{"article":{"id":360008681794,"url":"https://rechargeapps.zendesk.com/api/v2/help_center/en-us/articles/360008681794.json","html_url":"https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008681794-Understanding-subscription-models","author_id":362552551473,"comments_disabled":false,"draft":false,"promoted":false,"position":0,"vote_sum":1,"vote_count":1,"section_id":22036735786775,"created_at":"2018-08-31T15:25:40Z","updated_at":"2026-06-03T18:59:43Z","name":"Understanding subscription models","title":"Understanding subscription models","source_locale":"en-us","locale":"en-us","outdated":false,"outdated_locales":[],"edited_at":"2026-06-03T18:59:43Z","user_segment_id":null,"permission_group_id":221233,"content_tag_ids":[],"label_names":["subscriptions","subscription","quarterly","ruleset","multiple frequencies","box of the month","annual","gift","prepaid","tips","bimonthly","quarter","shopify_int","rc_api","rc_bigcommerce","prod-doc","model","subscription-type","subscription model","answerbot","bc_int","migrated_int"],"body":"<p>There are many ways to set up subscription models. This guide provides an overview of popular subscription types and how to configure your subscription rules. For a general overview of subscription rules, see <a href=\"https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052425893\" target=\"_self\">Creating subscription rules</a>.</p><hr><h2 id=\"h_ae3ea9e7-25eb-40d8-ab92-31b816a6aac7\">Subscriptions with multiple frequencies</h2><p>Setting multiple subscription frequency options gives your customers a subscription schedule that fits their needs.</p><p><a href=\"https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/13618258115223-Product-Subscription-Plans\">Product Subscription Plans</a> let you seamlessly offer customers different subscription frequencies, providing you the flexibility to offer subscription frequencies in days, weeks, and months for one product. </p><figure class=\"wysiwyg-image wysiwyg-image-resized\" style=\"width: 52.42%;\"><img style=\"aspect-ratio: 1866/1106;\" src=\"https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/article_attachments/40949010939287\" width=\"1866\" height=\"1106\" alt=\"Example of the available subscription plans for a product in the Recharge merchant portal\"></figure><div class=\"callout-yellow\">\n<strong>Note</strong>: Prepaid subscriptions do not allow multiple frequency options.</div><h3 id=\"h_b7b324b1-c41b-48af-86ea-3324c73c81d9\">Charge on a specific day of the month</h3><p>You can set the billing day of the month for all your customers. With this option enabled, customers pay for their first charge upfront and their checkout charge will apply to the upcoming month. Their next recurring bill will be due on the specified date. You must set the frequency to <strong>M</strong><strong style=\"background-color: initial;\">onths </strong>to use this option.</p><figure class=\"wysiwyg-image wysiwyg-image-resized\" style=\"width: 51.34%;\"><img style=\"aspect-ratio: 878/404;\" src=\"https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/article_attachments/40949010942231\" width=\"878\" height=\"404\" alt=\"Example of the charge date set to charge on the 4th of every month in the Recharge merchant portal\"></figure><hr><h2 id=\"h_7271cd51-41d7-4cf4-ba70-275f854d7bd5\">Prepaid annual subscription</h2><p>A prepaid annual subscription means your customers receive the product every month but only pay once per year.</p><figure class=\"wysiwyg-image wysiwyg-image-resized\" style=\"width: 51.81%;\"><img style=\"aspect-ratio: 890/1230;\" src=\"https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/article_attachments/40949010943255\" width=\"890\" height=\"1230\" alt=\"Example of a prepaid plan being configured in the merchant portal that ships a product every month, but the customer is charged every 2 months\"></figure><p class=\"wysiwyg-text-align-center\"> </p><section class=\"callout-yellow dashed icon-bell\"><p><strong>Note:</strong> Refer to the guide on <a href=\"https://support.getrecharge.com/hc/en-us/articles/32581132524055-Configuring-prepaid-plans-for-multiple-deliveries-with-fixed-upfront-pricing\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"undefined\">Configuring a prepaid subscription</a> to learn more about configuring and managing prepaid subscriptions. </p></section><hr><h2 id=\"h_fefa8213-89e0-4e0c-8539-1896a1488995\">Pre-orders</h2><p>Pre-ordering is not available at this time. Customers must place an order when they are ready to subscribe.</p>","user_segment_ids":[]}}