Can I Update the Subscription Price for Currently Subscribed Students?

It is possible to update the subscription price for currently subscribed students, but the exact steps depend on your payment processor.

In This Article

About This Feature

Updating Subscription Price in Thinkific Payments

Step 1: Fill Out the “Update Student Subscriptions” Sheet

Step 2: Request Update by Submitting the Completed Template

Important Considerations

Updating Subscription Price in Stripe

Option 1: Ask Students to Cancel and Re-register

Option 2: Manually End Enrollment and Cancel Subscription in Stripe

Option 3: Manually Edit the Existing Subscription in Stripe

About This Feature

By default, when an existing subscription or payment plan price is changed, it applies to new enrollments only going forward. Students with existing subscriptions or payment plans are not affected and they continue to pay the price that they signed up with. 

However, it is possible to update the subscription price for currently subscribed students, but the exact steps depend on your payment processor.

Updating Subscription Price in Thinkific Payments

Enrollments and subscriptions are more closely linked if you are using Thinkific Payments than if you are using Stripe. If you would like to issue pricing changes for existing student subscriptions or payment plans, please carefully read and follow the steps outlined below.

If you are using Thinkific Payments, have made changes to your subscription pricing, and need to update the price for currently subscribed students, Thinkific can help! All you need to do is:

1. Fill out the attached spreadsheet
2. Request the update by submitting this form

Use the guidelines below to help you prepare your “Update Student Subscriptions” spreadsheet.

Please carefully review all of the steps below. Making sure that the spreadsheet is set up correctly is very important and will expedite the process.

Step 1: Fill Out the “Update Student Subscriptions” Sheet

When you submit the form to request a subscription update, you will be required to attach a completed  “Update Student Subscriptions” spreadsheet. Please find and download the form at the bottom of this article.

You will need a spreadsheet editor to access and edit the file (we recommend Microsoft Excel).

This template file includes one sheet with multiple columns. Columns A through E must be filled out with the correct information. Once the mandatory columns (A through E) are completed, you will only need to fill out one of the optional columns (columns F-I). Please fill out the spreadsheet columns as described below.

The following fields are required:

• Student_email - Required - The student's email address.
• First_name - Required - First name of the student.
• Last_name - Required - Last name of the student.
  Students can change their name settings after they log in. If you don't know the name, add a placeholder for them to change. First and Last Names must be separated.
• Course/Bundle Name - Required - Name of the affected course or bundle name.
• Current Subscription Amount - Required - Current price of your subscription.

The following fields are optional. You should only fill out one of the four optional columns to indicate which aspect of the students’ subscription you would like to adjust:

• New Amount - Optional - New price of your subscription. 
• Add: Coupon Name - Optional - Exact name of the coupon you wish to apply to the subscription.
• Remove: Coupon Name - Optional - Exact name of the coupon you wish to remove from the subscription.
• Change Billing Date - Optional - This is the exact date that you would like your user to be charged for their subscription going forward.

Leave the following fields empty:

• NOTES - Do not add any information to this column as it will only be used for notes by the Thinkific Support Team, where applicable. 

Step 2: Request Update by Submitting the Completed Template

Once you've completed the sheet, please answer every question in this form, and attach your file. We will respond to you within 24-48 hours with a timeline of when you can expect your request to be processed.

Important Considerations

• The request timeline for updating students' subscriptions can vary depending on the amount of users affected. Any time frame provided should be considered an estimate.

  Estimated time frames are: 

• The names of the subscriptions will not be updated, only the charged amount will change, but this will not be reflected or visible on Thinkific. The transaction report will reflect the correct amount that students are paying once their next subscription payment has been processed.
• We highly recommend keeping a detailed spreadsheet that includes all of the updated subscriptions for your reference. 

Updating Subscription Price in Stripe

If you are using Stripe, have made changes to your subscription pricing, and need to update the price for currently subscribed students, you have 3 options:

• Option 1: Ask Students to Cancel and Re-register
• Option 2: Manually End Enrollment and Cancel Subscription in Stripe
• Option 3: Manually Edit the Existing Subscription in Stripe

Option 1: Ask Students to Cancel and Re-register

Your student can choose to cancel their subscription by going into My Account > Billing on your site and clicking the Cancel button. This will remove the subscription within Stripe as well. The student can then re-register for the course at the new price plan and subscription.

See detailed student instructions here: How can students manage their billing?

Option 2: Manually End Enrollment and Cancel Subscription in Stripe

The Site Owner/Admin can end the enrollment for the student in that specific course however, they will still need to manually cancel the subscription in Stripe. Ending an enrollment in Thinkific does NOT cancel the subscription in Stripe.

Once the subscription is canceled in Stripe, the student can then re-register for the course at the new price plan and subscription in Thinkific.

Learn more here:

• How to Unenroll a Student
• Cancel a Subscription in Stripe

Option 3: Manually Edit the Existing Subscription in Stripe

It is also possible to edit a student's current subscription price in Stripe. This method does not require any changes in Thinkific. It will update the student's subscription to your new price and ensure the subscription is still tied to Thinkific.

Once you create a new price in Thinkific and save that price, it is pushed to Stripe and you will see it as a new Stripe product. The Stripe product name automatically populates with your course or bundle name, so it should be easy to locate in your Stripe account.

To edit the subscription price for existing students, you will need to change the Stripe price associated with their existing subscription. You do not need to delete the subscription in this case, however, you will need to update the subscription for your student. To do this, remove the existing product and add your new Stripe price (the updated price) to the student's existing subscription. See How to Update a Subscription in Stripe (below) for step-by-step instructions.

Please note that updating the Stripe product does not change the course or bundle that a student is enrolled in on Thinkific. The student will continue to be enrolled in the same course or bundle as initially enrolled at the beginning of their subscription unless they re-register in a different course or bundle themselves.

This is performed entirely in Stripe. Since this is outside of Thinkific, we are not able to assist or troubleshoot this method. We recommend reaching out to Stripe directly if you have any questions.

How to Update a Subscription Plan in Stripe

1. Make sure an order has already gone through for your new subscription price. If no one has purchased at the new price yet, you can create an order by using a 100% off coupon and signing up as a test student for your new price.
2. Go into your Stripe Dashboard
3. Under Billing, click Subscriptions
4. Choose the customer whose subscription pricing you want to update
5. Click Update subscription
6. Under the current pricing plan, click the three dots and choose Remove product
7. Click Add product and find the pricing plan you want to change it to
8. If you don’t want your pricing change to be pro-rated to the current billing cycle (ie. you don't want your student to be charged right now), click Pro-ration off in the top of the screen
9. Click Update subscription in the top right

And that's it! Now your student will be charged at the new price going forward.

The template file for Thinkific Payments subscription updates.