subscription product in Flexi Subscription is similar to creating a standard WooCommerce product, with additional subscription settings for recurring billing, trials, renewals, and delivery schedules.

This guide walks you through the complete process—from creating your first subscription product to placing a test order and understanding what happens after a customer subscribes.

Overview #

Before customers can purchase recurring products, you’ll need to create at least one subscription product and configure its billing settings.

This tutorial covers how to:

1. Create a new subscription product.
2. Configure subscription options.
3. Publish the product.
4. Place a test subscription order.
5. Understand the subscription lifecycle.

Video Tutorial: Watch the accompanying video for a complete walkthrough of the subscription creation process.

Before You Begin #

Make sure the following requirements are met:

1. WordPress is installed.
2. WooCommerce is active.
3. Flexi Subscription is installed and activated.
4. At least one payment gateway is configured.

Create a New Product #

Start by creating a new WooCommerce product.

1. Go to Products → Add New.
2. Enter a product name.
3. Add a product description.
4. Optionally add a short description, product image, and product gallery.

Once the basic product information is ready, you can configure it as a subscription product.

Enable Subscription Mode #

Scroll down to the Product Data section.

To enable recurring billing:

1. Leave the product type as Simple Product.
2. Check the Subscription option.

Once enabled, a new Subscription tab appears inside the Product Data panel.

Note: Subscription settings only become available after enabling the Subscription option.

Configure Subscription Settings #

Open the Subscription tab to configure how the product renews and behaves throughout its lifecycle.

Free Version #

Pro Version #

The available options include:

Setting	Description
Billing Period	Defines the billing unit, such as Day, Week, Month, or Year.
Billing Interval	Specifies how often the subscription renews within the selected billing period.
Trial Length	Sets the duration of the free trial.
Trial Period	Defines whether the trial is measured in days, weeks, months, or years.
Subscription Limit	Controls how many active subscriptions a customer can purchase.
Customer Can Cancel	Allows customers to cancel their subscription from the My Account page.
Cart Button Text	Customizes the subscription button displayed on the product page.

Advanced Subscription Options #

Additional settings provide more control over recurring billing.

Option	Description
Sign-up Fee	Charges a one-time fee when the subscription starts.
Renewal Price	Sets the amount charged for each renewal.
Allow Early Renewal	Lets customers renew before the next scheduled payment date.
Billing Anchor Day	Aligns recurring payments to a specific day.
Max Billing Cycles	Limits the total number of renewals before the subscription ends.

Tip: If you leave Max Billing Cycles as 0, the subscription continues until it is cancelled or expires according to your configuration.

Configure Delivery Schedule (Optional) #

If your subscription includes recurring deliveries, you can configure a delivery schedule directly from the product settings.

Available delivery options include:

1. Enable Delivery Schedule
2. Delivery Interval
3. Delivery Period
4. Delivery Specific Day

Use these settings when subscription renewals should also trigger scheduled deliveries.

Publish the Product #

After configuring the subscription settings:

1. Review all product information.
2. Verify your pricing and billing configuration.
3. Click Publish or Update.

Your subscription product is now available for customers to purchase.

Place a Test Order #

Before making the product available on your live store, it’s recommended to complete a test purchase.

During testing, verify that:

• The product can be added to the cart.
• Checkout completes successfully.
• A subscription is created automatically.
• Renewal dates are generated correctly.
• Customer emails are received.
• The subscription appears in the Subscriptions page.

Testing helps ensure that your subscription settings and payment gateway are working as expected.

Understanding the Subscription Lifecycle #

After a successful purchase, Flexi Subscription automatically manages the subscription based on your configured settings.

The typical lifecycle is:

1. Customer purchases the subscription.
2. The subscription becomes active.
3. Trial period begins (if enabled).
4. The first renewal is scheduled.
5. Renewal payments are processed automatically according to the billing schedule.
6. The subscription continues until it is cancelled, expires, or reaches its maximum billing cycles.

You can monitor and manage every subscription from WordPress → Flexi Subscription → Subscriptions.

Best Practices #

• Test every subscription product before publishing it.
• Verify billing intervals and renewal prices carefully.
• Use realistic trial periods to avoid customer confusion.
• Enable customer cancellation if you want subscribers to manage their own subscriptions.
• Review renewal schedules after creating a new subscription product.
• Confirm your payment gateway supports recurring payments before launching.

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