Stripe is a company that provides a payment gateway for individuals and businesses to accept payments over the Internet. Thinkific has a direct integration with Stripe that allows you to automate enrollments after a student purchases a course.
Stripe is available in these countries. If Stripe is not available in your country, check out Stripe Supported Countries and Alternate Payment Options.
In this article:
Connecting Your Stripe Account
Confirming Account Setup in Stripe
About This Feature
Using our Stripe integration with Thinkific's Built in Checkout, your students will be able to pay for your courses with most major credit cards and some debit cards. Connecting your account to Stripe allows you to accept one-time payments (on any Thinkific plan) and recurring payments (on the Pro plan or higher) for your courses. It also allows you to change the currency for your Thinkific site.
Please note that some features available on the Stripe platform may not be available using Thinkific's built-in integration with Stripe. This includes payment processing through FPX, iDeal, SEPA, Apple Pay, and offering course prices in multiple currencies.
How it Works
When students purchase a course or bundle using the Stripe integration and Thinkific's Built in Checkout on your checkout page, they are automatically enrolled in the course or bundle on your Thinkific site.
Any changes made by a student from their account on your Thinkific site will automatically update their billing in Stripe. For example, if a student cancels their subscription, Stripe will not charge them on their next subscription renewal date.
Any changes you make to a student's enrollment from your Thinkific admin dashboard will not affect their billing in Stripe. Therefore, if you extend a student's course access or unenroll them from a course, you will also need to update their billing in your Stripe dashboard.
Connecting Your Stripe Account
Only Site Owners can connect a Thinkific site with a payment processor. If you are not the Site Owner, the "Connect Account" button will be greyed out on your dashboard.
- In your Admin Dashboard, go to Settings
- Select the Payments tab
- Under Card processing > Stripe, click Connect Account
- You will have the option to set up a new Stripe account or connect to an existing account
If you are already logged into an existing Stripe account in your browser when you click Connect Account, the integration will connect immediately and you will not need to log in to Stripe.
Setting up a New Stripe account
- After selecting Connect Account, you will be redirected to a sign up page on Stripe
- Enter your email to begin the sign-up process for a new account
- Input all the required information for your account
- Click Authorize access to this account
- Once successfully connected, you will see a green connected badge under Stripe in the Settings, Payments page.
Connect to an Existing Stripe Account
- After selecting Connect Account, you will be redirected to a sign up page on Stripe
- Input your existing Stripe login details
- You will be shown a list of Stripe accounts — select the one you want to connect to your Thinkific site and click Connect
- Once successfully connected, you will see a green connected badge under Stripe in the Settings > Payments page.
Your Connected Account
Once you've successfully connected to a Stripe account, you will see a green connected badge under Stripe on your Payments page, as well as some information about your Stripe account.
Stripe email: the email address that's associated with the connected Stripe account. This should be the email you use to log in to Stripe to access your funds from your Thinkific site.
Stripe account name: if you have multiple accounts set up under your Stripe email, this is the specific account that is connected to your Thinkific site.
Need to change the connected Stripe account? Please see this article for more information on how to disconnect.
Confirming Account Setup in Stripe
Account Verification
With a new or existing Stripe account, Stripe will ask for information to verify your account.
Stripe has recently updated their policy for how quickly account verification is required after a Stripe account is created, or after information is requested by Stripe. You may see payouts to you, from Stripe, being paused due to this.
If this is the case, you should see a banner in Stripe, when logged in to your account, asking you to verify the account.
You may also see your Stripe account showing as Restricted.
To verify your Stripe account, add the verification information requested. Examples of verification information include details about your business, such as tax ID. Click here to learn more about account verification with Stripe.
If you have any questions about your Stripe account and funds, or if you're still seeing payouts withheld, please contact Stripe's support directly for more information: Contact Stripe Support.
Restricted Businesses
Stripe policy specifies some businesses and business practices that are restricted from using the Stripe Service (“Restricted Businesses”).
Check out our article, What does Stripe consider a restricted business?, for more information.
For specific examples of Restricted Businesses, as defined by Stripe, click here.
Changing Your Currency
When integrating with Stripe, the default currency is $USD and you have the option to change your currency. Currency is applied site-wide. If you are also connected with PayPal, the currency set within the Stripe integration will automatically apply to PayPal as well.
Learn how to change your currency here: Changing Your Currency
How Do Payments Work?
Checkout via Stripe
Once connected with Stripe, you'll be able to set pricing for your courses. When a visitor clicks the buy button on your Course Landing Page, they'll be taken to the Thinkific checkout to make a payment. They will be required to enter in their name, email and credit card details to complete the payment and create a Thinkific account on your site. Address information is not required.
This payment will be processed by Stripe, but as far as the customer knows they're paying you directly. Unlike with PayPal, they don't need to sign into Stripe in order to pay you - they can simply enter their billing information directly on Thinkific and that's it!
If you create a new Stripe account, verification is required on Stripe's end before you can start accepting payments. Make sure to check that your Stripe account is approved before launching your courses.
Where does the money go?
When you receive an order, the funds will be sent to your Stripe account. Payouts are then made to the bank account that you have linked to Stripe.
To change how often payouts are sent from Stripe to your bank account:
- Login to Stripe
- Right-click on your company name in the top right of your Stripe dashboard
- Select Account Settings
- Navigate to the Transfers
- Select Change schedule to set up a transfer schedule of your choice.
Testing Payments
If you are interested in seeing what a test payment is like, you can create a partial coupon code. Sign up for your course as a student and apply the coupon codeat checkout. (Note: A 100% off coupon code will not appear in your Stripe account as no funds are exchanged). When testing payments, you will be charged the applicable Stripe Fees which are non-refundable. See this transaction within Orders in Stripe.
Payment Notifications
You have the option to enable Thinkific order receipts for your students and various payment notifications in Stripe. Learn more here: Student Order Receipts and Payment Notifications
More About Payment Integrations
Frequently Asked Questions with Stripe
Stripe Supported Countries and Alternate Payment Options