Introducing Phased Subscriptions: Offer Upfront Access That Converts to a Subscription

    Plan Availability
    Legacy Plans
    Platform

Phased Subscriptions let you sell an upfront offer — a one-time payment, a payment plan, or a subscription — that grants your learner a set access period and then automatically converts to a recurring subscription. Run a "pay upfront, then continue as a member" billing model on Thinkific Payments without any manual follow-up.

Applies to:

  • Plan: Plus
  • Role: Site Owner, Site Admin

What's New

  • Offer upfront-then-recurring pricing: Set up a single product price where the first phase can be a one-time charge, a payment plan, or a subscription — followed by automatic recutting billing at a different price point. All in one purchase, fully automated.
  • Automated phase transitions: The switch from the upfront period to the recurring subscription happens automatically at the end of the access window. No action needed from you or your learner.
  • Easy setup: Add a Phased Subscription price directly in your product's pricing settings — specify the upfront amount, access period, and ongoing recurring price.
  • Designed for high-ticket products and flexible pricing: The phased subscription pricing supports models like "$12,000 for 12 months of access, then $599/month ongoing", common in high-ticket coaching, cohort programs, and professional communities. Alternatively, set up two subscriptions with different frequencies, like "$50 per month for the first 6 months, then $100 every year", all in one price.

How Phased Subscriptions Work

The phased subscriptions feature is available on the Start plan and above with TCommerce enabled. To access this feature as well as other great TCommerce features, enable Thinkific Payments on your account: Thinkific Payments.

When a learner purchases a product with Phased Subscriptions enabled, Thinkific Payments collects the upfront amount and enrolls the learner with access until the end of the defined access period. At the end of that period, their subscription automatically transitions to the recurring rate — no action required from you or the learner.

All phases — upfront payment, access period, and recurring subscription — are managed as a single subscription in the Thinkific Payments dashboard.

  • Phase 1: Upfront payment

    • Learner pays upfront (one-time, payment plan, or subscription)

    • Enrollment begins

    • Learner has full access for the period specified during the setup

  • Phase 2: Recurring subscription

    • Auto-converts into a subscription

    • Learner is billed on a cadence specified by you

    • Learner does not need to re-enter the payment details

Getting Started: Set Up Phased Subscriptions

To learn more about setting up phased subscriptions, click the dropdowns below.

How to Create a Phased Subscription for Your Course

  1. From your Admin Dashboard, select Products
  2. Select Courses
  3. Click on the name of the course you want to edit or select Manage when hovering over the course image
  4. Select the Pricing tab
  5. Select Phased Subscription
  6. Select the pricing model for Phase 1: one-time, payment plan, or subscription
  7. Enter Price (for one-time payments), price per month (for payment plans), or amount and frequency (for a subscription)
  8. Optionally, for payment plans, toggle the custom phase duration box on to allow access beyond the payment period until the beginning of the next phase.
  9. Enter Length of access
  10. Select the amount and frequency for Phase 2
  11. Click Save

How to Create a Phased Subscription for Your Community

  1. From your Admin Dashboard, select Products
  2. Select Communities
  3. Locate your community, click the ellipses (3 dot icon) and select Edit
  4. Select the Pricing tab
  5. Select Phased Subscription
  6. Select the pricing model for Phase 1: one-time, payment plan, or subscription
  7. Enter Price (for one-time payments), price per month (for payment plans), or amount and frequency (for a subscription)
  8. Optionally, for payment plans, toggle the custom phase duration box on to allow access beyond the payment period until the beginning of the next phase.
  9. Enter Length of access
  10. Select the amount and frequency for Phase 2
  11. Click Save

How to Create a Phased Subscription for Your Digital Download

  1. From your Admin Dashboard, select Products
  2. Select Digital Downloads
  3. Click on the image of the digital download you want to edit
  4. Select the Pricing tab
  5. Select Phased Subscription
  6. Select the pricing model for Phase 1: one-time, payment plan, or subscription
  7. Enter Price (for one-time payments), price per month (for payment plans), or amount and frequency (for a subscription)
  8. Optionally, for payment plans, toggle the custom phase duration box on to allow access beyond the payment period until the beginning of the next phase.
  9. Enter Length of access
  10. Select the amount and frequency for Phase 2
  11. Click Save

How to Create a Phased Subscription for Your Coaching & Webinars Product

  1. From your Admin Dashboard, select Products
  2. Select Coaching & Webinars
  3. Click on the image of the event you want to edit
  4. Select the Pricing tab
  5. Select Phased Subscription
  6. Select the pricing model for Phase 1: one-time, payment plan, or subscription
  7. Enter Price (for one-time payments), price per month (for payment plans), or amount and frequency (for a subscription)
  8. Optionally, for payment plans, toggle the custom phase duration box on to allow access beyond the payment period until the beginning of the next phase.
  9. Enter Length of access
  10. Select the amount and frequency for Phase 2
  11. Click Save

How to Create a Phased Subscription for Your Membership

  1. From your Admin Dashboard, select Products
  2. Select Memberships
  3. Click on the image of the bundle you want to edit
  4. Select the Pricing tab
  5. Select Phased Subscription
  6. Select the pricing model for Phase 1: one-time, payment plan, or subscription
  7. Enter Price (for one-time payments), price per month (for payment plans), or amount and frequency (for a subscription)
  8. Optionally, for payment plans, toggle the custom phase duration box on to allow access beyond the payment period until the beginning of the next phase.
  9. Enter Length of access
  10. Select the amount and frequency for Phase 2
  11. Click Save

How to Create a Phased Subscription for Your Bundle

  1. From your Admin Dashboard, select Sales
  2. Select Bundles
  3. Click on the image of the bundle you want to edit
  4. Select the Pricing tab
  5. Select Phased Subscription
  6. Select the pricing model for Phase 1: one-time, payment plan, or subscription
  7. Enter Price (for one-time payments), price per month (for payment plans), or amount and frequency (for a subscription)
  8. Optionally, for payment plans, toggle the custom phase duration box on to allow access beyond the payment period until the beginning of the next phase.
  9. Enter Length of access
  10. Select the amount and frequency for Phase 2
  11. Click Save

Important Considerations

  • Phased Subscriptions apply to new purchases only — existing subscriptions and payment plans cannot be converted retroactively.
  • Pause is not available during the upfront phase (phase 1). Pausing becomes available once the learner enters the recurring subscription phase.
  • Cancelling a Phased Subscription removes any remaining unpaid installments and ends the subscription.
  • If any payments are missed during phase 1, all missed payments must be collected before access is restored — not just the most recent one.
  • Phase transition is fully automatic. No action is required from you or your learner. Learners will not need to re-enter payment details.
  • At the moment, it is not possible to change the price for the recurring phase (phase 2) of phased subscriptions.
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