Subscription Payment Methods & Gateways

This guide provides a list of compatible payment gateway extensions from the Woo Marketplace that support automatic payments, manual payments, or both. For extensions that support automatic payments, it also provides information about supported subscription-specific features.

Do note that gateways from outside the Woo Marketplace do not appear on this list. However, it might also support Woo Subscriptions features. The respective gateway’s docs or developer would be able to provide more info.

Woo Subscriptions offers two methods for accepting recurring payments:

• Automatic payments
• Manual payments

To understand the difference between the two methods, please read Subscription Renewal Process before continuing.

The following payment gateway extensions are part of the official Woo Marketplace and support automatic recurring payments. This means they are backed by WooCommerce.com support and customer service.

Different payment gateways offer different features. The tables outline which Subscriptions features are supported by each WooCommerce payment gateway, with an explanation of each feature found below the table.

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 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 If you have an outdated version installed, automatic payments may not be enabled.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. Find Changelog on the page.
3. Click the link, and compare your version to the current one.

Subscription Suspension, Cancellation, or Reactivation: A store manager or customer can change the status of a subscription directly from your store, i.e., without visiting the payment gateway.

Multiple Subscriptions: A customer can add different subscription products to their cart and complete checkout. More info at: Guide to Multiple Subscriptions.

Recurring Total Changes: You as store manager can manually change the recurring amount charged for renewal payments.

Payment Date Changes: You as store manager can manually change the payment schedule for a subscription, including the expiration date, trial length, or next payment date.

Customer Payment Method Changes: Payment gateway is presented as an option when a customer changes the recurring payment method used for a subscription. It also means Subscriptions can update the payment method used for future recurring payments when a customer pays for a failed renewal.

Store Manager Payment Method Changes: Payment gateway is presented to the store manager as an option when changing the recurring payment method used for a subscription on the Edit Subscription screen.

All WooCommerce payment methods and gateway extensions can be used to process manual subscription payments. Subscriptions creates a pending order for the renewal, and then that order can be paid with any gateway with a working WooCommerce extension.

When using a manual payment for a subscription, all features included in the table above are supported. Meaning the subscription can be suspended, canceled, and reactivated. It can also have its recurring amount, next payment date, and billing schedule changed.

If there is another gateway you want to use to sell subscriptions and charge automatic payments, contact the developer of the WooCommerce extension for that gateway to request they add support for Woo Subscriptions.

If you are a developer and want to add support for automatic subscription payments to your gateway, see the Subscriptions Payment Gateway Integration Guide.