Subscription models provide predictable revenue. Meal kits, software, maintenance services, monthly deliveries. WooCommerce Subscriptions (official plugin, 239 USD per year) makes it possible without custom development.
Core features
Simple subscription: customer pays 199 SEK per month for a product or service. Variable subscription: customer chooses plan (Basic, Pro, Enterprise). Subscription with free trial: seven days free, then 99 SEK per month. Everything is configured per product.
Payment
Stripe and PayPal support automatic recurring payments. Stripe is simplest: the card is charged automatically each period without the customer doing anything. Klarna doesn't support automatic subscriptions, which rules it out as a primary option.
Managing churn
Failed payments are handled with automatic retry (Subscriptions tries to charge again after three and seven days). Dunning management: send email on failed payment, give the customer the option to update their card. Without it you lose subscribers unnecessarily.
Upgrades and downgrades
Customers should be able to switch plans without contacting support. Subscriptions handles proportional credit automatically: if the customer switches mid-period, unused time is credited.
Alternative to Subscriptions
YITH WooCommerce Subscription is cheaper (129 EUR one-time cost). Feature coverage is 80 percent of official Subscriptions. Missing some advanced features (proportional credit, complex schedules) but sufficient for simpler subscription models.
Subscriptions require a customer service process for pauses, cancellations, and plan changes. Build that process before you launch.