Subscription Payment Methods & Gateways

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WooCommerce Subscriptions is a premium extension that offers two methods for accepting recurring payments:

  • Automatic payments
  • Manual payments

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

This guide provides a detailed and up-to-date list of the gateway extensions that support one or both payment methods. For extensions that support automatic payments, it also provides information about supported subscription-specific features.

Extensions for Automatic Payments

The following payment gateway extensions support automatic recurring payments and are part of the official WooCommerce marketplace. 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.

Basic Features

EXTENSION SUBSCRIPTION SUSPENSION SUBSCRIPTION CANCELLATION SUBSCRIPTION REACTIVATION
WooCommerce Payments ✔ ✔ ✔
Amazon Pay ✔ ✔ ✔
Authorize.net ✔ ✔ ✔
Bambora ✔ ✔ ✔
Chase Paymentech ✔ ✔ ✔
CyberSource ✔ ✔ ✔
Elavon Converge ✔ ✔ ✔
eWay ✔ ✔ ✔
FirstData ✔ ✔ ✔
Global Payments Gateway ✔ ✔ ✔
Global Payments HPP ✔ ✔ ✔
GoCardless ✔ ✔ ✔
Intuit ✔ ✔ ✔
Merchant Warrior ✔ ✔ ✔
Moneris ✔ ✔ ✔
NAB Direct Post Gateway ✔ ✔ ✔
Netbanx ✔ ✔ ✔
NETbilling ✔ ✔ ✔
PayFast ✔ ✔ –
PayPal Checkout (reference transactions required) ✔ ✔ ✔
PayPal Digital Goods ✔ ✔ ✔
PayPal Powered By Braintree ✔ ✔ ✔
PayPal Reference Transactions (special configuration required) ✔ ✔ ✔
PayPal Standard (included with Subscriptions) ✔ ✔ ✔
PayTrace ✔ ✔ ✔
Peach Payments ✔ ✔ ✔
Pin Payments ✔ ✔ ✔
PsiGate ✔ ✔ ✔
RedSys ✔ ✔ ✔
SagePay Direct ✔ ✔ ✔
Sage Payments USA ✔ ✔ ✔
SecurePay Direct Post ✔ ✔ ✔
Stripe ✔ ✔ ✔
Square ✔ ✔ ✔
TrustCommerce ✔ ✔ ✔
WorldPay – ✔ –

Advanced Features

EXTENSION MULTIPLE SUBSCRIPTIONS RECURRING TOTAL CHANGES PAYMENT DATE CHANGES CUSTOMER PAYMENT METHOD CHANGES STORE MANGER PAYMENT METHOD CHANGES
WooCommerce Payments ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Amazon Pay – – – ✔ –
Authorize.net ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Bambora ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Chase Paymentech ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
CyberSource ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Elavon Converge ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
eWay ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
FirstData ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Global Payments Gateway ✔ ✔ ✔ – –
Global Payments HPP ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
GoCardless ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ –
Intuit ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Merchant Warrior ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Moneris ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
NAB Direct Post Gateway – ✔ ✔ – –
Netbanx ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
NETbilling ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
PayFast – ✔ ✔ – –
PayPal Checkout (reference transactions required) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
PayPal Digital Goods – – – – –
PayPal Powered By Braintree ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
PayPal Reference Transactions (special configuration required) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
PayPal Standard (included with Subscriptions) – – – ✔ –
PayTrace ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Peach Payments – ✔ – – –
Pin Payments ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
PsiGate ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
RedSys ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
SagePay Direct ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Sage Payments USA ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
SecurePay Direct Post ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Stripe ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Square ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
TrustCommerce – ✔ ✔ – –
WorldPay – – – – –

Notes on Extension Support

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 WooCommerce 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.

Explanation of Features

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.

PayPal Standard Limitations

Although PayPal Standard is included free with Subscriptions, it is also one of the most limited payment gateways. The document on the Limitations of PayPal Standard contains the many limitations of PayPal Standard as well as how to move away from using it.

Extensions for Manual Payments

All WooCommerce payment methods and gateway extensions can be used to process manual subscription payments. Subscriptions creates a pending order for the renewal, 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.

The renewal method applied to a subscription at the time of purchase is always applied to the subscription. So if the payment method used to purchase a subscription could only process manual renewal payments at time of purchase, the subscription continues with manual renewal payments even if the payment gateway extension adds support for automatic recurring payments.

Third-Party Extensions with Automatic Payment Support

The following payment gateway extensions support automatic subscription payments and are developed by third-party developers. Because they are not sold or supported by WooCommerce.com, you need to contact the extension authors with questions.

  • Fat Zebra
  • Inspire Commerce
  • Paylike
  • QuickPay
  • Xendit

Want a different payment gateway?

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 WooCommerce 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.

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