How do I switch my billing model? (Creators)

Article contents:

👉 Opting in to subscription billing
👉 Opting in to monthly charge upfront billing
👉 Opting in to monthly (non-charge upfront) billing
👉 Opting in to per-creation billing

Opting in to subscription billing

Who can switch to subscription billing?

As of 26 September 2022, all monthly and charge upfront billing creators can opt in to subscription billing from their Billing & payouts settings page. If you currently bill patrons per creation, please contact our Support team if you’re interested in switching.

With subscription billing, new patrons pay upon joining and monthly on the same date after their initial charge. Subscription billing meets most patrons’ expectations with recurring payment experiences, so it should be familiar to most. Switching to subscription billing is a permanent change, so you won’t be able to switch back to your current billing model.

Here’s how switching to subscription billing works:

• New patrons pay when they join and monthly on that same date, instead of on the 1st of each month. For example, a patron who signs up on 12 April is charged again on 12 May. Patrons will see their next charge date at checkout and in their Active Memberships tab
• Nothing changes for your existing patrons. They’re still charged on the 1st of each month
• Your payout schedule doesn’t change, and you can still withdraw from your account balance at any time (including a lump sum payout at the same time each month)
• If a patron upgrades, they’ll get charged the outstanding amount straight away and unlock access to the higher tier immediately. Their billing date will not change
• If a patron downgrades they’ll remain on their original tier until the next billing date

Opting in to charge upfront billing

Creators who signed up on or after 26 September 2022, and have never launched their page, can enable charge upfront billing from the Getting Paid settings. Creators who joined and launched before 26 September 2022 will not be able to switch to charge upfront billing.

With charge upfront billing, patrons pay when they sign up and on the 1st of the month after that. Once you’ve enabled charge upfront billing, you’ll only be able to opt in to subscription billing if you want to change; you won’t be able to switch to one of our other legacy billing models (i.e. monthly and per creation).

How does charge upfront billing differ from monthly (non-charge upfront) billing?

1. With charge upfront billing, new patrons pay to unlock membership access upon signing up. With monthly billing, there’s no signup payment required to unlock access
2. With charge upfront, patrons’ 1st-of-the-month payment is for the current month (e.g. 1 March for March). With monthly billing, patrons’ 1st-of-the-month charge is for the previous month’s membership access

We go into further detail about charge upfront billing in this help centre overview: How does charge upfront billing work?

Opting in to monthly (non-charge upfront) billing

Creators who signed up on or after 26 September 2022, and have never launched their page, can enable monthly (non-charge upfront) billing from their Getting Paid settings. Creators who joined and launched before 26 September 2022 will not be able to switch to monthly billing.

With monthly billing, there’s no charge for patrons when they join and they’re billed on the 1st of every month. 

Opting in to per creation billing

Creators who signed up on or after 26 September 2022, and have never launched their page, can enable per creation billing from the Getting Paid settings. Creators who joined and launched before 26 September 2022 will not be able to switch to per creation billing.

With per creation, we create a bill for your active patrons when you turn on the charge for this post option when publishing a new posts. Patrons have access to all your paid posts and pay for each paid post up to their monthly maximum (if set).

When I enable per creation, will patrons be charged for every paid post I make?

No. With per creation, you’ll have to turn on the charge for this post option when you publish new posts. This option tells our system to generate bills for your patrons for that post.

You can learn more about what to expect with per creation billing in this help guide: How per creation billing works