# Memberships and plans

Memberships are recurring plans you sell on your site. A customer with an open plan is a member in product language, not a separate kind of person. Money goes to **your** Stripe account.

This tool needs [payments](./payments.md) and the [customer portal](./customer-portal.md). Ask your agent to turn `memberships` on. You cannot flip that switch in admin.

## Add a membership plan

1. Finish [Stripe setup](./stripe.md) with **test** keys until your Stripe account is verified and a bank is connected.
2. Sign in as the owner. Staff can look, but only an owner can add a plan.
3. Open admin → **Catalog**.
4. Fill **Add a plan** on the right: name, description, price, and **How often** it bills.
5. Press **Add plan**.
6. Leave it offered (active) if customers should see it.

![Add a plan form in Catalog, with the form and Add plan button marked](./assets/admin-catalog-add-plan.webp)

Orange numbers:

1. The **Add a plan** form
2. **Add plan**

Plans must be at least $0.50.

## How often it bills

Presets on the form:

- Every 28 days
- Every 4 weeks
- Monthly
- Yearly

You can also set a custom interval: day, week, month, or year, with a count. Examples: every 14 days, every 3 months. A year can only be a count of 1. A day plan cannot be longer than 365 days.

To bill every 28 days, set **How often** to **Every 28 days**, then press **Add plan**.

![How often set to Every 28 days, with Add plan marked](./assets/admin-catalog-28-day.webp)

Orange numbers:

1. **How often**
2. **Add plan**

The catalog is the source of truth. Stripe product and price ids are a cache created when you save (and on first checkout). If you change the price or cadence, the old Stripe price is archived and a new one is created.

## Let members cancel online

Admin → **Memberships**. Owners see **Let members cancel online** and **Save**. It is on by default.

![Memberships settings, with the cancel-online checkbox and Save marked](./assets/admin-memberships.webp)

Orange numbers:

1. **Let members cancel online**
2. **Save**

When it is on, a signed-in customer can cancel from the billing portal (or the simulated manage page when you have no Stripe keys).

When it is off, they see a note to contact you. Staff can still press **Cancel at period end** on a row.

## How a customer joins

They must already be a [customer](./customers.md) who can sign in. They open `/portal/memberships` and start checkout for the plan you offered.

![Customer portal plan page](./assets/portal-memberships.webp)

Link that page from your public site if you want a public “join” path. They still have to sign in.

After Stripe confirms, the plan shows in admin. Do not trust the Stripe dashboard alone.

Without Stripe keys, local and preview deploys **simulate** a join. Nothing is charged. The row is marked simulated. In production with no keys, online signup is refused.

## What the statuses mean

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Incomplete | Checkout started, not finished |
| Trial | In a trial (if you use one) |
| Active | Paid up |
| Past due | A recurring payment failed. They are still a member, flagged. |
| Canceled | The plan has ended |
| Unpaid / paused | Still open, not in good standing |

A customer can have only one open plan at a time.

## What customers see

Portal home has a **Your plan** card. `/portal/memberships` shows the plan name, status, and cadence in plain words (monthly, every 28 days). **Manage billing** opens Stripe’s billing portal when Stripe is connected: update a card, see invoices, change plan, and cancel if you allow it.

## Messages you can send

Your follow-ups can react to:

- `membership.started`
- `membership.past_due`
- `membership.canceled`

Ask your agent to wire those in [messages](./messages.md).