Subscription billing terms let you bind customers to a commitment length that can span multiple billing periods — like an annual subscription billed quarterly, or a one-year term that shifts to monthly billing after the first year. You control the billing interval, term length, renewal behavior, and when changes take effect.

Available on all Recurly plans

1Definition 2Key benefits 3Key details 4Change a subscription 5Cancel a subscription

Definition

Subscription billing terms let you define a commitment length that can contain one or more billing periods, setting billing intervals independently of the overall subscription duration. End-of-term behavior — whether subscriptions auto-renew or expire — is configured at the plan level and can be overridden per subscription.

Key benefits

Clarity in subscription management A detailed, predictable billing structure helps both merchants and customers understand exactly how and when charges occur throughout a subscription term.

Tailored business strategies Flexibly modify, extend, or cancel subscriptions at the right moment — enabling upsell opportunities and reducing churn with term-aware billing logic.

Operational efficiency Automate term renewals and change timing, reducing manual intervention and keeping billing accurate across complex subscription lifecycles.

Key details

Billing structure for plans

Every plan has two key billing settings that work together to define the subscription's payment structure.

Billing period — The recurring interval at which the customer is charged (e.g., monthly, quarterly, annually). The billing period is set at plan creation and cannot be changed afterward, as doing so would affect the term length of active subscriptions. If you need a different billing period, create a new plan.

Subscription term — The overall commitment length, which may contain one or more billing periods. For example, an annual subscription billed quarterly has a one-year term with four billing periods. The term can be adjusted during subscription creation or editing, even if it differs from the plan default.

Month-to-month subscriptionsFor businesses relying primarily on monthly, auto-renewing plans, use a monthly billing period with a term length of one billing cycle.

End-of-term behavior

Every plan requires a renewal behavior setting that determines what happens when a subscription term ends.

Auto-renew — The subscription automatically starts a new term at the end of the current one. Ideal for recurring services like streaming platforms where minimizing churn is a priority.
Expire — The subscription ends when the term completes without renewal. Useful for installment-based billing, such as device payment plans that end once all installments are paid.

Adding a subscription

When you add a subscription to an account, the plan's term settings are applied by default. You can override them during creation.

Price per billing period"Price per Billing Period" refers to the recurring charge for each billing interval. The default price and quantity can be overridden at subscription creation or when editing an existing subscription.

Timing

You can set a subscription to start immediately or schedule it to begin on a specific date.

Subscription details

The subscription details view includes the following term-related fields:

Field	Description
Current Period	The ongoing billing cycle.
Current Term	The start and end dates of the active subscription term.
Remaining Periods	Outstanding billing cycles within the current term.
Term Balance	Estimated outstanding billable amounts for the term.
Renews On	The renewal date for subscriptions set to auto-renew.
Ends On	The expiry date for subscriptions set to expire at term end.
Started On	The date the subscription was activated.

Change a subscription

Subscription changes — upgrades, downgrades, or invoicing method updates — can be applied at three points in time. Choose the timing that fits the nature of the change and your customer relationship.

Timing options

Immediately — The change takes effect right away and generates an invoice. If automatic collection is enabled, a transaction is attempted using the billing information on file. If it fails, the invoice and subscription enter the dunning process.

At next bill date — Recurly stores the change and applies it on the customer's next invoice. The customer continues on the current plan until the end of the billing cycle.

At term renewal — Recurly stores the change and applies it when the subscription term renews. No proration is needed — the subscription is adjusted and the customer is invoiced at the new amount on the renewal invoice.

One change request at a timeRecurly retains only one pending change request per subscription. If a second change request is submitted before the first takes effect, the first request is discarded. The new request is applied at its specified time.

Term-only changesChanging only the subscription's term length (with no other modifications) doesn't generate an invoice.

Apply an immediate change

Open the subscription

In the Admin Console, navigate to the customer's subscription.

Select Change Subscription

Choose Change Subscription from the subscription actions.

Choose Immediate Change

Select Immediate Change to apply changes right away.

Update subscription details

Modify the plan, add-ons, or other subscription attributes as needed.

Review the invoice impact

Check how the change affects current billing, then confirm to apply immediately.

For a full breakdown of proration logic for immediate changes, see Change Subscription.

Apply a change at the next bill date

Open the subscription

In the Admin Console, navigate to the customer's subscription.

Select Change Subscription

Choose Change Subscription from the subscription actions.

Choose At Next Bill Date

Select At Next Bill Date to apply the change at the next billing cycle.

Make your changes and save

Adjust the plan, add-ons, or other details, then save. The change will be applied on the next billing date.

Apply a change at term renewal

Open the subscription

In the Admin Console, navigate to the customer's subscription.

Select Change Subscription

Choose Change Subscription from the subscription actions.

Choose At Term Renewal

Select At Term Renewal to apply the change when the subscription term renews.

Make your changes and save

Update the subscription attributes, then save. The change will take effect at the start of the next term.

Expiring subscriptions set to renew at term endIf a subscription is set to expire at the term's end and you save a change to apply at renewal, Recurly will automatically update the subscription to renew at the term's end and apply the pending change.

Plan term transitions

When changing a subscription to a different plan, Recurly handles term continuity based on whether the billing structure changes.

Same billing period and term length — Recurly preserves the remaining billing periods and applies standard proration rules. You can also choose to modify the term length if needed.

Different billing period or term length — The subscription term restarts and new charges aren't prorated.

For more details, see Change Subscription — plan period changes.

Cancel a subscription

Canceling ends a subscription at a future date — the customer continues billing until the chosen cutoff. Terminating ends it immediately, mid-cycle. Once a subscription expires, it can't be reactivated. A canceled (but not yet expired) subscription can be reactivated if the customer changes their mind before the renewal date.

Terminate immediately

Ends the subscription now, shifting its status from active to expired. If termination occurs mid-cycle, you can choose to refund the customer for any upfront fixed fees or bill them for any unbilled usage.

Open the subscription

In the Admin Console, navigate to the customer's subscription.

Select Cancel Subscription

Choose Cancel Subscription from the subscription actions.

Choose Terminate Immediately

Select Terminate Immediately.

Determine refunds or charges

Decide whether to refund the customer for fixed fees or charge for any unbilled usage, then confirm.

Cancel at the next billing date

The subscription continues until the current billing period ends, then expires. No further invoice is generated after cancellation takes effect.

Open the subscription

In the Admin Console, navigate to the customer's subscription.

Select Cancel Subscription

Choose Cancel Subscription from the subscription actions.

Choose At Next Bill Date

Select At Next Bill Date. The subscription runs through the current period and then expires.

Cancel at the term's end

The subscription continues billing for the remainder of the term, then expires when the term end date is reached.

Open the subscription

In the Admin Console, navigate to the customer's subscription.

Select Cancel Subscription

Choose Cancel Subscription from the subscription actions.

Choose End of Term

Select End of Term. The subscription bills through the full term and then expires.