Cartpanda offers a feature designed to simplify operations for merchants who work with recurring products — a model in which customers pay an amount within a defined period and can continue using the product as long as they keep their subscription active.

With this feature, you can automate recurring charges while also attracting and retaining customers through continuous and automatic purchases of your products.

Subscription Types

We provide two billing methods when creating a subscription.

Prepaid Installment Subscription

With this subscription method, the purchase will be split into a predefined number of installments configured within the app. At the end of the period corresponding to the final installment, the purchase will automatically renew with the same number of installments. The customer cannot change the installment quantity.

Flow Subscription

Billing will occur recurring month-to-month or according to a custom period defined within the app.

With this subscription method, customers can choose how many installments they want or pay the full amount upfront. For purchases made in other currencies, payment will always be charged in full.

How to Enable Subscriptions in Your Store

To access the Subscriptions app, go to: Apps > Subscriptions

Inside the Subscriptions tab, you can view all active subscriptions from your customers.

In the Subscription Plans tab, you can manage existing plans and create new subscription plans for your products.

Creating a Subscription Plan

• Click Add New to configure a subscription
• Select the product that will be offered (multiple products can be included)
• Choose whether the subscription will be Flow or Installment-based
• Define the billing frequency
• Configure whether a discount will be applied

Free Trial for Subscriptions

The Free Trial feature allows you to offer a free usage period before the first subscription charge.

This allows customers to try the product for a defined period while recurring billing automatically starts after the trial ends.

How to Enable the Free Trial

To configure a trial period for a subscription plan:

• Go to: Apps > Subscriptions
• Create a new plan or edit an existing one
• Enable the option: Offer trial period
• Set the duration of the free period
• Save the changes

After that, the subscription plan will operate with a trial period before the first charge.

How It Works

When a customer purchases a subscription plan with a free trial:

• The initial transaction will be created with a value of 0.00
• An order will be generated normally on the Orders page
• The subscription will be registered in the Subscriptions app
• No charge will be made immediately

When the trial period ends:

• The first payment will be automatically processed
• The recurring cycle will continue according to the configured billing frequency

Example

Imagine a subscription configured with:

• 7-day free trial
• Monthly charge of $97.00

The flow will work as follows:

• The customer subscribes
• An order with a value of R$0.00 is created
• The customer uses the product free of charge for 7 days
• After the trial ends, the first charge of $97.00 is automatically processed
• Future charges continue normally according to the configured recurrence

The merchant can also cancel the subscription during the free trial period.

In this case:

• No future charges will occur
• The subscription will end before the paid recurrence starts

Important Information About Free Trials

• The initial free trial order will appear normally on the Orders page
• The initial amount will always be 0.00
• After the free trial period ends, billing will occur automatically
• The subscription cycle will follow the exact settings configured in the plan
• Customers can view and manage their subscriptions through the Customer Area

Managing Subscription Plans

After creating and saving the rules, the subscription will become available through a direct link, allowing you to obtain the subscription checkout link and share it.

To offer multiple installment options, you must create one plan for each billing frequency, as shown in the example below.

Generating the Subscription Checkout Link

You can sell subscriptions through a direct checkout link, which can be used on Landing Pages, sent directly to customers, or shared however you prefer.

To generate the link:

• Click the link icon on the desired subscription
• Select the subscription product
• Click Copy Link

The subscription checkout link will be automatically generated and copied, ready to use.

Whenever there is a subscription product in the checkout, a notice indicating the subscription will be displayed.

How Subscription Management Works

Both merchants and customers will have full access to subscription details, allowing customers to pause or cancel subscriptions at any time through:

https://orders.cartpanda.com/

Customers simply need to enter the email used during purchase. All purchases made on Cartpanda using that email will be displayed.

By using the filter and selecting “Subscriptions,” all subscription products associated with that email will be listed.

By clicking on the product, customers can view order details.

By clicking “Manage Subscription,” all subscription settings can be managed.

By clicking on “Pause Subscription,” the subscription can be paused, preventing future charges from being processed.

Later, you can access the same page and click on “Resume Subscription” if you want to reactivate the subscription. Once resumed, the subscription will become active again.

By clicking on “Cancel Subscription,” the subscription will be permanently canceled, ending all future charges.

You will have access and control over all subscription information in your store.

Subscriptions can have 3 different statuses:

• Active: The plan is active and renewals will continue as configured
• Paused: Renewals will not occur until the merchant or customer reactivates the subscription
• Canceled: The subscription has been canceled and will not renew. A new purchase will be required if the customer wishes to continue

Additional Subscription Controls

Inside Active Subscriptions, you will have access to:

• Full customer order history, including payment and processing status
• Customer information such as address, email, etc.
• Products included in the subscription
• The next scheduled billing date

How Prepaid Installment Subscription Billing Works

With this model, customers make an installment purchase according to the frequency configured by the merchant. At renewal time, the system attempts to create the installment purchase again.

Example

If the billing frequency is set to 5:

• The customer will make a purchase split into 5 installments
• At the end of the fifth month, the system will attempt to create another purchase split into 5 installments

In a scenario where a 4-installment subscription is created for Product A costing $100:

• The customer’s credit card limit will be charged the full $100 amount
• The purchase will appear as 4 installments of $25
• After 4 months, the system will automatically create a new purchase for the full amount, again split into 4 installments

If a foreign customer purchases an installment subscription, the purchase will behave as a Flow Subscription.

How Flow Subscription Billing Works

This is the standard “Netflix-style” subscription model.

Customers pay the subscription amount in full according to the configured billing frequency.

Example

If the billing frequency is set to 5:

• The customer pays the full amount at the moment of purchase
• At the end of the fifth month, the system attempts another full charge

Flow subscriptions will repeat charges every X period defined within the Subscriptions app.

Subscription for Upsell Offers

It is possible to offer subscriptions exclusively for Upsell products.

Regardless of the installment settings of the main purchase, the subscription will follow the installment configuration defined in the Subscriptions app.

Subscription details will appear in a new card on the order page.

Important Details

• If a shopping cart contains both a subscription product and a non-subscription product, the entire purchase will be split into 4 installments, including the non-subscription product. However, during renewal, only the configured subscription product will be charged again.
• If payment for the next recurring charge fails, the system will retry the payment for the next 3 days. If payment is still not completed after this period, the subscription plan will be paused.
• If two or more subscription products with different billing frequencies are added to the same cart, the initial purchase will follow the longest installment period. Future charges will then adjust according to each product’s correct billing cycle.

Still have questions? Contact our support team through the platform chat or send an email to suporte@cartpanda.com

Updated on: 05/26/2026