Paystack subscriptions

Paystack Subscriptions

The Subscriptions API lets you create and manage recurring payments. A subscription links a customer to a plan and charges them automatically at the plan's interval.

Depends on: paystack-setup for the paystackRequest helper.
Related: paystack-plans for creating plans, paystack-customers for customer management.

Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/subscription	Create a subscription
GET	/subscription	List subscriptions
GET	/subscription/:id_or_code	Fetch a subscription
POST	/subscription/enable	Enable a subscription
POST	/subscription/disable	Disable a subscription
GET	/subscription/:code/manage/link	Generate card update link
POST	/subscription/:code/manage/email	Email card update link

Create Subscription

POST /subscription

Param	Type	Required	Description
customer	string	Yes	Customer email or customer code
plan	string	Yes	Plan code (e.g. PLN_gx2wn530m0i3w3m)
authorization	string	No	Specific authorization code (uses most recent if omitted)
start_date	string	No	First debit date in ISO 8601 (e.g. 2024-05-16T00:30:13+01:00)

const subscription = await paystackRequest<{
  subscription_code: string;
  email_token: string;
  status: string;
  amount: number;
}>("/subscription", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({
    customer: "CUS_xnxdt6s1zg1f4nx",
    plan: "PLN_gx2wn530m0i3w3m",
    start_date: "2024-06-01T00:00:00+01:00", // Optional: delay first charge
  }),
});
// subscription.data.subscription_code → "SUB_vsyqdmlzble3uii"
// subscription.data.email_token → "d7gofp6yppn3qz7" (needed for enable/disable)

List Subscriptions

GET /subscription

Param	Type	Required	Description
perPage	integer	No	Records per page (default: 50)
page	integer	No	Page number (default: 1)
customer	integer	No	Filter by Customer ID
plan	integer	No	Filter by Plan ID

const subscriptions = await paystackRequest("/subscription?perPage=20&page=1");

Fetch Subscription

GET /subscription/:id_or_code

Returns full subscription details including invoices, customer, plan, and authorization objects.

const sub = await paystackRequest(
  `/subscription/${encodeURIComponent("SUB_vsyqdmlzble3uii")}`
);

Enable Subscription

POST /subscription/enable

Re-enable a previously disabled subscription.

Param	Type	Required	Description
code	string	Yes	Subscription code
token	string	Yes	Email token (from create response or fetch)

await paystackRequest("/subscription/enable", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({
    code: "SUB_vsyqdmlzble3uii",
    token: "d7gofp6yppn3qz7",
  }),
});

Disable Subscription

POST /subscription/disable

Disable auto-renewal for a subscription. Same params as enable.

await paystackRequest("/subscription/disable", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({
    code: "SUB_vsyqdmlzble3uii",
    token: "d7gofp6yppn3qz7",
  }),
});

Generate Update Subscription Link

GET /subscription/:code/manage/link

Generate a link for the customer to update their card on a subscription. Useful when cards are about to expire — listen for subscription.expiring_cards webhook.

const result = await paystackRequest(
  `/subscription/${encodeURIComponent("SUB_vsyqdmlzble3uii")}/manage/link`
);
// result.data.link → "https://paystack.com/manage/subscriptions/..."

Send Update Subscription Link via Email

POST /subscription/:code/manage/email

Automatically emails the customer a link to update their card.

await paystackRequest(
  `/subscription/${encodeURIComponent("SUB_vsyqdmlzble3uii")}/manage/email`,
  { method: "POST" }
);

Full Subscription Flow

// 1. Customer pays (creates authorization via checkout/charge)
// 2. Create subscription using customer's authorization
const sub = await paystackRequest("/subscription", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({
    customer: "[email protected]",
    plan: "PLN_gx2wn530m0i3w3m",
  }),
});

// 3. Store email_token for later management
const { subscription_code, email_token } = sub.data;

// 4. Handle webhook events for subscription lifecycle
// - invoice.create: 3 days before charge
// - invoice.update: after successful charge
// - invoice.payment_failed: charge failed
// - subscription.disable: subscription disabled
// - subscription.not_renew: set to non-renewing
// - subscription.expiring_cards: monthly card expiry notice

// 5. Customer wants to cancel
await paystackRequest("/subscription/disable", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({ code: subscription_code, token: email_token }),
});

// 6. Customer wants to resume
await paystackRequest("/subscription/enable", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify({ code: subscription_code, token: email_token }),
});

Important Notes

• A customer must have at least one valid authorization (from a previous charge) before subscribing
• The email_token is essential for enable/disable operations — store it when creating subscriptions
• Use start_date to delay the first charge (e.g. for free trial periods)
• Plan updates with update_existing_subscriptions: true propagate to active subscriptions
• Listen for subscription.expiring_cards webhook to proactively send card update links