# Subscriptions The **Subscriptions** add-on allows you to offer students flexible access to your courses through recurring payments and membership plans. Instead of purchasing individual courses, learners can subscribe to a plan that grants access to selected courses, bundles, categories, or the entire site. Administrators can easily create and manage different subscription types, set pricing and billing periods, and control which content each plan includes, providing a convenient and automated way to run a sustainable learning platform.

What is the difference between Subscriptions and Memberships?

In **MasterStudy LMS**, both **Memberships** and **Subscriptions** provide recurring access to courses, but they differ in **how** that access is structured: * **Memberships** are broader and usually define access based on **content grouping**. For example, a membership plan can include all courses in a specific [category](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-course-features/courses-category), or even the entire site. Students who join a membership can access everything included in that plan as long as their payment is active. * **Subscriptions** are more **plan-based** and focus on giving access through **recurring payments** tied to a specific course or group of courses. A subscription is linked to a single course and automatically renews at a chosen interval.

## Addon Settings {% hint style="warning" %} The Subscriptions addon integrates MasterStudy's native subscriptions and membership system into your LMS. As the addon uses the [**native payment methods**](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-settings/ecommerce/payment-methods) of MasterStudy LMS, it **will not be available** if you are using [Paid Memberships Pro](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/additional-features/membership-system) or [WooCommerce](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/woocommerce) on your website. You have to deactivate these plugins to use the native membership system using the Subscriptions addon. Moreover, only **Stripe** and **PayPal** payment methods can be used for subscription and membership purchases. Check one more time that you have provided their [**credentials correctly.**](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-settings/ecommerce/payment-methods#webhook-signature-key-for-subscriptions) {% endhint %} To activate the addon and give the subscriptions feature to your LMS, follow **WP Dashboard > MasterStudy > Pro Addons** and enable the Subscriptions addon:

You can reach the addon setting by clicking the gear icon on the Pro Addons page on the top right corner of the addon card, or by following **WP Dashboard > MasterStudy > eCommerce > Subscriptions:**

* **Allow Instructors to Create Course Subscriptions** - the setting enables instructors to set up subscription plans for their courses in Course Builder. * **Manage Memberships** - the button directs you to the Membership Management tab, where you can create, edit, and organize various membership plans. ## Membership Plans Membership plans on the website can be managed by following the **Membership Plans** tab:

WP Dashboard > MasterStudy > Membership Plans

On this page, you can see all the available membership plans on your site. Here is the breakdown of the table by columns: * **Plan Title** – displays the name of the membership plan as it appears to users on the website. * **Access Type** – defines the level or scope of content access provided by the plan, such as sitewide or category-based. * **Renewal Period** – shows how often the membership renews automatically, for example, weekly, monthly, or yearly. * **Certificate** – indicates whether completing courses under this plan includes certificate eligibility. * **Trial** – displays the trial duration offered to new subscribers before the first payment is charged. * **Price** – shows the membership cost, including the current price and any discounted or previous price. * **Status** – allows enabling or disabling the membership plan to control its availability for users. You can use the toggles to control. Disabled plans will not be accessible to students. ### Create a New Membership Plan Membership plans will be created for the entire site (all courses) or some specific course categories unless it's [**not restricted**](#how-to-exclude-the-course-from-memberships) in course settings. {% stepper %} {% step %} To create one, on the **Memberships tab**, just click on the Add New Plan button:

{% endstep %} {% step %} On the opened page, you have to customize your own plan using the plan settings. On the left side, you can see the preview of the plan in real time. Start by providing the **General Info**:

#### General Info: * **Title** – sets the name of the membership plan displayed to users on the website. * **Short Description** – provides a brief explanation or tagline for the plan. * **Membership Access Type** – defines the scope of access, such as sitewide and category-based. * **Sitewide** – gives access to **ALL COURSES** on the website by purchasing the plan. * **Category-based** – gives access to all courses in the **selected course categories only**. * **Select Categories** – lets you choose specific course categories that will be available under this plan. The section appears if the category-based access type is chosen. {% endstep %} {% step %} Next, we have to set up the pricing for the plan:

