Subscription-Based Products

The platform allows providing end-users with subscription-based solutions. The general idea is standard to the modern subscription services implementations – a client is charged once and gets a designated product for a specified period. The main target of such a pricing model is considered to be subscription-based WordPress packages. Still, the solution implementation is universal, allowing the adoption of other use cases as well.

The subscription products give customers a fix-priced alternative to the default usage-based model. Below, we’ll go step-by-step on how to configure subscriptions on the platform. To check how it works from the end-user perspective, go to the linked guide.

Configuring Subscriptions

The integration of the subscription-based solutions is done through the dedicated Products section in the cluster admins panel. Currently, only pre-packaged applications can be assigned, but the category can be extended in future releases (e.g. per account professional support services).

1. Go to the Billing > Products section of the admin panel and click Add at the tools panel to create a new product. The only mandatory parameter is Display Name, but you should check the linked guide for detailed information on all the available configuration options.

2. Each product can have several variations (more resources, additional features, etc.), which are configured through the service plans. The main parameters are Display Name, Marketplace Package, and Subscription Tariff. If you want to implement support for migration between service plans, tick the “Allow moving to another service plan” option (additional changes to the packages may be required). Use the guide linked in the previous step for information on all the available configurations.

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{
    "STRIPE": {
        "auto.tax.calculation": false,
        "invoice.tax.include": true
    }
}

When implementing the subscription model, be aware of the account deactivation (the user’s balance goes below the account.minbalance quota), as all environments will be stopped, including active subscriptions. Also, any “overuse” configured for the subscription will be charged from the account’s balance, which may lead to account deactivation.

Add as many service plans to your product as needed.

3. Ensure that the required product is Active. Otherwise, it won’t be shown in the user dashboard.

4. Configure the following quotas for the required groups (or specific users):

• account.subscriptions.enabled - enables/disables access to the subscription-based solutions
• account.subscriptions.resources.destroy.period - sets a period (in days) to keep environments suspended due to the unpaid subscription before destroying them

• account.subscriptions.withdraw.type - defines the subscription invoices withdrawal type (1 – via account balance and bonuses, 2 – via external invoice)

It is highly recommended to enable subscription to just your test user(s) first so that you can verify the process before providing it to actual customers.

5. Check the subscription-related emails and ensure you have localization for each custom language used on the platform. Verify the following email templates:

• subscriptions_invoice_created – notification about a new invoice for a subscription
• subscriptions_invoice_not_paid – notification about an unpaid invoice for a subscription
• subscriptions_resources_going_be_destroyed – notification about an ended subscription
• subscriptions_paid – notification about a subscription being paid for
• subscriptions_not_renewed – notification about failed subscription renewal via the auto-pay feature

6. Log in to the dashboard and verify the correct user experience for the subscriptions.

If satisfied with the result, you can make the solution available for all the users.

What’s next?

• Billing Products
• Billing Subscriptions
• Quotas List
• VPS without Public IP
• Public IP vs Shared Load Balancer