Subscriptions Payment Methods & Gateways

This guide lists WooCommerce Subscriptions-compatible payment gateway extensions from the WooCommerce Marketplace that support automatic payments, manual payments, or both. For extensions that also supports automatic payments, the guide also details subscription-specific features.

Note that this list excludes gateways from outside the WooCommerce Marketplace. However, external gateways might also support WooCommerce Subscriptions features. For more information on external gateways, consult their respective documentation or contact their developers.

WooCommerce 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. If you need more information about enabling a payment gateway for subscriptions read Enabling Payment Gateways for Subscriptions.

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.

The features in this list are basic subscription features such as suspending, canceling, or reactivating/resubscribing to a subscription. If a column is checked, that means that the payment gateway supports the feature.

The features in this list are advanced options that require data changes to a subscription, such as changing the date a renewal occurs or the payment method used for the renewal. While the majority of payment gateways support the basic features from the table above, support for advanced Subscription features is a bit less consistent. Check the table below to see if the payment gateway you use/want to use supports these features:

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/outside of 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. Click the “Latest Version” square under “add to cart” to access the changelog (if available).
3. 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: The 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.

The WooPayments extension can support automatic subscription renewals via card payments and express checkout methods. However, automatic subscription renewals are not supported by additional payment methods within WooPayments.

The Stripe extension can support automatic renewals via normal card payments and additional payment methods that use SEPA for tokenization (SEPA Direct Debit, iDEAL, and Bancontact).

The PayPal Payments extension supports automatic renewals via a PayPal account, Advanced Card Processing, and the Standard Card Button. However, automatic subscription renewals are not supported by additional payment methods within PayPal Payments.

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.

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.

You can use more than one payment processor to offer your customers different ways to pay for their subscriptions.

If you have manual renewals enabled, every payment gateway that has an extension activated on your site and is enabled under the Payment Gateways tab of the WooCommerce settings page will be offered as payment option.

If manual renewals is not enabled, all WooCommerce payment gateway extensions which support automatic payments will be offered to the customer.

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.