#### Pricing * **Price ($)** – determines the amount students pay for the plan (if there is no sale). * **Billing Interval** – sets how often the payment recurs, such as daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. * **Billing Cycles Type** – specifies whether the subscription continues until canceled or for a fixed number of cycles. * **Number of Cycles** – defines the total number of billing periods if the plan is limited. Available if the **Limited Billing Cycles** Type is chosen. * **Offer Sale Price ($)** – enables a discounted price for the plan. * **Sale Period** – allows you to schedule the start and end date and time for the sale price. {% endstep %} {% step %} Lastly, enter the features you want to highlight in the plan and turn on additional settings according to your needs:

* **Plan Features** –lists the benefits or privileges included in the membership plan. You can use dragging to reorder the features and to delete the features/ * **Enter Feature** – lets you add a new feature or highlight to the plan. * **Trial Period (days)** – sets a free trial duration before the first payment is charged. * **Mark as Featured** – highlights the plan on the website with a special label. * **Do Not Provide Certificate** – disables certificates for courses taken under this membership. {% endstep %} {% step %} Once everything is ready, review them one more time and click on the Create button:

{% endstep %} {% step %} Now the plan is LIVE, and students can purchase it and get access to the courses that are included. You can check it from the [**Memberships page**](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-settings/lms-pages#memberships): {% hint style="info" %} First, make sure you have the **Memberships** page from plugin settings. If it's not set up yet, you can [**generate it**](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-settings/lms-pages#generate-lms-pages) with one click. {% endhint %}

{% endstep %} {% endstepper %} ### Reorder, Modify, and Delete Plans You can reorder, edit, and delete the plans right on this page using the specified buttons: {% hint style="info" %} Plans appear on your website’s [**Memberships page**](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-settings/lms-pages#memberships) in the same order as shown here. Make sure to arrange them carefully to display your plans in the most effective order. {% endhint %}

{% hint style="danger" %} Before deleting the plan, ensure no active members are using it. Even if there is a student using the plan, you can not delete it. {% endhint %} ### How to Exclude the Course from Memberships? If you have a course that needs to be excluded from memberships and should be purchased in a different way, there is a setting called Not included in membership in course settings. {% stepper %} {% step %} Edit the course you need with Course Builder:

{% endstep %} {% step %} Move to the **Pricing** tab and enable the **Not included in membership** option.

Now this course is not accessible with any membership plan. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} ## Subscriptions **Subscription** is a recurring payment option that gives students continuous access to the course and learning materials as long as their payment remains active. It simplifies enrollment and billing by automatically renewing access at regular intervals, such as weekly, monthly, or yearly. Subscriptions help instructors and administrators offer flexible pricing, retain learners for longer periods, and manage course access automatically without manual renewals. {% hint style="info" %} In short, the main purpose of a subscription is to charge students on a recurring basis (daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly) instead of selling lifetime access to a course. {% endhint %} ### Create a New Subscription Plan Subscription plans are created individually for each course. A plan made for one course cannot be used for another. To provide access to multiple courses or categories together, use [**membership plans**](#membership-plans) instead. {% stepper %} {% step %} Edit the course with Course Builder:

{% endstep %} {% step %} Move to the Pricing tab and enable Subscriptions:

{% endstep %} {% step %} Click on the Add New button:

{% endstep %} {% step %} On the opened sidebar, provide the plan details, starting from the title to additional settings:

* **Title** – sets the name of the subscription plan that students will see on the course page. * **Price ($)** – determines the amount charged to students for each billing period. * **Billing Interval** – defines how often the payment recurs, such as weekly, monthly, or yearly. * **Billing Cycles Type** – specifies whether the subscription continues until canceled or ends after a certain number of billing cycles. * **Number of Cycles** – sets how many times the payment will be repeated if the subscription is limited. * **Offer Sale Price ($)** – allows setting a discounted price for the plan. * **Sale Period** – lets you schedule the start and end date and time when the sale price is active. * **Trial Period (days)** – gives students a free trial for the specified number of days before the first payment. * **Mark as Featured** – highlights the plan with a custom label, making it more noticeable on the course page. * **Do Not Provide Certificate** – disables certificates for students subscribed to this plan. {% hint style="success" %} At the bottom of the sidebar, you can see the real-time preview of the plan. {% endhint %} {% endstep %} {% step %} Once you are done, review one more time and click on Create:

{% endstep %} {% step %} You can add as many plans as you need:

{% endstep %} {% endstepper %} Here is how it will look on the course page:

### Modify and Remove Subscriptions On the Pricing tab, you can see the active subscription for the course and delete or modify it with specific buttons:

## Subscriptions and Memberships Management ### Admin Admin has access to monitor and manage all subscriptions and membership sales on the **WP Dashboard >. MasterStudy > Subscriptions & Memberships** page:

The page has been organized into two tabs: {% tabs %} {% tab title="Subscriptions" %} Displays all subscription sales on the website with their status and other related info:

{% endtab %} {% tab title="Memberships" %} Displays all membership plan sales on the website with their status and other related info:

{% endtab %} {% endtabs %} By clicking the View button, all related info of the purchased subscription/membership with payment history will be displayed:

Here is the result:

{% hint style="info" %} Additionally, the purchase will be available in the [**Orders**](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-course-features/orders) page as well. {% endhint %} #### Cancel the Subscription/Membership On the same page, the admin can cancel the subscription:

{% hint style="danger" %} Once the plan is cancelled, the student will lose access to all course materials included in the plan. {% endhint %} ### Instructor Instructors can also create and manage subscriptions and membership purchases for their courses directly from their dashboard by visiting the [**My Sales**](https://docs.stylemixthemes.com/masterstudy-lms/lms-course-features/orders/sales-page-for-instructor) tab:

Under the Subscription tab of the My Sales page, an instructor can also manage (check/cancel) the subscription of their own courses [as an admin.](#cancel-the-subscription-membership) ### Student Students can also manage their purchased memberships and subscriptions on their dashboard:

## Example Purchase of Membership/Subscription Let's summarize and check how students will purchase the subscription/membership plan we created. We will purchase a course right from the course page: {% stepper %} {% step %} Open the needed course and click on the **Get Course** button. You will see the available options:

{% endstep %} {% step %} Let's buy the course with Memberships. Choose the plan you liked and go to the cart:

{% endstep %} {% step %} Enter the billing info and a convenient payment method:

If the plan has limited billing cycles, related info will also be displayed:

{% endstep %} {% endstepper %} That's it! We have purchased the plan!

## FAQ

Can I include multiple courses in one plan?

Yes. To give access to many courses at once, create a [**membership plan.**](#create-a-new-membership-plan)

What happens if the admin deactivates a plan?

New students can not enroll into the deactivated plan. Students who purchased it earlier will continue to pay and use it until the admin manually cancels their subscription.

If the price changes, what happens to existing users?

If a student bought the plan for ten dollars and the admin later changes the price to twenty, existing subscribers will continue to pay the original ten dollars.

Can students buy multiple subscriptions at the same time?

Yes. Students can purchase two or more subscriptions and keep them active simultaneously.

How do recurring payments work?

Payments are charged automatically at the chosen billing interval. Access continues as long as payments are successful.

Can students cancel their plan?

Yes. Students can cancel at any time from their account. Access remains active until the paid period ends.

Are taxes applied to recurring subscription payments?

Yes. If taxes are enabled, they apply not only to the first payment but also to every recurring charge in the subscription.

What happens if a recurring payment fails?

If a recurring payment does not go through, the system pauses the subscription, and access to the course is removed. Access will be restored once the payment is successful again.

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